MarthaES's Xanga

Home Again!

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 15:52:25 GMT

Hello everyone! Well, I made it safely back to the USA! After a very long day of travel and little sleep, I finally made it to Kansas at about 11 pm (6 am- European time). My Mom and two of my friends were waiting at the airport! It was great to see my family and friends at home! I was also very excited to see my dog, Piper, I missed her!

I was sad to tell everyone goodbye, but I know I will be back and visit! I still have to get used to the time change here and trying to get over the jet lag. I will let you know how I am adjusting! Thank you all for following my trip and helping to make it possible! It was an amazing experience! Love always, Martha

God Jul og Hå det bra! (Merry Christmas and Goodbyes!)

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 07:02:11 GMT

Hei frå Norge! (This is probably the last time I will be writing that for a while!) My IFYE experience ends in 2 days...I am shocked! I cannot believe how fast the last six months has passed! It seems like only yesterday that I was landing in Stockholm, Sweden very excited and anxious for my IFYE trip to begin! It is truly hard to believe that I will be flying back to Kansas so soon! I also never imagined what wonderful experiences and great people that I would encounter during my trip! It has been so amazing!

The last few days of my trip have been just as exciting as the first few days! Now that December is upon us, everyone is beginning to get the Christmas spirit! In Norway, they celebrate Advent during the 24 days before Christmas! I have had the opportunity to participate in a few of their traditions and activities in preparation for Christmas! We decorated the house with purple decorations, stars, lights, and candles for the Advent period. I also helped prepare the Advent calendar for the children in the family. For the calendar, small gifts are wrapped up for of the 24 days before Christmas. The gifts are usually tied on a calendar and each one is opened on the specific day. The kids are very excited about this tradition!

Christmas music concerts are also very popular! There are concerts of many different types of music. Over the weekend, I attended two different concerts with my host parents. Astrid and I went to a choir concert at a nearby church. The sang many Christmas songs in Norwegian and even some in English! It was very pretty! Tor Olav and I attended a Christmas concert of another type, we went to the D.D.E. concert. This is a band that is well known in Norway and they often have rock music and comedy during their shows. Most of the concert was in Norwegian, so I did not understand everything, but it was still really good! I enjoyed hearing the Norwegian songs and the band was very active during the show! It has been very interesting to learn about many of the traditions that Norwegians participate in for the holiday season!

Going home to my family and friends and everyday life will be great! I am really excited! But leaving the Solberg-Brandtzæg family and the exciting life as an IFYE will be difficult! Their family has been very welcoming and I have really enjoyed living with them and getting to know them all! I know it is going to be sad to say goodbye, just as it was very hard to leave all of my host families! I will be back to visit though!

I would once again like to thank everyone for all of the help and support that made my IFYE experience possible! The experiences have been invaluable and my views of the world have been remarkably expanded! I could not have done it alone! Thank you all! Love you and see you soon! --Martha

Family, 4-H, and Snow

Mon, 26 Nov 2007 13:42:24 GMT

Hello! Hello! I have just over a week left as for my IFYE experience! Wow, six months has gone so fast! I have been enjoying the last few weeks of my trip, just as much as the first few weeks! The whole experience has been wonderful! I can say that it has truly changed my perspective on some issues and I believe I am a better person because of it!

In the past week and a half, I have really enjoyed getting to know my host family. The Solberg-Brandtzæg family has been great! The family includes Tor Olav (father, Communications Director for a large Norwegian food company called Nortura), Astrid (mother, General Secretary of 4-H Norway), Bjørnar (15, brother, student), Kjersti (12, daughter, student), and Ingvild (9, daughter, student).

Last week, I attended a conference for 4-H employees of Norway. It was three days and nearly all of the people who work with 4-H were present. I attended some of the sessions, although it was a little difficult for me to understand because it was all in Norwegian. I also had the opportunity to present to the entire group about the IFYE program, myself, and 4-H in Kansas. It was fun to share some of our methods of 4-H with them! I also had a chance to meet and socialize with many wonderful people! They are all very devoted to their jobs and the program is well organized! We also traveled to a local glass company and watched a glassblowing demonstration. It was really amazing to see how they created one of a kind masterpieces! Look at my photos link to see some pictures!

