Hallo-Weekend!

I must say it SUCKED having to get up at 7:45am for a 5 hour class after getting home from Scotland, but I survived.  Lots of people noticed that I was absolutely exhausted after being up so late every night.  Whoops!  But, it was the first session so I had to go, and I am looking forward to it.  It is my "Social Work with Groups" class, which I have already taken back home, but this is run WAY differently.  I think it sounds like it will be a pretty interesting class.

After finding out that I do have exams here, Friday was dedicated to homework (the beginnings of it).  It is mainly a lot of reading, a few papers, small homework assignments, and a huge group paper/project/presentation in my 3rd year class.  The exam is an oral exam, and it will cover three of my classes in a 15-20 minute discussion with 2 teachers.  Since I am amazing at talking :) I'm sure I will do fine, but it is still A LOT to prepare when we have absolutely no clue what to expect from the teachers.  Very different from what I'm used to at Concordia...

But then of course, it was Halloween!!  I got a few essential groceries during the day, made a pizza for Anette and myself, and we had some girl time in my room before we headed over to party with the boys at Aleks' place.  We didn't dress up, just wore cute tops and boots.  I am so not girly, but I LOVE dressing up to go out or go to a formal event.  We did our hair and makeup, and caught up on some necessary girl chat. 

I think there were about 7 of us in Aleks' room.  We listened to music, watched the usual YouTube videos (we're obsessed with Bed Intruder), played some card games, and drank.  It was a really fun time!  Eventually we headed downtown in a cab (super expensive!) and met up with some other friends.  We did a little dancing at a bar (to super old music) and ended up walking the whole way home...but not without a little drama of course.  I tried to get Filip to go in the peacock fountain at National Theater with me...but he backed out :(  And Aleks and I, having the ridiculous brother-sister relationship that we do, decided to get in a physical fight in front of the royal palace, yes we were THOSE people.  We were a little violent, but once we got home, everything was fine, just like we told the others it would be.  I have plenty of bruises, but that's what siblings do...beat the crap out of each other, no worries! 

I really love the friends I have here.  Back home, I am the person who is friends with everyone and has friends across all groups.  For once, it is nice to have a tight core group of friends that I know I can ALWAYS count on.  We call each other "The Crew" and it is so true.  We are the best and I don't know where I would be without all of them.  I love you guys, "for real"!!  Can't wait for our reunion in 2 years!!

G*Las Vegas!

Sunday was a mish-mash.  Jason didn't have to work finally, so we had some time to spend together.  We went to the cathedral in Glasgow, along with a small museum, and the Necropolis (City of the Dead).  I was really lucky to have nice sunny weather while I was there!  The buildings have so much character in Europe, I'm not looking forward to going back to the modernity of the US.  Selina came with Jason and I, but she HATES sightseeing, so we headed home pretty quickly in a cab (which are insanely cheap, loved it, especially compared to Norway)! Everything seemed (and was) so much cheaper, so I fully enjoyed the break from the expensive nature of Norway.  I forgot to mention our diets for the time that I was there: frosted flakes, pizza, pasta, and alcohol.  All a college student needs right?  We did indulge on a little KFC family meal one night though...delicious! 

The Cathedral

Sunday night we went out to a club called Bamboo, if you go before 11pm you get in free.  It was pretty dead at first, so we had the chance to sit and relax before it got crazy, which it did.  There were lots of different rooms and our little group of 5 somehow kept getting split up.  I became known as "the girl with the Arabic tattoo" when the others went out for smoke breaks.  We had a camera mishap, but Selina worked her magic by saving the battery from the floor and drying it off :)  so we still have pictures!

Jason and I at Bamboo

On Monday, Selina and I went to shop at Primark while Jason was at school.  It's a huge store with ridiculously cute clothes for cheap!  We spent over 2 hours there, Selina got a few essentials (since she just came to Scotland from Germany), and I came away with 3 PAIRS OF SHOES!  I finally got some tall boots, another pair of ankle boots, and some tiny white high-top shoes.  Somehow I fit them all in my suitcase and got them back to Norway.  Success!  That night Selina went back to their Dad's house, she's such a great girl, so glad I got to spend time with her! 

