I can't believe that I've already been in Namsos for two weeks! These first couple weeks have been quite a whirlwind of happenings and have gone by so fast. My first week of school went well, although I understood almost nothing, but I've talked to lots of people (in English, of course..) and am beginning to make friends! My teachers are very understanding of the fact that I can't understand or do much of the work in their classes but I'm trying my best to do as much as possible (and thanks to the nice people sitting next to me for trying to translate what the teacher is saying). The rest of the week went well and I didn't get lost walking to or from school at all! On Friday, my host mom went out to Jøa, the island where her boyfriend Trygve Jonny-I can spell it now!-lives, and my sister, Silje, and I stayed at home. During the day on Saturday I went to the mall with a friend to walk around a bit and get milkshakes and later that night Silje and I went out to a party. We had a lot of fun and then made our way over to a food place that was open late. After hanging out there for a bit we trekked back home and crashed for the night. The next day was spent relaxing and watching movies as we were exhausted from the night before! School the next week was almost the same, although I am starting to understand more words here and there and can sometimes figure out what the teacher is saying.
Trygve Jonny's birthday is tomorrow so we went out to Jøa for the weekend to celebrate his birthday! To get there you drive 40 or so kilometers to a ferry and then take that to the island. It's a tiny little island, only about 45 square kilometers and a population of 500, but it is absolutely beautiful and everything just seems picture perfect. We first went to visit my mom's parents, as she grew up there, and they even have their own sign on the road (pictures to come when I get my cord). I was greeted with a huge hug from my Norwegian mormor and then we went inside for tea and cinnamon rolls-homemade, of course. Although they don't speak English (much of the older generation doesn't) it was good to meet them and very comforting to be at a grandparent's house. We then went to Trygve's house where we were going to stay for the weekend. I got to peek in at the cows in his barn and then went inside and met his son who was visiting for the weekend (this time I won't try to spell his name..). Aurora, my host cousin (?), was also there for the night. Later that night my mom stayed home with sleeping Aurora and Trygve, his son, and I went to the pub right down the road! It was so cute inside and like nothing we would have in America. We sat down and after a while I introduced myself as "Jeg heter Rachael anddd that's about all the Norwegian I know". Once people know I don't speak Norwegian, though, they all speak to me in English and I met quite a few people that night! There was live music, too, which was lots of fun as well. There were some pub songs that everybody sang along to, as well, and at first I didn't know them but since they were in English I was able to get some of the words pretty fast. Later in the night when there weren't many of us left we sat down and people played guitar and sang songs and it was such a fun time. I love the small town aspect of everything there as nothing like that would happen back at home. It was definitely a fun night spent with great company. The next day we hung out for a bit and Aurora, Mamma, and I went on a bit of a tour of Jøa. It is such a cute town but we weren't able to get out of the car much as it was rainy and cold. Later my Norwegian mormor and morfar came over to celebrate Trygve's birthday. I had made chocolate chip cookies and my mom made cheesecake (oste kake) and another type of cake with cloudberries (molter kake?). We all ate and laughed (I just laugh when they do since I don't understand) and had lots of fun. We went back to the pub that night but it ended up not being open so we watched Fast and the Furious 5 (why are there 5 of them?) and then slept. All these days of rain have a way of making you pretty exhausted.
Today was a day of relaxing. We watched some TV and movies (it's mostly in English with Norwegian subtitles so I can listen and try to read along) and just hung out until we had to go home. The ferry ride is very short at only about 5 minutes and then we went home, with a few stops on the way. The language barrier is definitely still there but hopefully I will continue to learn more and more Norwegian everyday! Mamma just said we will start speaking more Norwegian around the house tomorrow so I think I will have to keep up. I'm having such a blast so far, though, and I'm sure the rest of my year will continue to be just as fun. I get the question "why Norway??" a lot, but I have yet to regret the decision to come here (although winter hasn't hit yet..). I think that's all for now, though, and I'll continue to update here when I have the time!
Ha det and until next time,
Rachael
