One with Nature

Now that I have been in Norway and the weather is now fantastic I am outside all the time. Also, what is good about Norway is if you walk five minutes in any direction you can find a peaceful path through the forest to go in. I find it very relaxing to walk along a little path through the woods and be in the fresh air, that is one thing that I will really miss when I travel back to Los Angeles. In the past three days I have gone on 2 bike rides in the woods with a friend (both about 10 kilometers), running by the fjord with my dog, and on a walk in the woods with one of my friends.
I love it, and the weather has been super nice, it has been between 18 and 27 degrees Celsius (64-80 degrees Fahrenheit) for the past week and a half. I didn't realize how much I missed the heat. When I lived in LA and it ranged from 13-28 degrees Celsius (55-80 degrees Fahrenheit) the whole year, I really didn't enjoy that the weather was so predictable and boring. But now it almost sounds like a dream that I lived in a place where I didn't need to check the weather everyday and be concerned which type of jacket I needed for which type of weather. I am sure in a year I will hate it again, but now it sounds a little surreal.

My hidden chocolate

Yoga in the middle of nowhere. 

Solveig taking a picture

Solvieg hiding int the field

Me trying to be America's Next Top Model

It is now only 21 days until I leave my family and 24 days until I leave Norway. I am looking forward to being back in the US, but then I don't really want to leave Norway either.

Sailing on a Viking Ship

On Saturday I went with Emma, the Canadian exchange student, and her host family on a sailing trip. We sailed on an old Viking  boat. We didn't really sail that far, but we stopped on a little island in the middle of the fjord and had a picnic there and went swimming and (tried) to tan. Actually, Emma and I laid out in the sun for over an hour, trying to tan, but no. I did not tan, of course I didn't tan. But the worst part is, I didn't even burn. That is a big thanks to my high SPF sunscreen and the not, so strong Norwegian sun.

Me and Emma....Straight from the hood!

My first swim in Summer in Norway!
My first bath was in February!!

Emma and I created a fort so we could have shade on the boat...

Emma's little host sister...

SingIN!

I went to choir every Wednesday since January and the choir is called SingIN! And last Wednesday we had our end of the year Summer Show. We sang some summer songs, such as songs What Time is It (From High School Musical), The Circle of Life (from the Lion King), and also a summer medley which included different Norwegian and American summer songs. Then I got a certificate because it is my last year of choir.

This is me and the choir leader, Helga, when she gave me the certificate.

Then we had our SingIN summer goodbye party on Friday. Where we biked very far and did activities on the way. The first activity was we stopped at a viking grave, which is basically just a hill in the middle of no where, and we had to run up the hill and roll back down. We were divided into 4 teams, our team came in second. Then, the second activity was we stopped at a barn and had a sack race, we came in first. The third activity was we had to go swimming and the first group in the water won, but we came in last because only 3 out of the 9 people in our group went in the water (don't worry, I was one of the three). We then biked to another beach and the fourth activity was that we had to make a parody of our choir leader, and we came in second for that one. Then, afterwards, we biked to Østerøya and there we grilled hot dogs and hamburgers and had a little picnic.

Klassetur til Oslo

My class went on a class trip to Oslo on Wednesday. I went with my art class and we went to two different museums. But, Tuesday I got to spend the day with my exchange student friends and spend the night at one of their houses.
On Tuesday I took the train down to Oslo right after school with Katinka (one of my best friends in my class). Then once we got to Oslo S (the train station) Katinka and I parted ways, she went to her aunt's house and I went out to meet Cristina (Italy). Cristina and I sat and talked for a while. Then we met up with Elisabetta (Italy) and Chihiro (Japan). Then we took the subway to Vigelandsparken, the statue park. There we walked around a little bit, took some pictures, met a few monks, and then we laid down on the grass and tried to tan. Emphasis on tried for me... Alessandro (Italy) came and joined us. After a little while Elisabetta and Chihiro had to leave and Alessandro, Cristina and I walked a little bit around Oslo. We went to Majorstuen and Grønnland. Then after eating some Subway we took the train home. Cristina and I watched the TV show Weeds (which both of us are obsessed with).

Cristina, Chihiro, and Elisabetta

Chihiro

We were comparing tans... Guess who was the whitest (hint-hint: me)

Straight from the hood...

Cristina

Chihiro and Betta

Cristina went to school in the morning and I went into the city and met my class at the National Museum/Art Industry Museum. There we took a tour of the museum. It had things that we had learned about and taken inspiration from. We focused mainly on the modernism movement in design.

Then, we ate lunch and afterwards we went to the Astrup Fearnley Museum. That Museum was strange. There were many strange art pieces there, such as: a cow cut in half, a bunch of flies glued together to make a picture, and naked statues that looked like they were breathing. No one in my class really like thy museum. So we didn't stay there for long, and afterwards we went shopping. I am not allowing myself to buy anything more because I don't have a ton of money left and I am running out of space to bring things home. Then we went to Oslo S and took the train home. Why was funny was that I knew my way around Oslo better than most of my class. When they thought we were lost I got them back to the train station. Then a lot of them were nervous about taking the train, and some of them it was their dirt time taking the train. I remember in September when inward scared to take the train, that I would get on the wrong train or get of at the wrong stop. But now I am a pro and was the one to help all of them figure out which train we needed to take, where to buy the tickets, and which track to go to. 

Isn't she just the sweetest?!

Made a new friend today...

My class

The worst part was: we had school the next day!