The next 2 nights while Jason was working, I made myself at home in the flat...usually watched a movie, and read a magazine in Jason's room before he got home.  Then we would chat a bit, but since he was pretty tired, we usually just got to bed.  On Tuesday Jason and I took the bus to Stirling to see the castle there.  We wanted to get out of Glasgow for a bit, and it was a new thing for Jason to see.  Of course, this was the ONLY day it rained...the one we decided to be outside.  But we found the castle, ate some homemade sandwiches from a little shop, walked in the rain, and enjoyed it.  It was there that I remembered that I am actually SCOTTISH!  I should have looked more for our family plaid, but it never really crossed my mind until I was gone :(    

Jason and I at Stirling Castle

Tuesday night I had the privilege of cutting Sam's "daisy dukes" from jeans ("trousers" because "pants" means underwear!) for his Katy Perry Halloween costume.  Him, Kieran, and myself hung out in Sam's room all night talking about old stories, friends, and fun.  They are really fun guys, super crazy kids, and it made me miss living with guys (TKE boys) back home!  Boys are always more exciting and interesting than girls.  I packed up my things that night so that when Jason got home from class on Wednesday, we could walk and see the University of Glasgow before we got me to the bus station at 2pm.  It is a really beautiful place, and I wish we would have had more time! 

The University of Glasgow

The one thing I hate about Europe...that you HAVE TO take public transportation all the time.  My flight left at 6:15, but we had to leave Jason's at 2 so I could catch my buses and check-in.  I was completely exhausted when I got back to my place in Oslo after midnight.  10 hours of traveling for a 1.5 hour flight, silly right?  I guess that's one positive to having cars back home!  All in all, I had an AMAZING time in Scotland, it was nice to speak English :)  I've already talked to a friend who studied there last year about moving there for a bit after graduation.  ...Here's to the Future!!

Umm, You're Driving on the Wrong Side of the Road!

On Friday the 22nd, I headed out on yet another solo adventure.  I went to Glasgow, Scotland to stay with Jason for 6 days!  Jason was a German exchange student at my high school my junior year.  He has been back to the states twice since then and is really great at keeping in touch with people.  So I knew I had to go visit him, and when I saw I had a reallllly long weekend, I booked my trip!  One of my flights only cost around $10!  On my way there, I have never used so many means of transportation in one day...or even a week!  I took the subway to downtown Oslo, caught my train, rode a shuttle bus to the airport, flew to the UK, another bus, and Jason's Dad picked me up at the station in a car.  BEAT THAT!  I was nervous to meet Jason's family...but when his dad showed up, he was drunk and I could see his tattoos.  Immediate relief :)  They were awesome!

The airport I flew from was really small, so it was easy to navigate.  I'm getting much better at doing this all by myself!  I hate that RyanAir is first come, first serve for seating, some people got a little crabby...I didn't care.  My first flight, there was a group of 17 guys heading to Edinburgh for the weekend to party.  Needless to say, they were well on their way before we left.  They were singing songs on the plane and at one point, someone came on the speaker and said "Boys, you have beautiful voices, but for the sake of the passengers and crew, please quite down."  It was hilarious!

I arrived in the pouring rain, late at night, and found my bus.  When I had to transfer and cross the street, I was like..."Whyyy are they driving on the wrong side of the road?!"  DUH!  I made it to the station after about an hour and got a hold of Jason's Dad and sister, Selina.  They were having troubles finding it, but after about a half hour, they found it and picked me up.  They had been waiting at the pub that Jason works at now.  They were sooo nice, and Selina spent the weekend with us at Jason's.  She's a crazy little chica, but I loved her, she's my new unofficial little sister!  Friday night Jason worked late, so we just relaxed and chatted a bit.  He had to work and go to class quite a bit while I was there, but luckily his roomies and sister were really fun. 

