WHOOPS! my blogging ethic seems to be slipping... sorry!

Sorry about that! I got distracted yesterday and completely forgot to post something... that is I forgot until just before I was collapsing in bed. My internet decided to be flaky as I was trying to order Karro's Christmas present (I will post pics when she gets them :) ) and it agrivated me so much that I gave up until right before lights out... It did finally work by the way, which was great beacuse that meant I didn't miss the 25% off sale thing. :D

So, my weekend. Ass you know I spent the night at Yngvild's and had breakfast with them (bacon and eggs if you don't remember...) then after watching some cross country skiing I was givin a lift to the bus station so I could take one of the ellusive weekend busses home... I got back at about 1, then took a shower. I like showers, they make me feel clean. The only thing I feel I must mention about all showers I have seen in norway thus far, is that they don't seem concerned with keeping the water in the space provided for it... which is rather unfortunate when you want to dry your feet when getting out of said space. also, they are rather tall showers, but really quite cramped. It is quite dificult to shave ones legs in the shower, thus I dont do it very often... I dont have the skills required... maybe by the end of the year, hmm?

Sorry, I went off on my own thing. That right there is a slightly filtered thought from my mind. I would advise trying not to understand what normally happens in my head. Half the time I don't understand it. :D

I got to talk to Mum on fb for a little bit, and broke the news that I bought some new winter boots and a dress for myself. The only consulation is that both together were less than I thought the boots would be. And they are both really cool! My boots I described briefly, but I will assure you that only when I get my camera from home will you fully appreciate the awesomness of my boots.

oh, speaking of awesome, I was looking through one of the tattoo magasines on friday (while waiting for a non-existant bus) and was looking at some of the script and found one that had a spelling mistake. across a man's back were the words "I'm Awsome" missing the first "e"... I was suprised that 1st I had caught the mistake (because my spelling is atrocious) and 2nd that the magazine hadn't...

Now for something completely different.

Haha! know what that's from?! After my random and hurried blog attempt on friday I washed the floors and went over to Kristin's house. It was really fun, I met 5 new young ladies who were all very entertaining. they were all about 15-16, so not really that much younger than me, but in a way they were... but thankfully I digressed quickly and was able to relate to them after a rousing hour of Monty Python's Flying Circus. Every friday they play it :D I know what I want to watch at that time!!!

Unfortunatly the show ended, then the wii came out... ugh. I was harrased into playing mario cart and as I expected I was the biggest loser. the only time I got over last place was when I somehow managed to jump ahead and get 5th. :D Yeah, I suck at video games. I have never been good at them.

But, I had fun anyway. It's always nice to hang out until about midnight... :P

Sunday I slept in until and un-known hour, and started a new book. Magician's Guild and the 2 books after it are AMAZING! I request that Dad buys them for my library :D He would enjoy them too. They are kinda like the mistborn series, but then again they aren't... You guys just have to read them for yourselves. (Note to my parents because I am too lazy to send an email: G might like them too, so after you guys have read them you might suggest that in his free time he could read them. really very exciting, so don't let him be dettered (sp) by the size :D )

Other than that, Sunday was rather un eventful.

Monday was interesting. I had the same boring math class, I decided that I should try going over the chapter again to see if I could absorb anything other than the knowledge that the math is going way over my head.

The norwegian teacher was gone, so I pretty much got through the 2nd book in the trilogy :) Then we had gym...

It was actually okay, we started with dancing again. It was a circle dance (I guess you could call it that... thinking contra dance words) that quickly gained momentum. It was really fun, and it made me realize, again, that I really miss dancing. I can't wait for January, that's when I start my Salsa dance course. :D

But then, we did some strange and difficult execises. I need to work on my arm strength. Then we played volly ball and floor hockey again. I find it rather humourous that I am afraid of flying balls (not meaning to sound dirty there, it's just how it is) but I really enjoy sparring.

