My Weekend in Bergen!

This past weekend (April 12th - 14th) I was in Bergen. Bergen is on the west coast of Norway. It is either an 8 hour drive by car through mountains, a 6 hour train ride, or a 1 hour flight from Sandefjord. I chose the 1 hour flight.

My First Norwegian Flight!

On Friday morning I had to wake up at at 04:30! I haven't had to wake up that early since the day I left LA for New York, 8 months ago. It has been 8 months since I have been on a plane. I was really excited to fly. Considering I have almost never gone this long without travelling since my mom took me on my first plane when I was 6 weeks old. Security in Norway is definitely not as strict as TSA in the USA, which was fine by me. I didn't have to take my shoes or sweater off, I didn't need to take my liquids (enclosed in a plastic bag) out of my purse, and I didn't even need to show my I.D. Then, once I got on the plane, I tried to stay awake so I could see us landing in Bergen, but that didn't work out too well. When, it is 06:50 and I had already been awake for over 2 hours, it was almost impossible to keep my eyes open. Once the flight landed in Bergen I went out and caught the bus into the city center. Once I was in the city I met Johnny, the American exchange student that I stayed with. He decided he didn't need to go to school on Friday because I was coming an had to show me around... From there we took the train 10 minutes to where he lived in Arna. Once at the house we basically just relaxed for an hour because we had to wait for his brother to get home with the extra bus/train card.

Then we left to do some sight seeing in Bergen. We first went to the Bryggen, which is the famous row of colored wooden houses that are right along the water front. They used to be important for storage in WWII and now, they are used as cafes and souvenir shops.

Me in front of the Bryggen

Next was the a fort that was right next to the Bryggen. And also a famous boat that was in the harbor (but I forgot the name of it and also why it is important).

Then, we went to a fort next to Bryggen.

Me hiding in the fort.

Then, we walked into the city center. Where they had more statues of people and also where you can go shopping. I didn't have any extra space in my suitcase, and I don't have endless money, so I didn't go shopping at all. But we did meet some friendly monkeys who gave us free soap samples.

Then we saw what is called blå stein, which directly translates to "blue rock", and that is all it it is, a big blue rock. After we saw the Edvard Greig statue and then we took the train back to the house.

Me and Johnny sitting on the blue stone.

Me and Edvard Greig

Once we got back to the house we had dinner and I met the rest of his family. Then we watched two movies and a little later we went to sleep.
The next morning we had breakfast at about 11:00 and were on the bus into Bergen by 13:00. Today Johnny and I met up with one of his friends, Hanne. We went to Ulreiken, there we took a cable car up to the top of a mountain. From the top of the mountain you could see nearly the entire city of Bergen. It was beautiful. Also at the top, they had a cafe. It was very cozy to drink a cup of hot cocoa and eat some chocolate while looking out on an amazing view.

The cable car we took to the top and the view.

Hot Cocoa and chocolate at the top in the cafe

The amazing view from the top of the mountain

We took the cable car back down and then took the bus to Subway, where we had lunch. Across the from the Subway was a farmers market. It was really cute. They everything from cheese, to wool sweaters, to fish, to Norwegian pancakes. We bought a Norwegian pancake, they are called lapper. With raspberry jam on top, it was fantastic!

We are eating the lapper.

Then we walked to the Bergen Aquarium. It was about a 15 minute walk, not very long for me considering I walk 20 minutes to get to school every morning, but for Johnny and Hanne it was a long way because they usually take the bus everywhere. The aquarium was really nice. It was more like a zoo than an aquarium. It had snakes, alligators, lemurs, spiders, frogs, sharks, and different kinds of fish. And also penguins and seals!

Riding a turtle at the aquarium.

They had a seal show when we got there.

After the aquarium we walked back to the center of town and walked around in one of the malls. Then at about 17:00 we took the bus back to Arna.
After we got back to the house we had dinner with the family. Then, Johnny took a nap because of how exhausting walking was. And me and his little sister jumped on the trampoline. Afterwards, we tried to wake up Johnny with gun noises and pouring water on his face, but he just got angry and kicked us out of his room. Then, his little sister and I made waffles. Then, when we came back upstairs we sat down and watched a movie while we ate the waffles. I love Norwegian Waffles!!

On Sunday, we woke up, ate breakfast together, and then went to church. After the 30 minute service, the kids from the church left with two adults and went to go curling. I was excited. Curling was on my "To DO List in Norway", so I was happy I got to try it. It is a lot harder than it looks. I think my team won. We managed to get one of the stones to stay in the circle. But I was really confused on how to keep score, so I am not really sure who ended up winning.