Saturday night we went out to The Garage (the pronounced it like gayr-ij haha).  It was a huge place with pretty good music.  We spend most of our night on the stage dancing our butts off with each other.  It was really nice to be in a club and not have to worry about creepy old guys being all over you, such an improvement from Minneapolis or Fargo!  That didn't stop Selina from almost beating some guy up, and me getting hit in the face because I was close to another fight...ahh the adventures!  We stayed out pretty late and Jason was thrilled when we came home being loud after he had worked all night.  It definitely is true about Scottish people drinking a lot, and often! 

Boarder's Paradise.

After a fairly stressful night and getting much needed sleep, I set out one afternoon last week to relieve a little stress.  There are always guys skateboarding at City Hall in Oslo and I have always wanted to go there and do some photography.  I love photography and used to think it would be neat to do it for extreme sports.  So I finally did it!  I was at City Hall for over 2 hours and came home with over 200 pictures.  Towards the end, they were lining up and doing runs right in front of me so that I could get better pictures :)  Here are some of my favorites...feel free to comment.

I Get It Now.

I am really starting to love it here in Norway.  Time is going SO fast (just like everyone says it does).  The more people I meet and the more places I see make it hard to think about going back to my seemingly boring life in Minnesota.  I have realized that I love seeing, eating, trying, and learning new things...  I almost feel like a new person, and I don't want to fall back into my old life when I get back.  I need a change when I get home!!  I am thinking of moving out to Colorado with my brother after graduation to see what happens!

I have a friend who has studied abroad three times, and when I got here, I told her she was absolutely crazy...but now, I GET IT!  Studying in another country is absolutely AMAZING!  I am so glad that I really pushed myself into this opportunity.  I was so comfortable at home, but knew I needed to do something before I graduated and became a "big girl".   For some reason, I ended up in Norway, and I am so lucky to have met some of the people I have.  Currently...it makes me more sad to think about leaving them all here than thinking about the people I miss back home.  I will absolutely come back to Norway some day...hopefully soon!

Evenstad...Just Like Home

On Friday, October 15th, I got up really early to head into the city and catch my train to EVENSTAD!  Jordan Lutz (who I worked with for 2 years at Phonathon) and Rachel Ward are also students from Concordia studying in Norway.  Except, they live in the middle of nowhere!  Good thing for me, I had been craving the country for a while.  I love living in Oslo because there is lots to do, but being from a super small town, I was getting a little stir crazy and had the need for some nature.  After about 3 hours, I saw Jordan's lovely face waiting for me at the little train stop.  We made the short, cold walk to their campus.  It essentially looks like a farm, the buildings look older, and there were dogs and horses.  It felt amazing to breathe fresh air! 

We chatted a bit, and went to get some lunch.  Rachel and I shared a moose burger, absolutely delicious!  Apparently on Fridays at 2pm, there are free waffles, so we hit those up as well...but with sour cream and jam.  It sounds awful, but it tastes amazing, yummm!  It was really nice to talk about Concordia, reflect on our time so far in Norway, and just talk in normal English.  Jordan had bought supplies to make wine, so while Rachel did some studying, we started making a batch.  I haven't yet heard how it turned out!  Later on, Jordan, Dan, and I headed over to Kjetil's place for a Norwegian dinner he had made.  Since it was herring (YUCK!) I just went for the company and reggae music.  I asked if he was half Jamaican...when I met him he was wearing Bob Marley and constantly said "Ya Mon".  Kjetil is a super blunt and harsh person, I loved it.  We got along really well giving each other crap, it was nice to have someone who can handle my attitude. 

That night was the Halloween party at their student pub.  We got dressed up as our alter egos: girly girl, ballerina, and shadow, and had a few drinks before heading over.  The pub is small and cozy with a pool table and couches and the "bartenders" are students.  Some people hardly recognized me in my straight hair and a dress!  We had a really fun time dancing and playing cards and pool.  I tried Karsk (their moonshine and coffee), it was awful.  When I went back to Rachel's room after 4am, there were still people dancing and drinking the night away! 

