 Monday, August 4 was the date when my year abroad would start. I
had been packing and emptying my bags several times since Thursday, July 31, and
was starting to feel ready to go. I couldn’t wait to actually start my year in
Florida, after filling out a lot of forms and answering a ton of questions from
friends and family about what I would think my year would be like.
So on Saturday, August 2, my twin brother and I invited 18
friends over to our house, to get a last evening with our friends before we
left. It was a very nice evening, where we got a chance to say goodbye and,
of course, answer a lot more questions. J
My flight went early on Monday from Oslo (Norway’s
capitol) to Newark, New York. I said goodbye to my parents on the airport,
and went with my brother to the gate. I think that by having my brother with
me a part of the way, made the moment where I said goodbye to my parents
less sad. Because I knew that I wasn’t alone, not yet.
I said goodbye to Brede in New York, and I knew at that
moment, I was alone. But I wasn’t sad. I actually went around at the airport
smiling and thinking. I was in the U.S., I was on my way to Jacksonville, my
new home, and I was really excited. I had a 6 hours waiting time in New
York, but that wasn’t a problem for me. I was sitting there at the gate,
waiting. I didn’t dare explore the airport. I was too happy finding the
right gate, and did not risk it. I also didn’t eat. I was probably hungry,
but I had too much on my mind to be able to eat. When the plane finally
came, I got on it, and fell asleep before it took off. People were already
leaving the plane when I woke up, and I can’t remember being more tired than
I was at that point. I was so sleepy, and I had that annoying sound in my
head from the plane engine. I don’t even have words for how tired I was, and
that was the first impression I would give my host family. I was surprised
by how many people met me at the airport. It was 12: 30 am, but there they
were, with welcome signs, balloons, and, of course, cameras.
I have now been in Jacksonville for a month, and it has
been great. I have been really busy, but in a good way. I’ve never done so
much in a month. Let me give you a short summary of what I did the 3 weeks
before I started school:
1st Week: I arrived, I was out eating with the Covington’s
(my first host family), I met Al Kalter (chairperson for all exchange
students in Florida) and his wife Sue, I had my first Rotary meeting, I had
my school registration, I was out eating dinner with the Klein’s (my second
host family), I was in St. Augustine, and I was at my first football game
with Barry (the Jaguars vs. the Falcons).
2nd Week: I was at Epcot (a part of Disney world in
Orlando), I met Agnete (an exchange student) at the airport, I was at a
pool-party, I had my first cross-country practice, I was at my school
orientation, I was at my second Rotary meeting, I was at my first baseball
game with Al and Sue Kalter (Suns game), and I was tubing in the Ichetucknee
river.
3rd Week: I had my own Surprise-Party, I was out shopping
with Cynde, I was out eating with the Ochoa’s (my third host family), I was
at a Bonfire-party, I experienced my first tropical storm (Fay), and I was
at the Inbound Orientation in Lake Yale for all the Rotary exchange students
in Florida.
I have now started school. The school is very different
from Norwegian school, both in a good and a not that good way. I love that
sports are connected with the school. That is awesome. In Norway I’ve just
been playing on a local team, which isn’t that big of deal. When you’re on
the school team, and you represent the school, it’s much more serious, which
is a good thing. J
A thing that I don’t really like about my school here, is
that you have so little time between the classes. 5 minutes from one
classroom to another isn’t much time, especially at a big school. I’m used
to having 10 minutes between every class, and because my school isn’t that
big, we can use those minutes to relax a bit. We can meet friends and
actually take a break.
Well, I think that’s it for now. I have had a great first
month in Jacksonville, Florida. I can’t believe that it’s only one month
since I left my home in Norway. My life in Norway seems like a totally
different life from this life I’m living now. But at the same time, I can’t
believe it’s already been a month. I’ve enjoyed every week, every day, every
hour, every minute of my exchange so far, and I am really looking forward to
spending the following months here.
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And I can’t say thanks enough to the people who have made
this opportunity possible for me. My Rotary sponsor club, my Rotary host
club, my three host families, the Covingtons, the Kleins, and the Ochoas,
my family in Norway, and everybody else that has helped me, THANK YOU SO
MUCH! J |
My arrival |
At the Norway pavilion
in Disney World |
Tubing in the
Ichetucknee |
My surprise party |
Inbound orientation
at Lake Yale |
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Hey! I cannot believe it’s been almost 4 months already. Time has
passed so fast, although, at the same time, my life in Norway seems like a
completely different life. I’ve had so much fun, and I keep getting new
experiences, and I am enjoying every day in Florida. I am so glad I decided to
be an exchange student, and I thank everyone who has helped making this the best
three months and 20 days of my life J
So let’s see what I have been up to:
I joined the Cross Country team, and on September 12 I had
one of my first races. I had been running one race before this one, but that
was just a “time-trial”, which was a pre-season race so that the coaches can
see how you run. It was a traditional 3 miles race, but my coach wanted all
“the new guys” to run behind the assistant coach for the first two miles, so
I didn’t feel like I could run as fast as I wanted to. The race I ran
September 12 was also special. In this race all the runners in each race had
to pass one point at the end of the 500 meters lap before we could start
another lap. So every time we ran one lap and came in to stadium we had to
wait on the slowest runners. We did that for the first three laps, before
the slowest runners started getting eliminated, so we would run until there
weren’t that many runners left. It was more a mental practice race than a
cross country race. I really had to think of what I was doing and be careful
not to be the first in the race, because then I had to stop and wait every
lap, but at the same time not be too far behind, and risk being eliminated.
