Found a new walking loop: beautiful sun yesterday over Østensjøen :) Life is good.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
anybody out there!?
I'm quite curious as to who actually still reads these posts that I spend a great deal of time and energy writing... Is it just my family, old friends, randoms...?? I'm thinking about cutting back on writing posts to maybe just once a month, every other month, or maybe even less, unless you tell me what you think! LEAVE ME A COMMENT ;)
Found a new walking loop: beautiful sun yesterday over Østensjøen :) Life is good.
Found a new walking loop: beautiful sun yesterday over Østensjøen :) Life is good.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
that time of the year
Unfortunately right now I have the flu :( But, always with the change of seasons, at least a couple times a year, I find myself getting sick. I had my very first doctor's appointment here in Norway today and it was confirmed that I had it. I've felt pretty awful all week and when it didn't get any better I knew that going to see the doctor was a smart thing. My experience at the doctor's office was pretty interesting though and VERY different than the US... first of all, there aren't large clinics or doctor's offices here, but small individual offices designated to a single doctor. I was able to choose my doctor online from a list of doctors that had openings. It was a shot in the dark, because I have no prior knowledge of any of the doctors; they are just names on a list. I chose my doctor because his office is on the same street, only less than 5 minutes walk away. I always hated going to the doctor's office in the US, because it seemed like you would always have to wait forever before they called you in, but this time was even worse... almost an entire hour passed before the doctor called me in. The small waiting room with the flickering light and out of date magazines didn't make it any better either. I was happy that I was able to talk English with the doctor at least, once I was called in, but that was the only good thing... The entire appointment was SO impersonable (is that even a word?). I had a lot of questions for him, but he was more focused to his computer screen than answering most of my questions. He was really short with me too and not very helpful. The only good thing that came out of the appointment was getting a years worth of a prior prescription that I had run out of from the US. I wanted him to check to see how sick I was, for example look at my throat, ears, take my temperature, etc, but he didn't do any of this!!! One of the first things he did do though was prick my finger to take my blood, but he didn't even ask first and I had no idea why he had to do this. He didn't even tell me afterwards what it was for, but that I had to pay for it afterwards... He pretty much said it was my judgement whether or not I actually had the flu and how long I should stay at home without working. All the times that I ever went to doctors in the US when I had flu symptoms I would always walk away with a diagnosis and usually recommended medicine or an antibiotic to pick up on the way home, but I didn't get any of these. You're allowed to change your doctor here in Norway twice a year and I think after that appointment I will definitely be changing doctors. I really don't think that he's the greatest choice for me... no wonder he had so many openings online!
Because of my appointment and how I felt, I stayed home from the kindergarten today and will also stay home tomorrow and not go to work at Mester Grønn. My body aches, my glands feel swollen and I can't breathe out of my nose, so it's definitely better off that I take it easy the next couple of days. That means I won't be getting any clocked hours this week at the flower shop, because I only had 1 shift scheduled for tomorrow; oh well. I have to make myself healthy again. I feel like since I've had a lot of stress on my plate lately that I have been taking on way too many things and concentrating less on working out or eating the healthiest, for example, so after I get better I really want to try to get my butt back into action, especially before spring comes around. I'm really looking forward to spring now and there seems to be a little sense of spring in the air lately, which may only be a false alarm. A lot of snow is melting and there has been this weird spring like breeze in the air. The sun has been shining everyday now too, which is promising. People are saying that spring may come early here in Oslo and I wouldn't mind that at all, to be honest ;)
My experience at the kindergarten has been great so far... I'm learning a lot more Norwegian and a lot about what I want to pursue in the future. Everyone knows that I love working with kids and that I'm good at it, but truthfully I'm realizing that I think that I work better with teenagers. Working in the kindergarten lately has brought back memories for me working at the girl's shelter and I miss that a lot. I feel like I work better with teenagers, because I can relate to them better and they are easier to communicate with also, of course. It's easier for me to communicate with teenagers and adults in Norwegian because if I make a mistake than people usually still understand what I'm saying, but when I make a mistake or don't say a word correctly around the kids then they usually don't understand what I'm saying altogether ha ha. I have a positive attitude about it though and I know that after all is said and done the internship and class in general will be a great experience. No matter what I am going to learn a lot, no matter what happens after it's over. I need to find out soon when the dates of Norsk prøve 3 is (the next Norwegian proficiency test that I need to take) in June and then hopefully hopefully pass it when the time comes because it'll give me an edge when I start looking for jobs.
