It's official. I can be Norwegian for 9 more months.

Today was a good day for me. I finally got my visa, I finally got my "D-number" which allows me to open a Norwegian bank account, AND I got to get pulled around on a go-cart by dogs. What a day!!!!! I am allowed to stay in this grand country officially for 9 more months, according to the little visa sticker now affixed in my passport (funny side-note, there is a picture of me that goes with the visa and it looks like I'm about to hurl....hopefully that's not some kind of sign or something). Also, I have a foreign bank account now....does that mean I can do sneaky things with money??? Or does that only work with "swiss" bank accounts? All of my money is Norwegian at the moment, so it doesn't matter either way I guess. :)

So the best part is that I got to get pulled around by dogs today. My friend will be doing dog-sledding in the winter and before it snows, the dogs get trained on this dune-buggy/go-cart contraption with wheels. The ride was so fun! Today the "retarded" dogs got trained....which means the dogs that don't go on the normal runs or the ones that are too small, young, oddly shaped, weak, or sick. All it meant was that we went a little slower up the mountain. This happens to be one of the only pictures I got because, of course, on my 3rd picture my camera's batteries died. I will hopefully go on some more rides, maybe even with the bigger dogs....and I'll get more. This is what was in front of me on the ride, I was sitting on the cart connected to all those ropes and my friend Eskil was standing behind me. As you can see....there's no snow yet....

I got to go to Oslo last weekend for stake conference (for the non-mormons, it's a regional meeting in the church)....I figured out that Oslo is where all the mormons are hiding in Norway. I never knew there were so many. The stake covers all of Norway, but I think the vast majority of the people live in Oslo. The meeting was in Norwegian, which is normal....but that means I don't understand anything and this time I had no translator. Basically I just had to imagine what they were talking about for 2 hours. :) Luckily some of the leaders that came to speak are from England, and didn't speak Norwegian, so when it was their turn to talk, it was so nice to hear a church meeting in English again.

I'm coming home in a little over a week, and I gotta say....I don't really want to yet. I've been enjoying myself here and there's too much to do with school! I will be taking a final exam over the phone and turning in a paper while I'm at home. Not so sure how everything's going to work, but oh well! I would change my plane dates again...but I don't really want to pay another $300 to change it AGAIN. On the other hand, it'll be sooo incredibly nice to have my car again and be free to go anywhere at any time. :) I've missed my little Red car. I will be coming back again in January for semester #2, that's when I get to do all the fun stuff in my classes....like track animals......oooooh.

Here's a pic of a great rainbow that was here the other morning. It made a complete arc across the sky...although you can't see it....it was so pretty. (the 2-story red building is where I live).

I don't have many funny things to say this time, but have changed the name of pirate chew a tiny bit. When people spit the wad on the ground, it looks like poo, so I now use pirate poo and pirate chew interchangeably. I'm so clever. :)

Oh, almost forgot something.....I got to drive a couple weeks ago. I found that it's hard to know what to do when driving when you don't know what the signs mean. None of them have words on them.....good thing there weren't many cars around, I might have caused accidents....how are you just supposed to KNOW what to do??? Maybe I shouldn't drive next time. :)

That's it for now....I'll probably see most of you soon! Ta ta.

I don't want your water, I have a blue bottle.

I have been thinking a lot lately of just how much people are blessed and don't realize it. This post might be a little more on the serious side. I look around me every day at the beautiful land of Norway and am in wonder of it's people and blessings. The people here have life sooooo good. They realize that a little, but really have no idea of just how good they have it. If I didn't love my own country so much (and it didn't cost an arm and a leg to travel here), I'd want to live here. I tend to wonder every day also about why the heck I am even here in the first place! Like I said before I came here..."Who goes to Norway????! " Certainly no one I know! (actually since then I have found several people that have been here or have family here)...but no one ever talks about this country or really even knows anything about it.....or knows where it is in some cases. :) As I have said in other posts, I am really in the middle of nowhere, just surrounded by low mountains and a river running beside the school. So, how on earth did I end up here?? Out of all places, the middle of Norway in a college with only about 120 students that no one has heard of, there is only one explanation of how I got here. It is somewhere God wants me to be. There are things I'm here for, there are people to meet, there are things to share, there are experiences to be had. It is an amazing thing to know that something divine is happening in your life. Just that one inkling of knowledge can make you a completely different person. I would say that since I got here, I have been overwhelmed with cheer. Yes, cheer. I have never been so cheerful all the time in my entire life and it is great! There are huge challenges here and so many things to get used to and adjust to, but it really doesn't matter one tiny bit. I haven't talked to one of my family members in over 2 months except through email, and that's a bit hard...but knowing I am in the right place at the right time makes up for every challenge I can think of. I love the people here and have found every day that I am the example to many people of what I believe in. I am the different one here, I am the "American," but I am also the American Mormon that doesn't drink alcohol, tea, coffee, use tobacco, watch bad movies, and goes to church every weekend. Let me tell ya, I've had some funny looks come my way! If I weren't so stubborn and strong in my church, I don't know what it would be like here. It's different on all accounts. How weird and interesting life can be. It changes in a heartbeat and I'm grateful for everything that comes my way.

