I also just decided that I can't wait to go back to Squires Dining Hall and build myself a HUGE Cesar Salad with chicken.... ooooh weeeeee!

Sick

Sick all day today, and not "sick" as in super cool, rad or awesome. I've had a massive migraine and been throwing up, oh but it gets better.... I'm one of 8 rooms in the dorms at the moment that had pipes freeze while I was on vacation, so there's no running water in my room. (Throwing up in a toilet I can't immediately flush... oh man). Life will get better, I'm feeling better already. It's just days like today I wish I was at home in a nice bed getting served some chicken noodle soup by those who love me. Happy Thanksgiving to all, I'm so very thankful I was gifted with the opportunities I have been, the people in my life, and the brain to get me around.
Less than a month left... as a matter of fact in 1 month I'll be at home with the fam!

Hockey

I've noticed something familiar about being around what to me is "foreign".
>>And that is simply that regardless of the language you speak, Smiles are Universally translated.


I say this because, as you know from reading, I've been able to finally play hockey here. I play in what we in the states would call the "old men's" league, here they say "gamle gutter" which translates to "old boys". The only difference here is that they actually compete with other old men's teams throughout the county.
I'm not allowed to play games here in Norway with the kids my age because I'm not a citizen, and I am too young to play with the old boys.
To get to my point.... I get to practice with them now twice a week--Tues and Thurs nights. (they play their games on Sun nights)
Well, I've only been out there twice, and I got to skate today (Saturday) against the A team for a charity game.
Having watched two of my friends play in a game every Sunday, in actual competitive hockey (something we don't have in the states much after high school) I get ancy and wish I could play.
     The guys rounded up some old equipment lying around the locker room so I could skate, and I couldn't be happier. My equipment sucks, but I don't care. I actually LOVE my helmet. It's a bright red Jofa bucket from the mid 80's with a halfer visor on it. FILTHY!
I said the smiling thing, because I honestly can not stop smiling on the ice the entire time I've been out there. I look at my reflection, with this sugar sweet red melon protector on my dome and just giggle. The language barrier on the ice is quite a problem. There are only a few guys that can speak english, and I'm still not good enough to "snakker norsk" with them yet. BUT, they all seem to like me, and don't mind that I'm out there simply because I'm smiling the whole time.
The smile comment also comes into play a couple of different times.
When I babysit, the youngest child, the girl, doesn't speak any Eniglish. However, we get along great! We can just feed of off each other's expressions, reading into them, and keep in mind she's only 4.
When their grandparents came over last Thursday, the bestemor (grandma) didn't speak english. Not a problem , simply with facial expressions and gestures we communicated perfectly without even using words.
I have to go, I will write more on this, but I'm headed to Lillestom, where Nicolai my buddy is from, for the evening. PEACE.

Torsdag

It's a shame my time here is winding down so fast. I've been up late studying, up early doing homework. I'm so surprised at how much work I have over here for only 13 credits. -- Norwegian Every night (Ver dag) Comm. is always on my mind, we have papers due frequently. Politics and FIlm classes are easier-going, but I still have work for them. I've come to appreciate coffee since I've been here, it's been a huge help with all of this.
As far as my independent study goes, I meet with Dr. Rendahl today to find out what I have to finish up to get a grade.
Vi snakkes!
(We'll talk soon)

Tirsdag (Tuesday)

Had a Norwegian test today--rocked it like a Hendrix song. I'm getting better at the language I have to say. I'm in the process of planning a way to show off my Norwegian skills on the blog, any ideas?
I have roughly 5 weeks left and it's winding down all too fast. In exactly one week I'm taking a trip to Brussels and in exactly one month I'm taking a trip to Paris with some members of the school =)
In between there I'm going to visit my old next-door neighbor, John Artig, in Germany--which I am VERY excited for, not many better dudes out there than him.

-soon

LOVE

Wednesday the 10th of November

The First Snowfall!

