oh how i love maren

This weekend was lotsa fun. Maren just showed up at my house on sunday and woke me up at 11. So i got to spend the day with her!! WHEEE! We saw dirty dancing havana nights and went for a walk to my school and back... with the ground full of ice... so it was a lottttta fun!!! =) Im really excited for snow soon. a lot of snow... I really want to build a snowman and go sledding and finally learn how to ski!!! ^^ schools been going fine. and today at school we made it through the whole day with all norwegian! WHEEE! yay. yay for no english. Anyways, Im really excited for christmas too. and all of the holidays. and my birthday. I still dont know if I want to have a party or just go to oslo for a day. Maybe I just have friends over, or tristan? ahh run of thoughts. Well I have nothing else really to write about. Ive been thinking about making a film and music video. Maybe as a commercial for afs that i can send back to hhs to promote exchange. thad be cool. like have all of my friends say stuff. and then i could do it as a media project!!! WHEEE! We'll we will see. Im already doing a hairspray kinda film with some friends. I dont remember what tristan and my names were, but they were so cute. and we get to do cool dances together and such. itll be fun fun fun in the sun. Well going to step class now. tata. oh and i lost my camera... with all of the pics of me in bunad.. wahhhh.

You're the one that I want... (wooo hooo hooo)

So this past week has been a little crazy. This weekend will be even more so though. Tomorrow bestemor og bestefar are coming. (Theyre staying for a week). Im also playing a viola concert tomorrow and Im wearing bunad (the norwegiana traditional dress). Ill take tons of pictures =) Im super excited .... i really want some but it costs 25000kr. (a little under $5000) a little too expensive for me. På lørdag will i go to jessheim to buy boots and christmas gifts. then im going to have dinner with the grandparents, then im going to ellisivs bday party. and in the midst of all of that im going to see some kind of horror film with tristan... he thinks i need to see a horror film. (i hate scary movies ahhh) On sunday I guess Ill spend the day with him. GAHHH so busy this weekend!

Do I even need to label these anymore? Its of course tristan and I.

I want a pony for christmas.

lazy weekends

I didnt have school thursday or friday, which was nice... so tristan came over and helped with my german paper... i am horrrrrible at german, so its very nice to have a boyfriend both fluent in the language and super willing to help a completely lost and unenthusiastic student. Today maren is coming over (WHEEEEEEEE) I havent seen her in 3 months and i finally get to spend time with her!!!! YAY! Tomorrow were going to Oslo for the day to go to museums, out to eat, and of course christmas shopping. Then on sunday I have to finish my whole sosiologi project on crime, and tristans coming over. Hes going to Denmark this weekend with some of his dads coworkers, but his dads not going... so itll be tristan and a bunch of mid 30s and 40 year old men. hahaha. hell have a good time for sure. I cant believe that Ive been gone from the us almost 4 months... time goes by so fast. I left on july 17th for china and today is november 9th. so almost 4 months. thats crazy. But i really cant wait for christmas. Thats gonna be so fun here. YAY! and new years. wayyyy cool! PARTAY! Im sooo excited. but apparantly thats when people get really homesick... hopefully i wont cause i have a great family and amazing friends here! ^^ love everyone.

Ellisiv, Me, and Yi Ren

Yi Ren and I at a cafe with oreos and milk

Two Down Days

Today sucks as much as yesterday. Something really funny is up and its irritating. I feel like I'm not being the whole thing about certain topics. I feel like people are hiding things from me like they dont trust me. Why are my parents talking about me without talking to me? If it concerns me, I think I should be included in the conversations. I feel lost right now. I dont know my place. Im just so lost. Im drowing in confusion.

Ups and Downs

I'm going through more of the ups and downs of the AFS program. Right now I'm near the bottom, not because of any kind of homesickness, no, but because I love my friends and family here so much, and I can't help but think that in 8 months I have to go back to the US. I never want to leave my family, friends, boyfriend, my school, this culture, or anything else about norway. I feel like being here for only one year is completely holding me back. Everything has to be put into a strange perspective of, 'yeah we'll have fun now, but I'm just going to leave again.' It's horrible. I wish my family in the US would just pick up and move to eidsvoll so I could live here forever with my friends and both families.