Saturday night we went to a birthday party down the hall for Silje and Gabrielle.  There were delicious baked goods from Gabrielle and we played SingStar.  Blue team rocked the house!  Sadly, trying to sing in Norwegian did not improve my language skills at all :(  Afterwards we watched a bit of "Robin Hood, Men in Tights" and headed to bed because Rachel and I knew we would talk and be up forever anyways!  We did...even though this was our first time meeting in person, it felt like we had been friends for a long time.  Her and Jordan were so kind to me and we all got along fabulously. 

Sunday morning Jordan made us crepes for breakfast and we had lunch right after!  Ricardo's family made a Portuguese meal of beans and sausage for about 14 people.  It wasn't my favorite, but it was tasty and had PROTEIN which I am definitely not getting enough of over here.  I also gave Jordan a haircut (with the help of Dan) and it turned out to be pretty decent!  *At this point I have given 2 haircuts and done one coloring..Maybe hair is my secret calling?*  Before I left, I got a hug from Eirik when he got home from moose hunting...nothing like hugging a guy carrying a gun to bring your mind back to good old Litchfield, MN.  He was the one who stayed up with me until 4 am Friday night even though he had to be up really early for work the next day, what a trooper!  I left that evening at about 6:30 and got back to my place in Oslo pretty late.  I had an awesome time in redneck Norway and I would love to try to get back before I go back to the states!  I met some really great people and I have a feeling I will get the urge to get out of Oslo again!

Lost in Larvik?

After my mom and grandma left, I was absolutely exhausted, but luckily we had a break from school that week, so I had time to relax and reflect.  I mainly lounged around, did laundry, and somehow managed to accomplish NO schoolwork...somehow.  Friday (October 8th) Anette and I invited Susanne over for dinner.  We made a Chinese Wok, which turned out really yummy, and had ice cream for dessert!  Anette and I are still working on our rice making skills though, but we'll get there ;)

On Saturday, we decided that we wanted to get out of Oslo.  Filip was once again our tour guide, and our floormate Henny joined us on our bus trip.  We rode for about 2 hours, to Tønsberg, which is south of Oslo.  It is a very old city with lots of character.  We walked along the sea and saw LOTS of jellyfish :) ...got some postcards, which took Anette FOREVER to choose, saw old homes, and what is left of a castle there from the year 871.  It was a really beautiful and relaxing city.  I had my first McDonald's so far in Norway, and we ate by the water...only to get realllly uncomfortable when  the seagulls started to swarm!  Anette tried to make healthy choices, but totally crumbled when she saw our yummy burgers and fries, so she ended up going BACK to McDonald's...hilarious!  


When we decided we weren't quite ready to head back to Oslo, that the day was beautiful, and that we were only "30 minutes" from Filip's hometown, we decided to catch another bus to Larvik.  Wellll...we got the bus that went through the countryside, and not on the highway, so it ended up being a 2 hour bus ride.  Quite disappointing, haha, but it was an adventure!!  We made it worth it.  We saw a few sights, breathed in the fresh air, and ended up at a delicious Chinese restaurant.  So good to eat some REAL FOOD because more often than not at home I don't make myself a real meal...  Then we had to find our way back to Oslo.  After asking a few people and finding a bus schedule, we realized that the last bus had left over 2 hours earlier, whoops!  So we bought more expensive train tickets that left pretty late at night and headed to a gas station to entertain ourselves for a bit. 

Then we had to stay awake the whole train ride home so we wouldn't miss our stop, even though we were all exhausted after our long day outside.  Luckily we had Henny's I-Pod and had a dance party, even one of the workers on the train joined in a bit, and she was really nice to us every time she came by.  When we finally got back, after 11 pm, Sebastien was so nice to come pick us all up and bring us back to the school.  


It was a fun day, being spontaneous every now and then is interesting!