Almost 3 weeks

I thought I'd say a bit more about my classes since I had some requests. I only have two classes, ecology and statistics. The education system is much different than in America. I had one full week of stats, every day from 9-3, and I've been in my ecology class for 2 weeks now going from 9-12. After class....there's nothing to do....I don't really have homework, just a little reading. Most of the time I'm a tad bored. The classes are ok, not really hard, and I my attention span goes in and out a lot. I tend to pay attention more when I hear something funny, like when they replace all the v's in English with w's. Wigorous, wisible, wigilance, awailable, and wicinity are the ones that make me chuckle a little inside. I should really try to not laugh so hard just because they don't say things correctly. :) It's just so funny sometimes I can't help myself. Another word that made me giggle today was "trafficated." I'm assuming he meant that the area had more traffic than it had before. I had to write that one down.

One thing I noticed in my first week of ecology was one tiny means of communication that some Norwegians do. It really threw me off guard when I noticed it first. I was talking to my professor and he kept taking sharp intakes of breath at the same time he was talking and listening to me. It's like when we are surprised and you take a breath in really fast. So the whole time I am trying to ask a question to him, it sounds as if I am surprising him over and over. They take a breath in almost at the same time as they would say "yeah" or nodding in agreement. It really threw me off and it took me twice as long to get my point across because I didn't know that what I was saying was so profound as to surprise him with every word. I would have liked to see my face as I explained what I was trying to say. All I could think of was "what did I do??? What did I say?? why is he so shocked??" and I couldn't decide whether or not to go on. Very confusing! I've found out since then that not everyone does that here, just about a third, and some people don't take in quite as deep a breath as others. So beware if you come here that it's a cultural thing and not something you did or said that creates shock. :)

On my train trips last weekend I got to see three moose as I was riding along. They were all running from the train as we passed. One was a lone female moose, and the other was a female with a baby. So I got to see a baby moose! SO FUN! Velkommen to Norway!

I try a new candybar every time I go to the store so I can know which ones are good. So far, they are all good....so now I have to eat them all. I've recently become addicted to candy and cookies and cannot stop eating them. I might be the size of one of the moose I saw when I get home.

A couple people here want me to eat a real Norwegian breakfast....and it DOES NOT sound like something I'm a fan of. They say that it's not abnormal to eat fish for breakfast.....I say it is. They say that I look petrified when they tell me about what they eat. Well, I think they are right. I'm a cereal girl, sometimes waffles, pancakes, and scrambled eggs are good, but fish?? Luckily they said that I can spit it out if I don't like it. I hold them to their promise.

I talked to my professors and they said I could take my exams a little early and come home on November 5th so I don't have to switch my ticket dates again. There's no class in December and I'll only be missing about a week of class altogether, so I get to come home early! I'm so excited! I get to have Thanksgiving AND Christmas where they should be spent! They don't have Thanksgiving here and I would hate to miss out on the best meal of the year!

Oh, this is another thing that's new to me here. They have this stuff called "snoose." It's ground up tobacco mixed with salt and something else and they get a little ball of it and put it between their gums and top lip, right above their front teeth and suck on it. It creates a little bulge under the top lip and when they smile you can see it on top of the front teeth hanging down a little. They don't spit or anything like chewing tobacco, they just suck on it I guess. Anyways, it grosses me out a little. It looks like their teeth are black when they have it in their mouths. Today I gave it a new name instead of snoose. It has been appropriately renamed by me as "pirate chew."

We have to pick our topics for the masters thesis soon and so I might get to do a project on the Lynx. So cool! I also have options of doing a project with moose, deer, rodents, birds, or wolves. Any would be fun in my opinion, but he Lynx would be the best.

I haven't really been many places yet, just the city I go to church in and the other little town where I get groceries, so I don't have much to say on traveling or exploring. I have a nice view of mountains from my window and I go on bike rides often, so that's been my only traveling. I'm planning on going to Oslo soon, maybe I'll have more to say then.