It has also been snowing here! Astrid, Kjersti, Ingvild and I took some time to play in the snow! The girls built a snowman and had a snowball fight! They also showed me one of the traditional methods of transportation used during the winter in Norway. It is called a spark. It is sort of like a sled, but you stand on the back and kick to make it go! It is a lot of fun! I will have to put some pictures of it on here when I get the chance!

I really cannot believe that I am traveling home in about 9 days! I have mixed emotions about leaving. I am really excited to see my family and friends at home, but I am also very sad to say goodbye to all of the amazing people I have met! It is hard to know exactly when I will see them again, but I certainly plan to come back! And of course, everyone is welcome in Kansas at anytime! Hope you all have a great week, I know that I will! -Love Martha

Cold, Dark, Foggy...

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 09:35:53 GMT

Cold, dark, and foggy... these are three words that I would use to describe Norway during this time of year. Now I know that I make it sound dreary and dull, but in reality I am finding out that it is far from it! With winter beginning to set in, the days are getting shorter and shorter and the weather is colder and colder. It is light for about 8 hours per day in the southern part of the country, where I am staying now. It will continue to get darker as the days pass. The temperature is about a steady -2 degrees Celsius during the day and colder at night. There is no snow in this area yet.

Now, many of these things sound negative and quite uninviting, but really it helps make you appreciate the little things in life. For example, being outside in the cold or even looking out the windows make you very thankful that you have a place to live and warm clothes to wear. Also, after spending four hours hiking in the forest when it is freezing and wet, you really begin to appreciate a nice hot cup of tea or cocoa and a warm shower when you come back inside! I have recently had this experience when I went hiking for a school trip with my host sister, Ingvild, and her class! It was a lot of fun to be outdoors and experience the nature even in the cold weather. I also enjoyed being with the kids and watching them having so much fun, regardless of the fact that it was freezing! In addition, because of the frigid weather, you try to stay inside as much as possible and this gives you lots of quality time with family and friends!

Winter can often be a depressing and gloomy time of year and it is easy to be in a bad mood. But I have experienced that most Norwegians realize that they cannot change the weather, so they have learned to make the most out of the situation! Many people have get togethers with family and friends, there is always lots of great food, and I particularly enjoy the fire constantly burning in the wood stove and having candles lit all over the house! People here also enjoy a variety of winter sports such as skiing, both down hill and cross country, and ice skating! It is inspiring to see their positive attitudes!

Norwegians do not celebrate Thanksgiving on the same day or in the same way that Americans do. Being an American, it will be strange for me not to be celebrating the holiday with family this year. But I am very thankful to all the wonderful people I have met for helping show me how to truly be thankful for all of our many blessings and to appreciate each other! My time as an IFYE is growing short, and I am certainly going to miss all the special people that I have met in the past 6 months! But I will forever be thankful that they have come into my life and blessed me with their love and friendship! I will also be coming back to visit!

I would like to wish you all a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Enjoy your time with your loved ones and may you truly be thankful for all of your many blessings! I know I am! Take care and see you soon! Love always- Martha

New Pictures!

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 07:13:39 GMT

Hei from Norway! I just had a chance to put up some new pictures! Click on the photo link at the top of the page to view! Check them out! Everything is still going great for me! I am packing to move to my eighth and final host family today. I am sad to say goodbye to the family I am with, but I will have to come back! I'll update you soon on how things in my new family are going! -Love Martha

Oslo Tour and Teaching!

Sun, 11 Nov 2007 04:18:48 GMT

Hello! Hello! Wow! My time as an IFYE is quickly coming to a close! I have really been enjoying all of my experiences and spending time with the wonderful people I have met! In the past few weeks, I have been quite busy!

