Skype Sessions, Handball and 3 Foot Tall Norwegian Teachers

Hei alle sammen! So I guess I kinda broke my plan to blog every weekend, but my knitting needles needed some TLC so of course I had to tend to that...  Its been a good week though! Began this Sunday with the first Skype session with my family in The States since I left America, so that was great. :) You really do create a new appreciation for your family when not having talked for so long.

We decided to take the first three months and not talk at all because this is averagely the amount of time that it takes for a person to adapt to the new culture and to avoid future homesickness AFS usually suggests limited contact. I really think, although hard at times, it has definitely worked out for the best. It almost in a way, forces you to create a new life in your new country. Where there were difficult times that without our limited contact, I would have probably called my family back home and probably would have ended up missing them more, I talked to my family in Norway instead, which for me has always worked against the homesickness. But of course, I am so happy I can now talk with my family in America again. :)

So this last couple of days I have been thinking about it and I don't think I have really talked so much about just normal weekly stuff! Although my schedule largely consistent of school, as I am still 16 and sadly math is still important (blech)! I am playing Handball and as well volunteering at a Barnehagen (kindergarten) every week. This last week I also began a Swing Dancing class, which I am entirely horrible at, but hey, its a ton of fun. :)

For everyone back in America who are probably like me before I left the states and have never heard of Handball before, most simply explained, its kinda like if Football, Soccer and Basketball all had a baby. If that's understandably hard to understand, there is a link of a better explanation below, haha. Anyways, that as well is a ton of fun. I really don't have very much experience with sports, I've always found to be a bit on the little less athletic side? The only couple of sports I have attended outside of School PE (but lets face it, those rambunctious hours spent in a smelly gym, where even a game like Frisbee usually turns into a game of very intense dodge ball, does not count for anything more than just some extra time running), has been Volleyball and Slalom Ski Racing. Which correlates in no way to Handball so this has definitely been something new for me! Like I said though, I have really enjoyed learning and playing with the team.
HANDBALL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handball

Volunteering at the Barnehagen as well has been one of the highlights of the week for me, even if some days I wish I could come home with a little bit less dirt in my hair. They are some of the cutest kids ever. Also, they definitely help with learning Norwegian, there is no speaking English to a Norwegian five year old who's wondering why you don't want to eat the orange he just stuck in the dirt. They do however LOVE to count to ten in English for me, its pretty adorable. They also help me learn my colors and animals in Norwegian, it feels pretty funny to be learning from five year olds, but at this point they definitely know more than I do on the subject! Very strict teachers as well I have to say, "Nei Mary, Nei" seems to be the general response to a lot of what I say! Haha, but their little smiles and bright red cheeks from the Northern weather always make my Wednesdays so bright. :)

Other than that the rest of my week usually doesn't have very many set plans, but i'm not ever bored (unless I'm in math), it always seems like there are things to do.

I guess this sums it up! Hope everyone is well and is staying warm as this weather is changing! Hade!

Thought Trains, Awkward FE Student Moments, Halloween and Pie.

So, I sit down this evening with no specific bright ideas or subjects to write about. So I guess we will just see where this goes! Really trying my best at blogging every weekend and so far I think I'm doing fairly well? With my very easily distracted self, I do at times find it to be more of an uphill battle though. One second I'm writing about my day, when an email comes and suddenly I'm watching YouTube videos on how to apply make up to your legs (weird I know but seriously, its a thing). Oh and for my train of thought? Yeah, that left the station a long time ago.

Anyways, like always, life's good! I am understanding more and more Norwegian, so of course that is really great. Its usually a nice thing to be able to understand what people are saying around you, haha! Most importantly though I don't have to do the foreigner "Just smile, nod and pray to God that it wasn't a question" thing. It's always makes for an very awkward moment when someone asks something like, "Hi, how are you?" and your just standing there, smiling up to your ears, nodding away...

I'm really trying to force myself to speak more Norwegian though. It's incredibly easy to just speak to everyone in English, especially people my age. Everyone in Norway has an English course in school since they are in the fourth grade, so most can speak pretty fluently and I would say that the vast majority of Norway can at least understand most English. So as you can probably understand that's a good and bad thing. It's nice to always be able to get my point across, but it as well doesn't really force me to learn the language as fast as I could. So at this point I'm trying to speak a mix of Norwegian as much as I can with words I don't know in English. My family here has been so incredibly helpful with trying to help me learn as well, so that has been really nice to be able to talk to them and ask them questions. :)

Oh and Halloween was a couple days ago! In Norway it is not nearly as big of a deal as in the US though so a lot of people don't really do anything for it. Little kids still get all dressed up though and go trick or treating, so I met some very adorable Zombies and Witches. Adults and teenagers don't really too much special that day though, but I did carve a pumpkin! Taught my younger host brother the art of properly gutting and carving this orange fruit/veggie (actually, that's a really good question, is a pumpkin a fruit or a vegetable??) and he was a pro! We named them Bernard and Bernetta. Bernard though, rest his little seed filled heart, had his life cut short by a baseball bat and pavement. But he will always remain in our memories...

Norway doesn't do very much with pumpkins though, so they're often not in stock, which the day after Halloween I came to an understanding of. This of course being because of Thanksgiving and to me its most necessary dish, Pumpkin Pie. After going into the three different shops we have in Bjugn, I have to regrettably report that it does not look like we will be having any pumpkin pie this year. But ya know, if anyone feels the need though to smuggle a can in from the states for a certain someone it would not be put to waste...just sayin...