The Flossy Flossy
Keeping it “on the real” the best I can.Archive for norway
Bergen
Hei hei, I am writing for Bergen and man, it is amazing here! I just have to be honest and say: Bergen is so much better than Oslo, hands down. For those who are unfamiliar with Bergen, it is Norway’s second largest city and is situated on the western coast of Norway. What’s really amazing about the city is that it lies on the edge of the water, but also surrounded by mountains.
We are here to spend påskeferie, and are living with Geir and Irene, and their children: Mathias, Jonas, and lille Lisa.
It was quite a ways to get here: over seven hours of driving across Norway–saw quite a lot of Norwegian landscape (sure beats your average Californian road trip).
On Tuesday, we went around the city center to do some shopping. (Or rather, window-shopping. I have pretty much sworn off shopping for any clothing here in Norway and have regulated myself to only wasting money on transportation fees and the occasional yogurt from the school cafeteria.)
Yesterday, we took a fjelltur (mountain hike): Bergen is practically built into the mountains so it’s easy access to many great hiking routes. And I just have to say, it’s so incredible to be back in Vestlandet again; the scenery in eastern Norway just doesn’t compare to here, and it’s great to revisit the places which made me fall in love with Norway in the first place.
Later in the day we went to Vestkanten Ishall to play curling. I’ve never even heard of the game before, but it was great fun play. And in the evening, we kosed ourselves with some games and music.
Today, we toured some more around the city. We got to see the neighborhood of old houses and buildings behind brygga (Bergen’s harbor, which is also a UNESCO World Heritage site). The houses there were built so close to each other, and the old cobblestone walkways were still intact: it was very charming and distinctively European. Got me thinking that I would love to live in one of those neighborhoods for a while; de ser så koselig ut.
We also got to try out Geir’s new boat. (And by trying out, I mean drive, hehehe.) I now completely understand the whole yacht/boat obsession. It was incredible: so simple.
And hmm, what else? Ate lots of good food–including something called blings, which is more or less a huge brødskive (slice of bread) with a lot of pålegg (topping)–and went to the aquarium and otherwise just chilled with Jonas and Mathias and the rest of the family.
Oh, and I forgot to mention one thing: the Bergen dialect! It’s hard to understand, but very very cool. And what’s insane about Geir and Irene’s family: the 5 of them speak 4 different dialects! (Irene is from Vestfold while Geir is from Rogaland, and they speak quite differently from each other and from Bergensers. Mathias, their oldest son, was born before they moved to Bergen, so his dialect is a mix. [In fact, the way he speaks to me is very different than the way he speaks to his brother.] However, the two younger children were both born in Bergen, and both have the typical Bergen dialect, even though their parents don’t! Amazing, huh?)
And now, I think I shall get some sleep. Go kvæl!
Almost Gone…
So thanks to Xenia/Jessica/Italian girl, I realize that we only have four more months left in Norway. I can’t begin to relate how I’m feeling right now: overwhelmed and empty at the same time. It’s a difficult feeling–knowing that the end is coming, and that this year will never happen again.
The fact that I’m used to life here, that nothing’s out of the ordinary anymore, only makes it that much harder to leave–because I’m not just leaving Hvitveisstien, I’m leaving home; and I’m not just leaving a “host” family, I’m leaving Mamma, Pappa, Joakim and Marie. I’m so amazed at how lucky I was to be placed in this household–so welcoming, endearing, and fun. And I’m so amazed at how natural it feels, and how attached I’ve become.
I remember all those evenings coming home after a night or a weekend away. I remember that familiar, cozy feeling as I’m walking up Apenesbakken, the house looming into view. And above Pappa’s Gecom company car, I can see the warm orange glow of the living room through the window. I love seeing that orange glow; it means somebody’s there…and awake. I love opening the door, taking off my shoes and enjoying the smell of home. And I love hearing the hi’s and hallo’s from whoever’s sitting above. I love going to my room to find Zaiko kosing on my bed (even though he sheds EVERYWHERE), and going up the stairs all the while wondering what we’re having for dinner that night, and seeing them and telling them how my day or weekend went, and hearing theirs. I love that feeling of coming home; it feels so right.
I love our hytte. Up in the mountains where there’s nothing there but forests and wilderness. I love picking mushrooms even though the trees make me dizzy. I love kayaking, ice-bathing, and grilling sausages by the nearby lake. I love the lack of technology and the feeling of being immersed in nature. I love sitting outside at night, with a warm fire, gazing up at the starry night sky, listening to Eva Cassidy or Josh Groban while sipping a cup of glugg. I love getting into that bed at night–I have never slept so well as I do when I sleep in that bed, no exaggeration. I love the feeling of not having a care in a world when I’m up there.