I had the opportunity to visit Oslo (the capitol of Norway), twice! There is so much to see and do! My host family took me to see the Kon-Tiki Museum, which features the adventures of Thor Heyerdahl. They had some of the actual rafts he used during his excursions. They also displayed many other interesting artifacts discovered by his expeditions. We also visited the castle and watched the changing of the guards. Oslo also has a large ski jump and a museum that is has been used for many competitions! We visited the area and climbed to the top of the tower. It was quite amazing to think that people actually ski from the top of the tower and jump going about 100 kph! I think I would probably suffer some major bodily harm if I tried it! I also had the opportunity to visit the Vigeland Sculpture park in Oslo. This park has 212 sculptures created by Gustav Vigeland in the 1920's-30's. His way of depicting life and art in the sculptures was unlike anything I had ever seen. It was very neat to visit and amazing to think that these were created so many years ago! I would certainly recommend visiting all of these neat places!

Last week, I visited the local elementary school with my host brother, Hallvard. The school is in a small community and only has about 40 students in grades 1-7. Hallvard is in the 6th grade and his class has students from 5th-7th grades. I talked to the class about where I am from and my experiences as an IFYE. I also taught an English lesson that I organized. It was fun to be the teacher for a few hours! I have also watched a few of my host sister, Johanne's, handball games. It has been very interesting to watch. Her team is quite good and I had never seen handball before coming to Norway!

I am changing to another family in a few days. It is my last family before I travel home to Kansas. I will be sad to leave this family, they have been great! I hope to come back and visit Garder and the Uthus-Hermansen family! I am sure there are still many adventures awaiting me in the next three weeks, I am excited to see what is ahead!

Take care! Love, Martha

Job Shadowing!

Tue, 30 Oct 2007 13:36:08 GMT

Hei! As usual, I have been very busy here in Norway! The past few days have been filled with new experiences! I have had the opportunity to go to work with both of my host parents, Petter and Eline. I enjoyed seeing what they do everyday!

Petter works at the University of Life Sciences, here he does research involving the agricultural field. His primary focus is studying pesticides, sprayers, and the effects that both have on growth efficiency and human health. Recently, he has been working with pesticides for strawberry and raspberry crops. He explained some of the research to me and showed me some of the tools they use. It was interesting! He also gave me a tour of the rest of the university. I had the opportunity to meet with a man that has been researching and creating a simple tractor to help people in Africa, where the terrain is very rigid, transport their crops from the fields to the marketplace. I enjoyed listen to him speak about the project, I could tell he was very passionate about it! It is a noble cause, and a good idea! To check it out here is a link to the website: www.greentrac.org. They are always accepting donations!

Eline is the director of the public health care system in Våler community (a small town nearby). She supervises many people who work with different aspects of the public health. A few of the different departments included are nursing homes and home health care, primary care doctors , psychological treatment, and therapy. I had the opportunity to observe a few sessions. The first was a group of elderly people affected by dementia. They were having a remembering session with items from their youth. It was very interesting! I also took a walking trip around the community with a group who have had psychological problems. The goal was to give them something to look forward to and get them active! The weather was very nice for the trip!

I really enjoyed the opportunity of going to work with Petter and Eline. It is interesting for me to see how their jobs work and make some comparisons to what I am used to at home! I am looking forward to the new experiences ahead! Hope all is well!

Hå det bra!

Martha

Trollkyrka and Vestby!

Fri, 26 Oct 2007 12:23:44 GMT

Hello! Hope everyone is well! Winter is certainly starting to set in here in Norway! It has been just above freezing for the past few days and is supposed to get colder! It will be interesting to experience part of a Norwegian winter!

I left the Langbach family a few days ago. I was very sad to say goodbye and miss them all! Before leaving I had the opportunity to see some very interesting things! The first one was attending school with Margaret. She attends the "high school" (which is actually a higher educational level than our high school, but not as high as college.) I enjoyed attending classes with her and observing how the school works! I also had the opportunity to go to work with Bjørn. He is an electrician and I got to see him in action! He was working on a crane while I was with him. I was interesting to see how he fixed things and some of the equipment he used!

On my last day with their family, Mary-Ann and Anton took me to the mountains to visit the Trollkyrka (troll's church)! The Trollkyrka is a cave with a waterfall flowing through it. It is situated about halfway up a mountain. It was a very nice day and the hike was refreshing! We went into the bottom part of the cave and saw the waterfall, then we also went to the top of the cave and looked down the waterfall. It was a very special place! Anton also took me into a cave that had an opening the size of a manhole. We had to crawl through the mud and water in most of the cave. It was really neat to see though! We also ate lunch by a beautiful lake in the mountains!