When we got back from curling we had reindeer for dinner with the family. Then I left for the airport. I ended up getting back to Sandefjord at 18:30. That gave me a few hours at home to practice for my art final the next day :)

What was really strange was how different the dialect was in Bergen. I am used to hearing the dialect that is similar to the Oslo dialect because of where I live. But, when I spoke Norwegian with some of the people that were from Bergen, sometimes they had to repeat something 3 times for me to finally understand what they were saying, and sometimes they just gave up speaking Norwegian and spoke English because it was easier.
Overall I had a great time in Bergen. It is a very cute city with a lot of history. It was also nice to spend time and compare stories with another American.

My Bad Luck

Well, this starts bad and gets a whole lot worse.
It started in February. I left my scarf at one of the other exchange student's houses after her party, I figured I could get it back the next day. But, no. She didn't answer her phone the next day. I have been to Asker about 3 times since and I have asked to get it every time and I never have (sooner or later I'll get it).
But that was a while ago...
Now, this weekend, as you know was the 60's party and I slept over at Stephanie's house. Well, everything was fine, until I was on the bus to Oslo and I realized I didn't have my watch. Fantastic, I wear that watch everyday...
Then, we were in Oslo and we got photo booth pictures, but I forgot to get them from the other girl I was with
Then, yesterday all my friends at school said how gross my phone looked because I had the same screen protector on my phone since I had been here. It was one of the indestructible ones, but it was pretty gross it was turning brown... Anyway, so I bought a new screen protector and changed it yesterday before dance. Then, after dance it fell out of my bag, like 2 feet, and hit the floor. When I picked it up and turned it over, the screen was shattered! You can imagine how happy I was :(

Luckily, I bought the insurance when I bought the phone. But, haha, there is no apple retail stores in Norway. The closest ones that can fix my phone are over 6 hours away in Sweden. So I searched online and it is 1300 kroner to get the screen fixed (about $200).
Then today, I had my final exam in English. That is fine, I am fluent in English and it should go well and I should get a good grade, right? Right. However, this morning I woke up early so I had time to go to my locker and still get to class on time. My host dad was even nice enough to drive me half way to school because it was on his way to work. But as soon as I got out of the car, I realized I didn't have my key (both for my locker and the house). So, I ran back home (in record speed). And the door was locked, so thankfully my host sister was leaving a little later and she was there to open the door for me. So I took off my shoes as fast as I could, which wasn't very fast because I was wearing my winter boots. Then I ran downstairs, got my key, ran back upstairs and started to put my shoes on. Then the dog would not stop licking my face, so it took me a good 5 minutes to put on my shoes. Then said goodbye again and left. I ran for about 3 or 5 minutes, then just walked fast (people were starting to look at me funny, that I was running to school). I ended up coming in about 5 minutes late, but they hadn't started the test yet, so everything was okay (other than the fact my face was bright red and I was a little out of breath)...

So that is my week so far, and it is only Tuesday...

One Groovy Weekend!

On Saturday afternoon I took the train to Asker and from there I went to Nærsnes to meet Stephanie (from Venezuela). I went to her house and there we got ready for the party! It was a 60's themed party and there were 32 exchange students there from both region 2 (my region) and region 1. So it was great because I got to see familiar faces and talk to other exchange students that I hadn't met before. We ate hot dogs for dinner and had a lot of brownies, rolls, and chocolate and marshmallows for dessert. Other than eating (which exchange students do so well) we talked, listened to music, and danced! I still have the inability to dance well, but it is so much fun to make a fool out of myself!

I'm a hippie!

Chihiro (Japan), me, and Anna (France)

Chihiro (Japan) and me 

A disco ball made by Amana (Brazil)

Alessandro (Italy), Lucas (Brazil), and Mario (Dominican Republic) trying to dance.

Me and Elisabetta (Italy)

Stephanie (Venezuela)

Us going crazy and dancing.

More dancing!

More (bad) dancing

All of us exchange students

Then I stayed the night at Stephanie's house. I got my own room customized with an American flag and a graduation robe. It wasn't just for me, Stephanie's older host sister went to the US on exchange two years ago. But, it made me feel special :). We stayed up until about 4 AM talking and taking pictures. We all woke up at about 11:30-12 ish and ate breakfast together. Besides me and Stephanie, there was one Italian girl, one Thai girl, one Thai boy, a Japanese boy, and an Argentinian girl. The next day, after breakfast, we went and laid out in the sun because it was +13 degrees Celsius. Yes, it really was that warm.

Our pictures from 4 AM

We are trying to tan.......

Then Cristina (Italy) and I met Amana (Brazil) and Alessandro (Italy) at the bus stop and took the bus into Oslo. In Oslo, we ate at Subway (it is not as good in Norway as it is in the US). Then we took the train to Alessandro's house, that was about 20 minutes out of Oslo. We picked up his camera and ate some chocolate, then took the train back into Oslo. I then attempted to climb the tiger statue again, and didn't manage. So we went to Wayne's Coffee where We had tea or coffee and took a video for Alessandro's video blog. It was pretty exciting! Then we went back to Oslo S, where I tried one more time to conquer the tiger. And this time I managed, but with a lot of help. Alessandro tried to help me up, and I almost got up, but not really. SO then, this random guy comes and says that he can help and he basically lifted me on the tiger. Then, after Alessandro took my picture and I got off some other random guy came up to me and recited me a poem about a smiling girl on a tiger. It may have been the strangest 5 minutes of my life in Norway. Then I took the train back to Sandefjord and Alessandro took his train back to Oppegaard.

