Amerikansk Pannekaker

Yes, today I attempted to make American pancakes in Norway. It went well considering we used an American recipe, with American measurements, and no American measuring cups. Also, because all the stores were closed today because it was Sunday, we didn't have buttermilk either.

So we used a coffee mug for a cup measurement and a small spoon for a teaspoon. But soon enough, I ended up just adding whatever ingredient I thought we needed until the pancakes turned out closer to what they were supposed to. I did bring measuring cups from the US to Norway, just in case I needed them for an occasion like this, but me, being the genius I am, left them at home when I walked to my friend's house to make them... So therefor, it required some improvisation.

The ingredients were no easy task to find either. First of all Norway does not sell the powder pancake/waffle mix the you just have to add water and oil to; so we had no choice but to make it from scratch  Which, by the way, if you ask me, is the better tasting option anyway. So as I told you, we did not think of buying buttermilk on Saturday because we were not completely sure that we were making pancakes today anyway. So instead we just used whole milk and added some butter in. Adding the butter didn't work out very well. Our pancakes were quite flat, but they were also really moist and we didn't need to add butter or nonstick spray to the pan before we cooked them. Then we needed baking soda. Baking soda is nearly impossible to find in the country of Norway. In fact, we actually found it when we went on a trip to Sweden. You need to go to a big grocery store and also look very closely. It is not in a big orange box, like it is in the US, no. It is in a very small white and yellow container  that if you walk a little to fast or you happen to blink when you are walking down the aisle, you will miss the section it is in. Then we added the salt, the flour, and the egg (those are normal ingredients in Norway). We also ended up finding the maple syrup we used in Sweden also. Just know that if you try to make American food in Norway, you are probably better off grocery shopping in Sweden...

Our pancakes were not as fluffy as the usual American pancake, but they tasted good. So I guess it all worked out in the end!

Harrytur til Sverige

I forgot to tell you about my trip to Sweden. I went with my host dad and a friend on the Friday in the Winter Break. So that would be February 22, 2013.

We left the house at 07:15 Friday morning, just a little early, considering I slept until 09:00 or 10:00 the entire rest of the winter break. The tickets on the ferry were sold out in the morning so we drove most of the way, or I should say that my host dad drove, while me and my friend sat in the backseat and talked a lot. Then we took a little ferry across the fjord (they didn't even call it a boat ride or a trip, they called it "the crossing" - because you just crossed the fjord). Then we drove the rest of the way in to Sweden and to the Nordby shopping center.

It is traditional for Norwegians to hop on the ferry to Sweden and go shopping at Nordby. But, the Norwegians go to buy meat, alcohol. tobacco, and chocolate and candy. This was my first trip to Sweden, and my host dad's first trip on a "harrytur". A "harrytur" is directly translated:  tacky trip. So people aren't very proud of going on these trips, but things in Sweden are so much cheaper because they do not as high of a tax as the Norwegian products do.

Nordby has a rather large grocery store where the Norwegians buy all of their goodies. It reminded me of a shrunken version of a Costco. So I really enjoyed it because it reminded me a lot of home. Other than the fact that there was a reindeer statue thing standing near the bread and all the signs were in Swedish. But,  I only bought a lot of chocolate: some Swiss, some Swedish, and some American. All of it was very tasty.

The giant chocolate bar.........that I wish I would have bought.

Only in Scandinavia: they have a reindeer guarding their bread.

 

The other store in the Nordby shopping center that sold only chocolate and candy!

After we left the shopping center my host dad drove us to an island where we could see Norway by standing on the shore. It was quite cool (both in literal and physical terms). I thought it was neat to see Norway while standing on Sweden and it was -4 or -5 degrees Celsius that day...

Then we drove to Stromstad and ate lunch at a cafe, then went on to the ferry (we got to take the big one home). This ferry went directly from Stromstad until Sandefjord, so it worked out just about as perfect as you could have hoped for. Then we rode the ferry back. It was kind of funny: on the ferry they had a tax free store. The stores open about 15 minutes after the ferry leaves and there were people waiting outside the stores, waiting to buy perfume, chocolate, alcohol, or clothes, that they did not have to pay the Norwegian tax on.

THE FERRY

On the ferry!!

