I love my life :)

Hello!
I have officially been in Norway for a week and I'm still alive. PRAISE JESUS. Yesterday, reality set in a bit when people started going to classes. Fortunately, most of my classes don't start until next week, but my days have been filled with a lot of administrative work in terms of course registration, residence permits, gym membership etc. and of course, watching "The Vampire Diaries" with Simone.
The end of welcome week was great! On Friday, we went on a tour of the city with our group. For some reason, our group of 10 turned into 15. Basically everyone just wants to be like us. No big deal. I got some GREAT pictures on the journey. The picture at the top is the harbour next to Bryggen near the fish market. Speaking of the fish market...We went there! It was great and smelled FANTASTIC.

Another pit stop on our tour was "The Blue Stone", a popular meeting place for people in Bergen. It's at the centre of the city and we were just having SUCH a great time there-I'm very happy that George was able to capture this very candid moment.

Finally, we went to the Floibanen, a popular tourist activity. Basically, you go up in a cable car to the top of a mountain. We didn't go on our tour, but we will hike it when it gets nice! My group really loved it when I showed them the diva pose for this picture. They don't really understand the whole "diva/hustlaaa" thing, and they think I'm a little crazy, but it's fine. They had fun trying to learn the correct "diva stance".

On Saturday, we had the final party called "Sveiseaften". Essentially, you get put into groups with other exchange students and then go around to stations where the mentors have planned special events that you take part in as part of a large competition. My favourite station was the "boy band" station. Our challenge was to choose a song by a pop group, and choreograph a dance. Well...let's just say I didn't really hesitate to take control of THAT situation. We won. End of story.
On Sunday, EVERYTHING in Norway is closed. Although it can be frustrating at times because there's not a lot to do, it's actually really great because it forces you to relax and, well, do nothing. Simone and I hung out together which was really fun. Yesterday, Simone and I wanted to go to the mall near IKEA to get some clothes that we needed. Of course, we take the bus because that's the only way to get anywhere here. Anyways, I was trying to be Norwegian (of course), and asked the bus driver in Norwegian if the bus went to IKEA. Every time I ask in English they always say "Yes" or "No". However, THIS time, the bus driver answered in four or five sentences that I couldn't understand AT ALL while waving his arm in the air. I was too embarrassed to say "Umm..yeah, sorry I didn't understand any of that becuase I'm actually a STUPID TOURIST who is a Norwegian wannabe". So I just said "Ok, Great!" and told Simone to get on the bus. After going along the coast for a half hour, the bus stopped. Everyone got off, and the bus driver asked where we wanted to go. Simone yelled "IKEA" and he said in perfect English "Sorry, this bus doesn't go anywhere near IKEA".



Today, I went to a morning class and then got my gym membership. We had Norway's version of Kraft Dinner for lunch (which actually wasn't that bad) and then shared my FAVOURITE pastry from Norway!!

(Mom, do you remember when we got these in Bergen last time?? They're just as good as they used to be!)
Anyways, I bought chicken yesterday so I'm excited for dinner tonight! I hope everything is going well for you at home! More to come from me later!
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