"I see my path, but I don't know where it leads. Not knowing where I'm going is what inspires me to travel it." - Rosalia de Castro
|
Tomorrow I start off on my grand adventure to the land of my ancestors. For the next 9 months or so I have the opportunity to study abroad at Telemark University, in Bo, Norway. Bo is a small town with about 5,300 residents, with about 1,800 of those being students. It is nationally and internationally for its folk music and it is surrounded by beautiful countryside. While there this first semester, I'll be studying Telemark Regional Identity; Norwegian Language; The Individual, Environment and Society; Modern Norwegian Literature: Film and Fiction; and Norwegian Literature before 1900. All of my classes will be in English, which is a blessing, because even with all of my family's help the only phrases I know are "Jeg elsker deg" and "Du er lubeen." Neither of which will get me too far over there!
I'll be living in dorms again, but this time I'll have my own room and bathroom and share a living room and kitchen with other international and Norwegian students. I'm responsible for my own cooking, and I've been told everything (food, clothes, entertainment, etc.) is a lot more expensive, so I've packed lots of peanut butter, oatmeal and EasyMac to help out for a while! Packing has been quite the adventure in itself. After much struggle and weighing of suitcases, I'm taking the easy way out and have decided to pay for a second suitcase, giving me an extra 50 pounds for everything. My mom is also helping out by shipping over all of my winter jackets, boots, hats, scarves, etc.
I fly out tomorrow afternoon from Appleton at 1 to Chicago, then on to Frankfurt and finally arrive in Oslo on Friday afternoon at noon. From Oslo, I'll take a bus into center of town and then a train down to Bo, where there will be someone from the university waiting to take me to my dorm. I've done some traveling, but never by myself, so these next couple of days are bound to be interesting...
I'm so very excited to get going. It seems so long ago that I began planning, filling out applications and finding tickets and now its finally here! I can't thank everyone nearly enough who have helped me out along the way. Your support and prayers were and still are much appreciated!
So long everyone! It is crazy to say I'll see you all in 9 months, but for most it is true. If anyone happens to have an itch for traveling or for some reason are going to be in my general area (Norway, Sweden, France, heck anywhere in Europe), let me know. I may just come and find you. For the rest of you, I'll try my hardest to keep you all updated on my life here, but I'm not going to make any promises. I'll post my address once I know what it exactly is and I absolutely love getting old school letters via snail mail. Otherwise, feel free to e-mail, Facebook or Skype.
Well, until we meet again- Farvel!
No comments:
Post a Comment