Well I know I said that I was going to write only in Norwegian until the test but this post is going to be a lot more interesting for everyone back in the states so it makes more sense to write it in English. Anyway this post is mostly going to be about the Norwegian National Holiday syttende mai (17th of May).
For those that don't know it is a very big deal in Norway, everyone puts Norwegian flags out in their yard, anyone that owns a bunad (the traditional dress of Norway) wears it, basically everything is shut down except for a few stores. They have this parade called a barnetog that is a parade that is made up of children from every elementary, middle and high school in the area.
So of course I joined in and I must say it was a lot of fun, I actually carried the school banner which was an interesting way to join in. So I got to walk in front of everyone else from the school carrying this giant banner. The parade goes for a few kilometers before ending at a big park area where there is a few speeches along with singing of the national anthem and the town song.
After the parade is finished everyone goes to different areas of the town to elementary schools for different little activities and stuff there. Last on the main agenda for everyone is the russetog, which is a parade with only those that are russ (the last year students in high school).
The russ is a totally Norwegian thing, they all buy these red pants (they can also be blue, black and green but red is the most common), and they wear them from no later than May 1st all the way to the 17th. The two weeks they wear these pants there is lots of partying, crazy antics and a lot of other nutty stuff.
It is a really funny thing to see and something that you won't see anywhere else in the world. So for their part of the 17th they walk through a different part of town, but almost all of them carry around squirt guns and these things that are called russekort. Russekorter are these little cards that most everyone carries around and hands out to kids who try to see who can get the most.
A lot of the kids along the sides also had water balloons and squirt guns to spray the russ. It ends at the same park as the other parade but instead has a bunch of these buses that some of the russ have saved to buy and make improvements on, with lots of loud music and more crazy people. It is definitely a cool thing to see.
That pretty much finishes all of the stuff that happens in town for that day. Next for me was a dinner party with my host family at our house, not super exciting but it was cool getting to talk with some different people. Later that night I headed out with a friend, watched the fireworks when they went off then headed back home to sleep.
Now that covers Tuesday the 17th, the rest of the week was pretty chill, just school, some training and hanging out with friends. I did also see the new Pirates movie on Wednesday night, pretty sweet movie I have to say, cool in 3D also! :D
Well that is it for now, hope you enjoy see you next time!
Jon
21 May, 2011
16 May, 2011
Første del av mai
Hallo alle sammen!!!!!
Det er umulig å tenke at det har vært nesten to uker siden min siste innlegg, tiden går så raskt!!! Uansett det har vært en spennende par uker, jeg hadde to prøver men jeg tror de gikk bra! For første gangen jeg føler bra om hvordan de gikk, det er en kjempebra følelse. Resten av skolen har vært litt kjedelig men bra, jeg er nesten ferdig med min matematikk klasse så det betyr at jeg bare har en økt på onsdag.
Siste helgen vi var i Sverige for å gjøre litt arbeid på hage og noe annet men for det mesteparten det var bare tid for å slappe av. Jeg leste ferdig Legenden om Narnia på norsk, og studerte til en prøve jeg hadde på tirsdag som jeg tror gikk veldig bra.
Resten av uken var ikke så spesielt, bortsatt fra lørdag og søndag. Lørdag var spennende fordi det var en grillfest med noen venner min fra skolen, det var kjempehyggelig. På søndag var det utrolig spennende, familien min og jeg reiste ned til sørland for en dags tur for å se hvor familien min egentlig kommer fra!
Det var helt fantastisk!!! Første stopp var i Kristiansand for å se en gammel bygde som var en butikk når familien min eide den. Vi hadde sett rundt i Kristiansand for en time eller noe annet, gikk ned til brygge, sett noe andre steder og vi var på veien vår igjen.
Neste hoved stopp var i Arendal, men vi hadde en kort stopp for middag på en restaurant i Lillesand. Etter middag det var tid for å kjøre resten av veien til Arendal for å se hvor de andre del av familien hadde kommet fra. På en øy som heter Tromøy.
Vi hadde litt problemer for å finne huset men vi nesten klarte det med hjelp fra noen av de som bodde i nærheten, kjempehyggelig folk der. Det var en veldig koselig dag i sørland og jeg hadde en kjempefint tid, det er så nydelig der.
