it's starting to feel a lot like Christmas :)

This is probably one of my most favorite times of the year... the time leading up to the holiday season. This is my first winter here in Norway, but even here I am able to experience all my favorite things during this time, like seeing Christmas lights everywhere! It brings back great memories growing up when my Dad would drive my brother, sister and I around Concord to look at all the lights on all the houses in the neighborhood... although, I haven't seen many houses decked out with Christmas lights here, but many buildings and malls in the city are decorated! It's not as extravagant or "over the top" like it is in the USA, but it'll do... until I get home ;)


The "big" Christmas tree downtown near National Theater.


Bryn shopping center.


Trees outside Oppsal shopping center.


Christmas tree outside the mall in Sandvika.

I finally received my Norwegian personal number at the end of last week, so pretty soon I will be able to receive my first pay check here in Norway! I'm pretty excited about that... in order to get paid though I still have 2 more things that I must do before. 1) In order to get paid I need to have a 'tax card' to give to my boss at Mester Grønn so that the right amount of tax will be taken out of my pay check. Luckily, I won't need to pay any tax this year, because I just started working and won't be making over 30,000 kroner before the end of the year. I have applied now instead for a 'free card' which I should have by the end of the next week! 2) I need to open up a bank account, so when I get paid it will be directly deposited into my bank account. I will be able to do this whenever I have the time this week, because now that I have my personal number I can do it. So, I may be able to get paid this Friday, but if not then I will now definitely be able to get paid before I come home for Christmas which is great! I'm looking forward to start contributing to the bills, because it has been hard for me not being able to help Anders out.

Work is going well and a lot better than when I first started. I was very unsure and didn't know what to expect when I first started and it was quite overwhelming... I've had many unpleasant costumers, but I have learned to just brush it off and not take their comments to heart. I am very new in a foreign country and am proud of what I have acheived so far!!! It takes time to learn a new language and to completely adapt to a different environment, so if people here don't understand that then I don't really care what they think, ha ha. I surprise myself everyday how much I have been learning over these last 5 months, but I know that I still have a long road to travel until I become fluent in the language... I'm more optimistic and positive about it though now.

Looking forward to come home though! Only a few, short weeks away now. A small break is much needed and believe it will provide the energy I need to start my new 6 month, intensive Norwegian praksis class in a kindergarten when I return back to Norway after the holidays.

Now all my paper work has been sent to UiO, so now I must wait until April 2012 to hear about the results. I'm glad I decided to still apply for the Masters program, and hopefully I'll hear a positive result from it! We shall see...

Nothing else new going on here... just trying to keep busy and healthy! Now that my time is consumed with work AND school now, I don't have all the time in the world to work out as much as I used to. I've been so tired lately, because of long weeks and the sun not being out all that much. I hope this week though I'll have the motivation again to kick myself back into gear!! When I do have the time though I have been attending this virtual spinning class at the new gym that Anders and I signed up for, which is only a 10 minute subway ride from our apartment. I have become addicted to the class... it's SUCH a great work out and not so harsh on my knee. They have several virtual classes as well as ones with live instructors, but I haven't participated in any of those yet.

Hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving last week... I definitely missed it, that's for sure! My Mom said that we'll be able to have a mini Thanksgiving dinner, mixed in with Christmas dinner, so I'm very much looking forward to that <3

finally settled in.

Sorry that I don't update this very much so often. To tell you the truth, I finally can say that I've settled in here, so not many things have been changing all that recently... it feels so great to come back to my own apartment after school and now work also and feel "at home." There are a lot of things that I would like to do and get for the apartment in the future though, but what we have now is more than good enough! I'm content.