A Case of the "Moooooooonnnddaaayyyys"

     I'm still amazed at how differently certain things are here than compared to home. In Politics class today, the class persuaded the teacher to delay our paper another week. Great, of course, but this isn't the first time it's happened. As a matter of fact this is the third paper (not just in Polls) that has been postponed or delayed because students aren't prepared and are whining for more time.
     I got asked today by one of the girls if UND is easier than this. I replied as nicely as I could, "Are you kidding!". That would never happen. Your class would laugh at you (as would the teacher) if you raised your hand in the middle of a lecture bowl saying this week is too busy, can we get an extension. OR this is a good one, my film teacher, a UND grad student brought up another point when we were having a conversation regarding the same topic earlier today. She said that one of the students came up to her a couple weeks ago and asked if she could make the 15 point weekly quiz we have "easier next week", stating that "we are just so busy until then." Of course she replied "absolutely not"! We have already been granted with a word bank, which we didn't have at the beginning of the semester, but because the students whined so much about the difficulty of the test, the prof decided to add a word bank to help us out.
     Through talking to some classmates, it's just a part of their culture. They whine and moan about how "hard" an assignment is, or how "busy" they are and the teacher will usually give them some lee-way. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm glad we don't have that back home. The classes I've been in high school-- we'd have never had an assignment due!
     I also need to comment on the use of laptops in class. There are classes that I am in (I don't want to name which) that I am not lying, a good 90% of the kids are on Facebook disregarding what the teacher is lecturing about. I do not, and again, I can't believe I'm saying this, but it really irritates me... I mean how am I supposed to concentrate on the teacher when I'm so caught up in the game of "Tetris" being played by the girl sitting in front of me =)
     Another thing: they make you pay for your bags at the grocery store, I don't think I mentioned that before. It's only a matter of time until that starts happening in the states I'm sure.
     Well the Vikes finally won, glad to see that, although they did it in a ridiculous fashion, on the lighter side good thing I'm not a Dallas Cowboys fan.
     To get back on the homework subject, we DO actually have quite a bit to do for Comm. 402 in the upcoming weeks here. Norwegian is getting better, I had dug myself in a hole and I'm climbing out of it. We got to re-do a section of the test, which I did much better on.
Other than that, I'm learning lots in Politics and having a blast in Intro to film.
     Being over here sure puts a good perspective on life. I'm ready to go back and seize the day; take the country by storm. I have my sights set on a pretty cool internship for next summer (not the upcoming one) out in New York, so it's my goal to save up some dough and build a good media-related resume by the time December 1st 2011 rolls around, when the application for it is due.
I sign up for classes on Friday and I'm actually excited. I forgot that selecting classes is good fun...especially now that the majority of my essential studies are out of the way and I can take classes that pertain to my major and will help me in the future. With the whole "perspective" thing, it's making me look at the bigger picture of my education. I'm realizing I'm not in that big of a hurry to complete my degree and enter the career world. I'm realizing the fact that I want more than a bachelor of Arts degree in "Communication". I am interested in WAY more than that. SO we'll see, maybe another major, a minor or two, or grad school is in the future for me. I mean it cant hurt =)
    When it comes to the "perspective" I've been talking about, this most defiantly goes for anyone who is taking the time out of their day to read this. I appreciate you stopping by, and you truly mean a lot to me. Feel free to leave a little comment so I know you were here.
THANKS!

Saturday

I worked today!
It's not exactly work... I get to hang out with a family of three boys and a girl and play with them in English, to help them retain their language skills. I had been to their house twice, but today I took the three boys and two of their friends to the local swimming pool; it was Great! They had a waterslide and a high-dive--real decent. I was surprised at how the pool is ran compared to a typical one in the states. There were less rules and the lifeguards weren't as strict. There weren't "roped" off areas at the bottom of the waterslide. You were allowed to go on it 3 people at a time-regardless of age or if you were wearing "water wings".

Today is "National Movie Day" here in Norway, so every ticket to a movie is half price.
I'm going to see the social network flick about facebook, hope it's gooooood.....
=)