Good things come to those who wait~

Hmmm, let's see... I haven't been up to too much since last time I wrote. Still plugging away at learning Norwegian and trying to find a job. At the beginning of last week I applied for a position in The Norwegian Trekking Association, which is Norway's biggest outdoor organization. Not only do they offer guided tours all over the country, but they also are caretakers for of trails and cabins all over the country as well. The position was to be a consulant within the association under the area of youth and outdoor recreation, which are two things that I am passionate about! I believe that I have a decent amount of experience, especially working with kids, and have the education and qualifications for it. The deadline for the application is October 1st, so I hope to hear back shortly after that date on whether I was considered for the position or not. All I received so far was an e-mail stating that my application was received and that they might get back to me after the application deadline. I wonder whether my age, or that I don't speak fluent Norwegian yet will affect my chances, but I'm trying to stay positive, and patient. All I can really do. I am still waiting for my visa/temporary residence permit to come in as well, because I can't start working without it. I hope that before October is over I will have it.

Other than that, becoming anxious about moving into our own apartment, nothing else really is new over here! I did meet a couple new friends though :) They are sisters, Raya and Farah and are from Palastine/Dubai. They have been living in Norway with their parents for a couple years now and will become Norwegian residents soon. The oldest, Raya (she's 20), comes to my Norwegian class once a week, which is how we met. She speaks perfect English and we found that we have a lot in common. I found out that she also lives in Rykkinn, only a 5 minute walk from where we're living now! I slept over her house over the weekend and was introduced to some homemade Arabic cooking, which is quite delicious! I had a lot of fun. We had a day off from school today so I took them hiking up Solfjellstua, the hiking trail at the top of Rykkinn. They never grew up in the Middle East doing such things, so I wasn't sure what they would think of it, but they ended up enjoying themselves!! The weather wasn't that great, couldn't see anything at the top with all the fog, but it was a good trip. I think they think that I'm a little crazy about nature, hiking and working out though haha. They called me their own personal trainer... made me laugh.


Raya and Farah at the top!

Besides the fog today, we have been REALLY lucky lately with the nice, fall weather. The leaves are beginning to fall and change colors and during the days it is sunny, with a slight breeze. It has gotten pretty chilly though these days, especially first thing in the morning and at night. When I walk to the bus each morning to go to school I can usually see my breath. It only gets worse from here I was told... but thank God I grew up in NH, so I'm pretty prepared for it and don't really mind it.


Horses which tend to graze behind my school... I pet one of them the other day ;)


A beautiful fall day (behind my school).

Pretty soon I will begin to apply to Universitet i Oslo for the Special Needs Education program, which is entirely in English. The application opens up the 1st of October and then I have until the 1st of December to have everything in. It is the only program that I'm applying for and the only school as well. There aren't many English Masters programs here and especially in what I'm interested in. I found out that they only accept 15 international applicants into the program, so it could mean that that either the program is super competitive, or just not many international students apply for the program in the first place.

These next couple months are going to be interesting and I am going to have to excercise a lot of patience... I just hope that everything will work out and as soon as possible! But, for right now I am just trying to keep busy and having fun! Went to a "fotball" game last night and the atmosphere was so exciting! Flags were waving and red flares were burning. I think I'm starting to become a fan...


Vålerenga game last night!

2 years :)

Over this past weekend, Anders and I celebrated 2 years being together! We went hiking up Kolsåstoppen, (a mountain near by, only takes an hour to hike up), Anders made a delicious chicken dinner, then we met up friends whom we hadn't seen in a while at a bar/club in Sandvika. Overall, it was a great day. Sunday night we had family dinner at Anders' father's house which consisted of fish (caught by Anders' father) and rømmegrøt, a Norwegian traditional sour cream porrige, which a lot of Norwegians eat with fish. You sprinkle sugar and cinnamon on the top, then eat it as is, or pour on top of fish. It was DELICIOUS. We then had homemade eplekake (apple cake) with vanilla ice cream for dessert. Norwegian vanilla ice cream is so good, because it's so creamy. Family dinner last night made me REALLY think about home again and I had a moment where I was homesick. I miss all my family and friends! Being homesick is natural though... I kind of took a break from Norwegian this weekend, so this week I'm really going to have to push myself to study more and to practice speaking more. Less than a month now until we move into our apartment!! Woo hoo!


View from the top.


Another view from the top.


We're on top of the world!


Me!


On the hike back down...


Anders surprised me with red roses! What a sweetie :)

GREAT NEWS!!!!!

Anders and I finally have an apartment!!! We are VERY excited and get to move in on October 17th! It is in Oslo, but on the outskirts, in an area called Oppsal, which is on the east side of the city. It is only about a 15 minute T-bane ride into the center, so it's a peaceful oasis from the hustle and bustle of downtown. We've been told it's also only a 15 minutes walk away from the woods AND from a lake, which will be so nice in the spring and summer months. I cannot wait to check out the woods nearby and find some good hiking trails I can go on this fall!

