some pictures!

T This is a shopping mall in Oslo. once again, check out that parking lot!

This is the garden. It is truely amazing! It is filled with statues and sculptures and fountains.

this is the Royal Castle where the Royal Family lives. You can see the flag at the top, which means they are home!

Moose Hunting and Oslo!

Helloooo!
last week was pretty cool! Monday was mosse hunting, and that was interesting. From six in the morning until eight at night. That's fourteen hours spent in the woods. It was quite an interesting technique. first you bundle up like an eskimo, (the temperature never got above freezing) and you go with a team. the team spreads out, with a person at a station about every 500 meters. there are about six people total. I was with the president of our Rotary club, and stayed with him since I didn't have a gun. after everybody is in there place, someone takes this dog that is like a half sized wolf, and finds a scent track somewhere. When the scent is picked up, the person with the dog radios everyone and keeps them updated on where they are. the Idea is to push the Moose towards the hunters and ambush it. Of course if you miss the first one (which we did) everyone relocates and starts again. after a moose has been shot, it is taken back to the camp in this tractor like sling. then everyone stands around telling stories while it is gutted and cleaned. NOTHING gets thrown out. I thought it was completely discusting, and I don't think I would do it again, but It was deffinately and expierience! I don't think I have ever spent so long in the cold! it was funny, because I haf brought a yogurt for lunch, and It froze solid and never thawed! you have to wera a very special kind of pants and coat, and lucky for me Ole had some, so that was good.

The next two days were spent in Oslo. I went with Solvieg, my ost mom, and we went to the Royal Palace, and this amazing garden full of sculptures. I do not have the slightest Idea how to spell the name of it, but I have taken some pictures that describe it pretty well. It was beautiful weather the first day, so we were outside the whole time. We spent the night in their flat, and The next day went to the National Gallery! this was my favorite! We came at the right time, too. It had many norwegian Artists that I have not heard of, but really liked, but in addition to that, there was a special exhibition of European art. Renoir, Mattisse, Picasso, Munch (who is also Norwegian!) Van Gough and the like! I got to see Van Gough's Self Portrait, and "The Scream"!!

This week has also been interesting at school- On Monday, Me and Eline and Mayaa went down to Maxi after first class. The entire place was swarming with people from school running around with bottles of soda. It was "Yule Bruss" day. That is the day when "Yule Bruss" (Christmas Soda) goes on sale. It is quite a big deal, because everyone seriously loves it! people were buying packages of it, and lugging it back to school, drinking it like crazy and hugging each other. I thought it was quite fun, and we joined in the celebration.
Then later I figured out why the school stays so clean. Everyday on a rotating basis, a class is selected to clean the school. It is about two hours of collecting dishes, picking up trash inside and out, and doing whatever needs to be done. In addition to keeping the school clean, It really encourages students not to trash it in the first place, when they know their classmates are the ones cleaning up after them.
Also, there is a special day coming up thursday, and I think this is the coolest thing of all: Thursday, no one has to come to school. Instead, you go out and get a job for the day. It can be anything: working for your parents, in a shop, at a barn, for the neighbor, you name it. If you cannot find a job, the school assigns you one. You work there for a day, and the only condition is that you have to earn 300kr (60 dollars). the next day, all the money is COLLECTED at school, and it goes to a charity called "Sammen For Barn" or "together for Children". It helps pay for food, cloths and education for children in Africa. this is truely amazing if you think about it- in a huge school like this, even if only 2000 students participate, that raises 120,000 dollars, in ONE DAY. Not to mention students get work expeirience and become a part of something like this. I think this is a really wonderful idea! Local businesses know about it, so they are quite ready to hire students for a day, students are happy to get out of school for a day and get a grade for doing something of their choice, and it is a huge help to a country that really needs it.

On holiday!

Hello everyone! School is out for this week, and everyone has just relaxed over the weekend, and we are ready for a busy week of vacation! Every Sunday morning we have breakfast together, and Today I made it. I made scrambled eggs (success) Baked apples (quite good) And tater tots (an utter disastster, since the potatoes here are quite different- they are kind of yellow and slimy, so you can imagine...) and Sweet tea. It was quite fun actually. It was very much like a "Perry style" sunday breakfast- I played Chris Ledoux, showed them how to eat with the fork in the right hand (switching fork hands was quite a challenge for me, and I actually felt quite unatural eating the way I have up until two months ago.) And perhaps the most amusing part of it all was teaching them how to adopt a southern drawl. They are very good sports about it, and It is fun because Ander's, (they're other son) is in America, probally learning the same thing.

This week promises to be a busy one as well- This afternoon Ole is going to Fredrikstad for a three day party, I am going Moose hunting tommorow, and then Solvieg and I are going to Oslo for two days and going to the National Art gallery, as well as other famous Norwegian sights and places. I think it will be quite fun. Today I am cleaning my room- and no, that is not the most shocking part- I have kept my room unaturally clean since I have been here, and I think it is becoming a habit! Part of it has to do with the fact that it is literally about a third of the size of my room at home- It is quite typical actually, and not inconvinient or anything. It is just the way it is, and I kind of like it actually.

Well, I better go wash my sheets and dig out something warm to wear for Moose hunting- I have no Idea what this is really, but I am going with a "Moose hunting team" really early in the morning to stake ne out. I shall post more on this afterwards, but for now I am afraid to make any assumptions!

ha dei! (bye!)