It was a short trip in Sweden, but I had a blast.

Isbading

Yes, I went ice bathing. I voluntarily jumped into ice cold water and stayed there for thirty seconds, not to mention put my head under the water. The best word to describe this experience is: cold!

Look at all of us smiling, naive, exchange students in Norway...before the ice bathing :)

You think it would be obvious that it is cold, and it is. But the mystery is how cold. Well I solved the mystery, it is ice cold. When I took off my clothes and only had my bathing suit and wool socks on, the air was cold. Then you sit down on the foam mats next to the hole in the ice, and those were a little bit wet because we were the third group to go. So you got a small taste of the freezing water before you even wanted to. Then he told us to go in, we slid down into the water, and almost immediately all 5 if us began to scream. Well, I know I did.

I believed that this would be the longest 30 seconds of my life, but actually it went rather quickly. I thought we were only half way through when the leader told is we only had 5 seconds left and we should put our heads under the water. I was overjoyed! However, after the first five or seven seconds in the water your body goes almost completely numb. So that is good because then you can't really feel how cold the water is, but then it is not so good, because when you try to get out you can't really feel any part of your body. So when I attempted to get out after the 30 seconds of freezing my ass off, I ended up looking more like an elephant seal that was attempting to run, than the graceful ballerina I was trying to be.

But the worst part was yet to come. Sitting in ice water is no problem compared to standing outside of the water, fighting for foot space on the foam mat, while trying to change out of your bathing suit and into your three layers of wool. Thank the heavens it was positive degrees that day, a whole +4 degrees Celsius  But I was extremely glad, because if it had been below zero I would not have been able to change by myself and I could have gotten frost bite, and I am just glad that it was not -20. We actually had really nice weather, +4 and sunny. Not that you can actually feel any warmth from the sun, but it was a nice way to trick you into thinking it was okay to go swimming.

After the ice bathing

The best part was we got to watch them cut the ice and pull it up from where we were going to take our bath. So we knew that moments before that water was covered by 2 feet of solid ice. And then we were going swimming. There were 10 AFS students there and most of them made it the full 30 seconds. I think there were 2 that came out early and 1 that once she saw what she was in for backed off and just took pictures of us.

Ultimately, it was a great experience as I am glad I took part in it. I am not sure I will be doing it again any time soon, but now I can say I went ice bathing I Norway and that I am part of the Norwegian Polar Bear Club. Yeah!!

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.

Norsk Presentasjonen

In Norwegian Class we were assigned to make a Norwegian presentation. It was about elements of nonfiction. Mine and my partner were assigned the task of a newspaper article. We had to explain the function of a newspaper article, how a newspaper article is usually set up and what are the main parts, and then we had to show an example.

I made the majority of the PowerPoint. Which I am still not sure if everything was spelled properly. Anyway, we had our presentation last Thursday. It was my first time having a presentation in Norwegian. I had a lot of notes because it is nearly impossible for me to memorize five minutes of what I should say about a topic that I maybe couldn't even speak for five minutes about in English.

I usually like oral presentations because it gives you a chance to present your idea and what you were thinking, not just what you were able to write down and say in a PowerPoint or an essay. But, that is in English.

But, for the presentation my partner and I got a 4! That is the equivalent to about an 83%, or a B!!! I was so excited! Who knew I was so good in Norwegian... :-)

SA - UKA

SA-Uka is a week that AFS has all the exchange students find a job and work. It was January 14th to January 18th. It is a volunteer week where we are supposed to see into the working life of Norway. It is supposed to open our eyes to a different part of the country.

I worked at Ivar Halvosens A/S. It is a bakery, a store (kind of like a deli), and a cafe. I worked in the cafe section. Everyone there was extremely nice. Before I had my work week I was talking with some people that go there a lot and a girl that worked there and the first thing they said was that everyone there is extremely nice. I had also heard that Halvorsens had the best coffee in the city.

On my first day at work I met Bente, the boss, and she showed me around the bakery, the store, the locker room, and where the employees eat lunch.. After I put on my hat and apron she took me to the cafe. At the cafe I met who I would be working with for the week: Hilde, Anne-Grethe, Phan, and Therese.

