Tuesday
Once again it was raining. What is new? Mirjam finally finished one of her books and lent it to me. It was one of those books you just can’t put down. I ended up reading from 8 am until 11 pm when I finished the book completely. That’s a first. I’ve never read an entire book in a day. Mirjam says she’s not going to lend me books anymore because I wouldn’t socialize with her. Haha.

Wednesday:
Today I went down town for a little bit to run some errands. Nothing really special. At around 3 all the people in our flat decided to head to the lake for a BBQ. We bought a one use grill from the grocery store along with some hot dogs, chicken wings, cookies, juice, potato salad, and fruit. It wasn’t raining, but it was still cloudy. It was definitely a long pants and shirt day. We sat by the lake for around 3 hours eating and enjoying each others company. We laughed at the Germans who had never roasted marshmallow before. They thought it was disgusting. We also fed some curious ducks right out of our hands as they waddled up to our picnic blanket. We all ate way too much so as soon as we got back we all fell asleep.








Thursday:
Mirjam’s Birthday! Today Jamie and I secretly baked a cake for my roommate, Mirjam, with one of the mixes sent in my care package while she was at school.

During the day I also did some planning for our upcoming Bergen and Germany trip. The itineraries are now complete!
Here is a short overview of both:
Bergen:
Tuesday: 4 hour train ride to Myrdal, Camp overnight
Wednesday: Take the famous Flamsbana to Flam, quick kayak trip, hike to Grindaflethytta (a self service hiking hut)
Thursday: Hike to Stalheim, bus to Voss, Train to Bergen
Friday, Saturday, Sunday: Bergen


Germany:
Monday: Fly to Munich, Neuschwanstein Castle
Tuesday: Dachau Concentration Camp, Oktoberfest, Night bus to Prague
Wednesday: Prague, Night bus to Berlin
Thursday, Friday, Saturday: Berlin

As soon as Mirjam got home from school we headed up to Kiwi where we bought the ingredients to make homemade pizza. A trillion topping! Salami, ham, peppers, mushrooms, cheese, corn!
I also paid my August and September‘s rent today…in cash. The total was 4600 NOK around $850 USD. I don’t really understand the process of how the rent in paid. You have to go to the post office within the grocery store to do it. Really, really strange.
She even taught us how to make a delicious homemade sauce.
Mirjam spreading the sauce:

Steffi and I prepping the toppings:

It was a little difficult baking the pizzas due to the fact we didn’t have the proper baking pans or cutters, but we managed.


Jamie and I waiting for the Pizza:


Ash and Mirjam with the finished Pizza!


We must have been hungry because 4 girls nearly completely devoured 2 large pizzas piled high with ingredients.

After stuffing ourselves with pizza, it was ice cream time! While Mirjam scooped up ice cream with bananas and chocolate sauce for everybody, I lit the candles on her cake in the other room. I learned that you always light birthday candles from one side to the other, no from the outside in. haha.

She was so delighted and surprised when we all burst out singing ‘happy birthday’ and she saw her cake.
Tuesday:
Once again the Germans were surprised how sweet our cake was. Very, very sweet, but amazingly good they claimed. Haha. Especially after we successfully convinced them it was a homemade cake from my moms recipe.

That night Mirjam gave me a hug. I really felt like a good friend today. I think we all were happy.

Friday:
After another food coma the night before I woke up still stuffed. I decided to go for jog around the lake. It felt so good to be out and active. Later that afternoon Jamie and I went to campus where there was a free lunch of bread and jam. If that was served in the US there would be a riot. “This is all we get?” It was so enjoyable though. After that we made another quick trip to IKEA because Jamie needed a warmer blanket for her bed. While we were waiting for the bus home it started pouring and kept on raining. By the time we made it to international coffee hour we were completely drenched. Today’s coffee hour wasn’t as busy as last weeks, yet still just as difficult to meet people. Right about now I’m wishing I wasn’t as timid around other people as I am. I’m trying really hard to push myself, but sometimes I just can’t go up to people and introduce myself. It’s almost painful. Today there was a presentation for the International Student Board. I’m very interested in the issues they discuss. They represent equal rights or all students. I’d like to get involved because it really bugs me that the Norwegian students are so separated from the international students, that our housing situation is less than ideal, and there is a limited amount of people who can take Norwegian based courses. Once again I am concerned about running for a public position, but I may chance it.
We also completely scanned one of our text books at the library today. We converted into a PDF which can be perfectly read on any computer. It saved us lots of money. I’m going to try and do it with the other text books I need as well.