September 1, 2012

Kanin, kanin.
(Rabbit, rabbit on the first day of the month for good luck!)

Great day on the island Citadellet. Took a ship called "Molly" out to the island after a tour of Minehallen - a tomb/memorial for all those lost at sea. Such a spectacular day - the weather God's treated us today, that's for certain. Visited with Anne, one of the Stipendiat, or student teachers. She is from Porsgrunn, the place where my mom grew up for those of you who don't know. We talked about future plans, folkehøyskole experiences, yada yada. She's a really special person. I look forward to the rest of the year with her in my art classes. We ate lunch on the grass overlooking the ocean, Stavern, and Rakke.

I started off the day a little low, partly the homesick blues. As the day progressed, my smile grew and grew, and the sun replaced my gloom. I think part of it is that we were always together doing some kind of activity or another, and don't really have any time to vent by ourselves. But maybe that's for the best.

I had a blast the rest of the day with the Citadellet Olympic games: potato on spoon relay (and other various relays), water balloon toss, water balloon volleyball with a sheet, diving contest, water bucket carrying contest, and more. KID (Kunst, interiør & design) actually won the contest, which was not entirely expected, seeing as we competed against the kickboxing, H20, and sport teams. Everyone was in high spirits and definitely played well as a team. After the games, Frida and I swam out to a big rock in the bay, and then out to another dock. God I love that girl. She is an angel if I've ever known one. So positive, kind, inclusive, grateful, interested, selfless. Makes me feel special every time I'm around her.

We swam back and tried our best to avoid any of the jellyfish that lurked under the surface. Poor Frida has no voice, so we used quite a bit of sign language. Went back to the dock and decided to grab some ice cream with Frida. Vanilla soft ice cream - the best damn ice cream in the revolving planet. It completely "hit the spot" after swimming and "olympic-ing." Learned that Norwegians say, "[something] was the top of the cake" when describing something that "hit the spot."

Frida and I walked back to the school, and enjoyed coffee with Daniel (the H20 teacher) and some other students. I brought my newly bought milk down to offer the coffee drinkers, and in a matter of 3 minutes it was licked dry. But all for the best [: Went over to Mormor and Morfar's house with an incredibly cumbersome, and awkwardly heavy Ikea bag full of laundry and other odds and ends. Niklas, Christine, Jonathan, and Sigurd are over to visit for the weekend so I got to see them for the first time in two years today. Seeing my cousins and talking with Niklas and Christine over a delicious meal of mussels and crab made for a pretty prime evening.

I went back to Fredtun, only to continue my fabulous day by watching the dorm presentations. Such as spur in the ass. And by that, I mean a 'laughed-so-hard-I-had-to-crouch-down-so-I-didn't-pee-on-my-Wrangler's' kind of "spur in the ass." Hilariously clever songs, games, dances, limbo, etc. Everyone is so skilled, creative, and outgoing here, it's refreshing. I hope I can provide the same inspiration to my fellow Fredtun go'ers, because I definitely feel lucky to be a part of this diverse, talented group of individuals.