Exam Time!

You would not believe what time I woke up today: 7:30 AM! As a college student, this is a pretty significant accomplishment. When I told René, he commented, “Your first productive day.” Hehehe.

But anyway, I have to begin this narration starting with Thursday night, because it was a very special night—it was (Belated) Thanksgiving Dinner Night! Elise did a wonderful job making stuffing from scratch, and it really made me happy because I didn’t think I would get a chance to have stuffing this year. She also made a delicious pie dessert from apples, strawberries, and homemade granola. Nataša, Marta, Dominika and I also helped with the preparation of the mashed potatoes, chicken, and carrots. And for dinner, we all dined in style by dressing up. All in all, it was a very successful dinner: we were in the end all very full, and it truly was in the spirit of a traditional Thanksgiving. Despite having lived abroad for two and a half years, I’m glad I still manage to somehow celebrate Thanksgiving every year. (It’s my favorite holiday, you know!)

After dinner we took some pictures together in our fine clothes, and then I went straight to bed because I had my French final at 9 AM this morning and I didn’t want to oversleep. I also wanted to make sure I got up early in case there were delays with the metro, which there has been due to a derailing between two of the main stations.

So, I told René to wake me up over the phone, and sure enough he did. Third time was the charm!

The exam went pretty smoothly in my opinion. The first part was a translation of a business letter, and I practically had to translate the entire thing with the dictionary in my left hand. I don’t think the proctor has ever seen someone use a dictionary like I did this morning. (But you know, those French accents are tricky! Have to proofread everything.)

After my exam I took a quick lunch break before meeting Ony and Ahmed to finish up our paper for Marketing Management. We started at 1:30 PM and finished at 5:30 PM. Needless to day, I’m all schooled out from today. But you know what? It’s a great feeling, being productive! I feel more like myself. I hope this continues for the rest of my stay here.

I leave you with some hilarious images of René playing Wii Sports Ski Jump as well as a little art project I did before I left Switzerland. Love makes you do all sorts of silly sweet things.

 

Magic Days

I haven’t felt this good and upbeat in a long time! Winter in Europe is dark and can get depressing, but I had the most amazing day yesterday.

I went to Zürich because I was in need of an English-French dictionary for my upcoming French exam. And oh yeah, I really experienced the concept of supply-and-demand first-hand. Sometimes I think it would be more convenient to think of Switzerland as three separate countries. Despite having four official languages, trying to find a French-based dictionary in German-speaking Schweiz proved seemingly impossible. In the end, however, I got some directions from the locals to an English bookseller, Orell Füssli—which I guess is the Barnes & Nobles of Switzerland—and found what I was looking for.

On a side note, I still don’t understand why René thinks people in Zürich are grumpy and depressed, I’ve always met the kindest people while out and about in Zürich. To me, it is possibly the friendliest city I have ever been in.

I spent the rest of the afternoon shopping and resisting: H&M in Zürich has some really nice stuff that I haven’t seen in any other H&M. I guess it’s true that they send all the new/nice stuff to big cities first and the remaining unpurchased clothing trickle down to outlets in smaller towns.

Had some cervelat at the bratwurst place René and I always go to when we’re in Zürich. I don’t remember the name, but they make really good bratwurst and cervelat. And their horseradish mustard is something to be consumed with caution.

Finished the day off with some Wii and Madagascar. It was a simple day, nothing very special, but it was what I needed: to explore, to go to the city, to shop, to speak French. I haven’t felt so capable, so myself, in a long time.

Fortunately the good feelings carried over to today and I hope it lasts. I don’t think I’ll go to Zürich today, but I have to do some shopping if I want food for tonight. Also have to buy some ingredients for a Swimming Pool, which I’m looking forward to trying.

Mmm…I love being in Switzerland.

Tumblr just wasn’t the same…

And lately I haven’t been keeping up with writing like I’ve used to. Things have changed a bit since the last time I wrote…some quick updates:

I moved to Norway (again). I am currently spending a semester in Oslo as an exchange student at BI Norwegian School of Management. It’s quite different from Franklin, but I’m trying to enjoy this experience for what it is. I’m getting the opportunity to live my attend-a-big/prestigeous-university dream–but I also realize how right Franklin is for me. Here, I feel so lost and things lose their meaning. Outside of building 24, nobody knows my name: not the professors, not the students. I miss that environment where I get individual attention from a professor, or walk from Panera 7 to Panera 12 in nothing but a towel. I miss the intimacy of school. I can’t imagine how it would’ve been if I had gone to a UC. I think they would open my dorm room at the end of the semester to find some skeletons in front of a computer, haha.

Fortunately, it’s a nice bunch living on the first floor of Kringsjå 24, and when I’m not spending time away from Oslo I really do enjoy staying home and chatting around. But I’ve also been keeping myself quite busy. In fact, I have yet to spend a weekend in Oslo. Between trips to Switzerland and random excursions I would say I am pretty lucky to be so mobile. I’ve had the chance to river raft up in Oppland, and last weekend I was at the Ankomstleir for the new generation of AFSers in Norway.

