This is my...second attempt at a blog and hopefully it'll be a whole lot more successful than the first. I am not completely sure how a first blog's post is supposed to look like, so I'm just gonna wing it...And probably do some rambling...
So y'all, I've been doing a lot of deep thinking here lately. And I've had plenty of time alone in my head for it. Right now I'm chilling out in Norway with some friends of mine.
Driving to Milagri and Terje's house from the airport
Skyping with family...This is my first time away from my family for so long...It's been kinda nice ^.^ (very quiet for one thing :D)
My room! :D The curtains close on one side, and then there's a door between the kitchen and my space. It's actually very nice and homey :3
Ok y'all. This is how dark it gets at night. Even at midnight, it doesn't ever get completely dark.
(The little white dot above the barn is the moon, btw. :3)
We weren't far enough north to be in the Land of the Midnight Sun...but it never gets completely dark...and the sun rises again at 2am ^.^
The Norwegian word for "speed" is "farts" (insert giggles and laughter)...Yes...I know...I had the same reaction. (The picture on the sign doesn't help :P) The sign translates to "speed bump."
ANYWAYS! Just for kicks, I got to get Terje to take a picture of me next to the "fart dump" ^.^
This is an old Norwegian Viking "mess hall." I didn't get to go inside, because the day we went wasn't one of the days it is opened...BUT LOOK AT THOSE CARVINGS!!!! I believe those were all hand carved...Pretty spectacular and time consuming if you ask me :D I'd love to be able to do that.
So my very first Saturday in Norway (May 17th) was Norway's Constitution Day (equivilent to our, USA's, Independence Day, July 4th). Celebration of their Constitution Day includes parades, dressing up in the national/regional clothes of Norway and its states, parties, barbecues, lots of food, Norwegian sweets...Umm...coffee...
Just about everything our 4th of July has except with the national dress and without fireworks.
Following are pictures for the 17th of May Constitution Day celebration.
Even the men and babies dressed up! :D
Yes...It was chilly a good part of the time, but not winter cold. Well...Depending on how winter is like where you live...
It didn't hasn't gotten any higher than 75 degrees F this whole time and the lowest it's been (during the day-sun-up-time) is 40-something degrees F.
I love my sweatshirt ^.^
BREAKFAST!!! It's a big deal around here. We normally have toast (as shown above) with whatever we want on it. Milagri will pull out whatever breakfast topping stuff she has from the fridge (deli meat, mayo, smoked salmon (YUM!!), at least three different types of cheeses, jams, butter...etc. She'll even scramble an egg or two) and we'll top the toast with whatever we like on that little toast...As many pieces as we're hungry for and whatever on top as long as she has it. Accompanied with coffee or tea, it's a pretty good breakfast! :D
That morning, for breakfast one of my toast combos (which was really good) was bread -> butter -> brown cheese (a super special kind of Norwegian cheese made from goats milk) -> raspberry jam.
OH MY WORD! Talk about fantastic!!!!
The BEAUTIFUL city of Tønsberg :D
The old Norwegian way to roof their houses was with turf. They'd take a thin, top layer from the ground (I think from where the house was going to be built) and would use the bark of a birch tree as a leak-proof protection between the wood roof and the turf covering. It's actually really cute. I want to do that for my garden house when I grow up and have my own place :)
The signing of Norway's constitution.
The "after" shot of going out to coffee :D
Kids in Norway (Milagri's son Daniel pictured here) are as into their games as kids are here :D
I FOUND OUT WHAT BUBBLE TEA IS!! Before going to Tønsberg's town square, I had no idea what bubble tea was...Now I have a vague idea as to what it is :3
This is Tønsberg's town square. On most days, the square is filled with booths with different kinds of people selling their wares. It's very cool to be apart of it all ^.^
Selfie time! ;D
Getting ready to see the End of the World XD :D
Verden's Ende
I FOUND APPLES NAMED AFTER ME!!!! :D ;) For any and all of you out there who knows about my nick name Jazz...Yep...Even in Norway ^.^
While I've been here, I've received letter from some of my super sweet friends back home :D It's been so cool seeing how much people care...You know? To sit down and hand write a letter, or card, and then send it in the mail (special out-of-country stamps and everything) and then send it to me...It's quite thrilling :D
So...Milagri is from Spain. Cadiz, Spain to be exact. (Well, as exact as I know to be...) and this is a authentic, wooden fan from Spain. Hand-painted and everything!!!
