I've officially been home for 19 days. It seems so weird to think that just 20 days ago I was in Oslo, walking around Sognsvann lake. Weird I tell ya. I miss Norway, but not the way I thought I would. I almost feel like I never left. Then again, there are certain things that keep cropping up that I notice are different. I thought I would feel stressed about being away from Norway, at least at first. The day I left I was anxious and had numerous occasions where I just wanted to run back to Kringsja. But after that...no culture shock, hardly any jet lag. It was certainly unexpected. My experience feels less real than I thought it would. It's scary how it can feel like that. It's not like it faded away either. It was just like all of a sudden I was home and doing home stuff not in Norway doing Norway stuff.
There are so many times when I talk about it though..."When I was in Norway.." "Ever since I've been back..." "Sarah Ferguson...." And whenever anyone asks I'm quick to tell them Norway was and is still my favorite place and that it is the best experience of my life so far.
Two nights ago I got to swing dance again for the first time since I've been back. I was on a high from it still when I got to work Wednesday. I went to Buffalo (an hour plus drive). There was a mini lesson which happened to be almost exactly what I had learned while in Oslo. The instructors were nowhere near as good (or funny) as my great Norwegian instructors, but I knew what I was doing of course. I danced with several guys who knew what they were doing, and I even taught one of them a new move! (sliding doors, flirt, and the longer one out of sliding doors) Sara and Amanda came with me and I was so proud of them! They both danced with just about as many people as I did, and I think they had a pretty good time ;) I definitely want to go again. Hopefully I can get some more recruits! Every time we rotated partners I wanted to say "Takk for dansen" though-and I did a couple times :p
One thing I realized being home is that I don't want to stay in this area. Before I knew I wanted to go away to experience other things, but now I just want to get out. As many good things there are to say about small towns, it seems like the not-so-good ones are more magnified. Especially the gossip. That's all anyone ever does here! (Is it just here? Or is everyone in America a gossip?) I have noticed myself unconsciously not telling stories that other people had told me because it's just GOSSIP!! I don't want people to be up in my business and I don't want to know everything about other people either.
Another thing I do is say "nei" a lot here. I'm not sure if anyone notices though. No one ever says anything about it. I know Sara knows what I'm saying but I feel like everyone else maybe just thinks I misspoke. Sometimes I say "eh" too but not pronounced enough for people to make fun of me for sounding Canadian.
I'm also proud to say I am still regularly eating my brown cheese! I've gotten a lot of people to try it since I've been home and everyone has liked it! I was so impressed. I did injure myself with the cheese slicer the other day, but that was the only bad thing that's ever happened related to brown cheese.
I'm hoping this post wasn't too unorganized. I'm not feeling very focused right now, so on that note. Until next time..
There are so many times when I talk about it though..."When I was in Norway.." "Ever since I've been back..." "Sarah Ferguson...." And whenever anyone asks I'm quick to tell them Norway was and is still my favorite place and that it is the best experience of my life so far.
Two nights ago I got to swing dance again for the first time since I've been back. I was on a high from it still when I got to work Wednesday. I went to Buffalo (an hour plus drive). There was a mini lesson which happened to be almost exactly what I had learned while in Oslo. The instructors were nowhere near as good (or funny) as my great Norwegian instructors, but I knew what I was doing of course. I danced with several guys who knew what they were doing, and I even taught one of them a new move! (sliding doors, flirt, and the longer one out of sliding doors) Sara and Amanda came with me and I was so proud of them! They both danced with just about as many people as I did, and I think they had a pretty good time ;) I definitely want to go again. Hopefully I can get some more recruits! Every time we rotated partners I wanted to say "Takk for dansen" though-and I did a couple times :p
One thing I realized being home is that I don't want to stay in this area. Before I knew I wanted to go away to experience other things, but now I just want to get out. As many good things there are to say about small towns, it seems like the not-so-good ones are more magnified. Especially the gossip. That's all anyone ever does here! (Is it just here? Or is everyone in America a gossip?) I have noticed myself unconsciously not telling stories that other people had told me because it's just GOSSIP!! I don't want people to be up in my business and I don't want to know everything about other people either.
Another thing I do is say "nei" a lot here. I'm not sure if anyone notices though. No one ever says anything about it. I know Sara knows what I'm saying but I feel like everyone else maybe just thinks I misspoke. Sometimes I say "eh" too but not pronounced enough for people to make fun of me for sounding Canadian.
I'm also proud to say I am still regularly eating my brown cheese! I've gotten a lot of people to try it since I've been home and everyone has liked it! I was so impressed. I did injure myself with the cheese slicer the other day, but that was the only bad thing that's ever happened related to brown cheese.
I'm hoping this post wasn't too unorganized. I'm not feeling very focused right now, so on that note. Until next time..
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