Tag Archives: Student life

February

Hei Alle!

So I’ve realized that it’s been exactly a month since my last true blog update. Whoops. It’s not that I don’t want to blog I just really don’t have the time. As a student teacher I’m pretty much working full time and that means that I don’t have that much free time. It’s pretty much eat, sleep, teach, plan, repeat. I’m sure all of my other fellow student teachers could agree.

Since I haven’t written in such a long time I’m going to try and give the highlights in chronological order. Every social studies teacher loves a good timeline. So here we go:

On Saturday the 5th of February Megan, her roommate Nina, and I went to Sweden. There is a free bus that leaves from downtown Trondheim and goes just across the border to a store in Sweden. Goods like groceries are supposed to be cheaper in Sweden so Norwegians flock to this one store (Coop) to stock up. Meat is significantly cheaper in Sweden so this bus is known around town as the “Meat Bus”. Awesome. The clientele for the “Meat Bus” is rather…eclectic. International students, older people, immigrants…everyone who wants a good bargain. The trip lasts about 5 hours…2 hours each way and 1 hour in the store. Since the time limit is so short people get quite aggressive. It’s kind of like being on a real-life version of Supermarket Sweep, which is surprisingly less fun that it seems to be on TV. Especially when you have old ladies elbowing you for the best cut of sirloin. I didn’t think the prices were that great and I can’t say I’d go back but at least I can say I’ve been to Sweden. Check.

Sweden.jpgPretty much all I saw of Sweden. The store was behind me when I was taking this picture.

The following weekend (11-13 February) Megan and I finally ventured out into the social world! Friday was the busiest social day I’ve had yet. My mentor teacher, Ove, invited all of the teachers at Charlottenlund (including Megan and I) for a drink at Den Gode Nabo. Megan and I were initially unsure whether or not it was appropriate for us to go out with our teachers but we decided that it is a part of the culture here…and we didn’t want to be rude. It ended up being quite fun getting to know some of the staff outside of school. Later that evening Megan and I finally made it to the Studentersamfundet (Student Society House)! We went with our friend Espen and some of his friends, who are so sweet and friendly. At the Samfundet (as its called locally) you pay about 40 NOK at the door (about 8 USD) and then 5 NOK to check your coat. There are at least 8 bars and a concert hall in this place. It is HUGE. Once you have paid cover you can go into any of the bars or clubs. The drink prices are cheaper than in bars downtown but are by no means State College prices. It is incredibly confusing in the Samfundet but also lots of fun. The only problem is that the last bus back up to Steinan (where I live) is a little before midnight. I was definitely not ready to go when we had to catch the bus but I really didn’t feel like venturing home by myself in the dark. You can check out more about the Samfundet here: http://www.samfundet.no/

The following Monday was Valentine’s Day. Valentine’s Day is not celebrated in Norway, but since I was teaching English that day I decided to make my students little valentines. When I handed it to them they looked at me like I was crazy. I personally love Valentine’s Day so I was a bit disappointed when my students were not very receptive but oh well. On the 16th of February our supervisor at NTNU, Randi, took us to a town called R�ros to go to the winter fair. It was a really awesome day that truly deserves its own blog entry. That weekend (18-20 February) was extremely busy. My older sister Tori came to visit. She is a physical education teacher in Alexandria, VA and she came over to Norway on her days off for President’s Day. She arrived on Friday morning so I took her to school with me! My students were quite excited to see another American. She sat in on my social studies elective class (samfunnsfag fordyping) and then I gave her a tour of the school. We spent the rest of the weekend walking around town. It was good to see her and really give her a tour. When my parents came to visit I had only been here about 2 weeks so I couldn’t really play tour guide. By now I know much more about the city. Tori and I were lucky enough to have beautiful (if cold) weather on Friday and Saturday so we spent most of the days walking around town. The beauty of this city and the surrounding area really never gets old. I still find myself stopping and taking pictures.

Canal.jpgOn Sunday nothing was open, as usual. Since museums are pretty much the only option Tori and I decided to go to Rockheim, a music museum. It was actually really cool! The first part was mostly about Norwegian musicians and music, so that was a bit over my head, but they had lots of great artifacts and activities. In one room you can learn how to play the electric guitar from one of the most famous guitarists in Norway (I can’t remember his name!). You can also mix your own song using music samples and a computer system. It was really hands on and a lot of fun. I would definitely recommend it…it’s a great Sunday afternoon activity. You can find out more information about Rockheim here: http://www.rockheim.no/

The weekend my sister visited was also THON weekend back at State. I can honestly say that the only time I’ve been homesick since I’ve been here was THON weekend. As a senior it was really sad to miss my last THON. I knew a lot of people who were either dancers, captains, or committee members. I tried to send dancer mail from Norway but unfortunately it did not get there in time. I watched the live feed as much as I could but it really wasn’t the same. I’m so proud of all those who danced or were involved in THON 2011. The total is absolutely astounding and actually made me tear up when I saw it. I rocked my THON shirt over here and I am so proud to be representing such a fantastic school, student body, and cause while abroad.

The week following my sister’s visit was my winter holiday. For some reason the schools in Trondheim had off from 21-27 February. I took that time to travel with one of my best friends from college, Ally, who is doing the same program I am but in Utrecht, the Netherlands. We went to warm, sunny, and beautiful Barcelona, Spain. Like my other trip, this deserves it’s own entry.

Naturally I’ve skipped a lot of stuff. I am in school and teaching every day. It has been a blast and I am learning a lot. Perhaps school stuff will get its own entry as well…

The Skiing World Championship is currently taking place in Oslo and to say people are obsessed is an understatement. I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen such fanaticism. Or such looks of scorn when I tell them that I haven’t been watching or following the events. I don’t have a TV and I obviously don’t ski (see my last entry for proof) so it’s a bit hard for me to keep up. I don’t like watching skiing as much as I like watching other people watch skiing. Way more fun. : )

I’ll do my best to get better with blogging more frequently, especially since I have less than an month left here in Trondheim. My program is significantly shorter than most others because I have to go back to State College in May and graduate. The term “time flies when you’re having fun” has never been more true.