After our trip to the mountains it was time for me to catch a plane to Oslo, so I could travel to my new host family. The Hermansen family lives outside of Vestby, which is a small town near Oslo. The family includes Petter (father, researcher at University of Life Sciences), Eline (mother, manager of health services for local community), Johanne (14, sister, student), and Hallvard (11, brother, student).The have been great so far! I am looking forward to seeing this area of Norway and getting to know their family!

I only have about 6 weeks left! I will be excited to come home, but sad to leave all of the wonderful people I have met! I guess I will just have to come back soon!

Martha

The Langbach Family!

Sat, 20 Oct 2007 05:48:10 GMT

Hello all! I have had an exciting week! At the beginning of the week I switched to another family, the Langbachs. I was sad to say goodbye to the Malmedals, I really enjoyed their family! But I was also excited for a new adventure! The Langbach family is Bjørn (father, electrician), Mary Ann (mother, runs a shop selling tires and equipment for outdoor businesses), Raymond (son, electrician), Lena (Raymond's wife, caterer), Jonus (Raymond's son, 12, student), Sofie (Raymond's daughter, 8, student), Charlotte (Raymond's daughter, 4), Anton (son, electrician), Maria (daughter, nurse), Ashbjørn (Maria's boyfriend, electrician), and Margaret (niece, 18, student). Only Bjørn, Mary Ann, Maria, and Ashbjørn live in the house that I am staying in. Everyone else lives very nearby, just across the street actually! I have really enjoyed getting to know this wonderful family!

In the short time since I have been here, I have had the opportunity to visit the local elementary school and speak to grade 1-4. It was a fun experience! I also traveled with Mary Ann to Ålesund, a nearby city that has very neat architecture and shops. We took a bus there and a ferry boat back! It was neat! We also went out on the ocean in their boat to go crab fishing. We went in the dark and used lights to find the crabs and rakes to catch them. Unfortunately, we only saw three crabs and did not catch them. But I really had fun trying, even though it was snowy, rainy, and cold! I am only with this family for a few more days, but I am sure it will be a great experience!

I travel to Oslo to my next family on the 24th of October. I am excited to see what life is like in another part of Norway! I will try to post pictures soon! Love you all! - Martha

Holiday Cabin and Sheep Searching!

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 07:17:33 GMT

Hello everyone! Wow! Time flies! I am sorry that I have not update my blog lately! I have been quite busy! I have been staying in Malmefjorden with the Malmedals for almost 2 weeks. I have had a great time getting to know their family, learning about life on their sheep farm, and seeing many interesting things in the nearby area! This week we traveled to a small town called Eidsvåg, where Grete's (my host mother) parents live. We visited her parents, I met some of her family, and we stayed in their holiday cabin by the sea. It was a great experience! The cabin was somewhat secluded and right on the edge of the fjord! It was a very relaxing time, and this cabin even had electricity and running water! (That is luxury for some Norwegian holiday cabins!)

When not visiting relatives or seeing the area, I have been helping around the house and the farm. It is common here in Norway to take the sheep into the mountains during the summer. There is plenty of food for them and it is a great way to help control the overgrowth of the forest and brush. When autumn comes it is time to round up the sheep and bring them down from the mountains. My host family had already brought most of the sheep down before I arrived, but they are still missing some that they could not find. So my host brother, Sveinung, and I went "walking" in the mountains looking for sheep. When they say walking, they really mean climbing, trekking on steep mountain sides, and laborious trudging through the water, brush, rocks, and trees! Needless to say, the terrain is quite different from the flat Kansas prairie land that I am used to! Unfortunately, we did not find any sheep during our trip, but I was glad that I could help out!

I am really enjoying my time in Norway and with this family! It is already time for me to go to a new host family tomorrow night. I am sad to be leaving this family so soon, but I am sure that there is a lot of fun ahead! Hopefully everyone is doing well! Love you all!

Martha

-- Remember all of the prospective IFYEs need to turn in their applications soon! It is a great experience!