Lazy Day

Today I did not feel like doing anything, so I just sat in my room catching up on the TV series I watch and I watched a couple movies. Around 4 I decided to go to the store to pick up some oatmeal to make monster cookies and I bought some Fanta Exotic and saft. NEVER buy Fanta Exotic, it tastes like medicine with carbonation. The saft was really good, saft is Norway's version of koolaid except way better. I put it in the fridge and Brigitte saw and said that you don't actually put it in the fridge, you just put cold water in your glass when you drink it, which I was replied with you have to add water it's already liquid though. Her and Natalie had to inform me that you put 1/10 saft and 9/10 water into your glass, which I though was weird but they thought it was weirder that in America it comes ready to drink basically or in powder form. Before I left Natalie and Brigitte asked me to pick up some salsa and lettuce because they were making nachos for us to have for supper. Because Norwegians have nachos as a normal meal and not an appetizer/snack like us, they add meat, vegetables, and all kinds of other things to make it into a meal. Natalie and Brigitte of course made a healthy version, so instead of normal chips they used sweet potatoes; therefore, I did not like the nachos at all. Besides how they tasted they were way too spicy for me. I definitely have a Scandinavian palate because I do not like spicy food at all. After supper Natalie and I made monster cookies, she didn't make a healthy version because she had no idea what monster cookies even were. Her and Brigitte both agreed that they were delicious and healthy enough that it wasn't worth changing the recipe.

Our giant heap of monster cookies.

Veronika's Birthday

Today I had class until 2:30, but I had immediately after with Hayley and Krista to set up an appointment for me to go get my resident permit since it was finally approved. Once we set up my appointment we talked for a little bit about how I was doing and if I was getting used to the city. When we were done talking, I went to the mall to see if I found anything to wear tonight because everyone was dressing up really nice to go out for Veronika's birthday. I bought a shirt and a silver ring. I also went to Coop Mega (the expensive grocery store) because it has a lot more selection of products so I was able to find things I couldn't at Rema 1000. I also broke down and went into the bunad store just to drool at all the bunads in there and the silver they had in there. Then, I came back and got ready for the dinner. There was 7 of us who went to dinner and Benedikte (a pretty much pro golfer) surprised Veronika at the restaurant. I ordered a salad, which I though came with steak since it was a steak house, but actually turned out to be duck! I had no clue it was duck until Natalie asked me how my duck was! I was surprised that I liked it, it tasted just like the dark meat of chicken. The salad was what tasted weird to me because it had some sort of weird dressing on it and had corn and weird vegetables in it. After dinner there was a party at Stallen and everyone kept asking me if I was going and I said yeah maybe. By the time we got back to the apartment and had sat there for an hour, I was too tired to go. Henriette, Kirsty, and Elin came to my apartment just to make sure that I didn't want to go, but once I told them I had only gotten about 5 hours of sleep and was too tired they all agreed that I should get some sleep and go to the next party (who knows if that will even happen since pretty much everyone drinks there and I don't want to be around that). I decided to just go to bed early to try and catch up on some sleep.

These were some of the bunads in the store. The one on the right is the Rogaland bunad, which is the one I want, and the one in the middle is the Telemark bunad and I don't know what the one of the left is because it's not one I want or can technically get.

