Dream Birthday

June 10, 2018

Dream Birthday

And just like that, I've turned 17! Yesterday I got to celebrate my first (but hopefully not last) birthday in Norway, and I couldn't have asked for a better day. I'll get to more birthday details soon, but let's start at the beginning of the week!

Monday started off yet another warm week, but thankfully a little cooler than last. During the day we were back to practicing with the orchestra that went to Copenhagen and choir for our last real concert of the year on Tuesday. Tuesday brought some well-awaited (for me, at least) colder weather, and I was able to wear long pants again for the first time in a long time. That morning we had the oral exam lottery, and thankfully no one in my class came up at all. That signified the true end to the school year, as all our tests were done and exams avoided. After school we had last-minute prep for our concert, before heading to the University of Oslo's beautiful auditorium where we performed with the academic choir at UiO (Universitetet i Oslo). I've had the chance to play in concerts in some of Oslo's best concert locations, and this was definitely among them.

Wednesday is where the week starts to get a little weird, and one of the biggest differences between the last weeks in American and Norwegian school begins to show. Wednesday was technically a preparation day for the oral exam, but since none of us came up, our class was only to meet up for math. Instead of having normal math, however, we were going to have the math class we have next year. Since I won't have math at Katta next year, I didn't have to meet up, and therefore had the whole day off. While I wish I could say I used that day to do something fun, I had to use my extra time to start... dun dun duuunnnnn... packing. I'm not packing my suitcases yet, but I did organize and go through a bunch of stuff and put together a box of things that need to be sent back to the US. Not fun. But necessary, I guess.

Thursday was another joke day, as oral exams were happening at school so we couldn't be there. Our "school day" then became to meet up at a movie theater at 12, watch Love, Simon before it came out in Norway (even though it's been out for several months in the US), and then be done again. I am definitely not complaining; the movie was so good and getting to watch it with a bunch of kids from school was so fun -- people screamed and clapped at every sweet thing that happened.

Friday was a "normal" school day, meaning I actually had to wake up early for the first time in a while. Despite technically having all our classes, it was still one of the most chill school days I've ever had. English class was cut in half due to another exam lottery for the second and third years, and math was the same as Wednesday meaning I didn't have class for three hours in a row. During lunch, however, I got to do one of the most Katta things I ever have done and ever will do. I was knighted, Yup, knighted. It's a tradition at Katta that the third year students who are about to graduate who have been active in the choir and orchestra are knighted by our director, and because I'm in a way graduating in that it's my last year at Katta, I got to be a part of the ceremony.

We met in the room where the choir practices but also the room often used for ceremonies and celebrations at the school, where all the lights had been turned off and curtains drawn. The only light came from the Christmas lights wrapped around the music stands. A throne-like chair was placed at the end of an aisle formed by rows of chairs facing each other, and a tapestry behind it made in look even more royal. A pillow lay at the feet of Olav Morten, who was wearing his robes along with all of us. One by one we were summoned to him, a trumpet fanfare played for each recognized, and before knighting us with what I believe was a dismantled bassoon, he asked us a question to which the answer was always the person about to be knighted. We were then asked to kneel, tapped on both shoulders with the bassoon, and given a diploma for our work as members of the school's music department. While everyone who was currently active received a trumpet fanfare, those who had once been active but no longer were received a melodica, ahem, fanfare, which really sounded more like a dying cat than anything else. It only added to the Katta (haha) atmosphere.

The rest of Friday was as relaxed as the first half, so I'll get to the part of the week people probably actually want to hear about: my birthday!! Which is good, cause this post is already quite long... On Saturday morning, my host family came into my room with a candle on a piece of bread with brunost (one of my all-time Norwegian favorites), a piece of watermelon, a balloon, and their present to me to sing me the Norwegian birthday song, which is way more creative than the English version. Afterwards we had a nice family breakfast before going to a beach just outside the city for a little time in the sun and water. After swimming, we came back to get ready for the first of the birthday celebrations: the family party. I was going to make strawberry shortcake for everyone as it's one of my favorite things to have for my birthday but also not something people eat in Norway, so I wanted to introduce them to it! I baked the biscuits and got to FaceTime with my family in the US which was sort of crazy because it's the last time we'll FaceTime before I go back to see them in person.

In the early afternoon we then headed over to Anne's sister's house because her daughter, one of my host cousins, also had her birthday yesterday! She turned 13, and was kind enough to share the party with me:) Lots of family came and we ate a nice dinner and lots of cake and I spent a large chunk of the evening with my equally if not more math-obsessed host cousin trying to figure out the volume of a Pepsi Max bottle. It's not everyday I have someone to integrate with!! After a few hours we went back home where my evening would continue with six of my closest friends here.

It was last night that I realized I have a really good birthday. I'm born late enough in the school year that, even though I've only been here less than a year, I have made the best friends and was able to celebrate my birthday with them. I got to introduce them to strawberry shortcake as well, before being told to go downstairs, but not all the way down (whatever that was supposed to mean), and then being shoved into the bathroom. The next few minutes were quite confusing, but it ended with me, Frida, Sarah, Beate and Iben in matching tank-tops they made with the self-given name of our friend group on them (de førstefødte, the first-borns) and a little ice cream cone in the corner. I was led back out to the party where they were all lined up in the shirts, Beate holding a guitar, and the others papers with words on them. They began to sing, and I quickly realized that they had taken one of the all-time best Norwegian summer songs, En solskinnsdag, and rewritten it to be about our friend group and me. They sang and danced, and I did my best not to cry while thinking about the fact that I have to leave these people in a little more than two weeks. We spent the evening playing cards, eating junk food, talking, listening to music, and making sure we were all awake for 11:30 pm, the time I would officially turn 17 in Norway. When it got close, we turned on Dancing Queen the six others set themselves up and picked me up so I was laying across them all, and threw me into the air seventeen times. I don't know how everything worked out so perfectly, but on the 17th throw, the clock turned 11:30, and the chorus to Dancing Queen came on. I literally could not have asked for a better evening as we sat under the still-light sky -- even though it was past midnight -- and celebrated my entry into seventeen. I really don't know what I'm going to do without these people next year...

I'm going to cover today's activities in next week's post, because this one is already too long and this way I can get it out before late tonight. Thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday yesterday, it truly was the best birthday in the history of the universe.

Word of the Post:
sytten = seventeen

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