Trondheim!

We had our mid year orientation with AFS in Trondheim recently! I wasn't really looking forward to it honestly, but it turned out to not be that bad! Only because I got to spend time with Afsers of course :)

We left from Molde around 14:00 and arrived in Trondheim finally around 19:00, it was such a long bus ride! But Vanessa, Javi, Chiara, Brenda and I were quite entertained. We listened to music and talked. But let me explain, we are quite loud when we are all together, always laughing and having a good time. I swear everyone on the bus hated us by the time we arrived in Trondheim haha ooooppppsss..

Once we were in Trondheim we had to walk through the city to a train thingy to take to our cabin. But first, almost all of the girls had to go to the bathroom, and bathrooms in the bus station cost money! It is soooo stupid. Anyways after that we all got on the train thingy and me and Brenda were just having a good time! I love my monkey haha! (inside joke; i am the princess and brenda is the monkey) After taking the train for about a half hour we had to walk up to the cabin, it wasn't too far, and JASON was there!!! (another inside joke, about jason from halloween hahaha) When we arrrived we ate hotdogs and did some exercises and then just hung out, and went to bed. By the way, all the guys got to sleep in bed, and all the girls had to sleep on the floor! Grrrr...

The next day we woke up and did more afs exercises and then we went skiing! Woohooo, but it was cross country skiing, which i like, but i LOVE downhill skiing. I stayed with Javi during the trip and it was reallllly funny, because we aren't amazing at skiing. SHe was going down a hill once on the tracks, and I was behind her, but she fell on the track and her ski stayed on the track and i drove right over it and fell too. It was quite painful but hilarious because two norwegian men told javi she had a really good fall and were giving her advice on how to ski down the hills hahah. After skiing we took showers and then some guys and girls went snow bathing haha. I didnt but I think i have to do that before I go home just because! But it was crazy they were just outside in boxers and throwing snow at each other!

The last day we just did more exercises and hung out again, overall the camp was fun. The "girl talk" was especially fun ;) I wish I could describe everything that we talked about, but I cant. I will just have to remember! And another funny thing was that Molde was always together. Like when they wanted our attention, instead of saying "nicole! Javi!" they said "MOLDE!" Molde also becamed associated with the song "no stress" and the dance that goes along with it...hehe..

Here are some pictures from the weekend:

update!

Tomorrow is our last day at school before vinterferie! Woohooooo!! But here's the thing, I won't be in norway during holidays, I will be in the USA.....

Yes shocking right..? Don't worry, I am not going home for good, I promise! Here's the thing, I really want to be a doctor. And there is a really good medical school program that I applied for awhile ago, and I got 3 interviews for it out of 4. So that is really really good! I asked them if we could just do the interviews over skype, but they said no. So now I actually have to travel home for 9 days and do the interviews.

I am actually really nervous about going home. I know it seems kind of strange, because I should be really happy to see my family and some friends, but I am scared. Don't get me wrong, I am really happy to see my parents, family and friends! I have missed them so much! But I have always imagined that moment in my head at the end of the year when I see everyone for the first time again. Its just really weird that its coming up so soon. I am not ready, but I kind of have to be haha. I am really really looking forward to seeing my animals again though! And eating american food! So it should be quite exciting!! Also, my best friend Maaike, who was in Berea last year as an exchange student from the Netherlands, is visiting the US at the same time I will be there! Our visits will overlap by 3 days. I am so happy I get to spend 3 days with her, because I haven't seen her since June 26th of last year! It will be quite an amazing reunion!! =] I have missed her soooo much!

There is something I am really kind of worried about though, the medical school interviews. I know I speak english, but I kind of speak 'stupid' english sometimes. I am worried I won't know the answers to the questions they ask or I will be really nervous. I mean I am sure it will all work out, but I really hope I get in. I really do want to be a doctor, it is my final decision, hopefully! I am just unsure of what I would like to specialize in. There's a catch though, if I get into this medical school. Classes begin in the 3rd week of June, so I would have to leave norway 2 weeks early :( I know its not the end of the world if that happens, but it really sucks. I am really looking forward to the last months in norway, its when I am happy and have friends and everything. I dont want to leave early! But I know it would be for the best because this is my future we are talking about, and I can come back and visit norway anytime. So if I do get into this school program, I will of course leave early and begin school in June. It would kind of suck because then I would have only 2 weeks to adjust to life at home, and to get ready for college, but I would just have to deal with it. And I won't have a summer vacation to just relax and spend time with my family and friends. But thats okay I guess.

