Agderlørdag

         Saturdays at Agder Folkøgskole typically have a seminar that students can sign up for, with different teachers or classes running it each week. This Saturday, the Agderlørdag was a walking trip to town, so my friends and I signed up. (You need to participate in at least 16 Agderlørdag seminars throughout the year for full credit). The walk was about 45 minutes, and we ended up in one of the oldest parts of Søgne, so we walked around and looked at some of the old, historic buildings. 

        As we were walking, the isbil, or ice cream truck, drove by but didn't stop. However, the sight made everyone hungry, so we all went to a little ice cream stand on our way back. I guess mid 50s is ice cream weather? A few days ago it was in the 60s and everyone was swimming, so I better get used to it! I actually ordered in Norwegian--probably the most I've spoken to anyone outside of my class--but the girl serving just asked "cup or cone?" in English so I gave up. Here's a picture of my delicious soft ice cream dipped in chocolate powder. Norwegian ice cream is wayyyy better than American!

        When we got back, it was just about time for our 2:45 'dinner' that consisted of flat pancakes--definitely not crepes according to the French girl in class--and leftover taco soup! I guess there's crepes, pancakes, and 'American pancakes,' (the fluffy ones I'm used to). On Saturdays they serve brunch and dinner, and we packed our matpakker (packed lunches) to have as our evening meal tonight, which we store in our class fridge.

        I wanted to include some pictures of our classroom. Right now it looks like kindergarten--but the desks are supposed to be 1 meter apart of social distancing purposes. It will look different once things get back to normal. The two girls that were quarantined both tested negative, as did our teacher, so things are looking good! The classroom also has a tv room attached to it, with extremely comfortable couches :)

        After dinner, Sofia (from Germany) and I wanted something to do, so we went to the gym to play some volleyball. The net wasn't up, and neither of us were tall enough to reach the loop it hung from, so we had to walk around until we found one of the tallest students, who helped us set it up. The other night, a bunch of us had played volleyball after our cookout, and the teacher in charge asked me to keep score--in Norwegian! I couldn't count past ten--which was hilarious--so the middle of the game became a quick class on numbers. Today, Sofia and I passed a volleyball back and forth, practicing our counting :) This is Sofia!

        We have access to all of the gym equipment, so we also found a birdie and two badminton rackets, which was super fun! Then a bunch of students came in, so we played a chill game of volleyball. After they left, we stuck around and messed with the yoga balls, just laughing and having a fun time. Best 'school' ever! Tonight we have a meeting with the stipps--the alumni student teachers--and then I think my friends and I are going to watch a movie. We've been drinking hot cocoa and watching lots of movies together already. We've also build two 1000 piece puzzles, and have a very fun one up next!

        It's been a really great first week! I'm excited for our ten day quarantine period to be over, and classes to officially start. We got to pick electives earlier this week, so I went all out and picked as many as I could. Hopefully I get into ceramics, but there's only 12 spots. I also signed up for knitting, music, ball games, volleyball, and the kettlebell/crossfit class. I figure it's going to get cold, and no way am I going running, so I might as well have some activities built into my day! Besides, if it's too much, or I don't like it, I can just stop.  Here's a picture of my room--I pushed both beds together so I have an amazing and giant bed. Plus the view is great!