One month left!

One month from today I will be leaving my life here in Molde, to travel back to my home in Seattle. I wanted to write this blog post to look back on everything that I have done, and everything that I have learned along this journey in Norway. I want to start by thanking all of the people that made this possible and all the people that supported me in making the decision to come here. I was invited by my wonderful host family a little over a year ago to come live with them, and at first it sounded like a really nice thought, not thinking it would actually become reality. My mom talked with Astrid and Odd Tore about school, life in Molde, and how everything would work out. They were all so amazing about everything, and helped me so much in making this dream to travel a reality. I know my parents were both scared to send their son away for a year, to a place they had never been before, but I know they felt a sense of security sending me to live with this incredible family. We have had a bond with this family, the Eikrem-Finnøy's since we were blesses with the opportunity to have their daughter live with us in 2007, Siril (CC) <3 I was nervous about leaving my life and family in Seattle, not ever really being away from my family for more then 3 weeks or so, but I felt a certain comfort knowing that I had once met the Eikrem-Finnøy's and that CC would always be there for me if I needed her. It was so difficult to say goodbye to my loved ones in Seattle that day August 17th, 2010. I remember it felt like I would never see them again, the tears pored for the next few days. I felt immediately better once I was in the arms of my new family, the reuniting hug with my big sister CC, and the hugs from my new sisters, brother and parents here.

I started school the day after I arrived in Molde, exhausted. In fact I feel asleep in the police station while waiting for some papers to be filed that day. I wasn't united with my class till the third day of school when I had my first class period with them. I felt the kindness from all, everyone was so welcoming and nice to me. Just after the first week of school I had made some good friends. My social character helped me alot over the next few weeks in months, always searching for new friends, meeting new people and even saying hello to strangers. I have always felt the loving, kind nature of norwegians, even though they all describe them selves as cold and shy.... My friends here are incredible, I have been acquainted with so many wonderful people here that have welcomed me into their lives. I consider many here to be friends, wether I have talked to them once, or seen them everyday. It has been one of my favorite things about this year, and definitely one of the hardest things to leave, my friendships with these incredible people.

I took on the challenge of learning a new language, I have to admit I was scared and intimidated, but most of all excited. It took awhile to get the hang of it, and I have had many conversations, especially with my norwegian dad about the different stages of learning a new language are. From the first big hump of familiarizing your self with the sound and rhythm, to learning words and grammatical rules, to begging to understand sentences and phrases, and the biggest hump of all which is convincing your self to begin to speak. This last one was the hardest part of all, but thanks to a dear friend Lukas Tietgen , who is also an exchange student here in Molde, we told eachother that on January 1st we would only speak norwegian! and surprisingly we stuck to that, and the language became easier and easier everyday. It was amazing how the learning pace just took off after we began speaking it everyday. I must say I thank Lukas so much for not only being a great partner in learning the language, but being an incredible teacher as well. He has learned the language, i would say perfectly, and many say that is because he is german and they are very similar, but i know that he is an extremely intelligent guy with a big brain in him. I still can't say that I am great at norwegian, but I am at the point when I'm speaking it with my friends and family, i am able to sit in class and understand, able to do my homework (even presentations) and at the end of the day feel confident in saying that I know norwegian. It definitely is cool, and I will definitely continue to learn and study norwegian in the future and hopefully become better and better. Once again THANK GOD FOR SKYPE!!! I will be able to see and talk with people here even when im back in the states, amazing thing! :)

For those of you that have been following my blog, you know that I have traveled and seen beautiful places, met wonderful people, learned about a new culture and the traditions, tried amazing foods, learned a new language, grown as a person, become a more independent person and many more things. This year has really been a SPECTACULAR experience.

I am glad that I still have a month to learn and experience more, hopefully as much as possible! I look forward to sharing pictures, telling stories and maybe even showing off a little norwegian with all of you back home. Much love, Noah!

P.s. i'm putting up some pictures from the May 17th, norwegian constitution day.

A Birthday to remember!

