Go big or go home!

Hello again,

I have now been in Norway for a little over 3 months, and it has been truly incredible. I decided that rather than just telling you what life is like here, I’d show you! Hope you enjoy the videos.  

I also made a video for AFS that includes clips from many of our different AFS fall events. 

 Below, is our AFS Hamar group at our weekend camp in Rena. 

THE FIRST SNOW! I was so excited for the snow, so I tried to go snowboarding on the downhill right next to our house. Although it was a huge fail since the snow wasn't slick, it was still worth a try! As you can see, the board was completely buried in the snow, so I couldn't get very far. 

    

Below is a picture of Åse and me on Halloween. We were Pippi Longstocking together! Although Halloween isn't such a popular holiday here, we still went out Trick-or-Treating and got a ton of candy. Yes, I'm definitely still a little kid at heart. 

Andréane and I were invited to a Thanksgiving dinner by a teacher from our school.  She is American and her husband is Canadian, so they still celebrate Thanksgiving even though Norwegians do not. We ate all of the typical Thanksgiving foods, and then some other new foods that were extremely good (marshmallow sweet potatoes? Surprisingly good.) Below is a picture of some of the foods that we ate for the delicious dinner!

There are a few things I noticed that are a bit different from life in the United States. For example, I saw a guy riding a Mercedes-Benz tractor to school the other day, so I think it’s fair to say that farming is on a whole new level here... I’ve also seen many guys wearing Uggs here and girls wearing Timbs (Timberland boots), which I’m definitely not used to.  Another trend that is ridiculously popular here is converse shoes. On any given day, at least 3/4 of the school is wearing them, it's crazy!

We had Father’s Day a few weeks ago here in Norway (in America, Father’s Day is in the summer).  For Father’s Day, we had a nice dinner together and had family time after dinner, which was very nice!

Below is a picture from one of our traditional Friday night pizza dinners.  My host mom's pizzas are incredible, which help make Fridays even better because I look forward to it all week!

Also on Father’s Day, we went to my sister’s soccer game in Hamar! She plays on Fart, which is in the top league in Norway. I know, in english Fart sounds like an odd name for a team, but in Norwegian fart means speed! Anyway, the game was a very big deal because it was announced on a Norwegian television show that plays nationally.  The man who announced it on the tv show was at the game leading cheers and keeping the crowd excited. Although Fart lost, they played a very good game- easily one of their best this season! 

I was on TV for the Fart game! My host mom and I are pictured in the top left corner of the screen.

The last Russ party we had was a costume party for halloween, which was awesome! Everyone went all-out, so the costumes were really cool to see. We wore the costumes to school and then joined the festivities at night. The thing about Russ is that only third years are a part of it, so it’s a bit awkward when I go to my second year classes all dressed up... It’s definitely worth it though! There’s nothing that is similar to Russ in America, so I’m really happy I get to be included in it this year, even if I don’t get to participate in all of the events. 

Here is what I wore for the Russ costume day, I was an Avatar!

Below are pictures of some of my friends in their costumes/some of the best costumes of the day.

    

                       

Helene and me at school in our Avatar costumes, which took over 2 hours to put on!

Many of my friends have had their birthdays recently, so we typically get all the girls together and have a small celebration, and then go out on the weekend to celebrate as well. 

Above, we are dressed up to go out for Ida's birthday. Below, we are celebrating Stine's Birthday at her house!

Below, left: The view from my back deck of the mountains and Lake Mjøsa.

Below, right: Our family pet, a bunny rabbit named Snoopy. He's so cute! 

                 

This place is incredible, especially at night when the snow makes the whole city glow!

Below are some pictures from my day trip to Sjusjøen skisenter with Andréane.

I am extremely happy that I decided to come here, because it’s already been the best year of my life.  This is an experience that I could not have had if I had just traveled around Norway as a tourist, because my host family and friends have both helped make this year so fantastic.  The things I've experienced in these first three months are things I will remember for the rest of my life. 

This month will be full of festivities, and I'm so excited for all of it! Some things that I'm really looking forward to are family time, music, desserts, and of course, Christmas! 

That's just about all I can talk about now, so I hope you enjoyed the videos and pictures, and I hope to upload another blogpost by the end of the month with a Christmas edition. 

Until next time, hadebra!

XOXO Karma