The American experience

Well, I think I’m getting better at this, it’s just been a month since my last blog… ehm, yeah… Seems I’m hopeless.

I survived finals! Pew! It was quite a week. That part of the American school I definitely do not like, not that the exam period in Norway is my favourite time of the year, but at least we have more time between the exams. In my opinion, one week of exams is just too little time for tests that count for a majority of my grade and it’s just unfair. Amazingly, I still did well in all my classes, just A and B. I’m not sure how I feel about that, since I don’t feel like I put all the effort I could have into it and I still did good… 

That said I’m closing in on the end of my winter break now. It will be nice to go back to school, but I’m going to miss it here in Florida. I’ve really enjoyed my time here and it’s always nice to see my family here. I only wish I could see them more and really get to know them. I’m not very good with small talk or making conversation and so I have problems with getting to know people and letting them know me. Anyway, I still have another semester and I’ll have a chance to see them again.

Christmas here was really different. It is definitely my first Christmas with +22 degrees Celsius.  For that same reason Christmas really snuck up on me this year, I just didn’t feel ready. I tried playing Christmas songs, went out on Christmas shopping and the Christmas spirit just wouldn’t take hold as it usually does.  However, once Christmas Eve arrived and the smell of cinnamon and eventually pork ribs and finely ground pork as a patty and sausage filled the air, Christmas was finally here. It was really nice to eat the traditional Christmas food from Norway; the only thing missing was the pork rind. Still, I was impressed. It’s always a treat to eat when my aunt Åse cooks. I can only hope to be able to cook as well as her one day. It was a really nice evening. I met my cousin Vibeke for the first time in… well, I don’t really know in how long and it doesn’t really matter. It’s always nice to see someone you haven’t seen in a long time and especially when it’s family. Her daughter Jasmine is just adorable and so energetic. The best thing of all was that my mom, dad and brother came over to visit and spend Christmas with me. It was so nice to see them in real life again. We talk on Skype all the time, but it’s just not the same – it’s better than other ways of communication, but to be able to touch them and hug them felt incredibly good.

Just before my parents and brother went back to Norway, one of my best friends came to visit me here. I guess I haven’t mentioned that I spent Thanksgiving with her family on the other side of Florida. You wouldn’t believe how wonderful it is to see more of the States. Normally, I just stay on campus since I don’t have a car and none of the friends I’ve made have a car either and I don’t like to ask for favours and be an inconvenience to people. Anyway, her family is wonderfully nice people with a very welcoming home. It was really nice that she could come visit me as well here in southwest Florida as well. We went to the movies (twise), visited the Edison and Ford Winter Estates and went shopping a couple of times. Vibeke had a New Year’s party at her house (where we lived and I live now). It was nice to meet my family’s friends and meet other Norwegians. I could have been spared seeing my cousin and her friends drunk, but it’s not the worst I’ve seen. You would think that the 21 year olds would be the drunk ones, but at the end of the evening we were the only sober ones except the kids. Imagine that. I’m so glad I don’t drink ;) All in all New year's was a nice day we even went to the beach. Going to the beach and sunbathing in 26 degrees Celsius on New Yeasr's Eve, can't complain about that!

I can’t say I have any New Year’s resolutions. Don’t see the point, I won’t keep them anyway. I'll take the new year as it comes :)

“Time passes. Even when it seems impossible. Even when each tick of the second hand aches like the pulse of blood behind a bruise. It passes unevenly, in strange lurches and dragging lulls, but pass it does.” – Bella’s thoughts, New Moon