December 30th, 2008

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I went to Aas centre for the first time today. I was buying food for myself for the first time, it’s a really strange feeling – I didn’t what and how much to buy at all. I bet everything was really expensive…but I only tried to compare prices in NOK, and not think about how much they are in Canadian. I passed by library so I decided to go see if they had internet. They did! Free for 30 minutes, twice a day. I also got a library card (which was a fun process, seeing that I didn’t have a student number, address, or phone yet). I borrowed a book that teaches you Norwegian and thought maybe if I have lots of free time, I could at least learn some Norwegian. The librarian seemed happy I was willing to learn :)

I couldn’t find the police station to stamp my resident permit. I hope they don’t kick me out of the country.

I got a text invitation from M for dinner with his family and another Canadian girl who has arrived! Ate a badly cooked lunch and then fell asleep until dinner. In the middle, I remembered that I forgot to tell M that I’m vegetarian…so I texted him saying I’m sorry if that causes any trouble. It turns out that he’s also vegetarian (and vegan for some time before)! I met his sister and his parents. They were all very nice, but his parents didn’t speak much english (and I zero Italian) so I didn’t get to know them much. The other Canadian girl’s name is L and I felt it wouldn’t be hard to be good friends with her :)

The food was delicious and the very interesting conversation continued until after dinner. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of so many great discussions about different cultures and what students are studying here! UMB seems like a great university, I’m excited to see it full with students and sample some of its classes.

After dinner, I went with L to meet with her friend A. He’s super nice. Originally from North East India, he has seen a lot of poverty, but seems a bit reluctant to talk about it. He has on the ground experience in bumping against all the bueaucratic walls, and it’s understandable that he doesn’t want to face those again anytime soon – it can be demoralizing for anyone.

We watched a Swedish romantic comdy “Jalla, Jalla” (Now, Now). Lots of nudity and adult topics, not very popular in puritan North America. The theme was around love, with a subtheme in interracial love. Quite funny.

I found out there is a stable at UMB…I even started stretching (which I painfully hate because of my leg), just in case the horses are for riding.