The Norwegian wood!

today was really good- I'm back in the horse business for sure now you see! Today the neighbors of Mortin said "Hi are you sarah? will you help us with our horse?" and so I got on, and Mortin says "Just start running and don't stop until she does!" hahahah I felt right at home again! and then, to relax, I went for a ride on the coolest horse ever! Tolgrim- he is a Fjord horse, and knows the Norwegian woods here like Candy knows the Elmwood ones :D I just got on him bareback and let him go wherever. See the woods here are so different from ours- they are completely different vegitation, and almost all of it here is rocky (not to mention covered with ice), to the point where I can't even think of riding off the wood roads unless I am on a Fjord pony. So he took me down this moose trail- like a deer trail but a little bigger lol. It was so neat, because we would get to a place in the trail that looked exactly the same to me (covered in six inches of snow!) and he would stop, stick out his foot, and start pawing. then ice would break all around, revealing a big hole or something, and he would paw until he found the edge of it, and walk around it and continue!

It is so neat, because Tolgrim is the only horse I have ridden here that will do that. It is quite dangerous to ride a regular horse off the trail, because what happens is all the snow melts, collecting in the bottom of a hill or slope or ditch, and it freezes all the way through. then, when the temperature is a little above freezing, the ice at the bottom melts out and runs into the ground, leaving a four inch thick layer of ice over air. then so much snow is on top of it, you can't even see there was ever a ditch there, leaving you with a tiger trap lol. I think Tolgrim can feel it in his feet :D Beth, you would love him! Tolgrim, was by the way, the second horse I was asked to ride by the local farmers today hahahaha

New Years is almost here! I am going to a new years eve party, and then on the second day of January, I go to my new host family! I am going to miss Solvieg and Rolv and Ole, but i think it is going to be fun with my next family too! It is just a bit odd to think of starting everything except school completely over again!

Happy New Years everyone!!!

Second day of Christmas!

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me....

A hard push downhill on new skiis!

Haha yes, I tried it for the first time today and it was a lot of fun! but I will get to that soon enough....Well Christmas here was VERY different, but I have really enjoyed it...and it is still happening! On little Christmas eve, which is the day before Christmas eve, We went to a cabin in the mountians and ate grøt OUTSIDE. It was a lot of fun :D

On Christmas eve, Me, Solvieg, Rolv and Ole spent the day watching TV. thats right, a whole playlist of movies that EVERYONE watches every Christmas. Every one knows them and would not miss them for the world. Then in the evening, after I got back from church (I had gone with Sissel)my Host grandmother, Astry, came and we had a really pretty and good Dinner of A special kind of Rib and sausage. After that we had coffee and tea and started to open the presents. I got an absolutely beautiful necklace from my host family, A really cool Norwegian Santa doll, and the greatest pair of socks ever- They are kindof unexplainable, but they are VERY norwegian. After that (it was about midnight) we all just relaxed and went to bed. On Christmas day, we slept in and then went to church, were Rolv was singing. they are REALLY good and I love to hear them. Then it was back home for coffee, and later to Austry's house for a big family dinner.

So today was the second day of Christmas, and I went to my third Host family's house to meet EVERYONE and have a Christmas lunch. afterwards I went skiing with my "Uncle Lars and cousins" for the first time ever, and had a really good time! Going downhill is no problem, but tramping through all that snow to go uphill was a problem, because I would get halfway up, and just slide back down backwards! well, there is a party tonight and a lot of kids are coming over here fisrt, so I better get off and take a shower, but I will post some pictures later.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Little Little Christmas Eve

Today is Little Little Christmas Eve, wich is the day before Little Christmas Eve, which is the day before Christmas eve, which is the day we will really celebrate. We brought the Christmas tree in today, but we won't decorate it until tommorow, the 23rd. I have been pretty busy lately, visiting people with my host family and doing the general Christmas things. Christmas is a really big deal here, which I love entirely!
This morning we had a special kind of meat, rolled in tortilla bread with a kind of mustard. It was actually pretty good! Also, there is a big vat of home made (non alcholic) beer, getting ready for Christmas eve, when there will be a big family dinner. I tasted some this morning and didn't like it to much. It is good though to drink at Christmas parties because you can have all you want and still drive, which I guess is the theory behind it. On Christmas day itself, we will go to church and then to My host Dad's Mom's house for a Christmas party. I am really excited about having a Norwegian Christmas, and hope you guys all have a wonderful one as well!

