c'mon Spring...

Today I stayed home again from school, because I didn't feel that great.. or I actually did get up, travel the hour it takes to get to school, but once I arrived I felt awful and my teacher told me to go home, so I then had to travel the hour+ back home again.. how dumb was that!? Anyways.. it was good to relax and I was feeling a little creative and finally got around to making some picture collages that I had been waiting to make from pictures that I printed out recently. I also had a lot of loose pictures laying around and finally had the time to put them all in an album!

My creations:





I'm now going on my 6th week of 'working' at the kindergarten! I'm having a blast there too. It was natural that in the beginning I was pretty nervous and a little skeptic, but I've really been enjoying myself! Last week on the days where I was supposed to be at the kindergarten anyways for my internship, I was asked by the director of the kindergarten if I wanted to work as a substitute!! So, I worked (for real) last Thursday and Friday, which means I'll be earning a little bit of money every time that I am called in to work as a substitute, which is a plus! The director must really like my progress, because I've only been there a little over a month and now I'm on her contact list, which is a HUGE step for me in the right direction when it comes time for me to start searching for and applying for full-time jobs in the summer! Although it would be great to be offerred a job at the kindergarten that I'm at now, relistically I'll probably be able to remain just a substitute, nothing more, because the kindergarten is relatively small and already has full time people that work there. The director also works at another kindergarten too and I'm sure that she has lots of connections with other kindergartens in Oslo so I'm sure, if anything, that I could get a good recommendation from her and maybe a foot hole in the right direction!

I just registered to take the next Norwegian proficiency test, which occurs at the end of May/beginning of June! I have to take two tests: one that is for reading and writing and another that is oral. If I pass both tests then it will also give me another huge advantage when I start applying for jobs. Majority of jobs require non-Norwegians to have passed the level test that I'll be taking as well as having other job experience already in Norway, which I have been accomplishing already! It's great that on top of the flower shop I'll be able to add that I have also been interning in a kindergarten and have substituted a little bit too. If I decide to apply to kindergartens then most ask that you have already had experience working in a kindergarten. I've also started learning more about the troubled youth system here in Norway, which is obviously something that interests me tremendously. I feel like I will need to have lived here longer than I already have though to completely enter into the system, because I'll have to be able to communicate wihtout much errors in Norwegian to do this. This is my ultimate goal though.. I definitely can see myself working with troubled kids here in Norway too, but now I just have to take what I can get and keep on opening doors and networking with people! I would be completely satisfied if I was able to find a full-time in a kindergarten for a year, or for however long.. I love working with kids, so I would enjoy myself either way! It would be a great start. I need to find full-time work though to change my visa to a working one. Right now I only have a student visa which allows me to work only 20 hours a week, which isn't going to be enough once my class is over.. I'm hoping that by the time I travel back to the US this summer (at the end of July) I will have found a job.. it doesn't hurt to be a little optimsitic!

All month the weather has been pretty unpredictable. Earlier in the month it felt like spring, then we would get a snow storm and then the pattern would start all over again. I don't know if it has been the weather, or not, but I haven't felt that great all month.. I've had this continuous cold for the last 3 weeks and it has been going through stages. First it was normal flu symptoms, then it was severe migraines and a sore throat and now it's a stuffy nose and coughing constantly!! It's frustrating. I really hope that I'll get better soon. The weather over the last week though has been getting warmer and I think spring is definitely coming to stay now.. or I can only hope! I can't wait until we'll be able to use our balcony to sit out in the sun and relax. I'm pretty sure that we are going to buy some balcony furniture this weekend, which I'm excited about!

Next Friday marks the beginning of Easter vacation here for me! Anders, myself and friends are traveling to Trysil (the place I visited last summer, where Anders' family has a cabin) and we're staying all weekend on one of Norway's most popular mountains. Unfortunately I won't be snowboarding/skiing along with the majority of everybody else, but I look forward to a weekend away to relax and do some hiking with others who won't be snowboarding/skiing either. We'll only be gone for 2 nights, but I have the whole week free from school and work, which the whole country has free too. Easter is taken very seriously here and everyone gets vacation! It's definitely good timing, because my body needs some major R&R after being sick for so long..

I'm looking foward to coming home in the summer for my sister's wedding! I hope that it won't be a problem that I will be gone for 2 weeks on my search for finding a job.. but it is what it is! Anders and I are also going to try to take another 1 week vacation at the end of summer/beginning of fall when it's off-peak season for flying. I have no idea where we will go yet, but I have many ideas! There are just TOO many places that I want to see, because I haven't traveled anywhere else in Europe! Wherever we decide to go will be a new experience :o)


Sun setting outside our apartment this evening.. what a view!