It's so strange what I'm feeling right now though. I have a really hard time describing it. I think its a mixture between anxiousness and fear. I'm anxious to have the best time I can here, making as many friends as possible, but yet I fear that once I leave I'll be forgotten about and everything will go back to normal, as if I was never here at all.

I have two lives now, the one I had in the US, and now the one here with my friends and family. Which one would I have to choose if I had to pick? I have no idea, its the hardest decision anyone would ever have to make, but I feel as if I have to pick between what I had and what I have now. Why do I feel forced? I dont know, but its a horrible feeling. I love my family back in the US because theyre my family, they support me in almost everything I do, but I feel that my friends here know me better for who I am.

For a long time I felt if I had to lie to my family back in the US to make them happy, but I can talk to my family and friends here in norway freely about those matters, and not only do people support me with what I think, but they all agree completely with me. It's a difference in how we were all brought up. My generation has a completely different culture than my parents, for instance. My parents in the US were both brought up as catholics. I was too brought up as a catholic, but yet I am completely different from them. I never had the guts to tell them what I truly think because I was always scared of them and what they'd think of me if I didnt turn out how they wanted me to.

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Tristan and I at school

Historie og Filosofi Klasse

So Im in Historie and Philosophy class right now and we havent had a teacher the last 2 weeks, so we kinda sit and do nothing. So right now Im very bored. Pretty much dying of boredom. Ive spent 2 class periods writing a norwegian poem for tristan that 'rhymed' that was his one requirement... and lets just say my norwegian poem writing skills are... awful. and this period in just sitting on facebook and texting with friends. so productive in school today. Well, yesterday I got my hair cut. Its very european. And I just realized how strange the word got it. just look at it, its very wierd.(wared,for tristan) And I jsut realized that another button is falling off of my jacket. Well, tristan will gladly sew that one back on as well. GAHHHHHHHHHHH! IM SOOOO BORED!! JEG KJEDER MED I HJÆRNE! Well, Im gonna go check movie times... maybe Ill see hairspray today or tomorrow or something.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Yesterday was my halloween party... BØ! It was pretty fun, definately not long enough though... thats what happens when you get a bunch of teenagers in a room together for a period of time. Well, today Tristans coming over to study for english, cause, of course, I am the best person to study english with, because, well, Im just amazingly fluent in it. WOOHOO! unfortunately Im not completely fluent in norwegian yet... psssh. its sooo hard to keep going, cause it gets sooo frustrating to keep asking and making mistakes, but hey, thats how Ill learn, even if it sucks. well, gotta go translate an essay on the downfalls of American government.

Tristan and I (well, the devil and me in 50 years with glow in the dark hair)

Jesus and, WHAAA?

Uke 10 og litt 11

Last week was a crazy week at school. We had school Monday and on Tuesday we had a presentasion on Palestine, Wednesday I spent the day editing a video for media class and walking around school painting cardboard buildings for displays of palestine. On Thursday, Tristan and I worked packaging cleaning towels for Norwex instead of going to school. Each student was to find a job and make 300 Kr to send to a school in palestine. And Friday we had normal school again. The weekend has also been crazy. Friday night Trine came over and slept over. Saturday we went to Jessheim and shopped all day and I got my ears pierced again =). We then came home and went through our whole dress up collection, cause I'm having a halloween party next weekend. We then had guests come over to carve pumpkins. Mine was a spider. Then we proceded to play a lot of Wii. Then this morning I've done pretty much nothing. which is a really nice change, but later on Im going to help at some kind of tv auction at the elementary school. Wooo Hooo. Well, off to other things.

