No Regrets
The American Way
by Katrine Tolpinrud
February 24, 2009
What makes a person leave home for a year? For me it was the experience and opportunity to learn another language fluently. I sure had my doubts when I said goodbye to all my friends and family at the airport in Norway, heading for Elgin, Nebraska. I finally arrived Omaha twenty hours later, tired and ready for bed. Realizing that the further out of the city we got the civilization disappeared and it was time to welcome my new life.
I had no idea what I had given myself into, all I knew was that Elgin had a population of about seven-hundred people. I started school and the adjustments started, trying to keep up with all the school work, joining the volleyball team and a lot of new people.
New country, new opportunities and new traditions. Homecoming is one of these traditions I'd never heard of before. It sure was fun with dress-up days, bonfire, parade, coronation and games, and it was fun to see how the whole community was involved and supported their teams. I've got to experience Halloween, with punkin chunkin and haunted houses, Valentines day, filled with hearts and candy, and a weather never to be trusted with spring temperatures one day, and snow day the next. I've also got to participate in volleyball and basketball, even though my ball handling were pretty bad when I first started out. We don't have sports in school where I come from, so that was a new experience for me. If I want to do sports back in Norway I have to sign up in a club, and we only do one sport throughout the year. I really think that sports in school is a good idea, and more people get involved and participate in sports events. I even got to go to a football game at Memorial Stadium. That was amazing, it is unbelievable that they manage to get so many people to their games even though it is a small state.
So here I am, six months after I left the fjords and mountains back in Norway, living my life in Elgin, Nebraska, surrounded by cornfields and farms, and I'm loving it. I have got to experience so much this year and I am glad I chose to take a year abroad. I will never forget my exchange year and the people here in Elgin.
No Regrets
| Date | Subject | Posted by: |
|---|---|---|
| 03/11/2009 | I love you Katrine! This was great;) |
Mrs. Kristiansen
|
| 03/11/2009 | Halloi! Å! så tøft! En norsk utvekslingsstudents tanker om livet i usa :P Lurer på om denne blir sletta ? Ingen kommer til å forstå dette. Hello Nebraska! Haha! de forstår sikkert ikke såååå mye mer av dette XD Ahh... jeg kjeder meg! Love Arne XD |
Arne
|
| 03/11/2009 | We may not have understood the message but we have a Norwegian interpeter that did! | Mrs. Heithoff rheithof@esu8.org |
| 03/12/2009 | Go' dag min dyptsavnede venn. Siden Arne kommenterte på stilen din, tenkte jeg å gjøre det samme. Så håper denne også ikke blir sletta ! For en fabelaktig stil, og gud, engelsken din er søren meg KANON! Utrolig morsomt at lærern din (tør ikke å skrive navnet :P) kommenterte tilbake! hahaha. Liker egentlig tanken på at de ikke forstår hva vi skriver nå. Du er herli' du, Katrine. Glæd mæ stoort til du kommer hæm til morsan, farsan og mæ! |
Yan
|
| 03/16/2009 | Katrine!! I'm so proud of you, and we Norwegians should stand together during our year! Aren't we awesome?? Haha. Utrolig gøy at du skriver dette her da :) Så gjennom bloggen til Margrethe, og plutselig kom linken opp! Meget gøy! Lots of hugs from the Norwegian one in Ohio :) | Lisa Bjærum lisabjaerum@hotmail.com Ohio Foreign Exchange Student |