I didn't do too badly this time, when the ball came my way (in my circle) I tried harder than normal to keep it off the ground. I even scored a point (running into a team mate in the process, though she was just trying to cover for me :] ) when the ball came straight at me I managed to get it over the net and smack dab in the middle of four of the other players (opposite team)

And I am actually not bad at floor hockey, I got the first point for my team, and me and one of the other guys on my team were the most active (3 people per team). We gave the other team a run for their money.

After gym it was really quiet. I did however order Karro's christmas present! Unfortuantly I realized too late that it wont get here in time fr christmas, but I have a plan. I will print out a picture of her gift and put it in a cd case with a cd. We always sing a song together when the commercial comes on, so I think she will appreciate it. Now I just have to find a CD store. :D

I will tell you guys about what happened to me today on friday, partially because I am hungry and partially because I am more interested in the medical show (mystery ER) than rambling on about what I've already talked about. SO, I'll spare you.

Vi snakkes!

I only had 2 days of school this week... SWEET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:D :D :D :D :D

Heia!

So, I was sick until this morning. The symptoms developed on tuesday, I had a headache and felt like I was going to puke, which I might have mentioned, but they didn't go away as I was hoping on wednesday. Nope, they got worst. So, I stayed home and slept the day away. I also read Howl's Moving Castle. I know, I was supposed to write, and I did, but I am a little stuck.

I was rendered immobile, and this didn't really bother me. I got chicken soup, which was yummy, but can't compare to the 5 miles of ramen i am supposed to eat... Maybe somebody can have Mr. Pierce send me the required amount? :D

I was sick on Thursday too, and again I again slept most of the day, and then I enjoyed reading the blog of my friend Sam, or Sunder as he goes by on blogger. (I felt like trying to increase your readership, so I am not the only reader. just the first :] ) I have to thank you Sam for being reliable with posting. It provides me with more than just the fellow AFS-ers in this town to hear/read stories of how life is going in new situation. I might suggest that any AFS-ers with blogs take your lead and provide reading material for me... :D

Thursday was otherwise quiet. Besides listening to a song that I heard/saw on the music chanel. you must tell me what you think, I love it, it's got a nice creepy feel...

WATCH AND COMMENT ON!!! :D

Sorry about not posting yesterday, but i went to see a tree get lit up, and go shopping. I got a cute dress and some awesome snow boots. The boots are gold! and then I got an invitation to a movie party thing that they had forgotten to invite me to before the day of. Aom was with me when I was at the tree and shopping, it's her fault that I found the dress, btw... I wouldn't have gone into that shop if she hadn't made me. :)

I had a great time at the party. I have a tendancy to act like a teenage guy when around a group of them, and last night was no exception. I rough-housed and joked around with them all... it was really fun! We watched the un-rated version of the Number 23... which was just as corny as I remember. During that time I successfully pushed at least 2 guys off the couch, stole a really nice, warm, ear-flap hat and drank half a bottle of coca-cola. It was wonderful,and even more fun than the last one I went to! It ended around 1am for Yngvild, Aom and me. We called Aom a taxi and I slept over at Yngvild's house.

I was treated to eggs and bacon for breakfast! It was a little too early for me after such a late night, but there was not really any other option since there are so few buses on the weekends... It was nice to have such relaxed morning, so much quieter than the ones at home... :D

I am watching Grey's Anatomy, but I need to go wash the floor. Sooo... I should probably give up on this... sorry it's so all over the place today...

OH! one last thing. Something absolutly amazing happened last night! while i was waiting for the bus I saw something scamper under a bus. The cute little slinky-like critter was my very favorite animal in the whole wide world! I SAW A WILD OTTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I cant stop grinning!!! I love them... :D I have loved otters for as long as I can remember... Mum probably remembers when exactly I started loving them, but I just remember that I was very, very wee. :]

Okay, I will have pics on Monday of my new dress and my cool boots! Vi snakkes!

Happy Turky Day, Here are the Long Awaited Pics!