Tristan and I after he painted all over my face on Palestine day

Me in Tristans uberly cool jacket

Uke 9 og litt 10

Week 10. wow time goes by super fast here! except when I'm in pointless classes in school... such as today where I spent 3 class periods of sosiologi planning a way to sneak out of the class. Nevertheless, that didnt happen, only long bathroom breaks, and then I come back, say something to the teacher in norwegian and she says 'you have great norwegian' but in norwegian of course, and then I go back to reading norwegian childrens books. It becomes very boring. I always have the breaks to look forward to though, where I get to see my friends, well mostly Tristan, I won't lie. So whats a 'normal' day for me?
Wake up at 6:30, use massive amounts of time on my hair, and lots of hairspray...(hair is a very important thing here in norway, very BIG, literally, but its fun)
7:15 Breakfast(frukost) with my family, except for pappa who already has gone to catch the train to oslo for work.
7:40 Kjører til skolen (drive to school) at least part way, then we walk the rest of the way
8:25-15:30 sometimes 13:45- kjeder meg (I'm bored during this time, known as school) I sit and read norwegian books, and try to participate in discussions, but they talk to fast sometimes. I can understand it all, just not talk about the topics.
After school- gjøre lekser (do homework), spise middag (eat dinner), være sammen med venner (be together with my friends), se noen ting på tv (watch something on tv), norsk ting (do norwegian things)
On saturday Anders came over and we watched the 40 year old virgin (in norwegian jomfru) and that movie is so much funnier after drinking tons of soda and eating junk food and dancing to nysnc and backstreet boys, and crazy norwegian bands. classic marissa, to say the least. kjempe morsomt!
Well today after school I'm going to Trines to film a video on human rights for Media class. All day wednesday were editing these videos. Thursday we have a day off of school to work in the community to earn money for palestine. I really like that about norwegian schools. We have random whole days to focus on a project, instead of 45 minutes a day on one subject and then move on... and we have days where we dont have to even come to school, and they say, go find somewhere to work to raise money for a suffering country. I think its really smart. And I find that I learn a lot more from days like these than sitting in a class room, having the same thing every day. Variety makes it more memorable and productive.
Well, I have to go, I have to get my scarf back from Tristan by the end of the day...(he really enjoys taking my clothing... especially scarves and jackets, and wearing them for extended periods of time in public. silly boy)
Miss everyone, but Im having the time of my life =)

In Henningsvær (Nord-Norge)

On top of a mountain in Svolvær (also Nord-Norge)

uke åtte (8)

This past week I spent in Lofoten... A group of islands in northern norway, above the arctic circle. It was suprisingly warm, about 6 or 7 degrees (c of course) and we had great weather. The first day we flew to a city called bodø and then took a ferry for six hours from bodø to svolvær, where we spent the majority of our trip. In Svolvær, we played concerts at a church, a mall, and at a few schools. The second day that we were on our trip, we climbed a mountain in Svolvær, one of the smaller ones, but still, it took over 2 hours to go up, and over 2 hours to go down. The views from the top were absolutely beautiful, the most stunning i have ever seen in my entire life. Clear blue skies, enless islands, small towns, more mountains. AMAZING! I have some pictures that I'll post up sometime, but not until my computer is working again. Anyways, the third day we played with the local cultural school in a concert and at mall. It was pretty fun, except for the homesickness that came that day, which was accompanied by horrible headaches and stomachaches. but that has passed now, at least mostly. The final day we woke up at 5:15 to take a 6 hour speedboat ride from Svolvær to Bodø. Unfortunately, the sea was reallllly rough that day, so everyone but me and 2 others from the group were seasick, the whole time. I nearly died, because I cannot stand people throwing up. But Ieveryone survived and now the world continues on, all happy. And now Im back at home for the rest of høst ferie (fall break), although i have to work at a farm tomorrow and friday... goodie. =) And only a few more days until I get to see my friends again when they get back from their vacations!!! (Tristan and others, specifically) Well, jeg skal dusje nå. =)