The Rest of November

(This is the real update because my blog was hacked by Maren as I was trying to write it early)

As many of you know ( and I am sure that there are some of you that don't), I have moved into my second home. I live with a women named Brit and her male partner, Johannes. They are both over 60. She makes and teaches people how to make sheep skins for a living and I am not exactly sure what he does. I absolutely love the house (it reminds of my Oma's house for those of you who need a comparison and have been to my Oma's house.) Though there is no central heating, so I am constantly running from heated room to heated room, just to stay warm. The location of the house is also pretty awesome because it is literally only a 2 minute walk from school (you can see the school out of the bathroom window). I now get to sleep in til 7 o'clock and on Mondays & Thursdays, I wake up at 830.

Hockey has been keeping me busy the last few weeks, with training on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays and games thrown in there every so often. I had two matches on the 20th, one of them was against a norwegian team called Ringerike and the other was agianst an american team (We were told that they were Canadian (like I said in my last entry)).  The games were played in our home rink, Fjellhallen (its the one that was used in the 1994 Olympics, so we have tons of room to skate and pass). The first game we played, we won 12-4. The second game was agianst the american team from Aspen, Colorado. It was a tough game, as they were fast with the puck and on the feet, as well as they were very aggressive. We lost 3-2 against them. I also had a match on the 27th, against a team called Jutul. The game was near Oslo. We only had 10 skaters so the game seemed to last forever. We won 9-1.

I have had some pretty delicious food in the past 2 weeks. Britt is a talented cook. Almost everything that we eat is homemade. We have had elg (moose) a few times because Johs is a hunter. I think that it is my new favourite meat. I've also had grouse (a game bird for those of you who are scratching your heads). Though the strangest thing that I have eaten is råkefisk ( a type of fermented fish). It had a weird texture and taste. You eat it wrapped up in a lefse ( a kind of wrappy thing) with potatoes (of course), sour cream, and leaks. After you put all that stuff with it you can barely taste the fish (hahah). Aquavitt (a norwegian alchol made from potatoes) is traditionally drank with it. (We eat potatoes almost everdy. I think that after my exchange, I will give up potatoes FOREVER!!!)

Its finally beginning to look like Christmas in Norway. Sunday was the start of Advent and that is when the Christmas preparations started. Almost every home has a star in the window and underneath that some sort of candle that looks like a manorah but isn't. Even though we have snow, no one really has a tree yet. I think that they wait until a few days before until getting a tree. I did go to what was like a Christmas Farmer's Market. There was a lot of knitted goods there as well as traditional Norwegian desserts.

I keep saying that school is school but its true. Nothing really exciting happens now that I am in a routine. My norwegian teacher has me working on a course online. I am also working on a project for English that has me travelling to Lambton, Kent and Essex counties. In the project, I have visited Oma's house, Petrolia Discovey, had lunch with Grandma, Uncle Tom's cabin, Point Pelee, etc...

The temperature has dropped fast here. It is about -15 most days. I basically have to run to school so that I do not freeze.

I can't remember what else I wanted to talk about so I will put in some photos. BYE!!

Madelen, Maren and I working hard (eyeroll) in English class.

The "cold room" at my house. (We don't have a refridgerator so all of the food is stored in this air conditioned room.)

The Kitchen

The sun beginning to set at 2pm. By 4pm, it is almost completely dark out.

Me playing hockey (I am #69)

Me and my hockey team ( I am the one in the middle with the long hair, for those of you who can't tell)

PS. For those of you who wish to drop me a letter, my current address is :
Kate McGregor
Oscar Nissens Gate 11
2819, Gjøvik, Norway

(Oscar Nissens is the name of my street, not my host parents)