It's starting to get pretty cold here now... still hasn't snowed yet, but temperatures have dropped to freezing point, so everyday I wake up and look out the window to see if there's snow on the ground. We do have a thin sheet of frost though on the ground that lasts throughout the day, because the temperature is pretty consistent all day. It's pretty bitter too and I'm afraid that I might not have the best clothing, gear to last me the through the winter comfortably, ha ha! But, seriously. You would think that I would be used to this kind of weather, growing up in NH, but I've become almost a little bitter towards it myself. I wish I just lived somewhere warm, to be completely honest... with palm trees! Maybe some day ;)

I have been working a few days a week now, which is so great. They try to have me work as close to 20 hours/week as possible, but I'll take what I can get!! I still have A LOT to learn about flowers and the products in the store, but I feel more confident now when I'm behind the cash register and when costumers approach me. If I don't understand what a costumer is saying, I direct them to someone else, or if no one is around just kindly explain that I don't understand and I switch over to English. Everyone speaks English so I am able to continue to help them, but most people either seem confused that I switch languages. Some are really great and friendly about it, but I've had a handful of costumers that weren't too happy and rude, actually. I had a man come in and kind of threaten me a little bit saying that he should have known not to speak Norwegian to me and that if I wanted to speak English then I should just go back home to US, because I don't belong here in Norway. Harsh. I try not to take it personally though, but it's hard.

I still have not been allowed to get paid yet either, because I'm waiting for my social security number to come in (as I mentioned in a previous post). Once that number comes in (which I'm assuming will be by mail), then I will need to get a tax-card, open a bank account and THEN be allowed to get paid for all the hours that I've worked! December is just around the corner so I'm really hoping all will fall into place before I go back to the US so that I can have some money to spend! I also need my social security number so that I can finally send my NEC diploma and transcript to NOKUT (an organization that will certify/verify my education from the US and how it is equivalent to a degree here in Europe). Again, patience is something that one cannot live without here in Norway...

I'm not trucking away through my Norwegian class... at this point in time I definitely feel comfortable saying that I feel more confident speaking and understanding Norwegian. But of course I still have a very long road to travel, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I know that I will reach it someday. I actually applied and got accepted into a new Norwegian course that I will take after the holidays when I return to Norway. It's called "barnehage praksiskurs" which is a combination of Norwegian class and internship in a kindergarten too! It's a 6 month program and is pretty intensive. The school days are longer and there is more emphasis on not speaking your mother-tongue. The first 6 weeks of the program I will attend school, just like I've been doing Monday through Friday, but it will be 8:30am - 1:50pm ever day. After those 6 weeks of being in the classroom I will have 2 weeks were I get to intern in a kindergarten full-time (and for free obviously). The last 16 weeks of the program consist of attending Norwegian class 3 days a week and then going back to the kindergarten 2 days a week. I believe that this program is an incredible opportunity and idea for immigrants trying to perfect their Norwegian, learn about the Norwegian work environment and beginning to network with people. I chose the kindergarten program, because obviously I want to work with kids someday! It's going to be a great stepping stone for me and I really look forward to it! By the time summer comes I will definitely be on the way to becoming bilingual. I met with the coordinator of the program so that she can learn a little about myself so that she can place me in a kindergarten that she thinks will fit. I'm pretty sure that I will be set up with one that emphasizes being outside, which will be a lot of fun, definitely when spring rolls around. Learning Norwegian from kids will be fun and an interesting experience!

When I mentioned before that I had applied to the Universitet i Oslo, I had meant that I was still collecting the documents that I had to send to them to complete the application process. I've had a few struggles so far with them and trying to receive paperwork from the schools that I attended in the US, but I'm working on it. It's a little stressful because the deadline for international students is December 1st and that's not so far off! I have my fingers crossed that all the documents that I need will all be collected and delivered to UiO by then. Because if they aren't, then they won't even look at my application.

My dreams and wishes of getting a kitten this winter may have to wait, unfortunately. Although I always think in the back of my mind if Anders may be clever enough to surprise me with a bundle of joy when I return to Norway from the holidays ;) Ha ha, who knows, he always has a trick or two up his sleeve!

