It’s almost been a week here again in California, and I have been busy busy busy. Between friends, family, and a late-night Wednesday rendezvous, I’ve barely had any time to myself.

Trip home was exhausting. I’ve managed to pick up a nasty cough and I am scared that I might have pneumonia. I hate air conditioning. It’s terrible and unnatural. I also hate that I can’t drink water from the tap anymore, and the fact that not even Trader Joe’s has leverpostei, but that’s a different matter.

Which reminds me, I’ve tried bringing the smørbrød habit here, but it just isn’t the same. And Mom: Oh my god I never realized it but she bickers/nags/complains so much. (I know I’m bickering/nagging/complaining a lot right now but I have culture shock as an excuse. She can’t use menopause card yet.) And I really think she has OCD: she thinks she’s doing such a good job cleaning and throwing away paper and ends up throwing away a plane ticket request form from my college. And just today, she took my pants without me knowing and washed it, with my passport still in it, and then came up to my room to bitch about it at 7 am. And no, I do not want to put my glasses in their case, it’s not a crime to leave them out! Crap, was it this hard to put up with her before? Or did I just have a lot of freedom in Norway?

Now that I’ve got all that out of my system, here’s my log of this past week:

Tuesday: Trip to Stanford with Mom and family friend; Ou came over at night but I was drained

Wednesday: Day with Carina–lunch @ Panera, shopping @ Valleyfair and buying a $40 shirt from American Eagle (culture shock = price disorientation), dinner @ Koi Sushi Boat together with Michael, trying to find the Secret Sidewalk and singing in the car

Thursday: Day with Kyle in San Francisco–Samurai culture 101, Stoning 101, getting panini from Svetlana, getting pizza with potatoes, falling asleep at Golden Gate Park (amazing)

And today I will be meeting Katherine. And tomorrow I might or might not be going to Emeryville for a FC student picnic. Busy!

Wow, this week has been hard. I swear, all I do is complain nowadays, and while that in no way is an accurate representation of my experience here thusfar, denne uke har vært forferdelig!

Had a blow-up with Mom over the phone. It started as an argument about withdrawing from the ATM but escalated into a flurry of rage, tears, and even a suicide threat. Though it ended on a mollifying tone, it set the pace for the rest of the week.

I’m also reminded of the fact that this experience–going on exchange–doesn’t just affect me. While I’m off trollying around and licking poles in Norway she’s still living the everyday life at home…except with one less person in the household. I used to assuage myself by thinking that it would’ve been just the same if I had gone off to college, but at least then she could see me during vacations and holidays.

I know that my life is just beginning, and I know that I want to see the world and experience life, but I still feel guilty for leaving her. It’s a different situation than it would have been if we had been a three-member family. Even though she has a boyfriend now, I’m not blind to the frailty of “long-term relationships”–she’s on her third one now. I ultimately hope that he’ll be the one to take care of her and keep her company, just as I hoped that the last one would do, and the one before that. (She’s also considering break up with him.)

I know she wouldn’t like the thought of anyone pitying her, me included (or maybe me especially), and I’m not. I just want her to be happy. And though she reassures me she’s fine, even the toughest of people can feel small and alone without somebody at their side.

So anyway, after that tearful phone call, my eyes never unreddened/unpuffed themselves and now I realize that I have pink eye.

And the thought of school doesn’t do anything but exacerbate matters. I spent pretty much the past four days doing nothing but cramming to finish up an English presentation on Chinese minorities. (Did you know that in addition to provinces and municipalities, China also has five “autonomous regions,” each named after the most populous minority nationality in that region?)

I’m in no way giving up or calling it quits, but things could go just a tad better, you know? Well, at least Ungkaren is on TV tomorrow.

Anyway, påskeferie (Easter Break) is coming up and we’re headed west to Bergen to spend a week with Mamma’s sister Irene and her family. I’m looking forward to seeing western Norway again. And hopefully, I’ll be able to come back with a better grasp of that darned Bergen dialect. (Who knows? I might even begin to understand Leif and samfunnsøkonomi.)