Holmenkollen is awesome. I've actually had to write a paper on it, and here's some of the paper, edited a little, to give you an idea of what it is and what it was like for me to be there. Only, magnify the excitement by 1000 and picture me jumping up and down and screaming and buying Anders Jaccobsen scarves and a Norwegian flag painted on our faces. You might get the idea then.
A beautiful spring day, calm, the sun shining down over the Oslo fjords. Birds chirping, a sure sign that green would be returning soon.
Not today. Today was the day that winter would have one grand finale before being overtaken by spring. And it was not planning on going quietly. On our way to the competition, we (all of the echangers, our chaperones, and I) got onto a city bus to make it to the top of the mountain. On our drive, we started to sing the only song we all knew (We Are One) very loudly. The polish people up front tried to drown us out with friendly competition. Over then next 20 minutes, we all kept singing different songs, ranging from the star-spangled banner to Old Mac Donald in French. It was pretty great. When we started the walk, though, it was insane.
Cowbells, noise makers, screamers, shouts, pounding feet, horns, bells, whistles, car horns, accordians, painted faces, scarves with your favorite skiiers, hats with flags on them, face paint, Body paint, crazy pants- I felt like I had stepped into a Quidditch match in Harry Potter.
Holmenkollen is spoken reverently, excitedly, enthusiastically- renowned throughout Scandanavia, indeed, the whole of Europe, as a holy skiing event, the Holmenkoll ski jump is a huge part of the Nordic World Cup held every year in Oslo.
This year was particularly special. The construction on the new ski jump had just been completed, unveiling one of the most elegant ski jumps in the world. It was breath taking. Wicked scary. Heart stopping.
Heaploads of fun to watch people jump down from.
We got into our places, and watched the Royal Family settle into their places. Then, the opening ceremony. Flag bearers raced down the hill, with the group of exchangers I was with screaming most loudly at America, Norway, and France's flags. It was great. Every jump was thrilling- there was a 17 year old kid from Finland that had 132 meters. It was crazy.
The rest of the weekend was spent going to different museums in Oslo, including the Viking ship museum (world's 3 best preserved viking ship burials), the Kontiki 5 museum (this tiny traditional fishing craft some guy took around the world), and the Sea faring life museum ( ? ) (There were no pirates. We were sad.). We also saw some taxidermied polar bears, and went bowling. It was a really nice weekend. I almost missed my flight home- I had to race for it because they changed my gate to across the terminal. All the way. It was alright.
So that was my Holmenkollen experience of grand amazingness.
During the weekdays, I was pretty busy with scouts, and with hanging out with friends. I've been really busy lately with spending time with all my friends. Last Thursday I had a cluster of teens over to my house for board games and candy. It was really nice- we hung out upstairs and played Alias. It was really embaressing- I was the foreign kid and Maja and I were winning. I had so much fun. Another important development that happened last week- I got my Russklar!!! It's so gourgeous. I love it. The pants are hysterical. I can't wait to show them off when I come home.
Speaking of coming home, I only have about 3 months and a week left here. I'm really sad about this. I didn't think I would be so distraught about coming home- I knew the time limit- yet, I've made such wonderful and influential friends that I can scarcely imagine my life back home without them. I know I'm coming back- I've already talked to my mom about backpacking. But I'm going to try very hard to not be sad about this until I'm gone. There's no point in not living in the present. I'm having a better time now that I'm being more extroverted and putting myself out there- I've grown closer to the friends I already had, and I'm making more friends in the process. That's important, I think.
The following weekend (last), I went off to Stavanger again. I met up with my German family (the NATO one I was with in December) and talked to their daughter, Vicky, who's going to Australia next year. She's very excited. I am for her too. It's really great that she has this opportunity. However, I've been a little worried about it cause she's the first kid her club's sending, so I asked her to put together a presentation for me about her new country. She seems to know a lot more about her country, and I hope it helps. Anyway, they picked me up from the bus depot, and we went and got NORWEGIAN SWEATERS!!! I love thrift shops. Especially Norwegian ones. During the weekend, we went shopping, talked to the Maine family that lives next door, (I got cereal!!!) and we watched some movies.
On Sunday, we were preparing for me to leave when they asked me what I wanted to do before I left Stavanger for what might be the last time. I told them- my biggest want was to see Brekkestollen. It's this flat 600 square meter edge cliff that's about 900 meters high. It's beautiful. Joerg heard that and said 'Alright, get on a coat. A ferry leaves at 12'. It was 11.20. 'Wait, what?' 'You heard me- LET'S MOVE!!!'. It was awesome. We mobilized, and Vicky and I took the ferry through the Lysefjorden. We saw seal pups playing, a giant waterfall that we got to drink from (they put a bucket at our feet and didn't let us know we'd get soaked), and had a really nice time. It was wicked fun.
