The first few days we had `lessons` every day for some hours. We basically just learnt some easy Norwegian songs and prepared our presentation for the district conference that was on our second last day in Lyngdal. We all split up in countries and made a prepared a few words to say. It had to be in Norwegian which was still quite a challenge at that time. In the afternoon we always had some spare time. Because we stayed at the Rosfjord Strandhotell it was nice to go to the centrum sometimes in that time. We could also go to the Sørlandsbadet which belonged to the hotel. Or we just hang out and got to know each other better. We really had a very good time there. On Saturday was the big day. We all dressed up a little and wore our Rotary Blazers with our pins on it. While holding the flag of our country we walked in separated by countries. Our presentation in total was during more than an hour. We sang many songs, and all told the sentences we prepared. Some Norwegian past exchange students also said something about their exchanges and thanked Rotary for this opportunity. It was very nice.

 

School is also a lot of fun. I really like going to school. A lot of my subjects I could choose myself which is so great. At the beginning most of the lessons were quite boring though because I didn’t really understand anything. By now I definitely understand what we’re talking about and it’s much more interesting. I have Samfunnsgeografi, Psykologi, Internasjonal Engelsk, Fransk, Matte, Norsk, Historie and Gym. 

I also made some friends. We often do something together on the weekends. Sometimes we bake, eat dinner together, watch a movie or also just go to the city. 

In the autumn holidays my family took me to their cabin in Sjusjøen. It so very nice there. We went on a few little hikes and to Lillehammer two times. I really love the landscapes here in Norway. I don’t think I have seen anything like the nature in Sjusjøen before. We also got a little snow which was so great. On the way back home again, we spent half a day in Oslo. Oslo is a very pretty city. We walked through Vigelandsparken, saw the Rådhuset and Stortinget and walked along the pier. I´m already very excited for my next trip to Oslo. 

I started playing volleyball quite at the beginning of my time here. I have training two times a week. It´s a lot of fun and we have some games all over Aust- and Vest-Agder. Soon we´ll go to Laser tag in Arendal with the whole team. 

My Norwegian is getting better and better, I think. I really try to learn it as fast as possible and it´s very fun to speak it. I don´t feel confident enough though to already write long texts in Norwegian. Once a week I visit my third host mom´s mother Mariann and look at exercises and just try to talk and tell in Norwegian as much as possible. I think that helps me a lot. Also, to understand the grammar better.