School has begun

The first day of school began bright and early Monday morning.  Here is what the current daily schedule looks like. 

Sorry, the text is small. 

We begin the day with breakfast and morning assembly. Breakfast consists of bread, cheese, meats, some spreads, and veggies. Drinks include apple juice, orange juice, tea, and coffee. At 8:45, teachers stand up for announcements and sometimes an inspiring bit of wisdom for the day. On Monday, the principal stood up and read some sort of story in Norwegian. Afterward, my roommate, Julie, leaned over the table and told me the story was about Jesus and a tree and stuff. hehe. I still don't know what story he told. Today (Wednesday), we had sticky notes stuck to our foreheads with unknown numbers on them. We were told to gather and follow the largest numbers we could find. After, Marianne explained the difference between being a 10 and a 1. All the low numbers were forced to follow others, while the high numbers had tons of followers. She told us that everyone is a 10, and should be treated as such. Try new things and introduce yourself to knew people she said. Anyways, after morning assembly, we all separate into our various main subjects, or lines as they are called here. As most of you know, my line is NLC, or Norwegian Language and Culture. Marianne is our teacher. She is just about the sweetest, most caring person I've ever met. We have spent most of our class time the last three days going over rules and regulations and touring the school. It's big. The NLC classroom is by far the biggest and most luxurious classroom in the school. Here are some pics. 

Many couches and stuffed animals. 

This is the main part of the room where we spend most of our time. 

At 11:30 we have lunch, and then the schedule varies from day to day. Some days we return to NLC, and some we have activities, trips, or some free time. 14:45 or 2:45pm is a light dinner, and supper is at 20:00. We eat a lot of food. A LOT of food. We signed up for electives yesterday, and those will start the week after next (I think).

I spend most of my time confused. Although I am so incredibly happy and excited to be here, my head hurts. The reality is that we are taking in so much new information every day, and I feel so pressured to learn Norwegian as fast as I can. I feel bad talking in English, and at this point, I am trying to take in as much information as I can. All of us international students go to bed late. wake up early, and fill every second we can socializing. It feels like a lot. 

Apologies for the rant, but saying exactly how I am feeling releases a lot of pressure for me. I do not want to create the appearance of being perfect here, because this experience is messy and confusing, and scary. Nevertheless, I wouldn't trade this experience for the world. I am so lucky to be here. Thank you, Norway.

Tiny Ikea bags and lizard keychains, courtesy of Nora (I finally remembered someone's name😍).

Late-night lake

My first swim in the ocean here in Norway. Chilly but worth it. Have you ever held a jellyfish? They are extremely fun to hold. That is Nina's hand, a friend from a nearby town, holding a little crab. 

I found a baby sea star!!!

Norwegian card game, somewhat similar to the card game solitare. Very fun, but confusing. From right to left we have  Helena from the UK, Keegan from the US, and William from Tahiti. All in the NLC line with me. 

All of NLC in the sauna. 

All right, well, I'm tired. Please please tell me what you would like to see me write about. Right now I am going with a play-by-play format because I don't know what is interesting to hear about. Ask questions. I miss all my friends in the US and I wish I could give my parents a hug. Thank you to everyone who reaches out to me, it really means the world.

Ta-Ta for now!