I will definitely write about my little trip back home when I am back in norway :)

oops...

Jeg skal skrive på norsk nå, og etterpå på engelsk så at alle fra usa kan forstå :)

Så i morgen kveld jeg skal på en fest og ikveld jeg sa til mamma og pappa min, "Jeg har et spørsmål! Kan jeg på fest i morgen kveld med Brenda? Vi skal ikke drikke fordi vi skal på skolen torsdag!" Selvfølgelig de sa ja!

Jeg var borte i fem minutter og da jeg kom tilbake sa jeg...

"Ka betyr 'vors'?" Da begynte mammaen min å le fordi hun skjønte med en gang hva det var. Jeg var veldig forvirret! Også sa mamma at "jasså, så du skal ikke drikke i morgen?" Jeg var fortsatt forvirret! Da fortalte mamma at det betyr "drinking get together before the party" Da sa pappa "BUSTED!"

Jeg synes det var veldig morsomt og at jeg skulle dele det med dere :)

På engelsk nå!

So tomorrow night i am going to a party and tonight i said to my mom and dad, "i have a question! Can I go to a party tomorrow night with Brenda? We won't drink because we are going to school on thursday." Of course they said yes.

I was out of the room for five minutes and then I came back and said...

"What does vors mean?" Then my mom began to laugh because she knew what it meant. I was very confused! And my mom said "yeah, so you won't drink tomorrow?" I was still really confused! Then my mom told me that it meant "drinking get together before the party" And then my dad said, "BUSTED"

I thought it was pretty funny and that I should share it with all of you :)

AFSers just wanna have fun:)

This is a post dedicated to my AFS friends! Hopefully they dont get mad that I am about to put up a bunch of embarrassing pictures and videos of us!! ;)

Let me just explain this. When you go to another country with AFS your closest friends usually end up being the other AFSers. Because you are all going through the year together, they are the first people you meet, and they understand everything you are going through. There is just an understanding between all of us. I absolutely love the other Afsers here. Some of them are like family to me! My sisters:) And at the beginning of the year, when you dont have any friends from the country you are in yet, you tend to stick with your afs friends, hence the reason we are all so close. And when we hang out, we tend to do stupid things and just have fun. Because we have realized it doesnt matter what all the other people think of us. We should just be happy and enjoy ourselves while we are here, and people should accept us for who we are. And if they dont, that is their problem! Anyways, here are some pictures and videos of me and my afs family:) A lot of what I am about to post are just pictures and videos of memories I always want to remember!

This song will always remind me of Vanessa, along with Infinity haha!

Vanessa and I making tacos..we were twins that day...lol

Vanessa and I playing piano, yes we got really bored and decided to just play piano all day

Vanessa performing on piano

Vanessa is like my sister! I will really miss her when we leave :(

Now for some pictures!

Okay so one day Brenda and I went to a party and had a ton of fun. But when it was over we decided to just walk to get to my house. Which means we were walking from the bottom of the mountain 200 meters up to my house haha. Yes we are pretty crazy but it ended up being a really fun night. We had a ton of fun taking lots of stupid pictures!

And Brenda is my other sister! I love her :)

Burger King! Hahaha me, Vanessa, Brenda, Chiara and Javi. It was Brendas 19th birthday!!

yes we love tacos (haha I know brenda they arent REAL tacos;) )

Rock climbing:) Me, Brenda, Javi and Blake!

Javi and I :)

Chiara, Vanessa and Javi!!

Okay i think thats enough pictures for now haha. And for the final picture, here is me and my Afs sisters:)

A cozy family weekend in a norwegian cabin

This past weekend my family went to Bjorli. It is a wonderful skiing place that has tons of cozy norwegian cabins around it :) We left friday as soon as everyone was home, and it took about 2 hours to get there. We had to take a ferry to get there also which is pretty cool. Its kind of neat to take a ferry, its been so long since I have been on one before I came to Norway. Here is our cabin:



Anyways...when we arrived there it was -18 outside! BRRRRR.. but it was really nice weather. Snow everywhere! It was a very cozy friday night, we just had dinner and relaxed, played cards, just spent time together.