Then I went home
Now we're in preparations for Markus's birthday this Saturday. He's turning 13. It's gonna be nice. I'm looking forward to next week, however- my beloved host parents are taking me to SPAIN!!!! I'm so excited. I can't wait to tell you about it.
Have a great and wonderful Easter!
SPRING TRAINING AHOY!!! ^^
Friday, March 26, 2010
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Slamming and Banging, EMILY IS A MONSTER!!!
So what happened, exactly, to transform me into a sea monster?
Well, the exchange kid from Washington wanted to come to the west coast to escape his host parent's hytte (cabin in the woods), so he asked if he could crash with me. I asked Martin and Camilla, and they told me it was fine.
-I know this is a slow build up, but it gets better by the end. BEAR WITH ME, YOU'RE READING THIS TO THE END, MISTER.
Anyhow.
My friends (Vilde, Siri, Karoline, Hanne) and I took the bus at 7 am to Bergen on Wednesday in the middle of a raging snowstorm to pick up Luke, the aforementioned kid. We found Luke bundled up on a train station bench, looking like he hadn't slept for weeks (in reality, it had only been 30 hours). He took the sleeper train, and couldn't sleep very well due to the fact that the train was nearly derailed and had to be unloaded. He took a bus for 4 hours, and then got to Bergen at about 8. He was tired, hungry, and happy as anything.
It was vacation. Makes you chronically thrilled.
Our first day consisted of a lot of shopping (I made the mistake of bringing only girls). We did,
however, go down to Bryggen and walk about town quite a bit. It was nice, even if it was snowing too much. We got home about 6, ate some dinner, and Luke and Markus hung out. Markus met Luke when we went to Oslo, and took to him right away.
Thursday, we woke up, ate breakfast at the hotel (Martin had a business meeting first thing in the morning), and went sledding all day. It was great. Luke and I got into a snowball fight with Markus and his friends- we lost. Miserably. It was made up for soon, though- we got hot chocolate. We spent the evening at a movie night at my friend Rune's. We watched Hot Fuzz, played 10 fingers, and watched a classmate of mine dance on some pillows and accidently break 2 glasses.
It was a good night.
So on Friday, we took a bus to Stavanger, and spent the day walking around the city with my friend Vicky. Vicky is going to Australia next year, and used to time with us to ask about host parents and exchange student things (i.e.- How much should I pack? -Luke: As much as you think you'll need. -Me: BWAHAHAHAHAH!!!!). We ate in a little Greek place for lunch, poked around the bookshop that was having a sale, and went to the Stavanger Oil Museum.
This was a magical place for us.
3 teenagers, a museum filled with miniatures, and 2 hours. This obviously equates to pretending to be monsters, coming to wreck the tiny oil platforms and towns that build them.
We did get some strange looks from a group of kindergarteners coming in on a class tour. They were surprisingly quiet coming in. Or we were just roaring rather loudly.
When the museum closed, we went out into the jungle-gym that had been built out of old equipment and continued feeling like we were 5. I army-crawled through an oil pipeline, Luke climbed up an old crane, and Vicky bounced on the bouys laid out in a giant ball-pit.
Our best day ever.
Saturday, the whole family said goodbye to Luke. He left. I hung out with some people throughout the week of school.
Then, on Friday, I had my first scouting trip- with my Norwegian troop! We spent all of this weekend in furnished cabins on a neighboring island. It was fantastic- we went with the really small kids, and taught them about orienteering by hanging bags of candy on trees in the woods and making them go find it with a set of instructions. Whatever they didn't find, we scavanged later. The movie that night was especially sweet. We also built snowmen, got into snowball wars (these weren't just spats, these were all-inclusive, epic battles that lasted a solid 40 minutes), and tried to reverse rising sea temperatures. We built snowmen along the dock, making them about head high, and pushed them into the water. Several times. When our scout leader asked the Rovers (aka Big Kids) why we were doing this, 'Global Warming' seemed like a clever response.
We had a great time. But it was no Crew 27. I do miss my Venture Crew back home! I'm really happy to be a part of scouts here, though, and now I have a spiffy Norwegian uniform to wear when I come home!
I'm exhausted.
So that's what's been happening to me. I'm going to do my Rotary presentation in 2 weeks, and I'm really nervous about it because the majority is in Norwegian (that's why they had me hold off for so long). Men det skal går bra (But it will be alright)! My club is really kind, and so if I mess up, they're not going to be mean. I'm pretty happy to be able to share about my life with them. It's going to be really nice.
