Evelyn's Year in Norway

           Last week we attended two plays in Kristiansand. The first one was called Pust. It had only two actors, on a nearly empty stage, and they played a couple discussing the ethics of bringing a child into the modern world. (I may or may not have fallen asleep in the middle). The entire thing was in Norwegian, and they spoke very, very quickly. It was extremely impressive though, as they had to memorize an hour and a half of straight conversation/argument. We saw Pust at Riksteatret in the city, which was a  nice break from our normal evenings. Here are some pictures of inside the theater:          The next day, we went back to Kristiansand to see a breakdancing show about the Norse Gods, called Norr. It was aimed more at children, but it was super fun! The dancers were absolutely amazing. They were so strong, and had some insane moves, like spinning on their heads, or jumping up and down--while  upside down. The show wasn't very long, but it was extremely entertaining. One f

           At Agder, we have four meals each day, the last one being our evening meal at 8pm. It normally consists of bread, an array of spreads, meats, cheeses, and other sandwich fixings. After evening meal, my friends and I usually hang out in the peisestue, knitting, playing games, chatting, and drinking hot cocoa. Here is a panorama of the peisestue:           Some nights we watch movies in the school's auditorium--a real movie theater experience right at school.  Last week we spent the evenings watching Twilight movies together, and laughing at how terrible they are. It was super fun! To use the aula, we just have to ask the t eacher in charge for the night, and connect one of our laptops to the projector and speaker. It doesn't matter how many people are watching, so if it's just us, we can put on a movie and chat through the whole thing.           Last Friday night, Marianne was in charge, and after evening meal she made lapper--a sort of pancake type thing that we

           I don't have any classes on Friday afternoons, so yesterday Ananda and I decided to walk to Tangvall. It's a little town with a shopping  area--the closest place for us to go between the tiny grocery store down the road, and all the way to Kristiansand. The walk is almost 5 kilometers, it and took us a little under an hour to get there. We could have taken the bus, but for dinner we ate giant baked potatoes with all sorts of toppings, so the walk seemed necessary.           The weather these past few days has been very dreary, raining through the day and night. Yesterday it only rained at intervals, so we suited up in our rain gear before we left. There were so many other people out walking, running and biking in their rain pants and jackets that we fit right in!          We had to go to Tangvall because Ananda had ordered a package that needed to be picked up at the large supermarket there. She's been very excited about her order--new shoes--and told us that thi

           I wasn't going to post about this because it's probably going to spoil a few people's Christmas gifts, but I had so much fun that I wanted to share it! Our most recent Saturday seminar was Bookbinding, taught by M+M (Marianne from art, and Marianne from NLC). I was so into it that I didn't take any pictures, but I have some pics of my finished results that I will share.           The teachers set up a bunch of tables for us to work at, and a huge table filled with different types of patterned craft paper, magazines, old books, and postcards that could be used for our covers. We used a bone tool to fold blank pages, then ripped them in half and folded them again. Once we stacked 10 pages, we could find a cover that we liked, measure and cut it, and begin sewing the books together. At the end, we used a large slicer to even out the edges. The result was adorable notebook style books.           When I finished the notebook I was supposed to make, I saw the postc

         After spending so long in quarantine, what I wanted more than anything was to get outside. It's been really nice here these past few days, and it was painful watching what could have been the last warm days slip by, while I was unable to leave my room. However, the weather has remained  beautiful--and by that I mean mid 60s. On Thursday, Alina and I decided to take out one of the canoes. We got dressed in multiple layers--it's still windy and a bit chilly on the water--got our life vests and were ready to go!          Since we took the safety course, we just had to ask for the key to get paddles. We can technically go whenever we want to. The school has 15 or so canoes, but most of them are kept up at the school for the Friluftsliv (Outdoor Life) class. They recently went on a canoeing trip, so there was only one canoe at the lake, but that was perfect for us.           It's really cool being able to walk to the store, jog around the lake, take the canoes out, and

           This is a little late, but I wanted to share the pictures that I have from our trip to the Ryvingen Lighthouse. I don't have all of the pictures I'd hoped for, but  these still show how fun our trip was! Here I am, standing on the highest point of the island--the hill opposite the lighthouse. There's something weird going on with the picture uploading process, my computer is making them much smaller than they used to be, so sorry if they are blurry. I think you can click on them to see them in better definition.  This is a picture from the early stages when we were painting. By the end, it was completely covered in paint and smudges.  We woke up early to see the sunrise! Here is the lighthouse from the other side of the island.  This is an up close photo of the Ryvingen Fyr. Ananda, Heiden and I helped Marianne set up the tables for painting.  I love this picture, I think this was taken in the morning before the sunrise. The triangle thing is the pyramid on the o