Nordlys!!! I tried to take some nice pictures, I'm not sure if they will get bigger if you click them, but I hope they do. Sorry if they dont D:

Saturday morning, just after 10... I liked that house. It's pretty!

This was taken at about 15:30... dark huh?

I took my hair down for the day and this was the result... I liked it :]

Happy Thanks Giving!

Æ var syke, og kanskje æ e syke nå...

So,

I was planing on posting pics today, but since i slept most of the day, you will have to wait until I am in school tomorrow to get them... I was sick and really didn't want to do anything but sleep and day dream. I am just starting to cram for a test I have tomorrow (sosiology, so pretty easy) and I will be ending this cram session asap.

I like sleep. I don't like headaches or the feeling that I am going to puke. I figure that's a pretty good reason for blowing off uploading pics. :)

vi snakkes!

(oh, the title translates to: I was sick, and maybe I am sick now... that is if I didn't completely slaughter the norwegian language :D )

I am slightly sad that I finished the Mistborn series... but I saw a little fox this morning so that makes it slightly better. :]

HEIA!!!

Sorry about yesterday! I didn't get home until a little bit before supper and then I had to run for a bus!

So, the weekend first... Saturday I woke up earlier than I would have liked, but later than I should have. I managed to get ready (shower, dress, makeup, grab apple and sack from aunt Laura) and get out the door in about 25 min... which I think constitutes skills. :]

I caught a bus into town where I met Morgana at the bus station. We couldn't figure out where Morgen was since she should have taken the same bus as Morgana. I texted Aom to try and get Morgen's number, but Aom seems worse at returning messages than I am... ugh. Anyway after going to the post office and coming back to the bus terminal we met up with Morgen. We ended up having to accompany Morgen to the licqour (sp) store. (Morgen and I will definintly be opposite Russ... I won't get drunk, she will probably be drunk every night... she was complaining that she had only gotten drunk once in the 3 months we have been in norway... ugh.) It was a little ackward, Morgana and I standing outside the shop waiting for Morgen to come back, as both of us are under the drinking age... I think the shoppers there felt the same way... lol

We also went to a toy store to try and find something for Morgana's cousin's christmas present. We failed, but I found a geek-like store that is pretty fun! I also didn't have my money with me, so I couldn't get what I want to get for another small christmas present for G. I think I am spoiling my little brother while I am in Norway... I probably shouldn't... but I like to see him happy. It makes me glad to be able to get him something he likes. :)

Any-whoo! We eventually made it up to Aom's house... which is up an insanly long, steep and slippery hill... or a series of hills. But I think it was well worth the insane hike, the house is BEAUTIFUL! It has a really cool lay out, and the whole outside of the building has a very oriental feel to it... So many great rooms and hiding places. So obviously after tormenting Morgana into eating "spicy" meat stuff. We got a video of us chasing her around and eventually force feeding her... it looks a little questionable at one part, but really it was just us clamping her nose and then stuffing the food into her mouth, not between her teeth though... it was really funny! back to what I was origionally saying, after tormenting Morgana we had a few rounds of hide and seek. my best hiding places were in a folded comforter at the end of a bed, and under the benchs in the sauna... yes, a sauna... and a pool. AWESOME HOUSE!!!

We ate the Thai food we made, and downed about 2 cartons of milk while consuming the food. SOOO SPICY!!! LOOOVE IT!!! It made me sooo happy to eat food that actually made me tear up. I accidently inhaled soup while trying to eat it and I couldn't really feel my throat for a while... only an intense burning sensation... :]

I eventually got home and went to bed. After being told that I needed to attend a garage sale thing the next day. and help at it too... ugh.

I got going just in time to get a ride there... and I am glad I did! there was a BEAUTIFUL japanese style tea set, and some bowls and spoons in the same style, though with different patterns... I got them for 50 kroner, which is less than $10! can anybody say STEAL!!! I did, amid my squealing and bouncing and jealous protection of my prize... >:D

I managed to hide most of the time, but then Mamma found me and ordered me to help the goodies bar thing... yum. But crazy... I kept trying to do the math, but it was really strange to do half of said math partially in norwegian and partially in english... and there were so many people there that it was difficult for me to make out what the people were saying... ahhh... hard...