Samspillband

Natalie and I didn't have school today so we decided to go to the mall together since I desperately needed groceries and she needed to get a gift for Veronika because it's her birthday tomorrow. So when we got to the mall we decided to look for a piece of jewelry for Veronika first, which was a bad idea for me to go with since I wanted everything that even remotely looked like a diamond. Now I'm set on buying some jewelry tomorrow. Then, we went grocery shopping so I got all stocked up again and they even had Twix and Snickers in Rema 1000 so of course I bought one of each. The Twix did not taste like the U.S. version at all, which I was expecting it to taste a little similar at least. After we got back from the mall and I unpacked all my groceries, I sat down and did some homework for a couple hours. I made myself some supper and then met Lita in the parking lot to go to Samspillband. The Samspillband is a band here in Moss (well technically Rygge) that is for people with disabilities. They have volunteers that come and play with the band, help with the sound system, help with the people stay on beat, and some people who just come to listen and support the people playing. It was a really great experience and I definitely plan on going back. This is a terrific group of people who put this together and you can tell that everyone who comes to be a part of the band really enjoys it and they feel comfortable there and not ashamed. Everyone was very nice to me, but most of the disabled people were a little wary around me because I was new and didn't really speak Norwegian. However, when I was talking to the director, who also started the band, somehow we ended up talking about May 17th (Norway's Constitution Day) and I told him I made sure to be here for it, but I was disappointed that I don't have a bunad to wear. He proceeded to tell me that I could probably borrow one from his mother because she has 3!!!! He said she has his wife's (who passed away) and she was about the same size as me. I really hope he lets me borrow a bunad for Syttende Mai! When the band was over I came back and finished up my homework and watched a little TV before going to bed.

School & Homework

Today wasn't all that exciting. I had class from 9-5:30 today, but every Tuesday I have a film class so the last 2 hours of the day are always spent watching a movie (today was Winter's Bone). Once I was done with class I came back to the apartment and did homework until 11:30. The reason why it took so long was because I had to find a social problem dealing with either women or children and write a 1-2 page draft talking about it and why it would be important to try and find a solution to this problem. After I finally finished that I worked on my communication class homework. I decided to wind down before bed with a movie. 

My First Knitting Lesson

This morning I decided to do as much of my homework as possible before Lita picked me up at 3. I actually got the majority of it done in time, but I did get distracted by Natalie. She was booking her trip to London with her friend and so she was telling me all about where she was staying and how excited she was that she had just booked a trip. Then, Lita picked me up at 3 to go over to her house on Jeløya to make some soup for us students to have before choir practice. So we made the soup and at 4:10 we had to go into the living room to watch a show that her and Odd like to watch called "Hearbeat" (at least I think that's what it's called). She even made a little snack, which consisted of boller (which is a huge whole wheat bun with raisins), Norwegian waffles with cloudberry jam, and some other little sandwich type thing that I didn't try. Once the show was over she decided it was time to start teaching me how to knit. I don't think she fully understood what she was getting herself into. She showed me how to cast on, which I just had to Google to see what it was called, goes to show how much I know. I actually got the hang of that pretty quickly and started to feel pretty confident. Then, came the difficult part that I was dreading. She had to show me two times how to transfer each stitch to the other needle. That took me forever to partially be able to do. By the time I was starting to feel okay with how I was doing it was time to go pick up Henriette and Alex to go to the church and have the soup we had made. Since it was only the four of us, we had a lot of soup leftover and Lita was kind enough to let me take some for my roommates and I to have. Choir practice went well considering we didn't have a director there and the pianist was not the greatest, but I obviously wasn't going to volunteer to play. When choir practice was done I came back to the apartment and talked with my roommates for awhile and then decided to Skype with my parents. Just a side note - my dad said that David Olson is reading this and to give you a little shoutout. He also said you plan on going to Norway, Sweden, and Finland? which of course I would highly recommend! :)

This is my first knitting project and this is still how far I am. 

It looks very bad if you ask me.

