Coffee, Classes, and Potential Trips!

Hello there!! I am now closing in on the end of Week Number Three. There has been a major improvement in my life, and it is:

My new French Press!!! And coffee grinder!!! Our Scandinavian Studies program director, Judy, has really adopted the seven of us in the program. I happened to mention that I was not a fan of buying an expensive coffee maker--but that I was a fan of coffee--and she informed me that she had an extra French Press at home! Then she brought me a coffee grinder too! What a woman. I am so happy to have coffee in my life again.

Okay, now I would like to talk about my classes a bit, just for fun.

I have no classes on Mondays, which is awesome. Tuesdays, however, my first class starts at 8:30 AM. Sick. It is important to note that I made a vow, long ago, that I would never take an 8 AM class while in college. Unfortunately I do not have the ability to choose my class times here, and thus I must wake up early on both Tuesdays and Thursdays...very sad. This early class is Advanced Norwegian, which is proving to be a lot of work: tons of reading, grammar exercises, and oral reports. Since there are only five of us in the class, we all get lots of attention, which is nice, and our teacher, Rannveig, is very strict about pronunciation. Which is great! I think my pronunciation will really improve after this class. It can, however, be kind of frustrating repeating the word "prosent" four million times until I get the perfect O.

After Norwegian I have to run to my literature class. Norsk Litteratur Før 1900 is my only class with Norwegians. I am the only American as of now...the other two have dropped it. Which makes me wonder if I should drop it too...I was struggling with this question quite a bit at the beginning of the week. I think I've already complained about it a little...the language is quite a challenge, but I talked to the teacher, Sigrid, and she tells me that things get a lot easier after the first few weeks, because right now we're reading the REALLY old stuff. Even the Norwegians have some trouble with it. So I've decided to stick with the class...the point of coming to Norway was to take classes in Norwegian, after all. If I concentrate really hard, I can usually understand most of what goes on in class. However, it seems to be a pattern that I zone out completely during the last 15 minutes. I guess there's a limit to how long my brain can hold that concentration.

After that, Tuesdays are over. Wednesday I have just litature at 10:30. Thursdays I have Norwegian, Literature, and then a class called Emmigration/Immigration: Midwestern texts. Another lit course, but in English this time, whew. Judy teaches this one. So far, it's quite interesting. We just finished reading a collection of letters by a Norwegian woman who immigrated to Iowa in the 1860s. Really interesting reading. Next we're starting on Giants in the Earth. This class is a really nice rest for my brain after a full Thursday of Norwegian.

Then, on Fridays, I have a required class called Telemark Identity. This class is cool because we just learn more about the area. Last class time, for example, a guest lecturer came in to tell us about the geology of Telemark (this valley used to be a fjord, filled up with water), and we went on a walk around the town. We saw a Viking burial mound and an old Lutheran church...beautiful. And we picked apples in an orchard. This class is more fun than work, and lots of times we actually don't have it. This provides me with several 4-day weekends throughout the course of the semester. Think of the traveling opportunities!

Trip-planning...here's what I've got so far. My friend Anjuli and I are going to Oslo the first weekend in October to stay for a few days. She has a friend there--an Oslo native--who has volunteered to let us stay, and is also excited to show someone around who has never been to the city before! For which I am exceedingly grateful...it should be awesome. And then, during a fall break in mid-October, I am going to try to get to Copenhagen to see Emma! She might have her fall break during the same week, and we are so excited to get together!!! I am really looking forward to this...a LOT!

I'm also hoping to get up to Gjøvik sometime this fall...this is where Knut and Kari, my family on my mom's side, live. It's about 4 hours north of Bø, and I can easily take a train there.

I will close with the wonderful news that I found cheap hangers. Finally, I hung up my clothes. It was the best day ever.