Nasjonal Vaffeldagen!!

Happy National Waffle Day!!

National waffle day, in Norway, was March 25th this year. Waffle day was our first day on Easter break. So, me and three of my friends met up at one of their houses and we made waffles. It was great. I love waffles and I love talking with my friends. So it was a win-win!

Making the waffles!!

EATING THE WAFFLES! AKA - the best part!

BEHOLD: THE WAFFLE!

 

 
My lovely friends...

Hangin' with the Canadian

About a month ago I found out that there was a Canadian exchange student that came to SVGS, the school that I go to in Norway, in January. I was really excited because I was the only exchange student within about an hour radius. I met her at a cafe in town and we talked a lot about Norway and what is good and bad, and also a lot about how expensive everything is. I saw how normal everything had become for me after 7 months of living here, because she talked about some things that were weird that are now just part of everyday life for me.

Then, two weeks ago I went to Tønsberg with the Canadian girl (Emma) and another friend (Solveig). Tønsberg is about a 20 minute train ride from Sandefjord. There we walked in the mall and did some shopping. The mall is a lot bigger there than in Sandefjord. We also walked a little around town. We went to the grocery store and bought some chocolate and cookies, then went to a cafe and got hot chocolate to go then went in the McDonald's and my friends got fries and a hamburger (I don't eat fast food). Then we sat down and ate everything. It was great.

Our very classy lunch...

Then this past weekend I was with the Canadian exchange student again. Neither of us had school on Friday because the entire first grade had a entire day Norwegian test and we did not have to take it because we don't get grades in Norwegian. SO instead of going to school, I went over to her house and we made a home-style American lunch. We had homemade mashed potatoes, beans, and corn. I would have made fried chicken, but she is a vegetarian...

I ended up sleeping over at her house because we wanted to watch The Godfather, and that movie is insanely long. So we went to the store and bought a lot of chocolate, chips, and cookies and went back to her house and watched the The Godfather. Neither of us had seen it, and it is just one of those movies that you have to see because so many people use it as a movie reference. Then the next morning we woke up at about 12 and made waffles for breakfast (a typical American weekend breakfast). Well, we ate at about 1 and were done by 3, so it was more of a lunch than a breakfast, actually. Then we tried on pig costumes, bunny costumes, and a drag queen costume. Don't judge, Emma's host mom is a costume designer and they were old costumes, and it was a lot of fun. Then we watched another movie, a comedy this time, and then I went home.

Yesterday, Emma, Solveig, and I went to Stavern and Larvik. They are two cute towns that are right next to Sandefjord. We basically just walked around both towns and went to a cafe in each town. It was sunny all day, and at one of the cafes we were even able to sit outside and drink our coffee. It was a warm 5 degree Celcius :-). Stavern and Larvik are both really cute towns. They aren't very big, but they are charming. It was my first time to Stavern. But, I had been to Larvik before, but only to the police station, and only in rainy weather. Don't worry I hadn't done anything wrong, but when I first got here we had to drive to Larvik (3 times...) to go to the police station to get my residence permit.

Stavern

Cute cafe in Stavern

Stavern city.

We went on a pony ride...

Me.......doing who knows what.

Emma and Solveig

Me and Emma in Stavern

Emma and I jumping into the ocean (not)!

A Correction from the Pancake Post

Yesterday I made and wrote about the pancakes I made and how difficult it was to find all of the ingredients. Well, when I got home from school today my host mom said "Rebecca, I have something to show you..." and she pulled baking soda out of the cupboard. She told me that she had read my blog post and that she thought it was rather funny that I believed that if you couldn't find it in Norway, it was in Sweden. In my defense, no Norwegians knew what it was. When I asked where to buy baking soda, they said that they had never heard of it before. I asked nearly my entire class at school and some friends outside of my class, and no one had heard of it. It turns out, they didn't know what I was talking about because Norwegians use the chemical name for it and not the American name of baking soda. Here it is called "natron", just in case any of you want to come to Norway and bake a cake, it does exist. 

My host mom went on to tell me how normal it is and how they sell it in every store. It was a small light blue bag, so it didn't look like, and wasn't called, the same thing as the American version. I wish I would have asked my host mom before I went to Sweden. Because before Sweden we were thinking, "oh no, I wish Norway had baking soda". Then we went to Sweden and found it and were excited beyond belief and didn't really think to ask anyone afterwards...

Just my luck...

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.