AFS Midtårsopphold

On the 25th to the 27th of January we had our mid-year camp with AFS. It was basically to make sure everyone was still alive and well and hadn't frozen to death. But, it was also so all the exchange students could see everyone from our region again. There are about 15 exchange students that live in the same chapter and see each other all the time. Then, there are the rest of us. For instance, I am the only exchange student in Vestfold, my chapter, and the only exchange student at my my school. So this camp was the first time I was able to see the other exchange students since the last camp in September. Now, our next camp is at the end of June when we have to leave Norway.

All the exchange students in Region 2!

Friday January 25th was the first day of the camp. But first, we had to get to the camp which was basically in the middle of no where. It was at a camp site in Vegårshei. To get there I took the train. I didn't go to school that day because I had to wake up, pack, eat breakfast, pack lunch, and be on the train by 11:00. At 11 I took the train to Drammen. Then I waited in Drammen for an hour for the next train. The next train was to Vegårshei. On this train I met all the other exchange students. This was a 3 hour train ride so I had some time to talk with everyone :-)

It was nice to see everyone and have time to talks with them, but I was so sick of breathing train air. I had been traveling on a train for nearly 5 hours and I was sick of it. Norway has probably the freshest air in the world, but not on trains.

Once we got to Vegårshei the next step was waiting for the bus. And of course the bus did not have enough room for all of us. So while half of us were taken to the camp site, the other half had to wait at the deserted train station. I was in the half that was left waiting. Once all of us were at the camp site we chose our rooms am roommates. I was in a room with Chihiro (from Japan), Anna (from France) and Camille (from France).

Then I was assigned to make dinner with four other exchange students. It was called "Amerikansk Grytte", but it was definitely not American. Well at least I have never seen or eaten it before. After dinner we all just relaxed and talked with each other. Så koselig.

Chihiro from Japan, me, and Ester from Spain

Me and Clement from France

Stephanie from Venezuela and I modelling.

Amana from Brazil, me, and Anna from France

On Saturday we were told to be at breakfast at 9:00. We had bread, of course. What other food do Norwegians eat? Then we went and had a meeting about things we liked and disliked about Norway or things we had problems with. With the problem things we split up into groups and each group had to find a solution to 3 problems. Our group got three problems that are nearly impossible to fix: Norwegians use cell hones too much, the roads are slippery, and misunderstanding when people speak Norwegian to you.  Afterwards, we had lunch; which of course was bread. After lunch we talked with each other, and it was great because one of the exchange students took ice cream from the freezer and we all went to someones room and ate the entire container in less than 10 minutes. For dinner we had tacos, Norwegian tacos. After that, some people had meetings with the leaders to discuss how everything was going. Then we played a game where you have a post-it on your forehead with a name that someone else wrote, and you ask yes/no questions to try to guess what the name is.

We were supposed to go to sleep at midnight, but instead we had a little "dance party" and talked a lot, and some people jumped off a balcony into the snow. Then we talked some more and  I went to bed at 3:30ish, but I was one of the first people to go to sleep.

The nest morning we were supposed to be down at breakfast at 8:30, but most people didn't get there until 9 or 10. We then had to pack and clean the rooms. Then we played more games, talked more, and took a lot of pictures out in the snow.

Crazy exchange students who thought it was warm...

Then the bus came to take us back. But, when we got to the train station, the train was 40 minutes late. So someone played the guitar and we had a group singing session. Some of the exchange students are really good singers, then others are really, really bad. When we finally got on the train, the train was not big enough so we had kind of a mad dash for the seats and hoped that everyone got one. Then again, I had to get off and wait at the Drammen station, I didn't think it would be as long this time because of the train's delay, but the train from Drammen to Sandefjord was delayed because of the weather too, so I still waited for an hour. When I finally got home at about 10P.M. I was exhausted and went almost straight to sleep.