The kindergarten where I'm doing my 'praksis' is everything that I thought it would be, which is good. It is very outdoor based and everyday is a new experience. There's a great atmosphere around the employees and the children and everybody is very nice and accepting of me! We got to bring the kids to some cool events too such as the VM Snowboarding World Championships qualifications in Oslo and to the practice round of the Ski Flying World Championships in Vikersund at the largest ski jump in the entire world! That was pretty cool. Starting next week until the end of of June I will be in the kindergarten every Thursday and Friday and I look forward to what is to come.
Snowboarding pipe competition.
View at the top of the snowboarding free style slope at Oslo Vinterpark.
Ski jump in Vikersund.
Other updates: I don't believe that the babysitting opportunity with that family that I mentioned before is going to work out. The last time I talked with the family they still weren't offering me a salary that I thought I deserved and was happy with and I haven't heard from them after that. I told them that maybe I just wasn't the right candidate for them although I had wished in the beginning that it could have worked out. Things happen for a reason though and I know something else will work out at some point...
Lately I've found comfort in cooking and baking and I'm realizing that I'm not that bad at it too! I think I've found a new hobby for myself. I know that I'm only a beginner, but I found a lot of fun in doing it. The other day I made my first ever homemade mac and cheese and it was delicious. I also tried my hand at my very first Norwegian recipe: eplekake, which translates to apple cake! I was so proud of myself and Anders said that it tasted exactly how he wished it would taste. He said that "the apples were dancing in my life", which I think is a good sign that I did a pretty good job ha ha. It came out perfectly and looked even better than the picture, I thought. I feel a little bit more Norwegian now :) I look forward to trying out my new skills when I travel back to the US this summer. I really want to make dinner and dessert for my entire family one night. I think that would be a lot of fun!
Norwegian eplekake!
Birthday cupcakes with sprinkles, banana bread and orange muffins.
Because of my appointment and how I felt, I stayed home from the kindergarten today and will also stay home tomorrow and not go to work at Mester Grønn. My body aches, my glands feel swollen and I can't breathe out of my nose, so it's definitely better off that I take it easy the next couple of days. That means I won't be getting any clocked hours this week at the flower shop, because I only had 1 shift scheduled for tomorrow; oh well. I have to make myself healthy again. I feel like since I've had a lot of stress on my plate lately that I have been taking on way too many things and concentrating less on working out or eating the healthiest, for example, so after I get better I really want to try to get my butt back into action, especially before spring comes around. I'm really looking forward to spring now and there seems to be a little sense of spring in the air lately, which may only be a false alarm. A lot of snow is melting and there has been this weird spring like breeze in the air. The sun has been shining everyday now too, which is promising. People are saying that spring may come early here in Oslo and I wouldn't mind that at all, to be honest ;)
My experience at the kindergarten has been great so far... I'm learning a lot more Norwegian and a lot about what I want to pursue in the future. Everyone knows that I love working with kids and that I'm good at it, but truthfully I'm realizing that I think that I work better with teenagers. Working in the kindergarten lately has brought back memories for me working at the girl's shelter and I miss that a lot. I feel like I work better with teenagers, because I can relate to them better and they are easier to communicate with also, of course. It's easier for me to communicate with teenagers and adults in Norwegian because if I make a mistake than people usually still understand what I'm saying, but when I make a mistake or don't say a word correctly around the kids then they usually don't understand what I'm saying altogether ha ha. I have a positive attitude about it though and I know that after all is said and done the internship and class in general will be a great experience. No matter what I am going to learn a lot, no matter what happens after it's over. I need to find out soon when the dates of Norsk prøve 3 is (the next Norwegian proficiency test that I need to take) in June and then hopefully hopefully pass it when the time comes because it'll give me an edge when I start looking for jobs.
The kindergarten where I'm doing my 'praksis' is everything that I thought it would be, which is good. It is very outdoor based and everyday is a new experience. There's a great atmosphere around the employees and the children and everybody is very nice and accepting of me! We got to bring the kids to some cool events too such as the VM Snowboarding World Championships qualifications in Oslo and to the practice round of the Ski Flying World Championships in Vikersund at the largest ski jump in the entire world! That was pretty cool. Starting next week until the end of of June I will be in the kindergarten every Thursday and Friday and I look forward to what is to come.