In my race there were 30 runners, and we ran 8 laps I think, I finished
third, so I was happy with that. I was in better shape than I ever been, and
couldn’t wait until the actual season started.
But then, before my first real race, I got shin splints.
Both shins started hurting, and I had to stop running. I missed my first
race, second race, third race, but my shins didn’t get any better. I kept
icing my leg, I kept going to the school trainer, and I also got a
rehab-program at one time. But whatever I did it didn’t seem to get better.
And I mean, we had practice every day before school at 6:40 am to 8:30 am,
and I didn’t skip one single practice. A long period I came there in the
morning, tried to run a bit, felt it hurting, and went showering, leaving
practice only 20 minutes after I got there. So for a long while I spent
around two hours sitting alone in the school cafeteria waiting for school to
start at 9:15 am. This was kind of frustrating, since I really wanted to be
out there with my friends, running. I was in better shape than I had ever
been, and it was tough to sit out every practice, every day, knowing that
every day that I couldn’t run, was a day that made me slower.
But I went to every meet, cheered the guys on, and helped
my coach. I wanted to run, but I also enjoyed coming with the guys and
cheering them on. I still felt like a part of the team, and I knew that if I
stopped going to the practices, I wouldn’t feel like a part of the team
anymore.
My last race was Middleburg. It was the last race for the
team, the top 7 guys continued to the regional and state, but for the most
of us, this was our last race. But for me, this was my first real race. This
was the race I had been waiting on, the race where I was planning on just
ignoring the pain and run. My teammates were really nice about it, and they
were cheering me on, saying that this was my race. And it wasn’t about
trying to win, because I knew that wasn’t happening. It wasn’t even about
getting a good time, because to be honest, I didn’t know what to expect. I
hadn’t run a real 3 mile race, ever, so this race was all about putting it
all out there, and finish. I was really ready for this race; it would be my
first, and only, cross country race with my Bartram Trail jersey. The gun
was fired, and I remember the feeling of starting the race. It felt so great
to actually be one of the runners when the gun was fired, and I remember
that I was starting the race with a smile. I was really mentally ready for
this race; I knew that no matter what, I really wanted to finish this race.
It was a tough race, I could feel that I was definitely not in as good shape
as I was, and my shins were hurting too. But I felt one thing our coach had
been trying to teach us, and that was “being comfortable, while being
uncomfortable.” My shins were hurting, but I felt great in my head. I ran
the race, and I was smiling when I finally ran over the line, and finished
the race. It was a big deal for me. Although this was the end of my Cross
Country season, the 7 guys that kept running and the coach invited me to one
of their races, to come and cheer them on. I had been cheering them on the
whole season and I felt honored to come and cheer the team on for their last
races. They are really a great group of guys and I had a lot of fun with
them.
September 13th I got to participate in The Red Wagon
Parade. This was the first club project with my Rotary Club that I
participated in. The Red Wagon Parade is a parade around in downtown
Jacksonville to support the Wolfson’s Children's Hospital. It was really
nice to be able to participate in one of my Rotary club’s projects, and it
was nice to know that I was doing something to help ill children. There were
several different wagons that individuals or businesses made to help raise
money for the Wolfson’s Children's Hospital. Our wagon, that some of the
people in my club made, won the pace setters award.
I also got a new opportunity to go and see the
Jacksonville Jaguars play again. My host-parents, Cynde and Barry, have
season tickets to the Jaguars’ games, so they asked me if I wanted to go to
see the game against the Bills September 14. I decided that I wanted to go,
and asked my host-sister, Hannah, if she wanted to join me. We knew that it
was going to be a very hot day, so we were lightly dressed, with sunscreen
and sunglasses with us. We had a lot of fun at the game, but it was really
hot. It was actually around 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37 Celsius) at the
stadium, so we were kind of melting. We had to go and buy several water
bottles and also some soda when they ran out of water. We also saw people
passing out, and laying down in the hallways at the stadium, because of the
heat.
Hannah and I were active cheering for the 3 first
quarters. But the temperature slowly drained all our energy, and the 4th
quarter, we just sat there, didn’t say a word, just barely alive
J Hannah was sitting in a weird position,
later explained, because if she would pass out she would fall over me, so I
could catch her J It was a hot day in Florida.
We decided 5 minutes before the game was over that we had had enough, and we
were both ready to go home. The Jaguars were leading when we left, and we
thought they had it. But believe it or not, the Bills scored a touchdown
when we were out in the parking lot. But I can still say that I didn’t see
the Jaguars losing, so it’s okay. Nothing felt better than when we got home,
and jumped in the pool at Hannah’s house. J
September 25th was the day where Cynde and Barry came to
my school to talk about Rotary exchange program.
