So... Yesterday was my first month anniversary with Sula and Langevåg, and the day before was my anniversary with Norway itself .. But having this blog called "First Month ... and a few days ... in Norge" isn't as eye catching (in my opinion at least....).
So so so... I left Adelaide on the 22nd and it was rather fun ... but sad. Some friends came and saw me off at the airport with my family. Looking back on it ... I think I'm going to be more emotional when I see them all again compared to how little emotion I showed when I left. It still didn't seem like everything was actually happening and even though I've been away for a month and I've experienced so much, it still doesn't feel like all of this is happening.
The many flights were rather taxing on the body... It was something insane like... 36 hours to get to Heathrow with all the other exchange students. Then I had a 2 hours flight or something to Oslo where I stayed overnight and then an hour flight to Ålesund.
The flights from Adelaide to Melbourne, Melbourne to Singapore and Singapore to Heathrow were awesome because I spent the whole time sitting next to Trephina! We spent the last flight from Singapore to Heathrow sleeping, eating, watching "Up"(!!!!) and talking like the dogs from "Up" (!!!!). It was fun and great to meet all the other exchange students who joined us on our journey in Melbourne and then Singapore. It was kind of annoying that some exchange students already had their blazers fully covered in pins though... CHEATERS!!!!
After arriving in Oslo on Saturday morning with the six other Australians exchanging in Norway, I was picked up by a really nice couple; Anne and Oddvar. I couldn't get a flight until Sunday, so Anne and Oddvar agreed to be my temporary host parents overnight. They were really sweet and nursed me into Norway's different food culture by giving me waffles for lunch and moose for dinner with a mussel stew appetiser (sarcasm intended). Both were awesome, but after the incredible sleep deprivation and leaping across continents, I really felt ill... I didn't want to eat anything and especially this insanely rich food. I was really excited when we had the moose, because they made a salad too! ...But Norwegian salad involves corn and pineapple. Amidst all the action and awesomeness, I went outside with Oddvar to make a snowman :-D I've named him Norman the Norwegian.... But I doubt he's still standing.
When I arrived in Vigra Airport in Ålesund, there were more people than I was expecting to pick me up... Janne and Roger (my first host parents), Grethe, Bjørn-Inge and Lars (my third host family) and Kåre and Annelise (my Rotary counsilor and his wife). I thought I was going to be staying with Janne and Roger first, but they had to go to Bergen to help their daughter Natalie move into her new house, so instead, I was staying with Grethe, Bjørn-Inge and Lars for a few days and then Kåre and Annelise until I left for the language camp and ski camp!
When I stayed with Grethe, Bjørn-Inge and Lars, they really helped me get settled in Norway. They helped me get a new mobile ... and actually bought it for me! They also helped me hunt down a good Norwegian dictionary and taught me some useful things ... like how Norwegians walk on the right side and Australians walk on the left. I've now conformed like the sheep that I am *baa*. We also made svele (sort of like pancakes... but thicker and you have them with butter and sugar) and I took photos from their living room window :-P
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A few days later, I moved in with Kåre and Annelise and did the same strange thing... I took a photo from the window upstairs :-D
Outside their house, there's a lamp-post and it looks like the lamp-post in "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe". I'm rather in love with it.
Kåre dropped me off at the airport to go to the language camp on the next Tuesday and then I met with another exchange student called Bri. She lives about half an hour away from me... So we were both pretty excited to meet eachother. She's from Australia too. We flew to Oslo together and then waited for FOUR hours in Oslo airport until the other Australians arrived and we could leave for the drive to Nesbyen .. which took about 3 hours. ...It was a rather long day.
They next day, we all started learning Norwegian! ...It was awesome fun and all the exchange students got along really well ...except for a few tense moments. We got to know the basics of Norwegian and ...I'm not sure about the other guys, but I found it really helpful. ..Again, I took a photo from the window of the place we were staying.
We finished the language course on Saturday and drove to the ski camp that afternoon to meet the exchange students who've been in Norway for six months. I may have been the worst skier on the camp ... or at least in the bottom five ... but I had fun.
After getting back from the ski camp, I moved in with Janne, Roger and their son Henrik. ...I haven't taken a photo from their window yet. Maybe I will when it's a bit warmer though... It was snowing yesterday, so I'm not exactly sure when that warm day might be...
I also started school last week ... but now I'm on holidays. I think Maths is the only subject that I'm really sure what's happening, but that's okay... I just need to learn more Norwegian *nods*.
...So yeah! That's pretty much everything that's happened in the past month. ...Everything over the next few days will just seem like a lead-up to my 18th birthday ... which is on Monday! :-)
Anywho...
Ha det bra!
Caity of the Norwegian Fjords