Catch ya later, virtual world!

Location: Edgar B Schieldropsvei 42-18 7033 Trondheim Norway

Extreme tourist

Hello again! Time is passing by at an incredibly fast pace here and I don’t particularly like it. The past two weeks have been pretty eventful when looking at it as a whole. Two Saturday’s ago, I returned to Parliament Square with some friends. We decided to get off the bus in front of Westminster Cathedral (not to be confused with Westminster Abbey) and decided to start our exploration there. From there, we went to Westminster Abbey. We saw a little pedestrian path through an archway and decided to walk through and see what was on the other side. Apparently, part of it was a school and the other part was a back entrance to the Abbey. We went inside the back entrance and walked through the part that was open for viewing. We got to see where the King’s documents were once stored and very gorgeous views of the architecture. After leaving the Abbey, I wanted to cross the river and walk around on the other side of the Thames. While we were crossing, we saw the classic view of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.  I can honestly say that at the very moment I was standing along the River Thames looking at Big Ben and Parliament; it hit me that I was in London. I had to stand there for a while just to take it all in and collect my thoughts. It is very incredible to actually think about the fact that I’m living in London, England right now; it continuously blows my mind.  

Big Ben

After staring at this gorgeous view, we walked on without a destination in mind. As we were walking by the Eye, I realized how amazing of a view it must be. I definitely want to take a ride so that I could see the city from that angle. 

Even though museums aren’t really my “cup of tea”, I decided to tag along when people went to the Victoria and Albert Museum the next day. I figured that since it’s free, what do I have to lose? We spent quite some time looking around the museum but I was pleased to find out that it wasn’t only paintings. I did enjoy this museum, mainly because it had a lot of artifacts as opposed to just paintings.

In the beginning of the week, I planned quite a few trips. I was able to book a day trip to Stratford-Upon-Avon and weekends to Paris, Slovakia, and Edinburgh. I spent a lot of time with one of my friends trying to figure out and organize the places we would like to travel. I’m rather excited to travel!

This week was the first real week of classes; for the most part, that is because tutorials began this week. My first of two tutorials was Intro to Criminology followed by Twenty-first century Political Changes. I was not sure what to expect, so I went into the tutorials with an open mind. One thing I learned: it’s true when people say Europeans don’t go to class. In my second tutorial, 25 out of 32 people didn’t show up! I was so shocked that the professor didn’t seem shocked at the small amount of people. Other than the lack of students present, I found the tutorials to be a less formal version of the lectures.

This was also the first week of our tours for my Historic London class. We did a “City Walk” which included half of the original City of London; today, this area is widely known as the Financial District of London. It was a very interesting tour and I was able to learn a lot about the history of the original/Roman London.

Since I don’t have class on Friday’s, I went for a run along the River Thames. It was an absolutely gorgeous day so my run was incredibly enjoyable. Afterwards, I walked around parts of London I’ve never been to and adventured by myself. From my perspective so far, I would say that the parts of London I’ve been to are pretty safe during the day which is why I was okay by myself. I really enjoyed walking everywhere and going where the path took me.  

This past Saturday, a few of us took a day trip to Dover via National Express Coach. It was so much fun! It was rather rainy and foggy but it could have been much worse. We got to Dover around 10am and decided we would head towards the castle. Being that it is a castle, it is of course it is on a hill so we climbed all the way from the town up to the castle. It was really cool and really pretty; especially because we took a small path most of the way up the mountain through wooded areas.  When we got to the castle, we got tickets and headed inside. The views and the secret medieval tunnels we went through were so interesting! We went on a tour of an underground hospital that was used during the Second World War and we walked all around the castle premises. We didn’t go out on the port to look directly at the White Cliffs because we could see parts of them from the top tower of the castle.

Pathway to the Castle

View from Dover Castle

In the beginning of the week I went to watch the changing of the guards and found Abbey Road. We walked part of the way to Buckingham Palace and got a pretty good spot to watch them marching from St James’s Palace. We’re definitely going to go back again though because we really didn’t know where to stand. We found that a good area to begin is at St James’s Palace and then walk with them as they march along the street. If we go back a third time, we want to stand near the gates to the Palace to see what goes on behind there. Afterwards, we wanted to go to Abbey Road but didn’t know where it was. We asked the “annoying people” on the streets that were trying to promote gym memberships because no one else would give us the time of day. As it turns out, they were incredibly nice! They told us about places we have to see in Northern England so we could get a taste of the “real” English lifestyle. They were definitely the nicest random people I’ve met since I’ve been here. After about 20 minutes, they told us how to get there. When we got to the street, it was so cool to see the wall where everyone signs and Abbey Road Studios! I didn’t realize that Paul McCartney still lives around there so we want to go back and find his house. We also want to go back because we only had a pen to sign the wall and we have to retrace what we wrote in marker.

Wall on Abbey Road!

I’m now pretty comfortable with my classes and it’s really interesting to think of how different the system is. This week, I sat towards the back in all of my classes (which I NEVER do) just to observe how Europeans act in class. Honestly, it’s a lot like students at home: some people are paying attention and taking notes while others are talking and being rude.

I truly believe that walking around without a clear destination is the best way to really see a place. I found so many really interesting areas while I was walking around that I wouldn’t have otherwise found. Although I’ve spent a lot of time being incredibly touristy, I’ve seen some amazing places that I really enjoyed.

 


Location: Chelsea, London, England