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.