But I made it through, and eventually got home. I was excited and soon nervous for my skype in with my family. I deiscovered that the upstairs computer was having problems connecting to the internet, which was causing problems. So I installed skype on my laptop, and quickly realized that you can't just plug in the web cam and have it work... no, you have to install various programs to get it working... :P I tried doing so and realized that with about 24% more to load my computer had frozen. So in a last ditch effort I tried the desk top again. And thankfully it worked.

Good news! G loved his presents. He actually smiled! He put on his Norway flag soccer shirt and read the Serenity cartoon book I had sent! He was going to be mean to me and take his time opening them until I threatend to not send his christmas present. I was bouncing when I realized that he really liked his presents! soo happy!!!

It was nice to be able to talk to my family again. It was only the second time since I got here. It's really odd, thinking that I am okay with seeing my family only once a month. I get to stay in contact, but if I saw them every other week would be really hard... Once a month means that I do get some form of support other than emails but also that I can do things on sundays without making sure to plan in getting back home in time every other week or so. I miss them, and I don't have the same connection to Mamma and Pappa as I do with Mum and Dad, so that's to be expected. I don't think I will ever have as such a stong connection to anybody in a parental role, as I do to my parents. They have set the bar high for my host family, which has been a little hard for me to deal with. I just have to keep reminding myself that this is a different family, and I am in a different situation than I previously was in.

Speaking of dealing with my situation. I keep having to remind myself that this year is a moving year. I have moved out, and I mostly depend on what money I have saved and am earning, sometimes using my card to get some things (like boots in the near future) but avoiding that as much as possible. I have a form of family here, but aside from feeding me and giving me shelter, they are relitivly unenvolved in how I spend my time and my needs finacially. Whenever they ask if I am okay there I happen to have gotten some money, but not enough for me to feel secure getting any extra's for me. My spending for myself each month is a weekly (maybe getting one extra per month) soda which is 22 kr. which is a measly 110 kr. per month. only a fraction of what I supposedly have... haha... I hate the visa company right now, and this seems the time of year for school related payments... pictures, year book (yes, already! weird huh?) and russ stuff... *sigh* that and I have a birthday to supply for and christmas as well... :$ oh well... soon it should be over.

Anyway, back to a review of my monday and tuesday, since something realtivly exciting happend!

Monday I watched a movie and was talked at in school for hours. I was also given caffiene (sp) during the last class, which annoyed the teacher (it was exchange student Norsk, so nothing big :D ) as well as an influx of candy as well. :D

I managed to get home and eat in time to catch a bus (after locating Karro, who was at a friend's house) so that we could see HP 7 pt 1. It was a good movie! I really enjoyed it, even though Karro and a relative of hers Morten (her age) sat 2 rows back. I invited Aom to see it with me. The movie started a half an hour later than the website said it did (typical eh?) thus it got out later than I was expecting... too late for a bus unless we waited an hour. at that point everywhere is closed, so we would have had to wait in the cold. Or we could have walked, which would have taken over and hour. Or we could call and ask for a ride home. Obviously that is what we did, and we were quickly assured that the next time that happened we would be on our own. ugh. my thoughts.

Today I had to walk from a gas station to school (about 10 min away) and about half way there a little, itty-bitty fox, about the size of the beagle at home, and a beautiful red coat ran across the road only about 10 feet infront of me. I was worried that it would be hit by a car, but it made it across safely! The car that could have hit it saw it and slowed enough so that it could live. "thanks car! I like foxes!" except when they eat cats...

other than that, school was short. I learned that I am no longer allowed to read, I have to write the story that I half way abandoned about a month ago... I am no longer allowed to read the books loaned to me by the person who loaned them to me... D: I love to read... I was told by about 3 people in the past 24 hours that they don't read. Between them they have maybe read 10 books. well, one did say he had only read one book in the past 3 years, but that still boggles my mind... I don't think I could survive without a thorough supply of reading material...

