Tonight I went to a free dance lesson--Rock Step Swing!! It was so fun! This week the dance organization is offering free classes at night. I was a little skeptical about going, but it ended up being really enjoyable and not as hard as I was expecting. It ended up being probably 20 guys and a couple more girls. We all stood in a big circle with our partners (which we switched every few minutes or so). I met a lot of people. The instructors were two students and they were really funny and quite good at instructing. I was impressed by how much I picked up in those two hours (even though girls don't really have it too bad-we just have to follow our men). I am thinking about taking the actual class. It will be on Tuesday nights for a number of weeks. The problem is that on top of the membership fee you have to have a membership to the fitness center on campus, which I was not planning on getting.. You can buy special passes to use the gym those certain days but it wouldn't be worth it. So now I have to decide how bad I want to take this class. I think it would be a great thing for me. I would meet a lot of new people, up my confidence level, get some exercise once a week, and learn to dance (a real dance!). Any suggestions? The membership for the dance group is about 60 dollars and the gym is close to 150 for the whole semester and about 30 for each use if I didn't get a membership. It just sounds like a lot of money to be dropping just so I can take a dance class (and of course use the gym a few times).
Otherwise today was pretty uneventful. I had my family/gender class this morning. That class is going to be a semi-tough one to get through. The professor just reads directly from her notes and it's not thrilling information in the first place. Right now it's a lot of talk about policies the Nordic countries have in place concerning childcare. In itself it's awesome-they have such an interesting system. And while not all of the Nordic Welfare states function in the same way, they basically all have public childcare which the state or other municipalities provide for children from ages 0 to 5. Most also have "Cash for Care" policies that provide parents with money to stay at home and care for their children or pay for private childcare services. We talked about a study that came out recently which claimed that spending a majority of one's childhood in daycare did not lead to behavioral problems. My professor totally dismissed the article simply because it is so obvious for Norwegians that childcare is not harmful, but actually beneficial. While there is some debate about whether or not it is best for the child to be cared for at home, the majority of men and women entrust their children to public childcare services without another thought. Most of the Nordic countries also have something called the "Daddy Quota" which is paternity leave for fathers that is "use it or lose it." In Norway fathers get 12 weeks of this type of paternity leave! And it's even more interesting to think of what these policies do in terms of gender equality (some are even caused by shift in gender relations). I'll save that for another time though...
The rest of the week looks like it will be a bit busier. Tomorrow I have a few errands to run and a "learning to knit" class at night-with free waffles! Friday we have deemed a "study day" and plan to be in the library for most of the day. Friday I also plan to try my hand at cooking chicken for a chicken ranch pasta recipe I found online. Saturday Sarah and I have plans to go to a museum and I may do a bit of shopping around for some things I need.
I have not mentioned it yet, but I signed up to go on a week long trip to Northern Norway! We have a day and a half bus ride and we will be staying in cottages/hostels for four nights. While we are there we will meet native Sami people, visit an ice hotel, and hopefully see the Northern Lights!! I'm excited, though not for the cold. I have realized that I don't like it to be over freezing here. Yes, I love the warmer temperature, but everything getting melty here is not good for anyone. There is wet slush everywhere and it is no fun to walk in :( Plus, when it freezes again every single pathway is going to a deathtrap. So part of me wishes it won't stay warm much longer so we can just get back to normal. I can't believe I just said that.
Well I guess it's time for me to say good night. Talk to you all soon. Thanks again for following :)
Otherwise today was pretty uneventful. I had my family/gender class this morning. That class is going to be a semi-tough one to get through. The professor just reads directly from her notes and it's not thrilling information in the first place. Right now it's a lot of talk about policies the Nordic countries have in place concerning childcare. In itself it's awesome-they have such an interesting system. And while not all of the Nordic Welfare states function in the same way, they basically all have public childcare which the state or other municipalities provide for children from ages 0 to 5. Most also have "Cash for Care" policies that provide parents with money to stay at home and care for their children or pay for private childcare services. We talked about a study that came out recently which claimed that spending a majority of one's childhood in daycare did not lead to behavioral problems. My professor totally dismissed the article simply because it is so obvious for Norwegians that childcare is not harmful, but actually beneficial. While there is some debate about whether or not it is best for the child to be cared for at home, the majority of men and women entrust their children to public childcare services without another thought. Most of the Nordic countries also have something called the "Daddy Quota" which is paternity leave for fathers that is "use it or lose it." In Norway fathers get 12 weeks of this type of paternity leave! And it's even more interesting to think of what these policies do in terms of gender equality (some are even caused by shift in gender relations). I'll save that for another time though...
The rest of the week looks like it will be a bit busier. Tomorrow I have a few errands to run and a "learning to knit" class at night-with free waffles! Friday we have deemed a "study day" and plan to be in the library for most of the day. Friday I also plan to try my hand at cooking chicken for a chicken ranch pasta recipe I found online. Saturday Sarah and I have plans to go to a museum and I may do a bit of shopping around for some things I need.
I have not mentioned it yet, but I signed up to go on a week long trip to Northern Norway! We have a day and a half bus ride and we will be staying in cottages/hostels for four nights. While we are there we will meet native Sami people, visit an ice hotel, and hopefully see the Northern Lights!! I'm excited, though not for the cold. I have realized that I don't like it to be over freezing here. Yes, I love the warmer temperature, but everything getting melty here is not good for anyone. There is wet slush everywhere and it is no fun to walk in :( Plus, when it freezes again every single pathway is going to a deathtrap. So part of me wishes it won't stay warm much longer so we can just get back to normal. I can't believe I just said that.
Well I guess it's time for me to say good night. Talk to you all soon. Thanks again for following :)
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