Snowboarding pipe competition.
View at the top of the snowboarding free style slope at Oslo Vinterpark.
Ski jump in Vikersund.
Other updates: I don't believe that the babysitting opportunity with that family that I mentioned before is going to work out. The last time I talked with the family they still weren't offering me a salary that I thought I deserved and was happy with and I haven't heard from them after that. I told them that maybe I just wasn't the right candidate for them although I had wished in the beginning that it could have worked out. Things happen for a reason though and I know something else will work out at some point...
Lately I've found comfort in cooking and baking and I'm realizing that I'm not that bad at it too! I think I've found a new hobby for myself. I know that I'm only a beginner, but I found a lot of fun in doing it. The other day I made my first ever homemade mac and cheese and it was delicious. I also tried my hand at my very first Norwegian recipe: eplekake, which translates to apple cake! I was so proud of myself and Anders said that it tasted exactly how he wished it would taste. He said that "the apples were dancing in my life", which I think is a good sign that I did a pretty good job ha ha. It came out perfectly and looked even better than the picture, I thought. I feel a little bit more Norwegian now :) I look forward to trying out my new skills when I travel back to the US this summer. I really want to make dinner and dessert for my entire family one night. I think that would be a lot of fun!
Norwegian eplekake!
Birthday cupcakes with sprinkles, banana bread and orange muffins.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
"Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck."
Not even a couple weeks ago I had thought that I had stumbled upon a new and exciting job opportunity, but I'm not so sure anymore if things are going to work out like I had hoped... back in the summer when I moved to Norway I had signed up for a well-known AuPair site online which is used all over the world to help families find caregivers and people like myself to find jobs as aupairs, babysitters or nannys. It was a spontaneous move on my part, because the only thing that had been set in stone was my Norwegian class with the International Summer School. I didn't have to pay anything to set up a profile, so I thought "Why not?" I found it pretty interesting that I could find families within a short radius from where I lived that needed help. But, unfortunately I was never able to contact families that seemed interested directly unless I subscribed to the site, which obviously wasn't free. So, I never received direct messages from anybody, other than an e-mail notification saying that a family had added me to their Favorites. Before I knew it (back last summer) I had been applying for a visa, beginning a new Norwegian class and my schedule became full. After that, the AuPair site had been pushed onto the back burner... until now. A couple weekends ago, out of the blue, I received a pretty lengthy message from a family living in Oslo, located only about 35 minutes away. I immediately responded with budding interest, because what they were looking for seemed to fit into my already busy schedule. After a few e-mails and a couple phone calls were exchanged, they invited me to their home where I had the opportunity to meet them and their 3 children. I became even more interested in the opportunity, but we couldn't come to an agreement on what they would hypothetically pay me if they were to 'hire' me. Let's just say that what they were offering was a lot lower than I could even think about taking. Yeah, I admit that a lot of my stress lately has been around money, so the thought of working for too little money and then not being able to have any free time what so ever on top of an already packed schedule, I would probably lose my mind... I had a conversation again with the family today expressing these exact thoughts to them, but I will hear from then again in a couple days to make the final decision on whether we can come to an agreement or just move on with no hard feelings. At this point, whatever comes of it will be for the best...
As many of you have been asking lately too, "How's the kindergarten?" I'm actually pretty satisfied so far with it. The employees that I work with are very impressed with my Norwegian and say that I shouldn't have to worry. Tomorrow will be only my third day there too! I was pretty nervous Monday when I went in for the first time, without ANY idea of what to expect... I was more observant than anything and trying to learn the kids names. We went on a skiing trip with the kids, which was interesting to say the least, especially on my part. I just starting beginning to learn how to cross country ski and before yesterday I had only been 3 times with Anders before. I had no idea either that we were supposed to go skiing either so I had to borrow one of the employees who is a man much taller than me and with a larger shoe size. Not only am I not even comfortable on my OWN skiis, you could probably imagine how I was feeling ha ha. It didn't surprise me that all the kids (4-6 year olds) flew down the steep slops with no fear and care in the world though. I was actually intimidated by them! There is a saying here in Norway that Norwegians "bli født med ski på beina" which means that they are all born with skis on their feet, and I could see why! It's nothing like snowboarding and probably even more intimidating for me because of my operation that I had on my knee. I fell pretty hard once right on my hurt knee at an awkward angel, but I was happy that it just left a bruise. It was probably the first hard fall I've had on my knee since I hurt it... ever since I torn my ACL and meniscus back in November 2010 and then having surgery in December 2010, the last year has been filled with intensive recovery, cautiousness and paranoia. It took everything I had to swallow my nervousness and I did manage to go down one of the bigger hills, but I had my brakes on the entire way ;) But, you have to start somewhere, right!? Just like learning any new sport though, it takes a lot of practice, especially to build up self-confidence, so I'm hoping by the winters end that I will begin feeling more like a Norwegian at last!