I was very glad that nothing happened to Taylor in the earthquake in Chile, but I'm sorry he's going home already. At least it wasn't for the D's, right?
Aokay. I'm actually waiting for baseball season to start, cause I just found the American sport channel here. It's exciting.
YAY FOR AMERICA'S FAVORITE PASTTIME!
-Emily
Well, the exchange kid from Washington wanted to come to the west coast to escape his host parent's hytte (cabin in the woods), so he asked if he could crash with me. I asked Martin and Camilla, and they told me it was fine.
-I know this is a slow build up, but it gets better by the end. BEAR WITH ME, YOU'RE READING THIS TO THE END, MISTER.
Anyhow.
My friends (Vilde, Siri, Karoline, Hanne) and I took the bus at 7 am to Bergen on Wednesday in the middle of a raging snowstorm to pick up Luke, the aforementioned kid. We found Luke bundled up on a train station bench, looking like he hadn't slept for weeks (in reality, it had only been 30 hours). He took the sleeper train, and couldn't sleep very well due to the fact that the train was nearly derailed and had to be unloaded. He took a bus for 4 hours, and then got to Bergen at about 8. He was tired, hungry, and happy as anything.
It was vacation. Makes you chronically thrilled.
Our first day consisted of a lot of shopping (I made the mistake of bringing only girls). We did,
however, go down to Bryggen and walk about town quite a bit. It was nice, even if it was snowing too much. We got home about 6, ate some dinner, and Luke and Markus hung out. Markus met Luke when we went to Oslo, and took to him right away.
Thursday, we woke up, ate breakfast at the hotel (Martin had a business meeting first thing in the morning), and went sledding all day. It was great. Luke and I got into a snowball fight with Markus and his friends- we lost. Miserably. It was made up for soon, though- we got hot chocolate. We spent the evening at a movie night at my friend Rune's. We watched Hot Fuzz, played 10 fingers, and watched a classmate of mine dance on some pillows and accidently break 2 glasses.
It was a good night.
So on Friday, we took a bus to Stavanger, and spent the day walking around the city with my friend Vicky. Vicky is going to Australia next year, and used to time with us to ask about host parents and exchange student things (i.e.- How much should I pack? -Luke: As much as you think you'll need. -Me: BWAHAHAHAHAH!!!!). We ate in a little Greek place for lunch, poked around the bookshop that was having a sale, and went to the Stavanger Oil Museum.
This was a magical place for us.
3 teenagers, a museum filled with miniatures, and 2 hours. This obviously equates to pretending to be monsters, coming to wreck the tiny oil platforms and towns that build them.
We did get some strange looks from a group of kindergarteners coming in on a class tour. They were surprisingly quiet coming in. Or we were just roaring rather loudly.
When the museum closed, we went out into the jungle-gym that had been built out of old equipment and continued feeling like we were 5. I army-crawled through an oil pipeline, Luke climbed up an old crane, and Vicky bounced on the bouys laid out in a giant ball-pit.
Our best day ever.
Saturday, the whole family said goodbye to Luke. He left. I hung out with some people throughout the week of school.
Then, on Friday, I had my first scouting trip- with my Norwegian troop! We spent all of this weekend in furnished cabins on a neighboring island. It was fantastic- we went with the really small kids, and taught them about orienteering by hanging bags of candy on trees in the woods and making them go find it with a set of instructions. Whatever they didn't find, we scavanged later. The movie that night was especially sweet. We also built snowmen, got into snowball wars (these weren't just spats, these were all-inclusive, epic battles that lasted a solid 40 minutes), and tried to reverse rising sea temperatures. We built snowmen along the dock, making them about head high, and pushed them into the water. Several times. When our scout leader asked the Rovers (aka Big Kids) why we were doing this, 'Global Warming' seemed like a clever response.
We had a great time. But it was no Crew 27. I do miss my Venture Crew back home! I'm really happy to be a part of scouts here, though, and now I have a spiffy Norwegian uniform to wear when I come home!
I'm exhausted.
So that's what's been happening to me. I'm going to do my Rotary presentation in 2 weeks, and I'm really nervous about it because the majority is in Norwegian (that's why they had me hold off for so long). Men det skal går bra (But it will be alright)! My club is really kind, and so if I mess up, they're not going to be mean. I'm pretty happy to be able to share about my life with them. It's going to be really nice.
I was very glad that nothing happened to Taylor in the earthquake in Chile, but I'm sorry he's going home already. At least it wasn't for the D's, right?
Aokay. I'm actually waiting for baseball season to start, cause I just found the American sport channel here. It's exciting.
YAY FOR AMERICA'S FAVORITE PASTTIME!
-Emily
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