Det er alt for nå, jeg skal kanskje ha annen innlegg om ett par dager fordi i morgen er nasjonal dag til Norge 17.mai, og jeg skal bære fane til skolen min, foran hele skolen, eeeeks!!
Takk for nå,
Snakkes
Jon
Det er umulig å tenke at det har vært nesten to uker siden min siste innlegg, tiden går så raskt!!! Uansett det har vært en spennende par uker, jeg hadde to prøver men jeg tror de gikk bra! For første gangen jeg føler bra om hvordan de gikk, det er en kjempebra følelse. Resten av skolen har vært litt kjedelig men bra, jeg er nesten ferdig med min matematikk klasse så det betyr at jeg bare har en økt på onsdag.
Siste helgen vi var i Sverige for å gjøre litt arbeid på hage og noe annet men for det mesteparten det var bare tid for å slappe av. Jeg leste ferdig Legenden om Narnia på norsk, og studerte til en prøve jeg hadde på tirsdag som jeg tror gikk veldig bra.
Resten av uken var ikke så spesielt, bortsatt fra lørdag og søndag. Lørdag var spennende fordi det var en grillfest med noen venner min fra skolen, det var kjempehyggelig. På søndag var det utrolig spennende, familien min og jeg reiste ned til sørland for en dags tur for å se hvor familien min egentlig kommer fra!
Det var helt fantastisk!!! Første stopp var i Kristiansand for å se en gammel bygde som var en butikk når familien min eide den. Vi hadde sett rundt i Kristiansand for en time eller noe annet, gikk ned til brygge, sett noe andre steder og vi var på veien vår igjen.
Neste hoved stopp var i Arendal, men vi hadde en kort stopp for middag på en restaurant i Lillesand. Etter middag det var tid for å kjøre resten av veien til Arendal for å se hvor de andre del av familien hadde kommet fra. På en øy som heter Tromøy.
Vi hadde litt problemer for å finne huset men vi nesten klarte det med hjelp fra noen av de som bodde i nærheten, kjempehyggelig folk der. Det var en veldig koselig dag i sørland og jeg hadde en kjempefint tid, det er så nydelig der.
Det er alt for nå, jeg skal kanskje ha annen innlegg om ett par dager fordi i morgen er nasjonal dag til Norge 17.mai, og jeg skal bære fane til skolen min, foran hele skolen, eeeeks!!
Takk for nå,
Snakkes
Jon
02 May, 2011
Life and all of its adventures.
A friend of mine mentioned something yesterday that really got me thinking about going home and what it will be like. All he did was mention one little thing but I can't get it out of my head, that thing is how much people change. I have been gone for nearly a year, everyone has had a year to grow up and change, but these changes are not noticed by themselves or the people they are in constant contact with. However for me it could very well be a large shock, I have not only been gone for a year but I have been gone for a year with very minimal contact. So I wonder, how have my friends changed, how I have changed and how things will be with me and my friends after I come home. Just some food for thought.
Anyway back to my post and I want to start by saying, my gosh does time sure fly when you're having fun! Things have been going by crazy fast, and no matter how much I want it to slow done it just seems to go by faster.
Nothing much exciting happened from Monday to Thursday last week, expect that I biked to school everyday and on Wednesday I woke up early and went for a run before school. I really wish there were some more trails on gravel and or in the woods, because for the most part there is only asphalt to run on.
Friday was actually a lot of fun, I went to Oslo with another class and one of the other exchange students, we toured the Nobel Peace Prize center, wondered around for a little while in Oslo and finished with going to the NRK studio/broadcasting center(it is the Norwegian form of NBC, however with absolutely no commercials!).
After coming back I packed very quickly for a hyttetur with 4 of my friends from school. It was a lot of fun, we started with picking up food and then a two and a half hour drive out to the cabin. Saturday we chilled out went for a hike on the mountain we were on, cooked some burgers and watched a couple movies.
Sunday we actually woke up to light snow if you can believe it, we then cleaned up and headed home, officially finishing our first road trip. I had a lot of fun and hopefully we can do it again before I leave.
Anyway that is my update for now, just an FYI point here that I will probably just be writing in Norwegian on here until the second week of June, because I will be taking a Norwegian writing exam that I want to be ready for and if I write in here in Norwegian I think it will really help me.