That's about it for now!

Week One Down.

I'm heading into week two right now of my Norwegian experience with a good attitude. So far my classes are pretty low-key and I'm not sure if they know the meaning of the word "intense." The classes don't seem like they will be too hard, but I guess I'll find out quickly.

On Saturday I took my first of many pilgrimages to the town of Hamar so I can go to church on Sunday. I've figured out that if I ride a bike to the train stop, it only takes about 8-9 minutes, and then an hour and fifteen minute train ride to the town. It takes a lot to go to church now! There's no train going on Sunday morning, so every week I have to sleep at someone's house. I am incredibly fortunate that the people of the church have taken me in and let me come to their houses. I've been realizing over the past week just how spoiled Americans are when it comes to church. I will never take that for granted again...

Anyways....on my train ride there was a man standing by me and he asked me if I spoke French, and it just so happens that I do....however remedial it is! So this man and I had a whole conversation in French and it was so great! I was able to communicate in the language I'd studied for years. I never thought I'd actually get to use that skill! I understood as I was trying to get the french to come back how it must be for people speaking to me in English here. Sometimes it's scary to just start speaking in a different language that you're a little unsure about.

I went to the store for the second time today and was a little more successful than the first time. I still have no clue what anyone's saying or what anything says...but I'm really good at blocking everything out and playing inside my own little world. I find it's pretty amusing sometimes to imagine what people are actually saying when you really don't know....I get quite a chuckle out of some thoughts. Also, sometimes when people are speaking english, they don't necessarily sound like the English I'm used to hearing. Another funny one I "heard"......I thought my professor said we needed an "electrode" on excel....well, I certainly didn't know why the heck you'd ever need an electrode for statistics. Then it dawned on me that he said "a lecture"....I need to pay attention better.

There are wild blueberries and raspberries growing all over and I can just pick and eat them...pretty tasty...and free.

Another thing I've discovered since being here is Norwegians are just as proud of being Norwegian as Americans are for being American....they love their country.

I'm going to get some pictures in this soon, I promise.

I'm proud to be an American in Norway and to come from the land of the free and the home of the brave! It's fun to be the odd one. :) Yesterday some guy I met said "oh, you're the American?" Made me proud. :)

And just to confirm some myths that float around about the people of Norway....they are beautiful...everyone is practically. It's uncanny how so many people can be good-looking, it's kinda like being at BYU again.....only WAY different. I never knew there were so many blonds in the world.

The First Few Days

I had a few hours between my train rides where I found out where the church that I will be going to was. It just so happens to be about a block from the train station in a little town called Hamar. I couldn't find it at first, but I finally recognized the name plate with the familiar block lettering of the church. Luckily I found that because I certainly couldn't read what it actually said. Most people speak English in Norway, so it's nice to know that all you have to do is ask for help, and they are very happy to help in any way they can.

I found the church building, or floor of the building as the case may be, and I happened to be in time for the last 10-15 minutes of Sacrament Meeting. I had absolutely no clue what they were saying, but it was so nice to be there among the Norwegian saints. It turned out that there were several Americans within this little branch of about 20 people. It wasn't hard to find them! There was even someone translating for them, which makes me so happy! At the end of the meeting, I met several people and was graciously forced to go home with an older couple for dinner. This is when my Norwegian experiences started....

Before I went home with the couple, the Holths, I was told that they would be having "fish pudding." Now I don't know about the rest of you, but that doesn't have the ring of something that's particularly good to the taste buds. She, Sister Holth, said that it's ground fish mixed with milk, spices, and something else that I don't care to remember. With some luck I got out of eating it.....but who knows what is next.......but don't get me wrong, the Holths are great, I love them and they are good representatives of the caring people of Norway.