Church

Today I went to church, I know it may be hard to picture, but I really did go. I decided not to sing with the choir this Sunday because I didn't feel comfortable with the songs yet and I had only been to two practices and never to a church service there. Of course I have no idea what the sermon, readings, songs, prayers, or anything was about or even said. The only thing I was able to figure out was when we were saying the Apostle's Creed because I was able to put together enough words. I was also able to figure out that the one pastor that spoke really like the word "og" which means and. I can't even say whether the service was all that different from the Lutheran services I am used to because I really have no clue what was being said or happening. After the service was done they had a small luncheon prepared so I had the traditional open-faced sandwich with some sort of desert bread stuff. It was good anyway. I sat next to Lita's husband Odd and talked with him for quite awhile. I also had a Norwegian guy come up to me and ask me if I was learning Norwegian here and I didn't catch anything he said the first time so I said "pardon me" and he just spoke a little slower and I was able to figure out what he was asking me. I was so proud of myself. Luckily that was the only thing he said to me in Norwegian. Then, a little later another lady from the choir asked me if I was learning Norwegian here (in Norwegian of course) and I said, "What did you say" and she smiled and said, "You aren't learning any Norwegian here?" So I started telling her and Lita how they don't have a Norwegian class or anything here for us American students to learn some Norwegian so the two of them decided that at choir practice they could try and teach me some Norwegian. Lita also said her husband Odd could teach me some Norwegian too. Once we finally left the church and I was back in the apartment, I decided to do some of my homework for my film class, which consisted of ready 43 pages from our book. That was torture for me. It took me nearly two hours to finish because I was trying to figure out what the heck it was even talking about and also because I hate reading so I would take little breaks and go on my phone. Once I finished reading I had a big assignment to do afterward as a kind of reflection about what I had just read, which took me another hour. Later on Natalie invited me to join her and 4 other students at Stallen (the student activity center) to play a game called Kahoot. It was really fun! It's a trivia game, so I obviously enjoyed it. I only lost 3 times and everyone was pretty annoyed with me at the end because I kept winning. When everyone had had enough of me winning they decided it was time to be done. When I got back to the apartment I sat down and wrote this and I think I'm going to watch "The Doctor" for my communications class after I take a shower.

Baking Day

Today I had the apartment all to myself from 12:30 until 7! So what do I do; I sat and did homework, but instead of doing it in my room, I sat at the dining room table. Although, I did have to go to the grocery store to pick up some things to make chocolate chip cookies. So I decided I would go to the big Rema 1000 because I figured they would have more variety; however, when I was walking through the aisles I could not find a single thing I needed (basically because I didn't know the translation for everything). The only thing I was able to find at the grocery store was vanilla extract. When I got back to the apartment I decided to go to the other Rema 1000 in the mall because I knew Natalie (my roommate) was working and she could help me find the stuff. So when I got there she was working as a cashier, but after about 5 minutes she came and found me to help me find everything I needed. Once I was finally done shopping for the day I skyped my mom to make sure I had gotten the right chocolate for baking (they didn't have any chocolate chips!), which it turns out I hadn't gotten the right one, but she said it would work anyway. When I was done talking to my parents and sat down and did some more homework until Natalie came home. Then, we immediately got to baking our cookies. Natalie's healthy recipe had avocados and bananas in it and a whole bunch of other weird stuff to make up her chocolate chip cookie. My cookies however, were just the simple unhealthy recipe that tastes delicious. When Natalie's cookies were done I tried one and it tasted exactly like banana bread with some nuts and chocolate in it. Once mine were done we both tried one and we both agreed that mine were better, but hers were still good. I ended up making 3 dozen cookies and once I was done baking all of them and cleaning up all of the dishes, Natalie and I just sat down and talked for almost 3 hours. We both decided around 11 that we were getting tired and that it was time to get ready for bed. So I finished up the night with getting ready for bed and writing this post.

My cookies are on the bottom left and Natalie's are the right.

Oslo Trip!

Today I went to Oslo with 10 other students (7 of us were Americans)! It was really fun, but also very cold. It was actually warmer in Badger than it was here! We took the train from Moss to Oslo, which was about  45 minutes long. I ended up sitting across from one of the other American girls, who wasn't coming with us and just happened to be on the train. We started talking about traveling during our breaks and she ended up saying that if I wanted to travel with someone just to let her know, so I think I found a travel companion! When we got off the train in Oslo, we took the metro to the side of town that Vigeland Park is on. We finally got to Vigeland Park after a 10 minute walk and I was pretty much ready to get back on the metro to go someplace warm. All of the Americans that were with were laughing and taking awkward pictures with the statues because they are all naked (I just took pictures of the scenery and the wide-angle shots of the park). Once we were through the whole park we walked back to the metro and took it to Karl Johan Street, which is the oldest street in Oslo. We walked up to the palace and some people took pictures with the guards on duty. When we were getting ready to leave they started their changing of the guard ceremony so some of the people wanted to stay and watch while others of us just wanted to go someplace warm and get food. We waited about 10 minutes, but nothing was really happening so we just decided to leave and find a cafe. We found a small cafe where we all get something warm to drink and eat before we headed back out into the cold. From the cafe we walked down by the fjord to the mall and the end of the pier. The girls from Adelphi College wanted to go into the mall and could care less about going to the end of the pier, so the other two UND girls, Hanne, and myself walked to the end of the pier where we got a beautiful view of the fjord and city. Afterward, we walked back to the mall to find the rest of our group, which they were all shopping in H&M. When they were done buying their things we went back to Karl Johan Street and went shopping again. Karl Johan Street is now a major walking street with a lot of high-end stores, so needless to say I did not buy anything while we were in Oslo. Once everyone had had a enough of shopping we got back on the train and headed back for Moss.