There is now a direct link to google translate on the right hand side of my blog, so you can use that and just change it so that it translates from Norwegian to English. So there you have it, talk to you guys later!
Jon
Anyway back to my post and I want to start by saying, my gosh does time sure fly when you're having fun! Things have been going by crazy fast, and no matter how much I want it to slow done it just seems to go by faster.
Nothing much exciting happened from Monday to Thursday last week, expect that I biked to school everyday and on Wednesday I woke up early and went for a run before school. I really wish there were some more trails on gravel and or in the woods, because for the most part there is only asphalt to run on.
Friday was actually a lot of fun, I went to Oslo with another class and one of the other exchange students, we toured the Nobel Peace Prize center, wondered around for a little while in Oslo and finished with going to the NRK studio/broadcasting center(it is the Norwegian form of NBC, however with absolutely no commercials!).
After coming back I packed very quickly for a hyttetur with 4 of my friends from school. It was a lot of fun, we started with picking up food and then a two and a half hour drive out to the cabin. Saturday we chilled out went for a hike on the mountain we were on, cooked some burgers and watched a couple movies.
Sunday we actually woke up to light snow if you can believe it, we then cleaned up and headed home, officially finishing our first road trip. I had a lot of fun and hopefully we can do it again before I leave.
Anyway that is my update for now, just an FYI point here that I will probably just be writing in Norwegian on here until the second week of June, because I will be taking a Norwegian writing exam that I want to be ready for and if I write in here in Norwegian I think it will really help me.
There is now a direct link to google translate on the right hand side of my blog, so you can use that and just change it so that it translates from Norwegian to English. So there you have it, talk to you guys later!
Jon
25 April, 2011
Påske
translate.google.com
Hallo alle sammen, tid for annen blogginnlegg. Siden mine siste to innlegger var ikke så spennende det er tid for en med noe mer, fordi tiden siden min siste innlegg var og er påskeferie!! Uken før påskeferie var litt kjedelig, en ting at var litt spennende var på tirsdagen.
Vi hadde en klubbkveld med ski laget, det var kult å ha men det var kanskje den siste ting jeg skal ha med Oseberg, men det var en bra vinter uansett om hvordan jeg gjorte i sesongen.
Fortsetter det var påske! Første helgen i ferie meg og familien min reiste opp til en fjell heter blefjell (hvis jeg huske riktig). Det var hos noe venner til familien min og det var kjempegøy og veldig koselig.
Fordi det hadde vært så varmt den par uker før der var nesten ingen snø opp på fjella. Når vi var ut på tur lørdag vi brukte ski for den første 10 minutter men der var ikke nok snø for å bruke dem mer.
Det var helt nydelig opp på toppen og så kult å se en forskjellig sted i Norge. Resten av helgen vi bare slappet av og sete i sola for det mest parten. På vår siste kveld på hytta deres sov jeg ute på terrassen. Det var en helt perfekt natt for å sove ute, ingen skygge bare stjerne og måne.
Etter på var jeg hjem et par dager før vi reiste til vår hytta i Sverige for resten av ferie. Det var en kjempegøy tid, vi hadde masse tid å slappe av, vi gikk ute på tur nesten hver dag, og på lørdag vi reiste til Göteborg.
Været var så fint, det var over 20 grader celsius(rundt 70 fahrenheit) og sol hver dag! Lørdag var så fint fordi det var så varm og det var nesten sommeren i Göteborg. Jeg bare gikk rundt byen for noe timer og sett så mye forskjellig steder (jeg skal legge på noe bilder i den neste par dager tror jeg).
Det har vært en utrolig bra ferie og har vært så koselig å slappe av å arbeide med norske min og være litt bedre kjent med min vertssøsken. Nå at det er våren jeg er spent for å ha mer tid å gjøre noe ute.
Det er alt for nå, så snakkes seinere!
Jon
Hallo alle sammen, tid for annen blogginnlegg. Siden mine siste to innlegger var ikke så spennende det er tid for en med noe mer, fordi tiden siden min siste innlegg var og er påskeferie!! Uken før påskeferie var litt kjedelig, en ting at var litt spennende var på tirsdagen.