I feel as if I’m in a current, and time is pushing me from boulder to boulder. My time as an AFSer in Norway has passed, and even if I stay connected with the organization, with Horten, with Norway, with my family, it’s a year that I can’t relive again. I can’t bring back the togetherness that we felt as a group–the togetherness that I could see forming this past weekend. I can’t bring back Francesco and Balázs to Siljan, Tilly and Marie to Asker, Xenia and Yanzi to Drammen, Doug to Sandvika, or Jessica to Gol. They were my group. And we will never be in those exact same places at the exact same time again. I feel like more than anything, it was the feeling of being estranged and isolated that brought us together–our year in Norway clenched us tightly in its palm, but let us go as we swam our individual routes back to California, Winchester, Normandie, Henan, Lombardia, Hungary, Treviso.

I see these new faces, from Minnesota, China, Belgium, Japan, Germany, the Czech Republic, and I really want to be together with them. I want to feel like I did two years ago, be together with them…but something prevents me from doing so. I’m on the other side of a bridge that has collapsed behind me, and they must rebuild it up from their side. I really miss that year, even now. But there is so much emotional toll that I don’t think I can do it again. So don’t underestimate a high-school exchange student’s experience…it’s a lot more powerful than you imagine.

But back to the present: tomorrow I have Business Communication in French, which I’m dreading because it’s so incredibly boring, despite the professional name. I’m thinking of not even attending the latter two hours, where we learn something superficial about each French department and fill out some worksheets. I get more stimulation from smoothing knots in my hair. I think there comes a point where you can no longer learn a language by just sitting in the classroom, and I think the only way for me to work on my French is to use it in la vie quotidienne.

And oh yeah, one pretty big piece of news since the last time I wrote: I’m happily taken, if the pictures to the side haven’t given it away to you already. In fact, I’m flying back to Switzerland again (for the third time in two months–these long-distance relationships sure do rack up the bills) on Thursday to spend a long weekend with him. Perhaps one day I’ll write about what happened during the in-between, but right now I still like telling about it in person. Who knew that it would happen this way? Life is wonderful and exciting. I would know, look where it has taken me: to Switzerland, and to my love. <3

Music for the train-ride…

Some music from Australia, Norway, and France that I will be enjoying on my way to Gol. They are all worth a listen.

Delta Goodrem Right Here in My Heart
Yes, I am a pop-head, and I love Delta Goodrem. She sings exactly what I feel.

Kaizers Orchestra Tokyo Ice til Clementine
It’s actually pretty hard to find good Norwegian music (in Norwegian), and this is one of the few that I like. And oh yeah, Stavanger dialect has got to be the sexiest Norwegian dialect I’ve heard.

Zazie Ça fait mal et ça fait rien
Comme quoi on ferait mieux de prendre
la vie comme elle vient
Ça fait mal et ça fait rien

Майк: Yo lo sé, que el mundo encontraré viajando en tu mirada…

These past few days can only be summed up as emotional turbulence.

I was pretty pissed and homesick the last time I wrote, but that usually happens when I have a lack of things to do. I don’t think I’ve stayed home during the weekends since…after the New Year, maybe, so it was a bummer that I didn’t go anywhere.

其实，我也不是设么都没干。新奇六我坐霍尔滕-莫斯渡船去东福尔见 Франк-Турэ。但是回家以后就又感觉无聊了。然后，这个新奇–哎呀！我则么能开始讲哪？兴奋高潮，哈哈。我感觉自己像个十四岁的小女孩儿一样。

Je me sens comblé de joie–il mio cuore sta per scoppiare, me estoy enamorando. Та щин Чы.

Pero sé conmigo jugarás, como has hecho siempre.
¿Qué sonrisa inventarás?
No, yo quiero resistir. Si pienso en ti yo tiemblo.

Nå føler jeg at jeg skulle si noe om historien. Vi møtte gjennom en nettsida for rundt–jeg husker ikke–et år siden? Rundt våren 2008. Jeg husker ganske godt at jeg hadde det største crush på ham fordi han lignet skikkelig på Nek. (Alle italienerne må riste på hodene sine over dette, haha.) Men allikevel var han mer enn bare kjekk–han var intelligent og kunne skrive så bra og vakkert. Og i tillegg har han opplevd mye: en mor som døde foran øynene hans; rasisme fra de andre på barneskolen–ikke et ukjent skade; flytting til utlandet for å begynne et nytt liv–ikke en ukjent opplevelse; leiting etter et behagelig sted mellom to verdener og den oppdaging at ingen av de to vil virkelig akseptere deg–ikke en ukjent skuffelse. (Men han har ingen idé at jeg veit alle disse tingene.) Jeg har aldri følt en slik forbindelse med noen. Hvis det finnes noe slikt som én ekte kjærlighet, da var han min.

Men vår korrespondanse var sparsom og sjelden, og snart sluttet vi å snakke med hverandre. Men jeg klarte ikke å glemme ham. Min tanke var en fugl, og han var redet sitt. Uansett hvor jeg fløy, kom jeg alltid tilbake. Så én natt skreiv jeg et brev til ham. Men etter én og en halv måned uten respons, blei jeg håpløs. Og plutselig, ut av det blå, et svar–et après, la conversation la plus romantique de ma vie.

So many warm and gentle words, so many soothing and tender images of being together. Même si l’instant est passé, mon cœur brûle encore. Même si le moment ne reviendra jamais, ces images de bonheur me resteront longtemps en mémoire.

Le bonheur est si petit. Je ne veux pas qu’il passe entre mes mains. Je ne veux pas qu’il passe entre ma vie.