The Holths dropped me off at the train station after dinner where I then completed my last leg of the journey to Evenstad. While riding the train we stopped several times in different towns along the way and I took in the beauty of Norway. The whole train ride is along a giant long lake that really looks like a river. The train finally got to the Evenstad stop after a while and there wasn't even a station or hut or anything. It was just a stop....you get off and there's no concrete slab or anything, just gravel. (ok, so there really is a little hut as you can see to your right in the picture). Evenstad truly is in the middle of nowhere, just like they say on the website. There were two other students/interns there to meet me and they took me to my little box/my dorm room on campus. By this time of my journey, all I wanted to do was sleep. The kids kicking my seat during my 8 hour flight didn't give me much time to sleep and the other trips were so much shorter that I really didn't sleep but a few hours total.

The next day I went shopping at the little grocery store for the first time, which is about a 15-20 minute drive away from the campus. I had no idea what was in the boxes and packages because it's all written in Norwegian. I did see some Special K, which I snagged quickly, and if I need some chocolate, they've got some Twix (which just so happens to be my favorite candy bar). The people I went with had to help me shop....that's embarassing....can't even buy food without help. You should've seen me trying to get a bottle of water at the airport, I had to ask the lady if it was just regular water without anything in it because for all I know they could put spinach and fish pudding in there and I'd never know the difference. Plus, the bottles are fancier than they are in the US and they kind of look like liquor bottles....maybe that's why they cost so much too.......I had heard before I came here that a McDonalds meal could run me around $30 and now I know they weren't kidding..... (the picture is in Koppang, where the little grocery store is)

After the shopping I got a tour of campus....which took about 15-20 minutes looking at ALL the buildings...3 buildings precisely....and one's a student bar connected to some dorms. The newest building on campus is the one I go to for class and every time you enter, you have to take off your shoes. Yes, take off your shoes. You are not allowed to enter the building with shoes on. So every day I go to class, I go in just my socks. They like to keep the newer building clean.


pic on top is the campus sign welcoming you and the red building is the clean building where you have to take off your shoes.

I haven't worn anything but wintery clothes since I got here. I stepped out of the airport in Oslo and I had to put on my heavier jacket. It was great! So nice to get out of the 100 degree weather! It's been in the 50s and 60s since I got here and I love it.

Some things that I make me laugh:
1. One name here is "Knut," actually pronounces "K-noot" and every time I think of it, it makes me chuckle. Sometimes you feel like a Knut, sometimes you don't.....
2. Taking off my shoes to go to class
3. There are happy dogs everywhere, they are allowed in the housing.
4. Sometimes Norwegians don't wear deodorant....sometimes it's not so funny....luckily the younger ones do...
5. The word for an orange is "appelsin," what a surprise if you expect apple juice and get some orange juice instead...
6. When I try to pronounce peoples' names and they look at me funny because I ask them to repeat it, and then I slaughter it over and over again.
7. When the word I have to type is actually "skoglemen" and I write "skogLEMON" because that's how it sounds. I got quite a laugh out of that, as did the people around me.
8. When you go to a barbeque and you don't know if you should eat anything. I had a hamburger, but it did not taste like your standard hamburger...it didn't really look like it either....who knows what I ate....but they did CALL it a hamburger.

I'm sure there are more stories to come, but I'm all out of juice for the moment.

Travel to Norway....

I'll start by saying that if you are going to buy a plane ticket to Norway, make the return date within 90 days of leaving....otherwise, the airline won't check you in to your flight. I learned this first-hand. I was at the airport ready to send myself off for 4 months and because I didn't have my visa yet and I wasn't returning for over 90 days, they wouldn't check me in! You can visit for up to 90 days, that's it, there's no way around it without a visa. So as I was talking to the airline people trying to switch my ticket to the 90 day window, I missed my flight. That was the start to my journey. After almost 3 hours on the phone I finally got my ticket switched (with a nice large fee) to the next day and returning within that magic 90 day window. I was off. Three airports, 3 planes, and 2 train rides later, I finally arrived in Evenstad, Norway. From leaving my house at 4:30 am in Crowley, TX to finally arriving in my dorm room in Norway at 8 pm the next day (norway time), I believe I was traveling for about 32 hours altogether.