Vi hadde en klubbkveld med ski laget, det var kult å ha men det var kanskje den siste ting jeg skal ha med Oseberg, men det var en bra vinter uansett om hvordan jeg gjorte i sesongen.
Fortsetter det var påske! Første helgen i ferie meg og familien min reiste opp til en fjell heter blefjell (hvis jeg huske riktig). Det var hos noe venner til familien min og det var kjempegøy og veldig koselig.
Fordi det hadde vært så varmt den par uker før der var nesten ingen snø opp på fjella. Når vi var ut på tur lørdag vi brukte ski for den første 10 minutter men der var ikke nok snø for å bruke dem mer.
Det var helt nydelig opp på toppen og så kult å se en forskjellig sted i Norge. Resten av helgen vi bare slappet av og sete i sola for det mest parten. På vår siste kveld på hytta deres sov jeg ute på terrassen. Det var en helt perfekt natt for å sove ute, ingen skygge bare stjerne og måne.
Etter på var jeg hjem et par dager før vi reiste til vår hytta i Sverige for resten av ferie. Det var en kjempegøy tid, vi hadde masse tid å slappe av, vi gikk ute på tur nesten hver dag, og på lørdag vi reiste til Göteborg.
Været var så fint, det var over 20 grader celsius(rundt 70 fahrenheit) og sol hver dag! Lørdag var så fint fordi det var så varm og det var nesten sommeren i Göteborg. Jeg bare gikk rundt byen for noe timer og sett så mye forskjellig steder (jeg skal legge på noe bilder i den neste par dager tror jeg).
Det har vært en utrolig bra ferie og har vært så koselig å slappe av å arbeide med norske min og være litt bedre kjent med min vertssøsken. Nå at det er våren jeg er spent for å ha mer tid å gjøre noe ute.
Det er alt for nå, så snakkes seinere!
Jon
11 April, 2011
No way!!! Another post!!!
Well I am writing another post because 1) It has been a week since my last post and that seems like enough time between post and 2) my first class of the day was canceled meaning that I have only one class and not until 12!! So I am currently just sitting at the school wondering how to use my time when I thought I should come and update everyone on how things were going.
Everything has been good in the past week not much happened besides school and well school. It is kind of a bummer that my days kind of run together now but that can't be helped when you get into a routine with things. Although I did have a pleasant surprise on Monday because my physics class was canceled, meaning I only had an hour and a half of school for the day and was done at 9:30!!
Tuesday was pretty average, in fact the only thing I can remember about it was that my host mothers Aunt from Canada when I got back from school. Apparently she comes once a year and visits friends and family in different parts of Norway for a couple of weeks.
Wednesday school again nothing special, got home and just chilled out and relaxed. I really seem like a boring person. Again nothing special on Thursday either. Friday I had fag-dag in my sports class that was pretty fun. Some of it was boring but later in the day we went outside to play frisbee golf, which would have been awesome because it was warm and sunny but there was also a ton of wind which made it very difficult. It was still a lot of fun though.
Saturday I went out biking with a friend out on Nøtterøy, it was good to get out in the nice weather and just chill out. Yesterday me and my host family biked out to a ferry that took us out to an island just a little ways out and we biked around there. It was pretty interesting to see, especially since it is this tiny little island with only a couple hundred people and there are no cars, just bikes, a couple tractors, and a few four wheelers.
Overall the last week has been really nice weather wise also. It has been sunny and warm nearly every day, sometimes the mornings are a little chilly but by the afternoon it is totally perfect.
I can't believe how fast time is going though, and it makes it even harder because I am both looking forward to going back and also not wanting to go back. However I feel though I am excited to start up with college, a year later than most people but oh well.
Thankfully I got a lot of money through FAFSA but I will still have a bit more in loans than I would like, but it will be manageable. Money is getting a little tight here though which has been a little bit of a bummer, but I should be able to make it stretch to the end.
Anyway, that is my post for now, hope you guys enjoy reading it.
See you next time!
Jon
Everything has been good in the past week not much happened besides school and well school. It is kind of a bummer that my days kind of run together now but that can't be helped when you get into a routine with things. Although I did have a pleasant surprise on Monday because my physics class was canceled, meaning I only had an hour and a half of school for the day and was done at 9:30!!
