Lately things have been really busy for me! It has been one of the earliest springs for Norway. Now the daylight hours are long and the outside temperatures are no longer staying in the negatives. In the mornings the sun is up and shining at around 6:30 and then it sets around 6:30 in the evening. This past week it has been 11 C (50’s F) and warmer. They hit a warm record of 17 Celsius (63 F) in Oslo, for the month of March. We have had some days of rain and lots of days of beautiful sunshine. In my city, Lena, the snow is almost completely gone. The roads are no longer icy so it is much easier to walk places. Usually this type of weather comes around April and Easter. This year it is a month early.
What has currently been going on in my life:
My friend Angela, from Taiwan, and I had a sushi night. We made sushi for our host families to try and it was a delicious success.
Håvard had a ski race out in Kolbu.
We recently took a trip out to the cabin. It is about half an hour up from a city called Dokka. It is my host dad, Kjartan’s parents cabin, which is shared amongst his siblings. There we spent a nice weekend out in the sun grilling hot dogs and going cross-country skiing. One of the days we all took a 25 km ski trip to the top of a mountain called Spatind. I also introduced my family to s’mores, which was a big hit among all the kids. The snow was not the best ski-quality because of the recent rainy weather. It was really hard and icy so I used mountain skis instead of the typical cross-country skis. They are thicker with wider frames. Mountain skis make it easier to ski but they are heavier and more tiring than the traditional cross-country skis.
Us all eating lunch
On the top of Spatind
Fun fact: A traditional chocolate to eat while going out for a long ski trip is Kvikk Lunsj. It is basically the Norwegian form of a Kit Kat, and Norwegians are sure crazy about their after skiing chocolate.
Before going out skiing, we must always put either smøring (wax) or klister (a sticky adhesive) on the bottom of the skis. When the snow is fresh and soft, wax is used and when it is icy, then the klister is used. Normally it goes right underneath the shoe part of the ski.
This past weekend we had a rotary event in Oslo. On Saturday we went to a couple Museums along Akersbrygge (an area along the Oslo fjord). We went to the Hjemmefront (home front) museum and the Nobel Peace prize museum. The Hjemmefront museum was about Norway and the war and the road it took to independence. The other museum was very modern. It touched upon all those that have been winners of the Nobel peace prize along with having displays of what is currently happening all around the world. After the museums we had a few hours to go around Oslo.
Karlie, me, Savannah, and Duncan
All the Aussies
Akersbrygge in Oslo
Anne, Gustavo, and me
Savannah
The Nobel Peace Prize Museum
Karl Johans Gate
On top of the Opera House
Duncan and me
The second day we went to the Holmenkolen World Ski Championships. There we saw the women’s 30 km ski race along with the men’s ski jumping.
Anne and me
The 30 km womens ski race
My new favorite Ameican skiier
The World's best women's skiier Marit Bjørgen!
Jonathon, Karlie, me, and Duncan
Savannah, Karlie, and I posing with all the trolls
Marit Bjørgen again!
Showing our Norwegian spirit
The last day in Oslo we spent some time with the Mayor of a municipality called Bærum, which is a little outside of Oslo. We also spent some time at the Viking Ship museum and Bygdøy (The Fram ship) learning about Norway’s early Viking history.
Karlie and me at the city hall in Bærum
Savannah, me, and Karlie
The whole group with the mayor of Bærum
These are the three best preserved viking ships in the world. All of them dating back to a 1000 years ago
The Fram ship
At the end of this month I will be spending my last week with my current host family up in the North of Norway. We are going to visit my host mom’s family in Finnsnes. It is an island about an hour from Tromsø. It is really far up in the North so we will be flying from Oslo to Tromsø.
I switch to my final host family in early April. They live in a beautiful house right by Lake Mjøsa, in the town of Kapp. The Sørum’s have one daughter, Tonje, 17, and a son, Gøran, 14. Tonje is currently on exchange in my home city Eureka, CA.