           Every other Saturday, a different class is in charge of preparing  the Agderlørdag celebration. It's a party with a theme, and everybody dresses up, we play games, and eat a fun evening meal--that's more than just bread! A few weeks ago the film class did a Willy Wonka themed dinner, where we dressed up as characters, ate lots of chocolate, and did candy themed games. Some people went all out with their costumes, but I just wore all of the purple that I had, and called myself Violet.          This past Saturday the theme was a kid's birthday party. We all had to dress up like little  children, and they handed out party hats and goodie bags. We had hotdogs for dinner, and the whole place was decorated with streamers and balloons. Sofia and I got ready together, so we made capes out of bedsheets, and put our hair in pigtails and barrettes. Honestly, we should bring capes back into fashion--they're wicked fun!           After dinner the whole school gathered int

           While we were enjoying ourselves at the Ryvingen lighthouse, there was some insane drama unfolding back at the school. We left Tuesday morning, and by Tuesday night, 9 students had been suspended, and the campus was crawling with police, firemen, divers, reporters, and the Kristiansand Search and Rescue team.           About a fifteen minute walk around the lake takes you to where the lake meets the ocean, and there is a large dock, a cabin, and a bathroom. This is a popular party spot because it is off of school property, but close enough to be convenient. Our school doesn't have many rules--we're all adults here, and they trust us to be responsible and take care of ourselves. However the biggest rule is that we are not allowed to drink or store  alcohol on campus. The drinking age is 18, so everybody can buy alcohol, and most people just hide it in the woods.           Tuesday night, there was apparently a huge party at the ocean. Sometime in the night there was a

         Quarantine. Aren't you so sick of that word? Well don't say 'sick' or they'll start looking at you funny. Maybe say you're just tired  of hearing it. Oh but Fatigue is a symptom! I guess there's no way around it.           I've spent all day today in my room. Yesterday Sofia said she was feeling a bit off. That her tonsils were hurting. I didn't think much of it until last night when my mouth began to hurt. Then I woke up with a sore throat and stuffy nose, and we realized that both of us had inflamed tonsils. I didn't even know what tonsils were until this  morning!           And so, here we are in quarantine again. This is almost definitely not covid, our symptoms don't really  align, and it seems like it's probably a result of spending a week on a cold, windy, island. My friends have been bringing me meals all day, and I need to wear a mask when I open the door. They brought me an entire kettle of tea, and I've been spendi

           Tuesday morning, my class and the art class left school to spend the week at the Ryvingen Lighthouse. We drove to the docks, and then took a boat to the island. We each carried our 70 liter backpacks, and we also had to bring all of the food and water that we needed for the week. The boat ride was fun, but also kind of terrifying. It was extremely windy and rough on the water, but the little boat went straight to the island, launching off of the huge waves.           We had to take two trips to fit everybody, and I was on the first boat. When we got there, we needed to carry all of our bags and food up to the house that we were staying in. The island was very rocky and hilly, and the lighthouse was at the very top. There were wheelbarrows to bring our stuff up, and as we were pushing them up the path, some sheep got in our way, trying to sniff at the food and meet the new people. The island had about ten to fifteen sheep that roamed around freely, so you  really had to watch

        Yesterday we went to the 'beach' as a fun afternoon activity. We set up a volleyball net and had a tournament, and my class won! (We suck and we totally shouldn't have but somehow we got lucky!) It was pretty chilly all day, and was also pouring rain in the morning, so everything was soaking wet. Sofia, Ananda and I hiked up some rocks and got the most beautiful view of the water, and then we had fish soup for dinner! The rain held off until we were about to leave, and we took the mini bus back to school.  Here is a panorama of the view! Ananda, Sofia, and I trying to take a selfie while staring into the sun. So beautiful! It was super windy and we were really high up, so naturally we had to recreate the iconic Titanic scene.  Norwegian beach day--sneakers and rain pants! We watched some volleyball from way up on the rocks. Climbing down was a bit tricky... Despite the cold, I still went swimming! There was a fun structure that we just HAD to climb.            We al