The main statue in Vigeland Park.

Looking out at the rest of the park.

"Grumpy" the most famous statue in the park.

A group photo of everyone with.

The royal palace.

At the end of the pier looking toward part of the city.

The parliament building on Karl Johan Street.

Getting to Know My Roommates

After class today, I came back and finished all my homework and made sure to watch the new episode of SVU before I sat down to talk with my roommates. Brigitte had to go, but I talked with Natalie for almost four hours and it was really fun! We talked about the most random subjects too, such as wedding dresses, favorite movies and TV shows, and even our thoughts and views toward both Norway and the U.S. After awhile we got to talking about scaring people and we decided that when Brigitte came back we were going to scare her. So we went along talking until we heard the door downstairs slam, so we immediately ran with our phones ready to film. Natalie hid in the closet and I sat in my room filming everything that happened. It was so hilarious! Brigitte screamed so loud and was so scared! After that happened, things quieted down quite a bit; I went back to my room to watch some Netflix, but was too excited for my trip to Oslo tomorrow to even pay attention to what I was watching.

Homework Day

Today I decided I would go to the mall right away, which ended up being about 1 in the afternoon. I got all stocked up on groceries and came back to the apartment and while Natalie and I were talking we eventually decided we should bake cookies this weekend, which I have none of the ingredients for. So despite my clever planning and stocking up on all the groceries I'll need until Monday, I'll still have to go the grocery store either tomorrow or Saturday. From about 3 until 4:30 I just sat in my room reading the assigned pages in our book for my composition class. Then, I watched Catch Me If You Can for my communications class and finished the night with watching the new episodes of Parks and Recreation. 

School

I almost forgot to do this today, I was about to go to sleep when I remembered I hadn't written on my blog yet! Yesterday, literally right before I went to sleep, I made plans to go with a bunch of other students to Oslo on Friday! I'm very excited because the people that are going with, I haven't really had a chance to talk to yet so it should be really fun! Today I had class from 10:30-5:30; however the last two hours was spent watching a movie in class (Stranger Than Fiction). One of the classes I'm taking is literature into film and we watch a movie evey class period basically. After class though I came back to the apartment and could not get any ambition to go to the grocery store, even though I am kind of low on food. I decided to just sit and do some homework instead. Like usual I ended the day with some Netflix. 

Choir Practice

Today was another mundane day, I sat in my room the entire day watching Netflix and Hulu. However, I did look into some flights and hostels for both Tromsø and Berlin, but I don't necessarily plan on going anytime soon it was more so just looking at how expensive it would be for a weekend trip. The only thing I had today was choir practice at 7:30 tonight. Henriette came with tonight so I wasn't the only young person there. It was fun having her there because I haven't really gotten the chance to talk to her and get to know her and she plans on going to UND so it was fun to get to talk with her for awhile. Afterward I came back and made sure I didn't have any homework that is due tomorrow and then decided to watch more Netflix.

Cleaning Day

Today was a pretty mundane day for all three of us. I got up and started doing some laundry and then rearranged my room so I can use my drying rack as a temporary closet since I still don't have anything to put my clothes on/in. Then, Brigitte, Natalie, and I split up the chores and cleaned the apartment. After that I finished up with my laundry and sat down and watched some movies and Netflix. Later on at night I Skyped with my parents and grandparents for almost two hours, which was about the most eventful and fun thing of the day.

