Rain Rain Rain

It has been constantly raining here in Norway. Flooding has occurred all over and especially in Southern, Norway. It is the most rain Norway has gotten in 111 years.


 I am now beginning to really grasp the Norwegian language. I have attended school for almost a month. My head often hurts with all the new words and information but I have progressed. I constantly refer to my Norwegian English wordbook, without it I would definitely be lost.

Each student is provided with a school laptop so all of our documents are done digitally, which is a big change from high school. I have become close to a group of girls who traveled to the US last year on exchange. I am going to be living with one of the girls, Mathilda Tosterud, for my second host family. They are a family of five kids that live walking distance from the school. The teachers here are all very kind and they have been really helpful with all of my schoolwork and assignments. I do have to say that English is my favorite class, in addition to social anthropology.

Currently the Norwegian Valg (election) has been going on. This coming Monday, the 12th of September, schools are closed due to voting. The Arbeidpartiet (Labor Party) has received high praise for Jens Stoltenberg’s actions following the attacks on Utøya. Their popularity due to recent events has risen. It is unclear which party edges above the rest but soon enough there one will be chosen. The spectrum from right to left in Norway involves the Arbeidpartiet, Frp, Høyre, Krf, Senterpartiet, SV, and Venstre.

We traveled to Lillehammer to see the famous ski jump.

Lillehammer’s Maihaugen Museum

Downtown Lillehammer

Oslo, Norway

Here I am at my very first opera. This is Oslo's new opera house that has been remodeled--following the architecture of the opera house in Sydney, Australia.

Later on this month my rotary district is holding a weeklong language course on the west coast of Norway. There I will meet all other exchange students throughout the southern half of Norway. We will be staying in Kinsarvik, which is a place on the Hardanger fjord. It isn't too far from Bergen.

Fun Fact: Here is a picture of when Norway was in a union with Sweden. After Denmark sold Norway to Sweden, in 1814, the Norwegian flag was allowed to be flown, however the swedish colors had to be displayed in the upper right hand corner. Most Norwegians disliked the Union flag which they sarcastically called, "herring salad". On June 1905 Norway broke free of its union with Sweden. After nearly 400 years of foreign rule they had become an independent nation again. Prince Carl of Denmark was elected King of Norway under the name of Haakon VII.