As for an update on school and such. I'm still learning the Norwegian language bit by bit and am proud to say that I can say a few sentences. I have learned how to say "Go Away, you stupid!" and "I don't want your water, I have a blue bottle." I also know how to say "beer is gross, I hate beer" and phrases like "thanks for the food," "you're welcome," and some body parts. I also know the word for cheesecake...that always comes in handy. My teachers ask me often what some words are in English and when I smile when they say words wrong they say we're going to have an English lesson taught by me after class. I made the mistake of mentioning that they had no idea how much I laugh in my head when we're in class and my teacher (who is also the dean of the school) said that he notices that I laugh in class when he teaches. Oops. Good thing they have good senses of humor.

Oh, I have an update on "Drunk Tuesday." I have been informed that other people that I don't even know are now calling it Drunk Tuesday. I feel so proud for giving it it's rightful name. I also know how to say it in Norwegian and also to say "I hate Drunk Tuesday." What useful phrases I'm learning. :)

No more updates I can think of. I'll be coming home soon for the holidays and I'm pretty excited, but also sad to leave. It's bittersweet. I can't wait to come home and eat my heart out during the holidays. :)

Lindseyisms

If you know me at all....you will also know that I have an alternate name for just about everything and everyone. So, this being the case, I wanted to share some of the current nicknames I've given things here. I already mentioned "pirate chew" as the name for snus....the nasty stuff that makes the boys look like pirates. Another one that I can thank my friend Mackenzie for is "the small store," the small store is the only store in Evenstad, which is actually named Arnesen's Landhandleri....as shown from the picture. The original "small store" resides on Alcon's campus. :) Another phenomenon that has earned a new Lindseyism is the party here every Tuesday where everyone basically gets smashed and don't come to class the next day. I have deemed this "Drunk Tuesday." Drunk Tuesdays are odd to me.....if I did drink and I cared two bits about it, I would never decide on Tuesdays as the day to get smashed. Even my class....with all 10 students is less crowded on Wednesday morning because of the rousing previous night. I am not a fan on Drunk Tuesdays, but they're very popular here. I need to come up with an alternate plan and call it "No-BoozeDay Tuesday." I bet it would go over well.....

These three names: pirate chew, the small store, and Drunk Tuesdays, are all currently used by me and have been adopted by those around me as well. I have a weird way of influencing people. I have also told one of my brothers about Drunk Tuesday and we have decided that I need to have an ode to it...so here goes....

Ode to Drunk Tuesday

Drunk Tuesday, Drunk Tuesday
Wherever did you come from?
Drunk Tuesday, Drunk Tuesday
When everyone falls on their bum

The most lively night of the week
When all get together to booze (yes, I made that a verb)
Bobbing heads and slurred speak
Are only followed by snooze

Why on Tuesday you fall
One will never find out
But the day doesn't matter at all
It's all about the beer, no doubt

Drunk Tuesday, Drunk Tuesday
Only in Norway do you thrive
Drunk Tuesday, Drunk Tuesday
When Wednesdays are not so alive

The End

So, those are the Lindseyisms in full force right now...I have no doubt there are more coming.

VIVA NO-BOOZEDAY TUESDAY!

The 27th Trip Around the Sun

I'll have to start by saying that I had one of the best birthdays I've had in a long time! My dear Mommo sent me a huge box with all sorts of junk food in it and that's exactly how I started my day. Here a pic of the load.....