Lefse Day

Today I decided to go for a walk along the fjord and over to the island of Jeløy. It was about 35 degrees and partly cloudy, but it was still a beautiful day to go for a walk around town. It took me about and hour and half to make a loop and end at the mall where I had to get some groceries. I even walked by the main, old church in the center of Moss, which actually helped with choosing Moss's emblem. Every city in Norway has its own seal/emblem whatever you want to call it, and Moss's is a red shield with a crow in the center. The reason why it is a crow is because the church was burning down and evidently a murder of crows circled above the church warning the people that the church was burning down. The people of Moss were able to save the church and decided to put a crow on their city's emblem. After my walk, Natalie, Brigitte, and I all sat down and worked on some homework together for about 3 hours and then Natalie decided it was time to go to the store to get the items we needed for making lefse. She really didn't need to get anything for hers because she used a weird "healthy" recipe, but I needed to get everything for my mom's recipe. Once we got back we immediately started boiling the potatoes for my recipe and she started preparing hers. Her recipe consisted of eggs, sour cream, and whole wheat flour. It was weird and I don't know how else to describe it. She thought it was weird that my lefse had so many potatoes, which she actually didn't know was in lefse. Of course I had to Skype my mom to find out how much of the ingredients to put in because I didn't remember any of that when she taught me this fall. After I had made a couple all three of us tried mine and Natalie's and we all agreed that mine was the best because it tasted like actual lefse, but Natalie's still tasted okay. After we had cleaned up our lefse mess, I did some laundry and watched some Netflix.

The island of Jeløy once I had reached the end of the canal.

Looking out toward the fjord from the mainland of Moss.

Making lefse with Brigitte (the one taking the picture), myself (the one with the ponytail), and Natalie (the one with the white shirt).

My lefse.

Natalie's lefse.

My First Week

So I have been in Norway a week now so I thought I would tell you what I think and feel so far. Well to start, it took me about 3 days to overcome the jet lag, about 5 days to be able to fall asleep before 3 a.m., and I haven't experienced any homesickness yet (I emphasize the yet). I absolutely love the weather here! It is literally like the spring and fall back home, I golfed at meets in high school in colder weather than we have been having here. I also don't mind the european lifestyle of going to the grocery store everyday (except for the high prices); it's nice because it actually makes me get out of the apartment and get some fresh air. The city is very beautiful, even if it once was an industrial city, I hope we have nice weather tomorrow so I can go for a walk by the island and take some pictures. My classmates have all been very nice and welcoming, which has been great considering I didn't know anyone coming here. All of the staff at the school have also been very welcoming and very forthcoming with their stories about how they ended up living in Norway and how they dealt with some of the things we Americans are going through. The only thing that I have found to be a bit annoying is when I'm at a store and I'm not sure what the cashier said (because they are speaking Norwegian) and so I ask them "what" in English, they may repeat what they said in English, but then they go right back to speaking Norwegian to me. Luckily I have had some Norwegian so most of the time I can figure out what they are asking me. Other than that one little complaint, I love Norway just as much as I did before I came and probably a bit more now.

My Laptop Was Fixed!

Today, I, along with the 8 other American students, had an early meeting with the college's president (Krista) and the student activities coordinator (Hayley) about our residency visas. My residency visa is the only one that hasn't been approved yet (of course), so it was in a way pointless for me to even be there because they were discussing going to get their visas on Tuesday. However, Krista did give us a little history about Moss and some advice about where to go in Norway, travel tips for taking RyanAir, and just random tidbits of knowledge. After my meeting, I came back to the apartment had some lunch, watched Netflix, and finally worked up the energy to make the trek to the mall in hopes that my laptop was fixed. When I got to the PC store they said they had it fixed and to give them 10 minutes to get everything together, so I of course went shopping in the meantime. When I came back the guy told me that my laptop had shorted out when I went to plug my phone into it and he advised to get a new charger cable for my phone, which I did, and then he proceeded to tell me it cost 1,000 kroner to fix it! After I had paid the bill, I paid very close attention to the prices at the grocery store. Once I got back from my trip to the mall, I sat down and started doing homework. Wow, that really makes me sound like a nerd, but that's honestly what I did for the next 3 hours. Then, of course I wrapped up the day with watching Netflix.

