3rd Week of School!

Whoops this one is also meant to be at the bottom. But this is Tuva trying to eat her ice cream haha.

This is kettlebells class, I didn’t mean for the picture to be at the top. Whoops.

Hey! I’m sorry for the break in posting, but it has been sort of crazy over here. We started our 3rd week of school on Monday, and with the 3rd week came the start of extra classes. There is a pretty long list of extra subjects that includes, volleyball, coffee bar, knitting, international food, music, art, and about 15 more. I got into volleyball (Wednesday mornings), Knitting (Tuesday afternoons), Kettlebells and Cross training (Mondays), language training which is mandatory for those learning Norwegian (Tuesday evenings), and choir, which is only in the spring. It is exciting to start learning other things and mingling with people we haven’t had the chance to interact with yet. Something else that started this week was our NLC class being in charge of morning assembly. After breakfast, all 100 students head to the Aula (Theatre) and someone gives a short presentation on anything really, there’s usually morning announcements, we sing a song from the Songbook, and then we start our school day. Each week, a different class/line is in charge of them! This week it was NLC. On Monday, Liv (Alaska) and Noah (Georgia) gave a little presentation about the differences between Alaska and Canada. Apparently Noah had been spreading a rumor that they were the same thing 😂. After that we had NLC until lunch (11:30), and then it was time for our first international food planning meeting. International food is another elective that NLC is required to do. It basically means we group together with people from our country and make one meal for the whole school that is special to us or kind of iconic. The US people still haven’t decided what to make, but we are discussing some classic Mac and cheese with breadcrumbs and some other stuff. Comfort food. Later that afternoon, I had my first kettlebells class. I honestly couldn’t tell you why I signed up for this. But I generally wanna get stronger. I think I can fully enclose my bicep in my hand. But no fear, in a couple of months I will be buff. Keegan is also in this class, and our teacher told us that in order to actually get in shape, we would need to be doing the kettlebells routine more than 1 time a week in class. The two of us decided to add two more workout to our routine. One on Wednesday and one on Friday. But let’s not just skip over the kettlebells thing. Damn. Swinging a big heavy metal thing around is not easy. I couldn’t really put my arms above my head the next day😬. It will get better haha. 

Also I met some new people that are pretty amazing. There’s Eric, Tuva, Sophie (Who is also my reading buddy!), Ola, and Lukas. There’s definitely more I just truly suck at Norwegian names. 

This is Erik on the left and Ola on the right. I have Ola’s cow hat. Iconic. 

On to Tuesday. Tuesday is a tiring, long day. It is the only day of the week that we have NLC class up until dinner time. Then, right after dinner we all head to knitting (Another required class for us), then language training, then supper. SO MUCH NORWEGIAN. Tuesday is basically a guaranteed headache. I don’t have any pictures from that day because we are required to put our phones in a little basket in Marianne’s class. It actually helps me focus so much. Oh wait! I forgot to mention! I got elected class representative for NLC. Super fun! Our role is basically to represent our class, so any ideas students have, I bring to the meetings and we figure out how to improve the school. We even had our first meeting with the principal already. We have a lot of ideas, some of which include a current affairs club, that I am in charge of, a language training class for Spanish, French, etc, and lots and lots of tea. 

On Wednesday, we had NLC until lunch, and then I had my volleyball elective. It was fun, but 2 hours of volleyball is a lot. It took a while for me to gain my confidence and actually try. I’m not a super sporty person so it takes me a bit to find my stride. After that, Helena, Nora, Tuva, Sophie, Eric, Lukas, and I walked all the way to a nearby town to be down by the beach on a beautiful, blue day. I have lots of pictures from this adventure! 

My outfit haha. I would suggest not wearing a dress on a windy day to the beach. 

Nora and Helena!!

Sophie and I walked across the “shallow” water instead of walking to a bridge about 10 minutes away. We thought we could make it without getting clothes wet. It didn’t work out like that. 

Nora and the wonderful rip in her shorts hehe

From left to right. Lukas, moi, Tuva, and Eric.

Just for funsies. Noah in my glasses. What a guy. 

We had ice cream at the Joker, dried off in the sun, and took the bus back to school. We all sat down and sort of passed out, and we almost didn’t notice we had gotten on the wrong bus and we were halfway to Kristiansand. I’m glad I look up! We got off the bus in Tangvall and hopped on another one going in the correct direction. After we got home, we drank a lot of tea, watched the 2nd twilight movie, and played some Bullshit. My mom used to always try to teach me different card games, and she would say that when I go to Norway we will spend a lot of time playing different card games. She was half right, we do spend a lot of time playing card games, but it’s just Bullshit and Uno😂. 

It is now Thursday. Helena, Marlene, Chance, and I had morning assembly this morning. We did a 5 minute meditation and sang Wonderwall. Today is the only day of the week we don’t have NLC. Instead we have a crap ton of homework. Helena and I have been on and off napping in the couch room doing homework and drinking tea. A relaxing day so far. I don’t have any extra classes today, so I will not be moving from this spot on the couch. 

Ta ta for now! 

- Annika Mia