Another post today- this was FUN too!

okay, so after Lucia, I headed home. well, i was making cookies in the kitchen, and I looked out the window: out in the middle of a field was a frozen pond, and on it was a hockey game! just some kids around here playing around, and I knew a couple so I got warm clothes on and went out to watch. Sigmon said Solvieg probably had and extra pair of skates from Anders or Ole, and he would teach me! So I texted her, and sure enough she did! So I got them and came back out, and tried it out! It was crazy hard at first because the ice was coated in sleet so it was really rough, but once you got going fast enough it was no problem! The oly thing is, I can go faster and faster, but I can't slow down! usually I just stopped by running into to someone/something lol, but I got the hang of it and was wacking around a puck before long- not that I had any control over where it went. well, thats it- just thought It was a good conclusion to a great day! ((by the way, It was -17 and dark outside when we were doing this, and as soon as I came home I put on my new fuzzy bathrobe xoxox thanks Groses!))

Lucia Day!!!

This is Santa Lucia herself!

This is her with the "Starboys". They are really cute!!

Me and Santa Lucia :D

This is them going through the class room

Wow! today was really cool! it is Lucia day- December 13th. Instead of going to my school (I only had two classes anyway) I went with Solvieg to her school, which is an elementry. In the middle of class, all of a sudden a line of little girls and boys dresses in white and holding candles came in. they walked around the class room singing and handing out little homemade buns to the children, and then walked back out as quickly as they had come! It was so neat- they were lead by a little girl wearing a crown of candles on her head, who was representing Santa Lucia, who is a girl from a Swedish Chisrtmas story: when she was little, her parents had arranged a marriage for her. She refused to marry the boy, and so she was killed. Now every December 13th, this is done at the childrens school to remember her by. I really enjoyed it, and have a couple videos and photos from it I have posted above

This is the song below, followed by an English Translation

Natten går tunga fjätrund gård och stuva;kring jord, som sol förlät,skuggorna ruva.Då i vårt mörka hus,stiger med tända ljus,Sankta Lucia, Sankta Lucia.
Natten går stor och stumnu hörs dess vingari alla tysta rumsus som av vingar.Se, på vår tröskel stårvitklädd med ljus i hårSankta Lucia, Sankta Lucia.
Mörkret ska flykta snartur jordens dalarså hon ett underbartord till oss talar.Dagen ska åter nystiga ur rosig skySankta Lucia, Sankta Lucia.

The night goes with weighty stepround yard and (stove i.e. house, hearth?)round earth, the sun departsleave the woods broodingThere in our dark house, appears with lighted candlesSaint Lucia, Saint Lucia.
The night goes great and mutenow hear it swingsin every silent roommurmurs as if from wings.Look at our threshold standswhite-clad with lights in her hairSaint Lucia, Saint Lucia.
The darkness shall soon departfrom the earth's valleysthus she speaksa wonderful word to usThe day shall rise anewfrom the rosy sky.Saint Lucia, Saint Lucia.

It's begining to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

Okay, So Saterday morning i woke up to this- Is it beautiful or what??? Take note of the footprints in the snow- they were the result of the very exciting night beofre, when when we got a foot of snow. It about 1 AM, I couldn't sleep because it was a bright moon reflecting off snow, which resulted in almost midafternoon light. So I put on some warm clothes and went out to build a snowman. Problem was, the snow was so deep i ended up with a huge one, and couldn't get the middle part on. I tried everything- I eve mae a snow ramp, but it still didn't work. Finally, at about 2 o clock, I went over to my neighbor Per's house (they stay up really late on weekends) and asked him if he would help me. him and his brother (sigmon) and his Brother's Friend (Håvard) came out and we managed to get it up. Then we spent another hour getting the head made and decorated. This is him- I took this picture the next morning.

After that, Per asked if I had ever seen a "snow light." I said no, and he said to make some snowballs. So we made some, which he stacked in sort of a hollow pyramid shape (picture below)

Then the coolest thing ever!! he put candles inside, and lit them. It was so pretty and right outside my bedroom window. I kept getting up and looking at it!

this is a warped piture, but I am leaving it here anyway because it is very cute :)