About said reading material. I hate library books. I actually like libraries, they are peacefull places, but the books themselves. They smell and they have weird feels to them... and you don't know where they have been, who has touched them and where their handlers have been... all in all EEEWWWWW!!! But even they would be preferable to not having any books. That would be my own personal hell. Death would be preferable to life without books. :/

Okay and on that note, I have finally finished the Mistborn series. And I wish I hadn't. It made me sad. Vin is the main character, and she is kick a**!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! One of my favorite characters of all time really. If you haven't read these books you should. the author is one of my favorites... Brandon Sanderson, he is currently finishing the Wheel of Time series, which was started by Robert Jordan... yes I've mentioned it before, but books really equal life to me... I would be nothing without them... I won't talk anymore about the book, especially since I want others to read it.

I WILL(!!!!!!!) upload pics tomorrow, but for now I am racing to bed. And I found some more commercials for your enjoyment.

Here is a gum commercial. I think it is pretty understandable... :)

http://www.reklamefilmer.com/tv-reklame/922/Nidar_Relax_reklame__Kyss_mer/

This one is for a retirement (sp) firm. I like the song...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bE_m0_1JQY

And these are for some sort of lotion... I think they are funny as well, I saw the first one first and didn't really understand what it was talking about, but after seeing the 2nd I got it :P

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVXLKBRqtmU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bxSguMhg0c&feature=related

okay! Natta! vi snakkes!

You're gonna have to wait for a real post because I ran out of time...

I am going to see HP 7 in about 10 min, so, I cannot give you guys a real post at this moment. Sorry, but I am sure you all understand that I have to keep my priorities straight! :D

vi snakkes!

No Idea What I'm Supposed to be Doing, But I Know it's Something, the Teacher Keeps Coming Over to Check How I'm Doing with it... :/

This title is how I usually feel in class. Specifically history and Norsk/Religion. As of right now I am typing while staring blankly at the texbook open under my elbows. My thoughts on this text book are that it has really odd pictures and cannot be properly explained with a couple of paragraphs per chapter on it's website. Itjust doesn't have all the information. Which does not seem to get through to the history teacher, no matter how many times I tell her... Maybe someone else can explain this for me?

Anyway! How has this week been Devyn? How was tuesday because you already wrote about monday!

Tuesday... hmmm... good question. Really, I seem to have memory loss most of the time, though im not sure not being able to remember events on tuesday when it is friday constitutes long term or short term memory loss... I should google it. But my history teacher scares me to try more than blog while in her class... I think her hair is poofy to desguise her horns... maybe we can shave her during russ week, blame it on the alcohol and crazyness... whoops, here she comes again... *flips to other page*

ok, false alarm, Im back.

Anyway, I know I attended school tuesday, and I thinks soemthing happend, but im not sure... I think that was the day that I tried to buy headphones for skype, but then Pappa bought them. So I will leave them in Norway. I tried to buy them, but he got to the register first... :/ Oh well, I can get better ones off of newegg when I return. The Dad and I can talk to eachother when we start playing WOW long distance. :D Yep, now that I try to remember I am sure that it was tuesday that happened.

wednesday I decided to be daring and go to the new grocery store (harstad has 5+ grocery stores of various sizes... it's so odd... they are all within walking distance of eachother too, if you dont mind taking an hour or so to wind through all the strange little roads that make this town a "city". And you have to avoid the people in cars/trucks/buses/variousdrivenvehiclesofDEATH!... anyway you get the picture... drivers are scary in norway... So to get to this new store I took the bus from school that was heading towards Borkenes (the place I had a "tour" to... remember?) and got off on the side of roundabout (like Maine, Norway likes round abouts, unlike Maine they use them even when a traffic light might be wiser... so many round abouts...) I danced down the sidewalk to the store and found that despite what I had been lead to believe the soda there was just as expensive as at the grocery I normally attended. Oh well, it was a nice walk.