Tuesday was pretty average, in fact the only thing I can remember about it was that my host mothers Aunt from Canada when I got back from school. Apparently she comes once a year and visits friends and family in different parts of Norway for a couple of weeks.
Wednesday school again nothing special, got home and just chilled out and relaxed. I really seem like a boring person. Again nothing special on Thursday either. Friday I had fag-dag in my sports class that was pretty fun. Some of it was boring but later in the day we went outside to play frisbee golf, which would have been awesome because it was warm and sunny but there was also a ton of wind which made it very difficult. It was still a lot of fun though.
Saturday I went out biking with a friend out on Nøtterøy, it was good to get out in the nice weather and just chill out. Yesterday me and my host family biked out to a ferry that took us out to an island just a little ways out and we biked around there. It was pretty interesting to see, especially since it is this tiny little island with only a couple hundred people and there are no cars, just bikes, a couple tractors, and a few four wheelers.
Overall the last week has been really nice weather wise also. It has been sunny and warm nearly every day, sometimes the mornings are a little chilly but by the afternoon it is totally perfect.
I can't believe how fast time is going though, and it makes it even harder because I am both looking forward to going back and also not wanting to go back. However I feel though I am excited to start up with college, a year later than most people but oh well.
Thankfully I got a lot of money through FAFSA but I will still have a bit more in loans than I would like, but it will be manageable. Money is getting a little tight here though which has been a little bit of a bummer, but I should be able to make it stretch to the end.
Anyway, that is my post for now, hope you guys enjoy reading it.
See you next time!
Jon
04 April, 2011
Annen blogginnlegg!
This post is in Norwegian, all you have to do to get it translate into english is to highlight the text and copy into the box that shows up with this link: http://translate.google.com/# Enjoy! :D
Nå er det tid for annen blogginnlegg! Det har vært nesten to uker siden mitt siste så nå er det tid for et nytt innlegg. Tid går for fort, jeg har mindre enn tre måneder igjen. Ikke mye har skjedde siden mitt siste innlegg men der var noe gøy i begge helgene. Også beklager hvis min norsk er ikke så bra, det har vært lit lenge siden jeg har skrevet mye.
Den første helgen etter mitt siste innlegg hadde jeg en langt helgen. Det var fordi jeg hadde fag-dag fri fra skole (boo ya!). På lørdagen står jeg på slalåm med min lokalkontakt. Det var kjempegøy og var en perfekt dag for å stå på ski, mye sol, klar himmel og ikke så kaldt ute.
Etter vi kommet tilbake fra Konsberg (ski-senteren) jeg gikk til en av de andre utvekslingsstudenter som hadde en bursdag fest på kvelden. Vi spiste middag (men jeg var litt seint fordi den tok mer tid for å komme fra Konsberg), etter middag vi reiste til en bowlinghall for å spille litt. Etter bowling jeg reiste til annen venn som hadde en bursdag fest, og var der for noe tid.
Dagen var langt men gøy, og på begge fester jeg treffe noe nye folk, hadde masse forskjellige samtaler og hadde en god tid. På søndag familien min hadde noe venner for kveldsmat så det var bra å ha noe forskjellig ting skjer i løpet av dagen.
Igjen ikke mye skjedde i uke bare skole men ikke mye mer. På fag-dag hadde jeg matematikk men vi bare hadde en halv dag fordi vi har en 5 timer prøve i mai at skal være fra 12 til 5. Så etter på jeg syklet hjem å slappe av. På kvelden jeg gikk med to venner for å se I am Number Four. Siste ting som skjedde i den siste par uker var på lørdag, hvor jeg gikk til annen fest med en venn.
Tingene har vært bra i den siste, det går bra på skolen. Noen ting er vanskelig på skolen men det er bra uansett. Jeg er i en rutine nå så ting går fortere, så ikke mye er så "spennende" nå. Våren er på vei nå, og det blir varmer og varmer i den siste par uker, og jeg blir så spent for sommeren, men på samme tid har jeg mindre enn 90 dager igjen. AGH!!!
Uansett, jeg er spent for å komme tilbake til USA og start med universitet. Det skal være kult å forstå alle som folke snakker om alltid igjen, for selv om jeg forstår mye nå der er ord og noe uttrykk at jeg forstår ikke.
