#weekthirtyfour

Week Thirty Four/Nine months Week Thirty Five/Nine months and one week/Just over nine months:

Nine months feels like a milestone. It's like I've been reborn into a new life! That was a bit dramatic, I know. Sorry about that.

On the language front:

Jeg kan forstår nesten alt. [I can understand almost everything.]

I can't understand:

Jokes

Sarcasm

Multiple people talking at once at a dinner party.

I can understand:

When people speak to me on the street (such as asking for directions and I've even been able to help).

Billboards and I'm getting better with train announcements.

When friends and family, look me in the eye and speak loudly and slowly.

This past week in the UK I fulfilled one of my dreams: Vi snakket i norsk på bussen. [We spoke in Norwegian on the bus.]

While in the UK I also found myself instinctively speaking Norwegian. When getting off the bus or making purchases I automatically said, «Takk.». When I bumped into people while shopping, «Unnskyld!» just came out. I said, «Nei takk.» to people trying to give me flyers on the street. Also I have been in the habit of saying, «Prosit.» when people sneeze for a while.

Weather:

The weather in the UK was warm and spring-like...

...until I got my hair done. I usually get my hair heat straightened when I need a trim because it's difficult to cut curly hair. Every time I get my hair straightened it rains! And the humidity causes my hair to get frizzy and return to it's naturally curly state. I really think I should make arrangements with drought ridden areas and take my pressing comb with me.

We have returned to Oslo to find that spring has sprung. Yay!

Culture:

I have heard people joking about some people thinking that Norway is the capital of Sweden but I hadn't seen it in action yet. We stayed at my Granddad's house in England and no less than three times he asked about Sweden. (How are things in Sweden? When the fiance' was speaking Norwegian he asked if he was speaking Swedish. He also wanted to know if the weather was as warm in Sweden.) After being told that my grandmother (on the other side) had argued that I lived in the country of Oslo I found this very amusing.

I got all touristy and took a picture with the statue of a bull outside Birmingham's famous Bull Ring shopping centre.

Later in the week I took pictures of real cows. My uncle's partner is a dairy farmer and we went to visit them and the newborn calves. My uncle and I discussed our family history of being afraid of germs and inherited over-the-top cleaning habits. He is obviously doing better than me with overcoming these issues. (Maybe I should try living on a farm.) Although the beautiful farmhouse was immaculate. He never expected to be living on a farm and I never expected to be living in Norway. Life is funny.