International Week

After the language camp I had an additional week off for fall break. During the break I hung out with friends and began preparing for the cold winter weather by buying warm clothes. I took a little road trip out to Hamar with my friends Melissa and Marte. Hamar is a city of about 30,000 people and it is located on the opposite side of Lake Mjøsa. The weather has been very cold lately. It has been around 25 degrees Fahrenheit on a daily basis so we are preparing ourselves for an early winter.

I also visited the Alf Prøysen museum with my host parents. It is located in Rudshøgda, Norway where Prøysen lived. The museum is located about a kilometer from the house that Prøysen himself grew up in. Alf Prøysen is Norway’s most famous children’s author. He wrote songs and short stories about everyday life in rural Norway.

I saw my first moose the other day while I was with my host dad at his Health club meeting and I managed to snap a picture of it. I stood about 50 meters from it!

This week at school we have been having a lot of presentations on the current conditions in Rwanda and what it is that we can do to help. It is our international week so we have also been celebrating and recognizing all the different ethnicities of the school. A lot of families throughout Middle Eastern Europe have moved to Norway in hopes of a better life for their children. In being the only exchange student here I was asked to present about where I come from. I gave my first Norwegian presentation to the school on the differences between American and Norwegian high schools in addition to talking about exchange programs. It was a little difficult but it was a lot of fun telling the students about school spirit and all the events that are a part of American high school. On next Thursday everyone at the school is taking part in a project called “Operasjon Dagsverk.” All the students and staff are required to go out in the community and raise 400 Norwegian kroner, which is the equivalence of around 80 US dollars. My friends and I are planning to run a booth where we will be making and selling waffles, a very popular food here. The money we raise will all be sent to Rwanda to help get a better education for the kids and teachers.

Here I am giving the school a presentation on american schools and excahnge programs.

Here we are making african food to celebrate international week. We made cous cous salad with chicken, and it was tasty!