Hannah (my host sister who was an
outbound exchange student in Japan in 06/07 and a senior at Bartram Trail),
Noah (an outbound exchange student
who was in Brazil in 07/08, a senior at Bartram Trail, and a good friend of
mine), Twang (an inbound exchange student from
Thailand this year, and a good friend of mine), and I got the day off from
school, to help out with the total of 6 meetings that day. We were in the
Auditorium the whole day, wearing our blazers, and talking about this
amazing program. J
After one of the Cross country races I went to, at the
September 27th, Barry came and picked me up, to take me to a Gators game.
This is the football team at the University of Florida, which is really a
big deal here in Florida. College football is really popular in Florida, so
this was a big event. The stadium was packed with people. There were 90,000
at this game, which is actually larger than my Norwegian town’s population
of 75,000. The Gators unfortunately lost, but still, it was a totally new
experience.
October 4th, Hannah, Noah, Silvia (a good friend of mine
from school, she is actually from Spain, but moved here 2 years ago), Eric
(my host-brother), and I went to the O.A.R. concert in St. Augustine. The
Klein family gave me 4 tickets to this concert for my birthday, and Noah was
able to get a ticket too, so we could all go together. We had a lot of fun,
and the concert was pretty good too.J So
thanks to the Klein’s. J
NEW YORK!!!! I was going to New York. I couldn’t
believe it. Cynde and Barry had planned to go to New York before they
decided to host this year, so they had tickets and hotel room for the two of
them, but amazingly enough they decided to take me with them. How awesome
are they? J So October 5th we got up at around
3 am and left for the airport. I couldn’t believe that I was actually going
to New York. We arrived at JFK airport still pretty early, but I had slept
on plane, so I had my eyes wide open, and my smile from ear to ear, as we
drove, in a yellow cab of course, towards one of the world’s most impressive
cities. Everything is big in New York, EVERYTHING. We got to our hotel,
Hilton Hotel, in the middle of Manhattan where we checked in and left our
luggage in our room at the 34th floor. 34th FLOOR!!!
J
We went up to the 44th floor, the top floor, where we ate
a quick breakfast before we headed out to explore the city. The first day,
we took the subway all the way down to the south of Manhattan. We started by
taking the Staten Island Ferry tour/detour just to see the Statue of
Liberty, before we started walking north. We stopped at all the places I
want to see, like ground zero, Chinatown, Little Italy, Times Square… We
walked the whole day, from the very south of Manhattan to the 54th street.
It was a long day, with a lot of new and amazing sights.
The next morning, October 6th, Cynde and Barry had a
meeting because they have some time-share at Hilton Hotel. I got to go
around on my own, while they were attending this meeting. What I decided to
do was of course to go down to Times Square. I went to the Madam Tussauds
museum, which was kind of cool. It’s a museum with a lot of celebrities, and
they are all made of wax. Some of them really look like they’re real. When I
was done there, I went around on Times Square and looked at all the stores.
It’s amazing to see the sizes of these stores. I mean, there’s a Ferris
wheel inside the “Toys R us” store. INSIDE THE STORE!
J And I have never seen as many jeans as I saw in the Levi’s store.
Cynde and Barry also took me to see 5th avenue, the huge
shopping street in New York. We went into a store called “FAO Schwartz,”
which is a toy store. But this isn’t just a normal toy store. They have
everything from large Lego sculptures to the most expensive stuffed animal
toys that you can find. We also went into an underground Apple store. This
was no doubt a new sight for me. J
When we were done looking at these huge stores we went to
Central Park. It just amazing to go from this gigantic city, with all this
noise, from the cars and the people, and then you go into this park, where
all the noises just disappear. It was just so relaxing to come into this
park, with all the squirrels, people running or walking their dogs, and kids
playing. Cynde, Barry, and I sat down somewhere to relax our legs, and I
laid down and I almost fell asleep. J
I also got to go to the “top of the rock” also known as
the Rockefeller building. We went up twice, one time at the day, when it was
light outside, and also one time at night, when we could see all the lights
from the buildings. I got a lot of good pictures, and it was quite a sight
from the top of this building, on the 77th floor.
New York was just amazing. It’s definitely one of the
world’s most impressive cities. I was just amazed by this city. As Cynde
said, I was smiling from ear to ear the whole 4 days I was there. I just had
so much fun. I GOT TO SEE NEW YORK! It was just so amazing, and I can’t
thank Cynde and Barry enough for taking me to see this city.
As you can probably hear from my journal, I am doing very
well, and I am really happy to be here. I can’t thank the people who helped
me get to this point enough. My family in Norway who supported me in my
decision to become an exchange student, my host families who made this
possible, by taking me in, and caring about me like their own, my sponsor
club who gave me this chance to go and experience and be an ambassador for
Rotary and Norway, my host club who also gave me a chance by agreeing to
host me, including me in their projects like the Red Wagon Parade, and
paying for several things like the sure to be an awesome trip to Disney
World in December, and everybody else who have made this possible for me.
I’m forever grateful. Thank you so much! J
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