Hei fra Norge!

Hei! Today, I have been in Norge for a week and 1 day! I was going to post earlier but "Say Yes to the Dress" with Norwegian subtitles came on, so ya know I had to study hard ;). But yeah! I can tell this will be a long post so if your in a hurry, i'll just sum this post up into one sentence.

Norway is simply amazing.

Flew into the country this this Friday and can I just say international flights are amazing?! NY to Berlin I was surrounded by beverages, blankets, two full meals, movies, German chocolate and Pink Floyd. My eight hour flight seemed like an hour. Air Berlin sadly lost all of the American AFS students bags and I spent my first few hours in Oslo filling out paperwork and talking in the airport. Later on our stay in Oslo they were all found and most of us received all of our bags in Oslo airport on our flight to our host families. The whole situation ended up being for the better, my bag ended up weighing 20 kilos in a large duffel, so it pretty much just played out that I didn't have to drag my  heavy bag through the streets of Oslo, the airport took it for me!

< Filling in the time in Oslo airport

We had orientation in rural Oslo from Friday to Sunday morning. The place was absolutely packed with AFS students and my gosh was it loud! The three days were filled with Norwegian, AFS guidelines, awesome people from all over the world and FOOD, I cannot forget the food. Norwegian food is kinda amazing and always contains some kind of bread, usually with the exception of dinner. After the orientation all of us got on buses and went back to Oslo airport where we then flew off to our separate regions (there are 5 in Norway), I am in region 4 which is Trondheim area, the regional groups join up multiple times in a year for different activity's and orientations. After landing in Trondheim we met up with our host families (and I gotta say, I probably have the best host family on the planet!) and headed home! Before however, we picked up some food, I can now say my first meal in Norway with my Norwegian family was.....................wait for it............. McDonalds! Although, I gotta say Norwegian McDonalds does taste different then in the states.

The Monday after I arrived I began school! I have never been so tired and wanted to sleep so bad in my life. With a nine hour jet leg weighing on me, waking up and functioning was difficult, but I of course managed! School in Norway is so great though, school starts and ends at different times depending on the classes that you take and the entire system is basically set up more like a college in which you are responsible for your own learning and getting to and from school. There are buses available and teachers willing to help, but in the week that I have been in school I have not seen a teacher "coach" a student once into schoolwork. Basically, compared to my previous school you are treated more maturely and in my opinion many of the students act that way as well.

Norway is super beautiful as well.... even in the rain :)
The hottest its gotten here is about 65 degrees Fahrenheit, which for me is perfect, hot weather has never really suited me... Here are a couple of pictures I've taken in the last few days that I have been here.

Well I could probably go on but my laptop battery is almost dead and it's getting late! God Natt, hope everyone is doing well! :)

Keep calm and go to Norway

I keep on having to remind myself to breathe... This is crazy amazing! I leave my tiny town in TWO days, I will have my feet in Norway in FIVE and meet my host family in SEVEN! Honestly, I can't believe how fast this is all happening.

In just a few days I will be leaving the only country I have ever known to completely start over in a foreign country I have never been to. I am leaving my home to go to another home, I am leaving my friends to make new friends, I am leaving my family to join another. I must admit, I'm scared! Probably more excited and anxious, but still the concept is daunting! Thankfully though, I was lucky to have an amazing host family that I am so excited to meet and be a part of! Having them definitely takes a LOT of the stress and fears away.

I recently said goodbye to most of my friends here in The Dalles. We had a hilariously fun Napoleon Dynamite themed party, hosted (of course) by my mom. Goodbyes are always bittersweet, saying goodbye to the people I basically grew up with was never meant to be easy, but of course, I will see them again! 

PROJECT PACK FOR A YEAR has basically taken over my room (to the point that I now have to sleep on the couch...). This monster of a project has been packed, unpacked and then repacked probably four times already and I still don't think it's right! I have decided to stick to my plan of one checked luggage bag and one carry on, so this will take some very creative thinking! I recently got some great advice just wear everything I will need in layers on the plane! Looking like a Pillsbury dough boy has never seemed more tempting...

Well god dag! Hope everyone is doing well, the next time I post I will be in NORWAY!!