Everyday I started work at 9:00 A.M., that was great, I was able to sleep a little bit longer than I normally would for school. Then we closed everyday at 4:00 P.M. and I left for home at 4:45 P.M. I did almost the same thing everyday because in the cafe we always made food, made coffee, washed dishes, and cleaned up inside the kitchen and also the tables in the eating space. I washed a lot of dishes and cleaned a lot of tables. But, the best part about working at a cafe is that there is really good food you get to eat everyday for lunch and there is also really good coffee and cakes. For lunch on Monday I had an omelet and the rest of the week I ate a different sandwich from the cafe. I had three coffees almost everyday and from Wednesday to Friday Phan made me a cafe latte (my favorite drink). What is funny, is that when I came to Norway I did not like coffee at all, and now I am having at least one cup of coffee everyday. Now, after SA-week I have learned about all the different types of coffee and how to make some of them. Also, Hilde told me that I had to taste a different cake everyday I worked there. That was probably the best part about working there, Halvorsens has very good cake. On Monday I tasted the cheese cake, Tuesday was a nut cake, Wednesday was a marzipan cake, Thursday I tried a raspberry tart. Then on Friday I was told i had to try two cakes because it was my last day, I tasted chocolate cake and carrot cake. I think my favorites were the carrot cake and the raspberry tart. I also made a lot of food. I made sandwiches with ham and cheese, with carbonada, with vegetables, with chicken and tomato, and also with shrimp and egg. I was also in charge of making the salad everyday two with chicken and tomatoes and two with shrimp and egg. I also talked with the other employees. They told me a little history about Halvorsens A/S. Wilhelm Hedvard Halvorsen started his bakery in Sandefjord in 1879. It was called Langgaden, but when his son took over in 1914, the name changed. Today the business is Vestfold's (the county I live in) oldest bakery and Sandefjord's fifth oldest business.

I liked to work there very much. The people there were very nice, or as it would be directly translated from Norwegian "the people there are very cozy". And everything went well. On my last day working there they asked if I wanted to come in and work the next week too. Also, the told me if I come back I can get a job there. Maybe I will do that......

The people I worked with

The cafe

Making a coffee

Godt nytt år!

Happy New Year!

2012 was nothing less than a roller coaster, but it was definitely loads of fun. I went from taking six classes at school, one class online, and playing a sport to one of the most stressful summers of my life with visiting everyone and trying to do everything before I left for Norway in August. I can still remember sending in my finished application at the February. And I will surely never forget when I found out that I was chosen by a host family at the end of March. I was at softball practice when I got the email, I was jumping up and down and running in circles. I think that was the happiest I have ever been at a practice :-).
Then, on June 26th, my birthday, Jenny left us to return to Norway with her family. That was extremely sad, Jenny had become a member of the family and she was like a sister to me, and still is.
Then, in the summer I had to visit all my family before I left because everyone wanted to see me at least once. I also had to fill out final forms for AFS, go to many doctors appointments to make sure I had all the vaccines and was a-okay to depart on my adventure. Then was the ordeal of packing. After I got my travel itinerary from AFS and the luggage tags in August, I had to begin putting the things I wanted to bring with me in the big, purple suitcase. That took a lot of time and effort. Also, never living in a cold climate before, I had no idea what I was in for. So, when I packed my rainbow flip flops and my short, I actually expected to use them. Haha! And my mom also convinced me that I shouldn't bring my Uggs or my Hunter rain boots (she ended up sending me those in a package over).
Then I had to go out for my last dinner in California with my best friend and my sister at the Cheese Cake Factory.
Then the next day I left for New York with my mom. Then after two days in New York I went to the AFS orientation.
After one day there, the other four Americans and I flew to Norway. Then arriving in Norway was a incredible.
Then the day after I met my family I had my first day of school. From August to December, school was not easy. I had a rough start with not knowing anything anyone said, but, gradually it got easier and I managed to make some friends. Now, looking back and looking ahead, I am proud of what I have accomplished and I am only looking forward to the next six months and the things I will encounter.

To celebrate New Year's, I went to a party with a friend. It was a very cozy dinner party where I met a lot of new people. At midnight we walked down to the city to see the fireworks they were setting off. Then I went over to my friend's house and we watched a movie and ate pizza. It was a very nice evening!