Saturday we woke up and had breakfast and then prepared to go duh duh duhhhhh SKIING! I was really excited cause I love skiing (even though I have only gone 2 times haha). This was actually my second time, so I was kind of nervous. Some pictures:


Ingvild, Anna(my sisters friend), Hanna og jeg


Pappa

So the first thing I did was go down barnebakken (beginners hill) and it went pretty well. I was feeling pretty confident, a little nervous still. So we decided to take the 6 person chair lift to the TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN.

I have always wanted to ride on a lift like this so it was pretty awesome for me! I was a little worried about getting off though, it turned out ALMOST badly haha. I forgot to move my skis off the bar thing that they had to lift up for us to get off, but I moved them last minute as my leg was raising with the bar. Oooops. At the top it was quite cold cause there was a bunch of wind, but the view was absolutely amazing.

Going up the mountain:

At the top:

I think it beats all the beautiful nature I have seen here so far. This was definitely the most beautiful!

Then we began to go down the mountain. We took the track that curved around the mountain so that it wouldn't be SUPER steep for me. Well the beginning was a little steep, it was the worst part. I was going way faster than I ever have and yelling while I was going down haha. My mom kept telling me I was doing good, but I felt a little bit out of control. Probably because I was really scared!! Then I got to the point where the rest of my family was stopped and I was going way to fast to stop where they were so I drove right off the path into really deep snow! It was really funny I was stuck and just laughing sooo much. Eventually I got up after my dad showed me how to and we were on our way down the mountain again. This time I followed my mom and just practiced going slow and turning. It was going ok for awhile until we came to another steeper hill and while I was going down I got a really sharp pain in my left hip, it felt like my hip was about to displace itself. When I was younger I was born with my hips displaced actually and had to wear a brace to put them in place. So it kind of freaked me out when I felt the pain in my hip so I went down to the ground to stop. It was really scary. And honestly going down the mountain was one of the scariest things I have ever done! Actually I think it IS the scariest thing I have ever done. My mom says it is good I was scared though, so that I was careful and didn't get really hurt. Anyways, I had to walk down the rest of that hill cause of my hip and just being afraid (yes pathetic me haha) And then I got back on the skis and at the end of the hill it was steep so I just ended up walking the rest of the way down. I felt really stupid but its okay. I put up a fight as my dad said! Afterwards I just rode the beginners hill over and over again practicing! Soon I will be ready to conquer the mountain again.

When we got back to the cabin we all just took showers and relaxed and around 5 we went to see the Bjorli Snøhotell! I was really excited because I have always always ALWAYS wanted to see an ice/snow hotel. Its like been on my to do list for awhile now. And thanks to my parents here I got to see one! I love them very much, and really appreciate it! The snow hotel was completely awesome. I have tons of pictures haha (courtesy of my dad)

The entrance to the hotel, the door is the only thing in the whole hotel that is not made out of snow or ice:

The church, yes you can get married there!

The rooms:

I know its a little creepy right? Imagine waking up to that!

The Ice Bar:

So basically the snow hotel was the coolest thing ever! I am really glad I had the chance to see it. Its also really neat because they have to rebuild it every year so it is never the same. :)

The next day we went skiing again. But I just decided to ride the beginner slopes again haha. Just wanted to be safe. I still had a lot of fun and I got to see my sisters and parents ski down the bigger slopes.

Hanna og Ingvild

Mamma

Hanna, Ingvild og Anna

While we were there, there was a bunch of ambulances and a german shepherd, police and a helicopter. It turned out to be that 2 snowboarders decided to go off the track, because the snow looked so nice outside of the track, and they ended up being stuck in really really deep snow. Its really dangerous so they had a helicopter come to save them, and the dog to sniff and find them. It was kind of scary, one of them was stuck in the snow for 30 minutes. So that is why I should never go off the path into the woods like I did on the skis that one time! I am pretty sure both guys are fine now, but here is the helicopter that was on the mountain.

It was kind of cool to think I was actually there when it happened. It was in the news like right after it happened.

On Sunday while we were in the car on the ferry, my sisters and their friend decided to start speaking english! They were saying things like "I speak English" "Mommy, daddy" "I am hungry, let's eat pizza!" It was really really cute! I was amazed at how good they speak english! I mean I have always known they can speak english and that they understand everything I say in english, but it was so shocking to hear them! It was really nice and fun :) Also, I feel so much closer to my sisters now, it is great! We actually talk now sometimes and I love it. I am really looking forward to getting to know them more and become closer to them!

It was a really nice weekend at Bjorli with my family. I am looking forward to the next time we go!! :)