Out of Quarantine, Take Two

         We've officially been in school for 10 days! This means that we are done with our ten day 'quarantine' period. This morning our vice principal came in and spoke to us about what this means, and the gist was "Yeah this didn't work at all--we now realize it's basically impossible to keep classes separate in a school this size. Keep it up with the hand sanitizer!" However this is still good news, because some of the stricter rules we've been following will change. We are now allowed to sit with whoever we want at meals, and no longer have assigned chairs with our names on them. Our classroom will also be getting desks again, so no more kindergarten circles. We celebrated our newfound freedom with an incredible seafood dinner!

        These past few days have been a blur. We've been keeping busy with classes and activities, and are finally settling into the schedule. On Monday we joined the Outdoor Class for a lesson in canoe rescues. Despite our pleas for bathing suits, we were all fully dressed in wool as we tipped our canoes over, and proceeded to 'rescue' each other in pairs. The lake water has definitely gotten colder over the last few weeks, but it ended up being a really fun experience! Now that we've passed the test, we can take the canoes out whenever we want to. This was necessary, as I believe we will be canoeing in Trondheim, and kayaking in the arctic when we travel North. Here's the video of my canoe tipping over!

        This is a picture of my friends, Emilie (USA), Sofia (Germany), Ananda (Indonesia), and Alina (Germany). Emilie and I were canoe partners, and if you can't tell, we are soaking wet and freezing cold in the second picture!

        The rest of our week has been busy with the Norwegian Language and Culture class. Usually we would have electives during the day, but instead we've had double the language lessons to fill the time. Electives will begin next week--I got into all of my choices except for 'Kettlebells/CrossFit', so I might have to actually hit the gym once in a while. Yikes! 

        Other than class, my friends and I have spent our time doing everyday mature and responsible adult things, for example:

        I've also been playing volleyball almost every night. There's a group of people who play most of the time, but until two days ago nobody knew each other's names, since we weren't in the same classes. The school isn't very large, but it's interesting how I can go a whole day--or week--without seeing people, except when they show up to play volleyball! Everyone that I've met so far has been really nice, and it's also pretty easy to talk with everybody, not only because they speak English, but just because we are all in the same situation--trying to make friends and have a fun year. I'm looking forward to the electives starting so that I can spend time with a variety of people. 

        Next Tuesday our class and the Art class are heading to the Ryvingen Lighthouse, where we will be staying over until Friday. As part of a social media detox we will be leaving our phones at school, and spending our time together, exploring the island and making new friends. Yesterday I showed off my *incredible* juggling skills during our evening activities, so maybe I'll use that for our Ryvingen Talent Show next week. That, or Ida from Art and I will rap the entirety of Hamilton's Guns and Ships!