Week 10: And then you're up.

Well I guess I could have written this last night, I really wasn't doing anything special. But something about the sun starting to come down so early, and then coming up late in the morning, just makes me tired. When I first got here the sun went down around 10 at night, so I was used to going to bed while the sun was going down and then waking up long after it had risen in the morning. Now it goes down around 6:30 or 7, and comes up around 8:15 when school starts. But unlike when the sun would go down early some parts of the year in Florida, here I live on the countryside and when the sun is down here, everything is pitch black and silent.
But anyways, let's talk about last week. Last week was cold, almost everyday the grass was almost white with ice in the morning, as well as the windshield. Some days it dropped below freezing in the morning, and several parts of the country got snow. I also think that last week was one of my best weeks in Arendal since I arrived. I guess I had some sort of renewed sense of confidence when I started back up at school on Monday, because I was talking and joking with people, and was more like myself than I have been since I arrived in Arendal. And it paid off. Before I knew it, friends from school were asking me to do things after class or on the weekend. Not that they weren't doing it before, but it felt more genuine now. More like they really wanted to, rather than they just felt sorry for me because I didn't know anyone. I made a few new friends this week, and got closer to a few of my classmates. I was invited to a party/bonfire, that ended up getting canceled because it was only 2 degrees Celsius outside. But there will be other things like that in the future, which is beginning to really look up. Or maybe I'm just being optimistic.
I like school now. I know a lot exchange students really don't, and just skip all the time. But school, for me at least, is a place where I get to talk with my friends and kind of just relax. I guess I'm lucky to be in Norway, because the school here uses computers 24/7. So if I'm tired or bored or just don't feel like talking I can pull out my computer and put my mind elsewhere. So I'm never really that bored at school.
So this week I did a few things. I joined the gym, because it gives me something to do on days where I previously had nothing to do, I spent a lot of time walking around Arendal during Trykk og Foto taking motion pictures with my class (I think it's cool that we're let loose on the city to take pictures), I went shopping with a girl from my Historie class and bought a hat because I think it's time to get one of those, I went on a walk around Hove (where Arendal hosts a HUGE music festival every summer) on Tromøya with my host mom and Happy, my host dad took Aase, Ole, and I to a modern carnival at the culture center, and I hung out in Arendal with Sunniva from my English and Math class.

Today on the ride home from school, I noticed that everything that used to be green is now orange and red. I had seen a little of this in Drammen and Oslo, but it didn't really stifle my excitement that it really looks like fall now in Arendal. I'm excited for the snow to come, but I can wait a bit if it means I can have a while longer with all this bright orange and red trees.
Tomorrow I'm going to Aase's school for half of the day to help with English class, which I think will be very interesting. This weekend I think I'm visiting my next host family, and then the weekend after is Halloween! Now normally this wouldn't be a big deal in Norway. But I'm having a Halloween party weekend with my exchange student friends! Marina, Mackenzie, Brock, Calvin, and Anne are all coming down to Arendal to stay in the little cottage next to my house with me and watch scary movies and do Halloween stuff. I might also go to a Norwegian Halloween party that weekend, depending on if my friends come on Friday night or Saturday morning. Oh yeah and I move families Sunday afternoon after they all leave. So that should be a busy weekend.

So all is well here, I'm doing good and I think this "cultural adaption" thing is well underway