Today we were preparing for the 'Carnival' that we are going to have on Friday. The theme is 'jungle' so we all have to dress up as a jungle animal on Friday, which should be pretty funny. I've already decided on going as a cheetah, because I have plenty of clothing options with cheetah pattern to choose from ha ha. We did a lot of drawing, coloring and cutting out things that will be hung all over the kindergarten. Tomorrow we are taking the kids to the snowboarding world championships which are going to be held right in Oslo, which is pretty cool! We'll be watching some of the preliminaries for the championship which will be held over the weekend. So, we have a lot of fun things planned this week and I have learned that they always have different events planned to make every week different from the last. I am very happy in my 'praksis' placing! I look forward to the next 5 months working there.
Here are some pictures from the area where Anders and I, as well as the kindergarten, went skiing:
Famous ski jump in Oslo: Holmenkollen
The sun beginning to set at Holmenkollen
Us :)
Beautiful view over Oslo
Sunset waiting for the subway home with Anders after our ski trip Sunday
P.S. Happy Valentine's Day everybody <3
As many of you have been asking lately too, "How's the kindergarten?" I'm actually pretty satisfied so far with it. The employees that I work with are very impressed with my Norwegian and say that I shouldn't have to worry. Tomorrow will be only my third day there too! I was pretty nervous Monday when I went in for the first time, without ANY idea of what to expect... I was more observant than anything and trying to learn the kids names. We went on a skiing trip with the kids, which was interesting to say the least, especially on my part. I just starting beginning to learn how to cross country ski and before yesterday I had only been 3 times with Anders before. I had no idea either that we were supposed to go skiing either so I had to borrow one of the employees who is a man much taller than me and with a larger shoe size. Not only am I not even comfortable on my OWN skiis, you could probably imagine how I was feeling ha ha. It didn't surprise me that all the kids (4-6 year olds) flew down the steep slops with no fear and care in the world though. I was actually intimidated by them! There is a saying here in Norway that Norwegians "bli født med ski på beina" which means that they are all born with skis on their feet, and I could see why! It's nothing like snowboarding and probably even more intimidating for me because of my operation that I had on my knee. I fell pretty hard once right on my hurt knee at an awkward angel, but I was happy that it just left a bruise. It was probably the first hard fall I've had on my knee since I hurt it... ever since I torn my ACL and meniscus back in November 2010 and then having surgery in December 2010, the last year has been filled with intensive recovery, cautiousness and paranoia. It took everything I had to swallow my nervousness and I did manage to go down one of the bigger hills, but I had my brakes on the entire way ;) But, you have to start somewhere, right!? Just like learning any new sport though, it takes a lot of practice, especially to build up self-confidence, so I'm hoping by the winters end that I will begin feeling more like a Norwegian at last!
Today we were preparing for the 'Carnival' that we are going to have on Friday. The theme is 'jungle' so we all have to dress up as a jungle animal on Friday, which should be pretty funny. I've already decided on going as a cheetah, because I have plenty of clothing options with cheetah pattern to choose from ha ha. We did a lot of drawing, coloring and cutting out things that will be hung all over the kindergarten. Tomorrow we are taking the kids to the snowboarding world championships which are going to be held right in Oslo, which is pretty cool! We'll be watching some of the preliminaries for the championship which will be held over the weekend. So, we have a lot of fun things planned this week and I have learned that they always have different events planned to make every week different from the last. I am very happy in my 'praksis' placing! I look forward to the next 5 months working there.
Here are some pictures from the area where Anders and I, as well as the kindergarten, went skiing:
Famous ski jump in Oslo: Holmenkollen
The sun beginning to set at Holmenkollen
Us :)
Beautiful view over Oslo
Sunset waiting for the subway home with Anders after our ski trip Sunday
P.S. Happy Valentine's Day everybody <3
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