A Canadian Exchange Student in Norway: PÅSKE

This blog is a little bit late but I have just gotten back from a 2 week vacation so this is the first chance I have had to write this.In Norway, Easter is called Påske. All of the students are given approximately 10 day (including both of the weekends) free from school. My påske was more on the down low but it as exactly what I needed. It started with a birthday party for my host sister who was turning 9 (basically a bunch of kids running around the house).Also the painting of eggs occurred. Fransisco, an exchange friend who lives only an hour away (its sad that he is one of the closest in distance) came and visited me. The time was spent exploring the shops. The whole family went on an adventure to Sweden on the Thursday. Our destination was a shopping center the was 3 hours away. We bought tons of candy and lactose free products (my host siblings can't eat milk). I also got my first hair cut in 9 months (it was a bit shorter that what I would have liked but I was not sure of the hair terminology). It took around 3 hours to do because I got it done by an apprehensive apprentice. My family is Catholic so I was able to attend a mass for the first time in 9 months. We actually went 4 times (Palm Sunday, Holy Friday, Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday). The format of the mass is almost the same as at home (the main difference being the Norwegian) but I find myself forgetting the words to the prayers even in English. The celebration of Easter was a little different. Instead of hiding many small eggs that can take up to 1 hour to find, they hide huge cardboard eggs filled with candy and other goodies. Thats it for Easter.