I still had about 20 min until the bus that went towards home left the station, so I decided to make tracks home, seeing I would probably get there before the bus got to me, but I was met with a nice suprise while walking out of the parking lot. Pappa and Mamma were driving in as I was leaving, which ment I could get a ride home as opposed to walking down the twisty, snowy, slushy, slippery road home. I was very happy to slump in the back seat while Mamma ran in to get the remaining things for middag and some medicine for something about her teeth...

I have been very tired, even taking my supplements and getting to bed at a reasonable hour. I am not quite sure what else I can do to combat this chronic fatigue, so if anybody has any suggestions please tell me. I am sick and tired of being tired... im not sick so i cant say that... :/

Thursday was the normal long day at school. We watched a movie during Norsk/religion, but unfortunaly it was not in english and I am still not very good at reading subtitles på norsk. sigh. it was about suicide bombers in... the middle east, I cant remember the country, but I know that was one of the only words I understood.

After school I had work. Instead of getting a ride there I took the bus, which was stressful because I didn't know if the bus I took was actually the right bus. But I got there easy-peasy! The only really difficult part was trying to walk the short distance to the house... The whole place was an ice slick, and there were a few moments when I had to stand stock still and try to figure out if I could move as a normal human being and not fall, or if I should crawl until I was to the house... im sure it was quite entertaining for anybody who happened to be watching. I felt like some sort of ninja or something when I made it without breaking anything or falling :)

I did my normal work and got my necklace stolen by Agnette (the baby girl who is absolutly adorable!) and Aksel wanted to stay and help me clean again, until I told him that if he wasn't going to go swimming I would go and he could stay and vaccuum. He decided that going swimming was more fun. especially after I carried him upside-down down the stairs towards his boots and such. oh how he giggled! I love little kids... they are so interesting!

I think I now have enough money to get an industrial if I wanted one now... but I have other plans so piecings will have to wait. And to make things even better I might be getting another cleaning gig! Some of Marte's (Marte being the woman who's house I clean) friends from the pool were asking after me for the same job I do at Marte's. she said it was more than likely, but she would ask me first. She will give them my number when she sees them next! I feel like I'm raking it in, even though by norwegian standard 800 kr a month must be reletivly little. but it's more than I got at my last job. the hourly pay is better here!!!!!!!! :D

I am in math now, thankfully I only have 10 min left, so I will be putting this away in about 5 so that I can get down to the bus station to get home. I probably wont finish this post until later in the day though, since it is only 11:26 now. I might get a good story in the next few hours!!! Maybe not, but I'll be optimistic.

Well all,you should be glad I waited to end this post. I did get a new story.

I am now proud to say that I am daughter... no, grand-daughter to the Borkenes resident, Violet. I am one of her sons' daughters, Im not sure which. One lives in Oslo, and the other in Lillehamer. She is going to go visit them for Chirstmas, for 2 weeks before coming back. She was very sweet, and was very humourous to listen/talk to. She seemed to like me, especially since one of the only reasons she came over to me was because the old drunk guy that I see all the time (got carted off by the police, remember?) was talking to me... again. It was really funny to see and hear him continously (sp) asking if I was her daughter and if I live in Borkenes too...

Much funnier in the moment. still makes me smile though.

So what are my plans for tonight? Maybe I will go see what Kristin is up to, but mostly I WILL SLEEP!!! Im an so tired... But I am very happy it is the weekend. I get Thai food tomorrow, and I get to talk to my family forthe 2nd time since I arrived! G's birthday is on Monday, he'll be 15, but I get to see him open his presents a day early. I can't wait to see if he's excited... or if he is mearly happy. I hope it is the first.

Also, did people watch the commercials? Aren't they funny! I love norwegian commercials...

KK! vi snakkes!