4th attempt of trying to get on the tiger

It is scarier than it looks...

I finally conquered the tiger - but not without help....

It was a fun weekend and I can't wait to see everyone again!

The video we recorded: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=hnw6EnGOWYA

Oslo!

I was in Oslo with Emma, the Canadian exchange student. It was during the Easter break. In Norway almost everything is closed from the Thursday before Easter until the Monday after. That is, everywhere except for Oslo. Now, in Oslo the majority of the clothing stores are closed, but all the museums are open and almost all the cafes and restaurants are open. I was told that is because many people come to Norway for a vacation on their Easter break, so there needs to at least be some things open in the capitol city.

So, we went down the 29th of March, or the Friday before Easter. We arrived at Oslo S at about 10:30 and from there we went to see the statue of the tiger and the opera house.

View from the Opera House

Me in front of the Opera House

The tiger. I tried to sit on its back, but it was taller than I expected....

 Then we walked down the main street, Karl Johans Gate. Almost nothing opened before 12:00, so we just went to Wayne's Coffee and had a coffee and a muffin before we started the real sight seeing.

After the coffee we decided to head to Vigelandsparken, which is the famous statue park in Oslo. It was a 20 minute-ish walk to the park. SO along the way we stopped at a grocery store and bought cookies, chocolate, and potato chips. Then we stopped at a 7-11 because they claimed to have authentic American donuts. So we had to try one, it was a donut, but it definitely not authentic American. I miss my American donuts...

The "American" donut

We got to the statue park and took pictures with the statues. When we were about half way through the park we stopped and ate our cookies, chips, and some chocolate. Then we sat and talk. And even got hit on by an American guy that was convinced we were Norwegian. When he found out we were American too, he and his friend just laughed and walked away as fast as they could.  :-)  Then we went through the rest of the park and took some more pictures.

Vigelandsparken

Me and the angry baby!!!

Then we walked back to the city center. I saw one of the other exchange students on the way back. But she was in the bus so I didn't get to say hello. But, I did start jumping up and down and waving my arms when I figured out it was her. I even tried to run after the bus, but it didn't stop and I wasn't sure where it was going, and I got tired, so I gave up. Then we went buy the royal palace, that looks more like a big house than a palace.

The Royal Palace

After that we made our way to get some dinner. We went to the most American restaurant they have in Oslo, TGI Fridays. I haven't been to a Fridays in almost a year. But, food in restaurants is extremely expensive in Norway, so I just got the spinach dip and Emma just got french fries and a chocolate shake.

I missed you!

Then we walked around town a bit more. Then we went to a burger place and each got a chocolate milkshake. Then we walked to the train and took the 2 hour journey back. Very fun.
The worst part is, I managed to get sunburned. I believed that was nearly impossible in Norway, but I proved all facts wrong. FANTASTIC! Who knew I still needed SPF 70+ in the coldest country on Earth where the sun doesn't even shine for half the year?!

God Påske!

Happy Easter!

For Easter in Norway we didn't really do anything special. We woke up (like normal), had breakfast together (bread with the normal fix-ins), and had dinner (Indian food). We didn't go to church or have an Easter egg hunt, like we do in the US. Me, my host sister, and host brother all got a giant Easter egg filled with goodies, Easter tea, and a tea cup with our initial on it from the Easter Bunny. But, we didn't get it on Easter, and we definitely didn't have to search around the house for it. We got the egg last Saturday, when the Easter Break started. My host mom told me that it is tradition to get the Easter goodies the Saturday night before Easter Sunday. But, she believed that we should have the entire Easter break to eat the candy, not just two days. I agree with her :)

What I found in my room when I arrived home on Saturday.

THE EGG

The egg with all the goodies! (Yes, those candies in the green bag are the Scandinavian version of peeps!)

Norway is not a very religious country, but they follow a lot of the religious or church rules.  Everything (besides a couple restaurants and museums) is closed between Thursday to Monday. Also, it is not called Spring Break, like in the US, they are allowed to call it Easter Break. It was a great time to relax and do nothing, because there really was nothing to do. I got to read my book and knit a scarf. It is tradition to read a mystery novel in the Easter Break. Don't ask me why or how it started, but on TV, on the radio, and in the newspaper they recommend the best criminal novels to read in the Easter Break and introduce new and upcoming authors who write crime books. Strange tradition, but fun to take part in :)