I'm feeling good

I have great hopes for this weekend. Yes, I might have to squeeze in time to finish my Chemistry lab report, but hey, that would happen no matter if I was here or in Sweden! However, a bunch of exciting things are happening:

• My grandparents are coming today...
• ...and they're bringing my guitar!
• First year show on Sunday (will not write more detailed than that, since there is a small risk that second years read this)
• Monday there is no school, instead we have health day! (Basically two lectures and four workshops - hopefully it will be fun!)

On top of that, lots of great things happened last week:

• It was sunny three (!) afternoons, so I studied outside...
• ...and we had Swedish class outside! (What's that about Nordics being crazy about sunshine?)
• I went to Friday Ball games in Dale and played some handball (!) and tried lacrosse in the sunshine and amazing view. Next week I'll take pictures!
• We watched a great movie last night (Kon-Tiki)
• Chemistry deadline was postponed a week
• I found out that I'll do kayaking for PBL-week - so exciting!

Other Swedes blogging about RCN!

Are you Scandinavian? Would you like to read my co-years' blogs? (Of course you would!) Ylva and Clara oth write in Swedish about the wonderful and overwhelming life here. Have a look!

An Awesome Weekend

This weekend, I think, has been one of the best here so far. After school on friday, we made mudcake (again)... and took it outside to enjoy the rare sunshine. We talked and just did nothing during the afternoon, which was nice after a busy week.

Cake!

At 7 pm there was World Today in the auditorium. We discussed Roma People and minorities and over all it was very nice to hear what different people had to say on issues concerning how minorities are treated.

Then, at midnight, Peace One Day started. It is a 24 hour day when we think about peace. Funnily enough, UWC day was on the very same day, which made it extra special.We started with a midnight assembly, where different quotes about peace were read in different languages, and some songs were performed. We also were asked to write, on a scrap piece of colourful paper, who we wanted to make peace with. The papers were then put around a tree that we pass everyday and they will stay there to remind us of our wish for peace. After the assembly, we were all given a candle and we walked through the campus in silence, a long row of students and candles in the cold darkness. It was beautiful.

During Saturday there were different activities concerning peace. We had vegan brunch, meditated, wrote and painted post cards to the UN and wrote letters for Amnesty. In the evening, there was an amazing cafe with goodies such as spring rolls, pretzels and soy milkshake and we danced Norweigan, Greek and Scottish folk dance.

Colourful and peaceful postcards

Beautiful braided bracelet

At midnight, a small group of us walked through campus with candles again and ended with placing them outside each of the student houses. Although it was very cold, it was incredibly rewarding to actually get a chance to think about myself, people around me and the world. Until two, a group of us just sat in the day room. We threw pillows at each other, told nationalistic jokes (why Norweigans/Swedes, etc are stupid) and had chocolate cake (again...)

Mud cake <3

 Today, I've slept, written half a lab report, an English essay, done maths, and had two huge cups of tea before dinner. After that, Mady (Belgium) and I went to TSK, and although I have a beautiful picture of her as we tried to work out, I will spare her the joy of seeing it her. Maybe another time...

As it is Elizabete's (Latvia) birthday tomorrow we surprised her in the day room of our house at ten tonight. There was amazing chocolate cake (even better than the two I'd already had this weekend) and lots of birthday songs. I participated in the Norweigan, Swedish and French, but it was also sung in Arabic, Danish, Dutch, Hindi (not so sure about that, they might have faked it), Chinese and Spanish, apart from everyone singing in English. People gather around the birthday girl or boy and jump around them in a circle, clamping their hands and singing as loudly as they can. It's so much fun, and definitely one of my favorite parts of the birthdays here. After that, at Elizabete's second year's insistance, she was put on a chair that was heaved high in to the air eighteen times. She yelled, we laughed, it was great, even when she came a little too close to hitting the ceiling.

Now I'm off to bed, a little later than I had planned but very happy and definitely ready for another interesting week.

Things I've learned

Walk to Flekke shop

• Understand Norweigan
• (Almost) understand Danish
• Eat spicy noodles
• Not all Brits like tea
• Norweigan humour is funny - according to some people
• Some people put sugar on tomatoes
• Bread with honey and cheese is really good
• Swimming in water that's maximum 10 degrees is cold. Very cold.
• Doing your homework in the dayroom while someone is watching funny videos does not result in homework being done, but blogs being written.