Det er alt jeg har for nå, håper at dere nyte lesing.
Vi snakkes!
Jon
Nå er det tid for annen blogginnlegg! Det har vært nesten to uker siden mitt siste så nå er det tid for et nytt innlegg. Tid går for fort, jeg har mindre enn tre måneder igjen. Ikke mye har skjedde siden mitt siste innlegg men der var noe gøy i begge helgene. Også beklager hvis min norsk er ikke så bra, det har vært lit lenge siden jeg har skrevet mye.
Den første helgen etter mitt siste innlegg hadde jeg en langt helgen. Det var fordi jeg hadde fag-dag fri fra skole (boo ya!). På lørdagen står jeg på slalåm med min lokalkontakt. Det var kjempegøy og var en perfekt dag for å stå på ski, mye sol, klar himmel og ikke så kaldt ute.
Etter vi kommet tilbake fra Konsberg (ski-senteren) jeg gikk til en av de andre utvekslingsstudenter som hadde en bursdag fest på kvelden. Vi spiste middag (men jeg var litt seint fordi den tok mer tid for å komme fra Konsberg), etter middag vi reiste til en bowlinghall for å spille litt. Etter bowling jeg reiste til annen venn som hadde en bursdag fest, og var der for noe tid.
Dagen var langt men gøy, og på begge fester jeg treffe noe nye folk, hadde masse forskjellige samtaler og hadde en god tid. På søndag familien min hadde noe venner for kveldsmat så det var bra å ha noe forskjellig ting skjer i løpet av dagen.
Igjen ikke mye skjedde i uke bare skole men ikke mye mer. På fag-dag hadde jeg matematikk men vi bare hadde en halv dag fordi vi har en 5 timer prøve i mai at skal være fra 12 til 5. Så etter på jeg syklet hjem å slappe av. På kvelden jeg gikk med to venner for å se I am Number Four. Siste ting som skjedde i den siste par uker var på lørdag, hvor jeg gikk til annen fest med en venn.
Tingene har vært bra i den siste, det går bra på skolen. Noen ting er vanskelig på skolen men det er bra uansett. Jeg er i en rutine nå så ting går fortere, så ikke mye er så "spennende" nå. Våren er på vei nå, og det blir varmer og varmer i den siste par uker, og jeg blir så spent for sommeren, men på samme tid har jeg mindre enn 90 dager igjen. AGH!!!
Uansett, jeg er spent for å komme tilbake til USA og start med universitet. Det skal være kult å forstå alle som folke snakker om alltid igjen, for selv om jeg forstår mye nå der er ord og noe uttrykk at jeg forstår ikke.
Det er alt jeg har for nå, håper at dere nyte lesing.
Vi snakkes!
Jon
23 March, 2011
Birken og andre ting
Okay time for another update, I know I said I will write in both Norwegian and English but that takes forever, and I don't have enough time to do both in every post. So I have decided I will alternate between the two languages, and for those of you thinking "I won't be able to understand it." All you have to do is copy and past what I wrote into google translate. Yes it will not be a perfect translation but it will get my point across, and if that is still confusing just leave a comment and I will see what I can do.
Now time for the information. Not much happened the weekend after my last post except the other exchange student from Minnesota I met came over and we watched the first two Harry Potter movies because I have never watched them and he happens to be a big fan. Other than that though it was just a weekend to chill out. I got a lot of stuff done over the weekend which was nice though.
Not much haååened for the rest of the week, pretty boring especially because I am getting into a pattern now, so a lot of things are becoming routine, which means boring for the most part. Did decently well on my last couple of tests in school which was nice. For Friday me and the other exchange students had a class together with a first grade class (first high school grade, not like 7 year olds). It really wasn't very difficult and again pretty boring, but it was nice to have something different than usual.
After that it was back home to pack for the weekend, because we were heading up north because I was doing the Norwegian Birkebeiner on Saturday! So it was a pretty awesome weekend, it was definitely a hard race, and I didn't finish as quickly as I wanted to, but I can blame that on minimal training the past month or so. I still was able to finish in 4 hours and 12 minutes though, which still isn't bad for 54 kilomters with a 3.5 kg backpack and over two mountains.
