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!