Evelyn's Year in Norway

           There were enough bikes and helmets for everyone, so we packed our bags and got ready to go. To determine the order of departure we'd done an activity answering questions about local beavers, and Tomimaru and I had come in second, 1/2 a point behind Sofia and Bjorn. However, when we were getting the bikes ready Sofia's wasn't working so Tomimaru and I snuck through and left first again. It was a 10 kilometer bike back to the giant sword, where we would receive more information from Marianne about our day.          Quick story: M y hiking shoes had been bothering me the day before--when we walked 11 kilometers--and when I put them on that morning, I almost started to cry.  There's something poking out in the side that was killing my ankle, and it hurt a little without the shoes but was unbearable with them on. I had anticipated this problem and packed my sneakers into my big bag, but I hadn't anticipated that we'd spend the whole first day walking. We

          Waking up last Monday, I had no idea what to expect. We were about to start the Amazing Race, and had been given almost no information, save a packing list and a few tips from past students. All of them said "It'll suck, but you'll be glad you did it." Promising.           All of the NLC students participating packed their bags into the bus at 7:30 am, to be driven to an unknown destination. We hadn't even known who we'd be partnered with for this four day adventure until that morning, when names were drawn Hunger Games style out of jars--one boy and one girl per team. I waited with nervous anticipation while every single name was called: Valeria and Tommaso, Alina and Eric, Heiden and Ananda, Sofia and Bjorn, and finally, Evelyn and Tomimaru.          On the bus we were both terrified and excited. We had the trailer attached, but none of us had been allowed to look inside. (I was so anxious that it might be full of cross country skis). Marianne drov

                     One thing I don't like about the weekends here is that breakfast/brunch isn't until 10:30. It's very easy to simply stay in bed until then. Nothing's going on, and one might as well sleep in. However, by the time you finish breakfast it's nearly noon, and it feels as though the day has disappeared.           The good thing is that every Saturday the school hosts a seminar, something to do between brunch and dinner, so that by dinner time you feel like you've actually done something. My favorite types of seminars are the ones that get us outside. Last week was the cannon museum, and this week was a walking tour around Flekkerøy, an island near Kristiansand.           Our principal,  Reidar, has a cabin there so he drove our group (once again myself and a bunch of the Global girls) to Flekkerøy and we walked around the island. It was very beautiful, and it was really nice to be able to explore somewhere other than the school area. I always thi

           Every Saturday morning the school hosts a seminar, and each student has to complete around 15 of them throughout the year. They range from walking trips to book binding to presentations in the aula. Today was supposed to be something about cooking food on a fire, but it got turned into a Thursday fellesfag presentation instead. I woke up feeling motivated to do something, and was a little disappointed that the seminar was cancelled. However, Marianne offered to drive interested students to the outdoor Kristiansand Cannon Museum instead. I texted Kristine--my reading buddy--and we both got dressed and made our way to the minibus.           The museum was really cool! The students that went ended up being the stipps, some of the Global girls, and me and Tomimaru from NLC. We were able to walk around the old cannon structure, and even climbed up some ladders through the building. There was one door that we walked into that led around the inside of the building. Since it had onl