What a Boring Day

Today was pretty boring as you can tell by the title of this post. I had class from 9 until 1:30, one exciting thing about my classes today was that I finally met the girl from France (Poe) who everyone loves. It was actually snowing today, but not a pretty snowfall or anything, it was wet, heavy snowflakes; because it was 38 degrees today, the snow turned into slush. After class I brought my computer to the PC store (which they said could take up to 3 days to fix!) and I did a little shopping while I was at the mall. Then, I made some spaghetti for supper and watched Netflix on my phone the rest of the night. 

MacGyver of Norway

I have no classes on Mondays (except one that meets once a month), Wednesdays, or Fridays. So when I got up today I was so excited because I knew I could just sit in my room all day watching Netflix and be the unsociable person I am. That's exactly what I did all day until about 4 when my roommates asked if I wanted to go to the store with them, which I did because I needed some groceries. Once we got back, I made myself an egg with some toast and set of the fire alarm while doing so (I didn't have an actual fire, there was just too much smoke and the fan was getting all of it). Oops. The fire alarms here have a button to push to shut it off though, but of course I didn't know where that was so my roommate Brigitte had to run into the kitchen and shut it off. If the alarm goes for too long the fire department shows up and we have to pay a fine because there was no fire, so it was very important that I shut it off right away. Then, after that fiasco I went back to watching House of Cards, which is when the next disaster happened: my computer crashed. It just shut off and wouldn't turn back on. So I went to Google and it said to press the button on the side and compare the pattern the lights make with the apple website, but wen I pressed the button no lights showed up. So I decided I would just take the battery out. Well, my roommates didn't have a small enough screwdriver and neither did our resident assistant. So I skyped my dad, which is when I felt like MacGyver. First, I broke a piece of wire from my tablet off and flattened it, but that didn't work. Next, I took w bobby pin and flattened one end and it actually worked! I was able to get 2 screws out, but there are 10. I finally just gave up and decided to wait and go to the store tomorrow and buy a small enough screwdriver. If all else fails I guess I'll have to go to the technology store and fork out the money for them to fix it. 

  These were my tools and the 2 screws.  

First Day of Class

Today was our first day of class, so I had to be to the school by 9 for my Global Physical Environment class (and also to pay my housing deposit). My classes went great and I got done very early so I was able to go to the mall shopping for awhile. A pair of boots that I had brought with ripped on the inside so I was forced to go and buy some new boots, but of course I bought some other things while I was at the mall. When I got back from the mall I decided to make myself some supper, so I made myself some scrambled eggs and toast (anyone who knows me, knows I do not cook so this was quite a feat for me). Not much else happened today, it was a pretty quiet, laid-back day.

Last Day of Freedom!

Classes start tomorrow, so today was our last day of freedom. We had a meeting at noon today to talk about registering for classes and then we had the rest of the day to ourselves. So after our meeting, Lita picked me up and brought me shopping to buy some dishes and silverware to use here and hopefully bring home with me. We went to the Salvation Army and another second-hand store, but they were overpriced (at least according to Lita), so she brought me to the "Pier 1 of Norway" which I got all my dishes at for half price! She took me to the mall after that, which is where I found my silverware also half price. She brought me back to my apartment and told me she would pick me up in 2 hours to go with her to be in her church choir. In the meantime, I had remembered that I still needed tablets and pens for school tomorrow so I had to walk back to the mall. It was the first time I was shopping all by myself, so it was a little nerve-racking, but I think I did a terrific job because I never spoke English or asked the cashiers what they had just said. When I got back, my roommates had just come back from their walk and surprised me by asking if I want a bunad or know what it is. So of course I said yes, that I absolutely want one and Brigitte said her mother makes them! I wanted to talk to her more about it, but I had to go to choir practice with Lita. When Lita and I got to the church Lita introduced me to everyone and no one really would speak English with me, which Lita told me afterward that everyone was too embarrassed about their English skills to speak to me. The choir practice itself didn't go as bad as I thought it would, especially considering everything was in Norwegian and everyone was speaking Norwegian, except of course Lita. Overall, I wish my day had gone by a little slower so I could have really soaked in my last day without homework/school, but it was still a fun day.

