Skiing and the elk

 

The weekend before last I went skiing for my first time in Norway! It was amazing, very beautiful and sunny day which made it very plesant. It was very different to skiing in New Zealand. First the trees... Who put those there?! But it made it more exciting because you couldn`t tell where you might end up. But I also came to realise why we have so many forigners skiing at the Snow Farm. In Norway it is croweded and my speed didn`t really get past a shuffle most of the time, not bad for a Sunday ski but I can imagine it would be annoying for others. I guess you don`t appriciate what you have until it is gone! But now all the snow is melted and everyone says they are expecting a mild winter so I might have to wait a bit.

Last weekend I helped my host parents cut up an elk which they had bought, unbutchered. Acting like the tough New Zealander I am, I got stuck in and helped cut up the beast. It took three of us over three hours to get everything bagged, minced and in the freezer but we made it. The white kitchen required quite a bit of cleaning but it is now back to normal and I no longer have elk blood under my fingernails either which is a bonus!

I have a good idea for my next blog post so you shouldn`t have to wait too long for the next one. Sorry I haven`t been posting as much as I should but when there is snow to be skied and elk to be cut it has to wait!

 

And an update on the knitting: I am nearly ready to start the top pattern. As of last night I had 8cm to go so I will keep you posted after I start the design!!!!

 

Knitting!!!

I have been pretty bad at this blogging thing recently and I am sorry if you have been faithfully checking back to find no updates! But I'm not just lazy there is a reason I have not been blogging (well, mostly), it is because I have started traditional Norwegian knitting! I think it is possibly the most under rated craft in the world. For those who don't know the famous designs a quick google search of 'norwegian knitting' will clear up your curiosity.

Since I arrived here I have made two hats and I have started on a jumper which I am very proud of! My host family's grandmother has been helping me and she even included me when she made socks for all the grandkids! It is very nice to have the help because I know if I tried to do this back in New Zealand I might have got a little confused.

My first hat with Norwegian design

Socks that Kine knitted for me

                                 

My sweater I'm knitting

Weekend at the Cabin

Last weekend I spent the weekend at my family's cabin which was very fun. In Norway many families have their own cabin in the mountains. In the summer they go hiking and in the winter they go skiing. So going to a cabin is a true Norwegian experience. Cabins often don't have electricity or running water but it is becoming more common to have these luxuries. Driving to the door is also common now however I embraced the short uphill dash in the rain!

The rain soon stopped however and we were left with a nice day. In the afternoon we went hiking around the area. In Norway there are plenty of wild berries and in the particular area of the cabin, blueberries were abundant. We walked until we got to some old musterers houses which were in true Norwegian style complete with foliage on the roof. We had chocolate and blueberries and walked back to the cabin.

In the cabin there was a tv and I was really surprised to find that there was also internet! So after sitting by the fire, watching a show similar to the x factor. It was mostly candle lit but there were dim solar lights also. Basically nothing like a New Zealand tramping experience! I slept in a double bed with a duvet and sheets and I was warm the whole night, something which is somewhat infrequent in New Zealand.

In the morning we decided to walk to a look out point near the top of the hill. It was quite a long walk and it probably took us about 3 hours to get there due to the blueberry eating! On the way down from the hill I got to see reindeer which was particularly exciting when you are from New Zealand. I am still convinced it was Rudolph and his buddies because one of them had a red ribbon around his neck!

Bicycle lift

In Norway probably about a third of people bike to school or work. It is not uncommon to see someone biking in a suit or a dress and having appropriate clothing does not seem to phase them. So one of the cultural differences I have decided to embrace is the use of the a bike. My bike belongs to my host grandmother but she is kind enough to let me borrow it! It even comes with a 90's helmet which I get weird looks for wearing as no one here wears helmets either!

This video is of me attempting the bicycle lift home from school. The local government wanted to encourage people to bike rather than take their cars so they built a bicycle lift so people would not have to bike up the hill. It is very had to explain but you can see how it works in the video. The word lift made me think it would be very easy but I soon found out it is actually very difficult. This is a video of one of my not so successful attempts but you will be glad to know that I have now mastered it. I use it twice a day most days to get home from school at lunch and home time.

Velkommen til Norge

Hello everyone!

Welcome to my blog! In case you don't already know this blog is about my afs exchange to Norway. I will be living in Trondheim which is in central Norway near the coast. I am living with a Norwegian family who are very good to me and I go to a local school called Thora Storm.

I arrived in Norway 3 days ago and landed at Oslo airport. I then went to a camp 45 mins out of Oslo where everyone from all over the world going to Norway was taught about language and other things to help prepare us. It was beside a lake and it was very beautiful (like all of Norway!). There is another girl from New Zealand also in Norway. She lived about 120km away from Trondheim.

Today was my first day of school. It is very different to New Zealand which I expected but it wasn't similar to anything I had expected either. There are probably 100 or more people in my year. I am in year 12 here but they call it vgs 2 (second year of upper secondary school) and it is much more like a university than a high school. The also have many more subjects than New Zealand which is very good for me as there are lots of things I enjoy on offer! I am taking Norwegian (for non norwegian speakers. Like esol in NZ I think), physiology, sociology, geography, statistics, social studies and German. Statistics and German will be interesting but it is compulsory to take a maths subject and they call it a 'global language' subject.

At lunchtime today I went walking around the town. I found all the important things like Zara and the MAC counter in no time. The streets here are very narrow and cobble stone which makes it difficult for walking as there it is uneven. I would hate to be wearing high heals on this and I don't know how people do it! There are lots of trees even in the very middle of town. Dunedin is naked compared to this. But because it is the middle of summer and I have come from winter I cannot get over how green everything is, even slightly blinding in places!