And I love Pappa’s jokes, especially the terrible ones; I love how he’s always in a good mood. I love Mamma’s patience, and the special way she explains things; I LOVE her cooking–I swear I have been culinarily spoiled rotten this year; I even like her occasional reminders on taking shorter showers. I love the differences between me and Joakim; he’s opened my eyes to so much, whether he knows it or not; I love his determination and fierceness. I love sitting on the couch with Marie every night: Top Model Mondays, CSI: Miami Tuesdays, CSI: NY Wednesdays, Bones Thursdays, and all the other miscellaneous TV shows that she watches; I love her fjortis, her sharp sarcastic sense of humor, her infatuation with make-up. And I’m leaving all of this behind. È follia!
Smørbrød with salami, the special cheeses Mamma would buy from time to time, the bottle of maple syrup on the counter that I would occasionally over-abuse à cause de Tilly, PIZZAKVELD, visits from Bestemor, Firkløver chocolate after volleyball practice (which I don’t go to anymore on account of laziness/snow), the geniusness of saft, Zaiko sleeping on my bed.
And my friends! Midnight walks with Luiza when she could still walk. Going to Tønsberg with Xenia to get my ear pierced and finding out how strange she really is…Learning how to break on slalom skis from Balazs and our desires to visit Prague–and sing Lips all night long. Listening to Francesco talk about music, and philosophy, and life. Watching a cup of tea seep with Tilly and Marie and talking about whatever random thing is running through our minds. Going up to Drammen to make and eat authentic and GOOD Chinese food with Yanzi and reminescing over our–or rather, my–childhood in China. Yo sé que nada es para siempre, but couldn’t it last a little bit longer?
Luiza
I’m gonna take some time now to write about a very special person in my life here in Norway. Her name is Luiza, and she lives around the corner and down the street from my house–my fellow Hortensk exchange student semi-neighbor from Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
It’s very strange and interesting to see my relationship with her develop throughout these six months. I honestly can’t imagine life in Horten without her now; funny to think that at the beginning of the year, I didn’t even want anything to do with her!
I think both of us thought similarly; after all, we were in Norway to get Norwegian friends, not to hang around each other, right? But as the months rolled by and our novelty in town wore off and the weather got colder and the times got harder, it hit me–here was a girl who was going through the exact thing that I’m going through, I should be supporting her, not competing against her for “hvem har det bedre i Norge!”
So in these past two months, we slowly began to spend more time together, mostly in the form of half-hour/hour long late-night walks around the neighborhood. And we began to talk: at first just common, superficial banter–what we did on a certain day, school, AFS gossip–but lately, more personal issues: our fears, our pasts, our goals. (I’ve actually just come back from one of our walks. [It was koselig, she sang me the "Norwegian birthday song," gave me a beer at midnight for turning 19, and then ended up drinking most of it herself. Typisk Luiza, haha.] Our topics du soir were Rio de Janeiro, our first condoms, being yourself, our dads, “professionalism,” how we want ourselves to be, being bullied, and snap judgements.)
I never thought I could learn so much from her. But I suppose knowledge and wisdom is imparted in unexpected ways. I think just by getting to know her, I am already seeing so much–beyond myself, my life, my experiences. And, although I’ve gotten to know people, I’ve never felt like I really learned anything about myself in the process. But us two–we come from such different worlds, yet it surprises me how well I am able to understand her. Because we’re so different, it’s kind of incredible to see that we’re still on the same wavelength regarding many things.(Excuse the metaphorical paradox. I’ve had one-tenth of a beer too many. And it’s late.) I think this is heightened by our unconventional way of…befriending one another; I have seen her both as just a casual person and as a close friend now, and the views and opinions that I have of these two characters are so drastically different. (It goes to show just how much you really know someone.) I could never have guessed what was on the inside just by looking at the façade.
And you know, for a girl who still can’t manage to say “I’m freezing!” (we’re working on that, by the way), she has a lot of smart thoughts. (In fact, just tonight, she said something to the extent of: if you don’t like them then why walk with them?…or something like that. Shit, my mind is turning into tomato paste. But believe me, it was really pertinent and epiphanous.) One that I really like: Don’t start a fight, just finish it.
Luiza: Estou muito agradecido que cê está aqui. Estamos juntos por apenas um ano, mas cê sempre será meu amiga. 
In continuing the trend of reflective, dejecting posts, let me introduce my college woes.
I will be going to Franklin College Switzerland in the fall. I applied in 2007, deferred because of my exchange to Norway, and will be attending in fall, 2009. That’s all fine and dandy, except I haven’t received any information on scholarships and financial aid yet. I had $11,000 toward my tuition when I was accepted, but I have no idea if that money is still being held for me because of my deferral. So yeah, I’m worried. But that’s only half of it.
Going to college, it’s a big step. And the one thing that worries me is: did I make the right choice? I mean, it sounds good on paper: the good traveling opportunities, getting a dual diploma, an international environment–but is it really so; how is it beyond pen and ink? I think it’s a big committment to make actually, choosing a college. I mean, after all, you’re choosing your home for the next two to four years. And what if I don’t like it? What then? Transfer? Where? Would it even be possible?
I remember thinking the same things last year…I thought I was over it, but I guess worrying about college sort of resurfaced all the little issues I’ve had in going with my decision.