We got very lucky in landing this apartment... we only went to look at it yesterday!! We saw it online and contacted the realtor and was told that the apartment had no bids on it after its showings, so we got to meet with the owner last night and placed a bid to the realtor when we got home! We found out this morning that it was ours :) We are VERY happy and excited to move in! We are being given a lot of furniture and necessities that we will need in the apartment from Anders' family, which is a huge plus, because we'll need to be pretty conservative on what we decide to buy for the apartment in the near future...

I went to the Immigration Office this morning to hand in my paperwork for my new visa, so it is finally taking off and should take no longer than 2 months for my permit to come in! Good news with this is that I'll be able to come home in January for a little bit, but not sure on the dates yet. I may have to keep in mind if I will be working or not, but I have no idea yet about work still and was told this morning that I can't work until I physically get my permit, so that's another 2 months that I will need to wait... the bad news. But, I am looking frequently online at available positions and have been in contact with some companies, so hopefully I can land a part-time job after we settle into the apartment. We'll see! I can only hope for the best now... I have a general idea of how my future could pan out and I don't hate it ;) Pretty soon I'll be applying for my Masters at UiO for Special Needs Education!

Here's a link to pictures of our apartment:
http://www.finn.no/finn/realestate/homes/object?finnkode=30372863

Iceland pics from Anders' trip!

Iceland is definitely on my list of places to see.. especially after seeing these pictures! The times I have flown over it, on the way to Norway, there wasn't much to see, but I knew there had to be more to it than what I saw. It has a very diverse landscape and Anders was able to see a little of all of it. He was in the Reykjavik area. He went to the Blue Lagoon and on a jeep safari where he saw waterfalls, geysers, glaciers and volcanoes! Enjoy :)

fall has arrived

Although the day started out chilly and rainy.. it's after 4pm and the sun is shining brightly :) It doesn't tend to do that quite often anymore, or at all rather, here in Norway. This summer consisted mostly of rain, and it has only followed into the beginning of fall. It's pretty unfortunate and never before have I invested so much into rain gear, ha ha.

I am now 2.5 weeks into my new Norwegian class and things are going well! The tempo is still pretty slow, but my vocabulary is still small, so it probably will lend to be a good thing in the long run. I have already written down over 600 new words in the last couple weeks and have slowly been reading them over and trying to remember some of them! My writing is improving a ton, but my speaking is still at the same level. I don't feel very comfortable having an open coversation with someone in Norwegian, because of my small vocabulary right now. It will definitely be difficult, but I really will have to start speaking more Norwegian with Anders, his family and my friends, even if it's really bad at first. We'll see how that goes..

Anders and I have been to several apartment showings within the last couple weeks and we still have had no luck. The market right now is hot, so we have had to deal with a lot of disapppointments in not getting apartments that we really liked. This is apart of the game though and we are learning a lot through the entire process. Our hearts were really set in living in Oslo, but we have realized that this probably isn't too realistic at the moment for us, unfortunately. Oslo is a VERY expensive city to live in, and you pay a lot for the location, the closer you move towards the center of the city. The closer you move into the center, the smaller the apartments tend to be though (at least the ones that we can afford), so we don't quite like that. We are now looking into the outskirts of Oslo at apartments that are only about a 15 minute travel time away from the center of the city. I don't know why we never looked in such areas before, because the areas are cozy and green, the apartments are bigger and they start at the same price (or cheaper) than all the apartments we have looked at already! A pretty good deal. We will look at a handful this upcoming weekend and hope to find some luck with those! It would be nice to call ourselves owners of a apartment within the next couple weeks.

Anders started at his new job at Visma last week (http://www.visma.com/--check out the site!) and he absolutely LOVES it! He is turning into a little business man and he is loving every minute of it. He left for a kick-off trip to Iceland this morning and will return on Saturday. While he's there he gets to go to the Blue Lagoon and on a jeep-safari through some of Iceland's volcanos and geysers. Lucky duck ;)

OHH, I can't believe that I forgot to mention right away, but I have FINALLY applied for my new visa, just a couple days ago!! I am so relieved that I have started the process.. I have a meeting at the Police Department with the Immigration Office on Monday morning to pass in all the required documents. I will also have to ask about part-time work and when I can leave the country, because I want to come home in January for a couple/few weeks! I will update more on this next week.

Other than mentioned above.. nothing else really exciting has been going on here for me, just school and trying to keep busy! In a month or so I am going to start the application process so that I can take my Masters next fall. I have decided that I want to study Special Needs Education at the University of Oslo. Working at Antrim Girls' Shelter last year made me realize how much I want to work with kids with behavioral, emotional and other problems. The Masters program is also entirely in English, but I hope to be fluent in Norwegian at that point!

More to come later, XOXO.