A normal day here

There really isn't such a thing as a "normal" day here at RCN, but this is a generalization of what a day is often like.

06:30 My roomies alarm starts - she doesn't wake up. I turn over and fall back asleep.
07:00 My alarm rings, I wake with a start and regretfully jump out of the bed, tiredly put clothes on and make my way (often through the rain) to the kantina. We often are about twenty people there until ten to eight, when everyone else shows up to hurriedly have a sandwich and a cup of coffee or tea before first block starts.
08:00 First class of the day! We all have seven different blocks, (A-D block, W-Y block) and over seven days we will have each class four times. For the Scandinavians and those taking Norweigan Ab Initio, we have six classes and one free block, everyone else has six classes and Norweigan Communication this term. Term 2 and 3 we will all have ToK instead (Theory of Knowledge).
09:10 Cookie break = coffee! Cookie break is a break when we can eat "knäckebröd" and drink tea or coffee inbetween classes. Some people don't have breakfast and so they eat at cookie break instead.
09.35 Two more classes before lunch, with a ten minute break inbetween.
12:05 Lunch. Often the queue is very very long and by the time you get food all seats are taken. Yesterday a group of us had lunch on the floor... oh well, you have to be creative!
12:50 Last class of the day - joy!
14:00 Everyone heads back to their rooms, some sleep, others start on their homework or chill in the dayroom.
~15:00 Generally, this is when EAC's start (Extra-Academic Commitments). There are plenty of different EAC's, something for everyone. I'm taking Song Writing, Waterpolo and PAM (Performing Arts and Music).
17:30 Dinner. Normally it's not nearly as crowded as lunch, since the kantina is open until 19:00 so people eat at different times.
18:00 - Every evening is different. Sometimes I go to TSK (the gym) or to Fitness for Girls, other nigths the pool is open. Otherwise, there is always some homework to be done, and friends to talk to. People make noodles and have sandwiches with Nugatti (Norweigan Nutella).
20:45 Connect time and evening snack. At some point between quarter to nine and quarter to ten everyone has to pass by their day room and tick their name of on a list with the teacher that's on duty that particular evening. If you're lucky, the teacher on duty can help you with your homework, too.
00:00 Sleep! Zzz.

RCN - a taste of the world

Before I came here, I imagined that RCN would be a magical place, full of perfect people. I thought I would be completely happy every hour of every day. Naturally, I'm not. This is a part of the real world - there will be people you don't like, homework you don't want to do, headaches, anxiety and everything that you would normally experience, no matter where you are. That is not to say that this place isn't magical. Being here is like an amazing adventure, with so many exciting things happening all the time, as long as you cease the moment and take any opporunity to experience new things. Some things I have tried that I'd never done before:

• Eating rice with chopsticks (very difficult)
• Honey on bread (sooo good)
• Swim in an ice-cold fjord
• Share room permanently with 4 other girls
• Fiskekake (better than I expected)
• Ethiopian snacks (kolo, I think they're called)
• Write in Norweigan
• Play water polo (insanely fun)
• Make pancakes in a sandwich grill
• Read Danish
• Speak English with complete beginners
• Norweigan chocolate
• Watch a comic book turned film film (Scott Pilgrim vs. The World - so strange)
• Watch movies in the auditorium at night
• Make typical student noodles with viatnemese spices
• Rock climbing in the rain

+ so many other fun, exciting, scary and interesting things. I've been here for not even three weeks, and yet I have already challenged myself on so many levels. In the end, being here isn't going to be even close to perfect, of course not, but if you keep a positive attitude I believe that it will be absolutely amazing.

Pictures

Yes, I finally managed to get my pictures into the computer!

Tiramisu that my roomie from Yemen made (we live in room 102)

Norweigan cinnamon buns at room meeting

Absolutely gorgeous view from the student village towards the classrooms (yellow buildings)

Denmark House!

Finland House (orange-y) and classrooms (yellow)

It was sunny, and everyone was amazed...

...therefore lots of pictures of the fjord were taken

Student village (Denmark House is the first blue house)

The path towards the classrooms (yellow) and the kantina (red)

Amazing knitted tree

The view on the way to kantina

Classrooms...

The boathouse, from where we jump into the (cold) fjord

The most amazing shoes ever, both waterproof and super comfortable

Our room

My corner

Making pancakes in a box, because we couldn't find a bowl big enough

Pancake making in the sandwich grill... yep