My school when I was walking to the mall.

The beginning of my street walking back from the mall.

Bowling and Breaking Bad!

It was actually a pretty laid-back day today because Hayley (our student activities person) didn't plan anything for us to do except group bowling. After I woke up and got ready for the day, I just sat in my room watching Breaking Bad for 3 hours, which was actually nice to be able to just sit and relax for awhile. Then, at 4 the majority of the class went bowling and as I found out I'm not very good at it. After the bowling was done I came back to the apartment and had some supper with my roommate Natalie. While the two of us were talking we some how started talking about lefse and she told me literally no one makes lefse from scratch! I could not believe what she was telling me! She said that everyone in Norway just goes to the store and buys it, which is just wrong if you ask me. She didn't even know what a lefse stick was or looked like, so of course I Skyped my mom so she could show her our lefse sticks. After I finally got over the shock of buying lefse in a store, my other roommate Brigitte arrived, so I was finally able to meet her. Then after visiting with Brigitte and Natalie, I watched the Packers vs. Cowboys game through Skype, thanks to a person that lives Moss. I also tried the most amazing chocolate I think I have ever had, it has chunks of Oreos in it. So that was my day, it was pretty uneventful, but I think I needed a day just to be alone and relax since I haven't really had the chance since I arrived Friday night.

Here is the best chocolate I have ever tasted.

A Tour of Moss

I was so jet-lagged when I went to bed Friday I figured I should set an alarm for 11 and thank God I did because after I fell asleep I didn't wake up until my alarm started going off. When I looked out the window it was snowing outside! So we have maybe an inch of snow, but since it was 40 degrees (Fahrenheit) it melted and turned into slush, which I think ruined my shoes. At one 7 of us "newbies" met Hayley at the school and she took us for a walk around Moss, just to show us where some of the important places were. Before we left though, she told us a little history about our school. The actual school is the building on the left in my picture, the right, yellow building is where the document that freed Norway from Sweden in 1814 was signed (now there are offices in there and a mini museum). After our little history lesson, we walked down to the mall, which is actually very big, the train station, over to the island of Jeløy, the movie theater, and then we stopped at a grocery store before we headed back to our apartments (which is where I found chocolate with actual pieces of Oreo in it). Moss is a very beautiful city, which is weird considering it's known as an industrial town, but being on the Oslofjord definitely helps make the city more beautiful. Then, at 5 we had a group supper, which included norwegian waffles, pølse (which is a long hot dog wrapped in a tortilla), and some sort of bun that I didn't try but they told me it was like a cinnamon roll without frosting or something. It was fun though because I was able to meet some of my classmates and talk to a few of them. That was about all of the "exciting" things I did, otherwise I was pretty much catching up on all of my social media.

This is the school (well the left portion).

The view out of my window Saturday morning after the snowfall.

My First Day

Wednesday morning I flew out of Winnipeg at what ended up being noon, it was supposed to be 10:30 but because of the winter storm my flight was delayed. I flew from Winnipeg to Montreal, Montreal to London, London to Oslo, and then I had to take a bus from Oslo to Moss. By the time I was in my apartment it was 4:30 Friday evening, so needless to say I was very jet-lagged and sleep deprived. My roommate Natalie and her friend Veronica were here when I arrived so they wanted to get to know me right away. We visited for about two hours and then they took me to a store so I could get some food and essentials to last me a couple of days while I work on getting settled in. That night I was so tired I could have fallen asleep at any given moment, but I forced myself to stay up until eleven just so I could try and get on a normal sleeping schedule right away. That pretty much sums up my first day of this amazing adventure that is about to unfold.

This is my room. 

This is the view looking down the street.

This is looking down the street toward the school.