We stayed with my host mother's brother and his family, it was a lot of fun to stay with them and get to know them all a little better. It was also really cool to see another part of Norway, it is really beautiful up where they are and towards Lillehammer. Definitely a really nice part of the country.
Heading back home on Sunday we stopped in Oslo to celebrate my older host brothers birthday which was earlier in the week. We went out to eat dinner at a pizza place in Oslo and went back to his apartment for dessert later on, then it was back home.
Back home which meant back to school in the morning. It really isn't so bad just hard to motivate myself knowing that it counts for nothing, but lately things have been going a little better.
Spring is starting to show itself, for example it got into the upper 50's lower 60's Fahrenheit or about 10-15 degrees Celsius. The sun has been out in abundance the last week and trees are starting to show small blossoms. It has been really nice with the added daylight, it starts getting dark around 7 now and we haven't even changed clocks forward yet!
I am really looking forward to the nice weather, being able to run and bike again and also being able to spend time outside in shorts! Over the last few days I haven't even needed to wear a coat, my sweatshirt has been plenty to keep me warm walking to and from the bus stop.
Things have been going good though and while there are some things that I am coming to miss (like driving) and other things that kind of get on my nerves here, it has been an awesome experience so far and I wouldn't trade it for anything.
It is hard to believe that it has been over 7 months already and that I only have like 3 months left, time really does go by too fast. It has also been really nice lately because I understand just about everything now and I can speak fairly well too, so I haven't been totally clueless in classes and when my friends are talking with each other which has been cool.
Anyway that is about all that has happened lately, if you have any questions just leave a comment or shoot me an email.
Thanks for reading!
Jon
Now time for the information. Not much happened the weekend after my last post except the other exchange student from Minnesota I met came over and we watched the first two Harry Potter movies because I have never watched them and he happens to be a big fan. Other than that though it was just a weekend to chill out. I got a lot of stuff done over the weekend which was nice though.
Not much haååened for the rest of the week, pretty boring especially because I am getting into a pattern now, so a lot of things are becoming routine, which means boring for the most part. Did decently well on my last couple of tests in school which was nice. For Friday me and the other exchange students had a class together with a first grade class (first high school grade, not like 7 year olds). It really wasn't very difficult and again pretty boring, but it was nice to have something different than usual.
After that it was back home to pack for the weekend, because we were heading up north because I was doing the Norwegian Birkebeiner on Saturday! So it was a pretty awesome weekend, it was definitely a hard race, and I didn't finish as quickly as I wanted to, but I can blame that on minimal training the past month or so. I still was able to finish in 4 hours and 12 minutes though, which still isn't bad for 54 kilomters with a 3.5 kg backpack and over two mountains.
We stayed with my host mother's brother and his family, it was a lot of fun to stay with them and get to know them all a little better. It was also really cool to see another part of Norway, it is really beautiful up where they are and towards Lillehammer. Definitely a really nice part of the country.
Heading back home on Sunday we stopped in Oslo to celebrate my older host brothers birthday which was earlier in the week. We went out to eat dinner at a pizza place in Oslo and went back to his apartment for dessert later on, then it was back home.
Back home which meant back to school in the morning. It really isn't so bad just hard to motivate myself knowing that it counts for nothing, but lately things have been going a little better.
Spring is starting to show itself, for example it got into the upper 50's lower 60's Fahrenheit or about 10-15 degrees Celsius. The sun has been out in abundance the last week and trees are starting to show small blossoms. It has been really nice with the added daylight, it starts getting dark around 7 now and we haven't even changed clocks forward yet!
I am really looking forward to the nice weather, being able to run and bike again and also being able to spend time outside in shorts! Over the last few days I haven't even needed to wear a coat, my sweatshirt has been plenty to keep me warm walking to and from the bus stop.
Things have been going good though and while there are some things that I am coming to miss (like driving) and other things that kind of get on my nerves here, it has been an awesome experience so far and I wouldn't trade it for anything.
It is hard to believe that it has been over 7 months already and that I only have like 3 months left, time really does go by too fast. It has also been really nice lately because I understand just about everything now and I can speak fairly well too, so I haven't been totally clueless in classes and when my friends are talking with each other which has been cool.
Anyway that is about all that has happened lately, if you have any questions just leave a comment or shoot me an email.
Thanks for reading!
Jon
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