P.S. I cannot believe that I'm not going to be able to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner this year!!! It's a huge bummer, because it's one of the holidays that I look forward to every year. Everyone knows how much I love food and I absolutely LOVE turkey dinner; it's the best. I wanted to try to make a turkey here too and cook a little, but don't know how realistic it'll be, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to try. If I don't write again before, Happy Thanksgiving everybody! Eat an extra plate for me :P

unemployed no longer!

On November 1st, I picked up my visa (just a sticker with my picture in my passport), and I can officially stay in Norway for an entire year now! Until November 1, 2012 I don't have to worry about visas: Hallelujah! :) Now that I have temporary residency in Norway, I am also FINALLY allowed to start working part-time at the flower shop and I have already started! My first day was Thursday and I have already worked 13 hours! I won't be able to get paid until I get my Norwegian social security number though, which I applied for on the day that I picked up my visa. It actually takes 4-6 weeks to get one, not 1-2 weeks as people had told me. There are so many people wanting to live in Norway that the process now takes longer. No big deal though! I can still work up to 20 hours every week and once I get my social security number, which I should have by December 1st, then I will have to get a tax card, open a bank account and THEN be allowed to get paid. I should expect to get my first paycheck right before I head back to the US. Of course all the hours that I'm working now I will get reimbursed in my first paycheck. I am so excited to start making money again... I will be making the same amount of money working 50% that I used to make working full-time in the US; crazy. But, Norway as a whole and Oslo as a city are the most expensive places to live in the world right now, so yes I'm making more money, but it won't really seem like I will be. Anders had been SO supportive of me over these last few months, financial wise, and I'm looking forward to finally being able to contribute to paying bills. With my income as an addition we'll be able to live pretty comfortably and be able to start putting money aside for savings. Things are starting to finally fall into place, and I couldn't be happier!

Work is tough though. I've only worked 2 shifts so far, but it is one of the most overwhelming things that I've experienced. My Norwegian is still not at a level where I can communicate comfortably with costumers... but I've only worked twice and I already think that the second day was better than the first. I'm doing a lot of the same tasks that I used to do when I worked at Boloco in the US, but now I'm just working with flowers, not burritos, ha ha. I even have the same uniform, it's like déjà vu!!! Black shirt, black apron... it's pretty funny. Now I'm wrapping bouquets of flowers instead of rolling burritos. I've also been on cash register, which was a little new to me, because I barely was on cash register duty at Boloco. It's not as intimidating as I had thought though, it's actually quite easy, I just will need to learn over time to do all the complicated stuff like if costumers return products, or use gift cards, for example (mind you, I'm learning how to do this ALL in Norwegian)! I don't know very much, or actually anything about flowers, so it's like a double whammy for me when I go into work. Not only can I communicate very well with the costumers yet, but even if I could, I wouldn't be able to give them much advice on the products!! This is a problem, but I'm new to all this and will learn it over time, just like anything else. I am so thankful that I was given the job, because I need to money, but this is going to be so beneficial to me to learn the language better. I'm going to have to be more patient than ever, because it's going to be pretty frustrating. Everyone that works there though are all super helpful and nice, so I think it's going to be alright!

Also, I decided to apply for the Special Needs Education Masters program at the Universitet i Oslo afterall, because I don't want to close any doors for myself. Who knows what may happen in the next year and I don't want to regret not applying. I still need to send some documents to them this week, but hopefully I can get it all out of the way by the end of the week! I won't find out until April of next year anyways if I got accepted or not, and I can always decide not to follow through with the program if I decided to do so. So, we will see what happens! I thought it was a good idea to do this though.

I am really looking forward to come home for the holidays! It's going to be really great to see family and friends again, even if it's only for a short amount of time. I have a lot of people that I want to see, but I also look forward to just relaxing at home. It'll be good to bring back the last of my stuff that I have been keeping back home as well as stock up on some things that are cheaper to buy in the US, to bring back to Norway with me!

Although I have created a new home for myself here in Norway with Anders, New Hampshire is ALWAYS going to be my home! <3