OH MY GOSH! It is even more beautiful in real life than this picture can show!
This is the view from the back of the house :D The mountains on the right side (ish) of the picture is Tønsberg. You can see it better in real life than in the picture. But yeah...You can see the water front buildings and boats going across...It's lovely ^.^
Norway, blessed Norway, only has one kind of plant that will warrant a reaction when it comes in contact with your skin. It is the stinging nettle. IT IS HORRIBLE!!! Above is a picture taken a few minutes after I got stung and had treated with aloe...
So last week (I think) we took a trip to Sweden for a day...It was pretty spectacular :D It's very interesting, as close as Norway and Sweden are (they're boarder-neighbors) they each have their nuance differences that make them unique...
I found out that cost of living is cheaper in Sweden than it is in Norway, but because the cost of living in Norway is so much higher, people get paid some pretty big bucks. So what some people have done, and are doing still: They'll live in Sweden, but work in Norway. And lucky for them, Swedish isn't that much different from Norwegian! :D
In a HUGE mall in Sweden (right near the boarder between it and Norway) there was a candy shop. OH MY WORD! IT WAS THE BIGGEST CANDY SHOP I'VE EVER EVER EVER EVER SEEN!!!!!!!! This is SOME of the candy that was there.....
Yeah...I fell asleep on the way back to Norway :3
I've had an amazing opportunity to be able to play with the worship group on Sundays. I have been playing violin for 9 years and I've never done anything like this before. It's been soooooo cool! :D
Scenery on the way to Kongsberg.
The nature is so wild and beautiful here!
NONE of these pics are photoshopped btw :3
I LOVE THIS GRAFITI!!! In Kongsberg now.
Y'all, this is THE CUTEST duck/goose pond I've EVER seen!!!
In Kongsberg's "history of mining, Norwegian silver and ski jumping" Museum.
P.S. I don't really know what the museum's called...
Kongsberg (meaning "King's mountain") is an important part of Norway because it is the location of Norway's first (and maybe only) silver mine.
(AND THERE'S SILVER STILL IN IT! A little bit...But a good bit still...)
The national mint and different important places like that are in Kongsberg.
Tønsberg is Norway's oldest city and Kongsberg is just as equally history and amazing :D
I cannot get over how beautiful the nature and how different the sky is here!!!
People think I'm crazy saying that the sky is different, but it is. It's clearer, it seems fresher and newer and the sky back home, in the US. Everything here seems untainted and how it aught to be.
OK! I found out...last week (or two weeks ago) that it is ILLEGAL to use pesticides and such on crop and plants here in Norway!
I wish there was a law like that back home!!
The area around where I was staying :D
Milagri and I walking up to the bus stop :D
LOOK AT THAT CLOUD!!!!!!!!!!
You don't know what an immense blessing it is to be able to be here right now. I've learned so much the couple of weeks I've been here and I've experienced God's nearness that I don't know what I'll do when I get home and I won't feel this closeness anymore...I'm terrified that I'll loose it...
There's something about being away from home and regular that causes a person to do a LOT of deep thinking...For me it doesn't take much. Being away from home for five weeks is DEFINITELY doing that for me. (And then some...)
While being here, though, I've gotten to experience and learn so much about life outside of America. To see how things could be and can be if we put effort towards it. People here are so active and seem more alive here than many back home. It's pretty fantabulous (my own word...a special mix of "fabulous" and "fantastic").
I know that when I go home in a couple of weeks, I'll have so much more ideas floating in my head as to how life can be lived. I've also learned the importance of family and God's guidance. (Like His guidance for me to start this blog o.O...)
Live life big, guys! Gå med Gud! :)
Ha det!
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