Hello all! I wanted to share with you all that happened on my SUPER 18th birthday!!
To start off telling you exactly what happened, I have to start from the day before my actual birthday, on April 28th. I had a little birthday party with 13 or 14 friends, we ate DELICIOUS deserts that Astrid and Odd Tore worked so incredibly hard on, including scrumptious muffins my dear friend Anette made for me. We played frisbee and soccer in the yard and just all hung out. We ended the evening playing a fun board game all together. It was a very nice party! Ok, so April 29th, "the big day" it was extremely nice out with the sun shining, perfectly blue sky and birds chirping. I woke up at 7:00am to talk with my mom, who was waiting in bed just about to fall asleep. We talked for about an hour until my brother and dad called, and after about 45 minutes or so my sister rang me up entering into our little skype group chat. It was so nice to see their faces and hear their voices and get a chance to just talk about all sorts of things. After almost three hours on skype it was time to get out of bed, take a shower and eat some food! To of my friends came and met me at my house and took me to play a little frisbee which was exactly what I wanted to do. After a little while they decided it was time for some ice cream, and of course I agreed :p They were so sweet and bought me mine. With our ice cream in hand we went and watched a beach volleyball match from a P.E. class that was in session, it was nice to see friends and watch them play. At this point I was almost ready to head to school and see everyone! (I need to explain that on fridays I start school at 12:30pm) When I got to school it was lunch time so everyone was just chillin on the steps outside the school, immediately when I arrived I was embraced with many congratulations and hugs. It was so nice to have so many hugs and having everyone saying happy birthday to me (in norwegian b.t.w.) ;) I had a big geology project due on my birthday, and so that I was not stressed I finished it two days early so that I could just relax on my birthday! It felt so good to be finished with this project, it is the longest paper I have ever written at 16 pages, not to mention it was in norwegian. So it felt really good to hand it in stress free. after my geology class was over I had art, which was super nice to have because it is really relaxed and fun. They were all super nice and wished me happy birthday. After school is when my day really got good, I came home to a package from my mom sitting on the counter. It was amazing, so many fun things and some things that made me cry with happiness, for example the book my mom had my friends and family and teachers write and draw in. It was indescribably beautiful and touching. I will always cherish that book, and things people said to me in it. I feel so loved and its the best feeling in the world! After I was done crying and checking out all my prezies, I went out to meet a bunch of friends for a fun game of Ultimate frisbee, and afterwards beach volleyball, all in the AMAMAMAMAZING weather! I left all my friends around 5:30pm to go out to dinner with family, we ate at a yummy restaurant, I had a kebab plate which was suuuuuper good!! After dinner 5 of my guy friends picked me up and took me out on a boat trip. We ate hotdogs, danced and listened to music, all while the sun was setting (gorgeousssss). We were out on the water till 11:00pm, and the sun had still not completely set by the time we were on shore. We weren't exactly ready to end the night there, so headed for another friends house where a dew of my ladies friends were hanging out, so we all just hung out, tried playing volleyball in the dark, and relaxed with the guitar and some chocolate muse, at this point I couldn't eat anymore, so I had to unfortunately pass on the muse :(
After all was done, I was exhausted, so my friend drove me home. It was so nice to come home and read all the comments I had received on Facebook (a crazy 254 comments!!) they were all so nice, and I went to bed feeling so much love in my heart and around me. I have to say that this has to be in my top 2 birthdays, but to be honest I am so lucky to have so many people that love me, and always make me feel special every year! Thank you so much to everyone, for everything!!!

So how does it feel to be 18? I was asked that many times on my birthday and almost everyday since. The day after I was sharing stories from my birthday with my dad, and I got to thinking about everything that I want to do in my life, and the things I need to do in my near future. I have this incredibly strong urge to take a year off after high school and travel, to places that I can experience poverty, places where I can escape the addictions to computers, Tv's and cell phones. I need to experience something that will change my mind set, I want to become someone that can survive with what is necessary, not all the excessive junk that clogs our our brains from the internet and TV. I have always had what I have needed and more, and I feel like I could really benefit from learning a life style outside this world of luxury I have grown up in. I want to share what I have with those who are not as fortunate. My grandparent have lived in places all over the world, including Africa and India, and have learned so much about what is important in life, and what is exsessive. They have always shared with me their values and I respect the way they look at world, and I want to find that out for my self, traveling and witnessing the different classes of living. Its all stuff I have been thinking about, not just since I turned 18 but recently, and now that I have be gone away from my normal life in Seattle for this long and experienced learning a new language and culture, i want to find more places, learn more languages and meet incredible new people. There is so much to learn from the world, and there is no better way to learn about it, then to traveling. I feel strongly about going to university and I will go, but I also feel that I can learn so much outside of school, and I feel like the best time to do it is when I am young and free. I am ready to come home and see everyone, but I am also ready to continue with this journey i have begun, and I don't just mean norway this year, but the journey of my life that will take me around the world.

I hope all are well, I look forward to hearing from you all! Much love, Noah!