I woke up an hour early just so I could open this box on my birthday...it had been sitting on my floor calling my name for the past couple days and I was so excited to open it that I just had to get up early. :) I believe it was well worth it, don't you??!! The only thing they have here in Norway that is in this box is one little can of Pringles that costs about fifty bucks!! (maybe not that much in real life...). I was so excited to get some American junk food! I had just gotten myself away from my cookie eating habit that I gained when coming here and I decided that I couldn't buy any more junk...and I was doing really well....no junk food was in my possession....until I got my birthday box. And so the cookie habit has reinstated inself...but at least I didn't do it by myself. :)

The rest of the day was as good as the start....big boxes of junk food can put anyone in a good mood I think. It wasn't anything spectacular because of class and working on my report...but it was a great day nonetheless. My roommate and some friends sang the Norwegian birthday song...which I might say....is WAY WAY better than the typical birthday song. I made them sing to me and I had no idea that there was dancing in it too! It was soooo great. I wish I would've remembered to video it. Here are some pics of some friends that were there. I think all should note that they are all blond. I'm surrounded by blonds.
They made me a cheesecake and a big ole gooey chocolate cake...mmmmm. I think this is the second year in a row that I've gotten two cakes. :) Another friend was going to get me a birthday muffin before class....but the little food place was closed....it's the thought that counts. :) Oh, and perhaps another great thing about my day was that my sister Jessica and her little family had a birthday party for me at their house all the way in Oregon!! How fabulous is that!! She even did a special post for me on her blog! I'm pretty much one of the luckiest girls on the planet. :) So that was my birthday yesterday. I'm a happy kid!

Now for the Norway stuff. I started my Norwegian class two weeks ago today and have had three classes so far. My teacher is a little kookie, but very fun. I'm learning the language bit by bit and having so much fun trying to say things. :) I've been told that I say things with an eastern Norway accent. :) That's really funny to me. This country is smaller than Texas and they have different accents and dialects within a 30 mile range. Who knows what type of dialect I'm learning...pretty much everyone I talk to speaks Norwegian differently...so I think I'll just combine them all and make my own.

My classes are getting a little more tough now because of two big reports due within the next 10 days....but I'll get through. I have to really start buckling down now because I leave in just over a month and I have to take exams early. Yuck.

I have recently begun to tell one friend that he should stop using "pirate chew." It may be quite a futile attempt, but I have to try. I think everyone should be healthier...and less pirate-like. Aside from the pirate chew, this same friend took me to see a bunch of sled dogs today. Dog-sledding is pretty popular here and he lives on this small property with a bunch of dogs that are used for sledding. It was so cool! I forgot my camera of course, but there were around 22 or so dogs and 6 puppies there. I got a little dirty because I got jumped on....but it was TOTALLY worth it. The dogs get trained when there isn't snow by pulling a go-kart type of thing with a guy standing on the back. The guys said I could come sometime....oh man....that sounds like I just won the lottery! I will put it on my next post if I get to go...

Included in my out in the middle of nowhere Norwegian experience is the fact that there isn't anyone to cut my hair....desperation for a haircut is not a good thing. I can now say that I have cut my own hair....and it's not quite even. It's not tooooo bad, but I wouldn't recommend a self haircut if you can help it. :)

Now for my favorite part of the blog post....time for the fun stuff....this is what has made me laugh recently. Most of these have come out of the mouth of my kookie Norwegian teacher that doesn't speak English soooo well. One of her favorite things to say is "if you do a job." This at first brought back memories of the infamous job lists that my mom would give all the kids on our days off of school. BUT, this is NOT what it is. "if you do a job" means if you work hard, you'll do fine. So, if I do a job on this blog thing....it'll eventually get done. Also, to go back to one of the former posts with replacing the v's with w's....here's a funny one that really made my try to keep back the not-so-silent laughs. She was talking about the word "Hva" which means 'what' and has a silent H, so it's pronounce 'va'. Well, she was explaining how the H was silent when she said "the H in front of the Wee is not pronounced." (Wee meaning "V"). I just about died with that one. Another one...As I have said before, they really like their booze here, so some conversations revolve around beer. Apparently when you get really drunk on homemade alcohol, you can't necessarily control your body so well and when "you have to make a pee" your body won't do what your mind tells it to and you may run into the wall on your way to the bathroom. So, "if you have to make a pee," please be careful. I believe that I was chuckling a little out loud with this one. And to top them all off....here's another one verbatim...."we can't take you all at once, because you won't have the opportunity to expose yourself." This is talking about the oral part of the exam.....personally....I think I'd rather stay home if we all have to expose ourselves.....

I have also recently corrupted a Norwegian friend, so now he listens to how some English words are pronounced and laughs with me. Bad influence. Now we both laugh. I know I shouldn't, but some things are sooooo funny....as you can see from the above post.

All is well in Norway! Thanks to everyone for making my life so grand! I truly appreciate all that everyone does and I can feel how much I'm loved....even 5000 miles away! :) I love you all!!

Gratulerer Med Dagen!!!!

When you have to make a pee, please do a job and don't pee on the seat. :)