"keep growing and reaching higher; no matter where you are planted"

It feels like I'm constantly changing the background to my blog.. I just can never be satisfied with it; comical. I like this one though with the bluebirds, like the one in the tattoo that I have on my ankle. Speaking of tattoos.. recently I've been thinking a lot about getting another one, maybe sometime within the next year or so. I know everyone has their own opinions about tattoos and I'm sure some of my readers will probably not like the idea of me even thinking about getting another one since I already have 2.. but for a while I have really been debating the idea. I obviously won't rush the thought of it, but I've had this idea in my head for a while and recently I've been looking at sketches and think that I have found something that I like! I like the idea of a willow tree. (The placement is a little controversial, but I think I would like it on my back, over my right shoulder blade.) Willow trees to me are strong, beautiful and symbolize strength, flexibility and courage. The cool thing about a willow tree too is not only its ability to survive, but to also thrive in some of the most challenging conditions, which I can relate to. Making the leap over "the pond" for example was the most frightening decision I have ever made in my life so far and I have been through a lot within the last year. I'm learning a lot more about myself, what I'm capable of and where I hope to be in the future. I feel like I am at a crossing road in my life and a lot of things are changing.. for the better. I'm learning and growing fast, but am always reaching higher to do better. This is why I like the idea of getting a willow tree, because it's a perfect reflection of how I live my life. I have always been an expressing person and although I know that it would be my third tattoo and it's going to be on my body for the rest of my life, I know that I wouldn't mind it. It would remind me of how strong I am as a person and also how connected I am to my roots and where I came from. If I happen to live in Norway for the rest of my life, or find myself somewhere else, it's important for me to always remember how I got to where I'm at today.. here's a picture of a sketch that I like:



Anyways, I hope this didn't freak any of my family members out.. I'm only just thinking about the idea for the time being, but when the time comes and I still believe that I want it, I'm going to do it :) We'll see what happens!

I'm now back at school just 3 days a week and the kindergarten every Thursday and Friday. It was an experience being in the kindergarten for 2 entire weeks (give or take a couple days, because I was sick), but it was tiring, ha ha! I hadn't worked with kids in a while.. but it was obviously so much fun to start up again. It's a lot easier said than done though, because now I'm learning to work with kids in a different language, so it makes things pretty interesting. I'm constantly learning new things every single day and it's exciting.. everyone around me is very impressed with my progress, which makes me feel more confident in myself. I've been working my butt off ever since I moved to Norway, trying to establish myself and learn Norwegian, but I find that it's getting easier now.. I obviously have years of learning left to do, but I'm starting to understand and able to speak 'enough' words to get me through. It gives me more hope of being successful in finding a full-time job in the summer! I'll keep my fingers crossed until then.. I have to take things one day at a time.

Lately it's been starting to feel a lot like spring.. but a gutt-feeling is telling me that it's only a false alarm. We've had abnormally nice weather these last couple of weeks and the snow is almost all melted. The sun is now shining almost 12 hours during the day, which is something I am REALLY happy to see again! December through February was pretty dark and gloomy and just borderline depressing! Now the sun is rising around 7am and setting 7pm. This is only going to increase a couple of minutes per day until summer rolls around when the sun will be shining pretty much the entire day! Crazy.. but I love it! Although no one is complaining about the early weather change, there's a rumor that it may snow again. The last couple of mornings have been a little bitter and I had to remember to take with me gloves and a hat. To be honest, I hope it doesn't snow again, but it's also really abnormal for spring to come so early too.. wishful thinking maybe?

As I mentioned in my previous post, I've been trying to find new hobbies. I'm pretty busy in general juggling school, the kindergarten and part-time hours at the flower shop, but I feel like my life has been based so much on routines lately and I'm craving for creativity and something new.. I've gotten more into cooking and baking now and I find it fun to look up new recipes and try to make something that I've never made before! I really wish that I could paint, or make clothes, for example, or accessories, because let's all face it: they are a girl's best friend! The idea of making my own jewelry really appeals to me, but all the materials are so expensive here in Oslo! I sometimes browse through hobby stores downtown after school and my imagination just runs wild.. I met this girl who works at the kindergarten too that works at an indoor climbing gym in the city. This really sparked my interest, because I remember all the times at NEC where we got to go to Vertical Dreams or climb on our ropes course. I always had a BLAST climbing and it made me challenge myself. I would absolutely love to really get into the sport of rock climbing here in Norway once I'm earning a more stable income.. and once my knee recovers a bit more too! It'll be a lot easier to do things like this when I find a better job and don't have to worry so much about money all the time. She invited me to come climbing with her one day, so I'm definitely going to take her up on that offer and see where it goes! There's so many things that I want to accomplish, but all things take time.. so right now I can only dream ;) I know that anything is possible though, and I'm going to make my dreams a reality!