There’s so much more to it–the reputation, the unconventionalness, the doubts and the after-college fears–but I feel I’ll only end up fatiguing myself if I tried to explain every little detail. The only important thing to worry about, i hvertfall, is getting that award money.
Anyway, back to life: I’m sick again. I’ve actually gotten sick quite a few times this year, it sucks. I guess going on exchange takes a toll on your immune system.
Just this past weekend we had our mid-year AFS camp: it’s hard to believe that we’ve been here six months already. We’re more than half-way ferdig. It was a very different tone from the previous week’s hyttetur–there was a lot more reflection, seriousness, and…comfort. I guess lately, I’ve been tending to look at only the bad things rather than the good things. I also remember something important that Cecilie said: “You can’t compare experiences. Don’t think ‘If I had lived in this town, or had these friends, that everything would be better.‘” I think I need to stop thinking about what others have in their lives here in Norway and just focus on making the best out of my own. And I think that extends to so much more than just exchange–I don’t know how many times in the past I thought my life would be better if I looked differently, lived somewhere else, had different friends, or had a complete family. The problem is learning how to stop thinking this way. I wonder if this is how smokers feel…
Anyway, Cecilie also said something else that struck me: we only have five months left. And these five months go fast. If there is something you’ve been thinking of doing, don’t wait: do it.
My mindset right now is definitely different than it was when I first came here, no doubt about that. Living here for half a year has shown me the whats and what-nots of Horten. And while I can’t make a second first-impression, I am determined to make this second half the best yet. “Jeg skal leve fullt og helt hver dag.”
Okay, so I haven’t blogged in a while. With samarbeidsuka and hytteturen this past week and a half, I’ve more or less put blogging on the backburner. So here’s what’s been up:
Samarbeidsuka var kjampekoselig. Jobbet med mange søte barn på Mammas barnehage. Det var en nydelig pause fra skolen—ingenting å bekymre meg over unntatt barna. Bare lekte hele dagene—bygget med Legos, laget snømennesker, osv.—noen ganger mer enn dem, faktisk. Men det var slitsomt óg! Tenkte ikke at jeg kunne være så sliten av leking! Realiserte at jeg er sikkert ikke klar å ha barn enda, haha.
Også på den fredagen hadde vi en svensk vikar på barnehagen. Hadde en ganske interessant samtale om California, Norge, Stockholm, og opplevelsene mine som ”utbytesstudent.” Følte meg helt stolt at jeg kunne forstå henne til tross for tonefallet sitt. (Det var helt annerledes. Så overraska var jeg å kunne prate med henne, siden jeg aldri forstår hva de sier på SVT.)
Blei kjørt til Holmestrand togestasjon rett etter jobb. Tok toget fra Holmestrand til Drammen og der møtet jeg opp med de andre AFS studentenes. Og så tok vi et annet tog fra Drammen til Hønefoss som var helt opptatt—hadde å sitte oss ned på inngangen. Fra Hønefoss togestasjon gikk vi til bussholdingplassen og da tok vi en buss til Smeden, where we were finally picked up.
The weekend up in Hønefoss was amazing. It’s always so nice to see everyone again, to be with people who are in the same situation as you and understand you. Spent quite a lot of time playing and kosing in the snow (which, as I have found out, is actually quite enjoyable and not nearly as cold as it sounds out to be) with Xenia and Jessica, and had some good conversations with Jessica and Doug. It was also great to see Anbjørg again; last time we saw her we couldn’t even understand her, but it’s nice to see how much we’ve all learned in this past half year. Even if everything’s less than perfect or expected, we’ve come quite far.
And it came as a surprise to me, but I even got a little homesick on the second day—for my family here!
But I guess the good times had to come to a stop sometime, and this time it was Monday. So anyway, I had a History & Philosophy presentation on Max Weber’s theory on the relationship between Calvinism and capitalism to do on Monday, right?—something which I spent all of last week and Sunday night working on, and something which I was looking forward to present.
但我新奇一去学校的时，老师并不在。所以我只能坐下来等他。谁知道等着一个半小时！等这一堂课快要结速了，他才近来。到这时候，我已经有点不耐烦，所以告诉他，＂我不知道你今天在那儿，但是我有我的 presentation。知道他回个什么答案吗？＂你应该查网上，我贴了一个 post。＂既然给我态度！
一：你从来都不个网上写东西，突然写这么一次我就应该知道？你把我是读脑人哪！
二：你知道我费了多少的时间和功夫去做这个 project 吗？你从前留过学！你应该比谁都更知道一个留学生的困难！你怎么可以这么不了解哪？
肏他奶奶的！把我气疯了。
And that was actually the first time I’ve cried since I came here. Ironic, isn’t it?: not because I don’t have friends, not because I miss home, but because of a fucking philosophical theory. Typical of me to get worked up about something academic. It seems kinda stupid now to cry about it, but fuck, I was so pissed! I have half a mind not to show up to History & Philosophy for the next two weeks.
But anyway, that kind of wraps it up for the past week and a half. And now I am going to take a lunch break because I’ve been blogging since school started in the morning. (Yeah, take that, school. This is some serious rebelling.)
