Woke up to Trondheim’s first real snow this morning. It’s been wet and dark and not cold enough for snow lately so I wasn’t expecting the white stuff. What a pleasant surprise!
The excitement of snow helps break up the monotony of studying for exams, so I’m thankful for a little something new to mix things up. Here’s hoping it doesn’t melt in the next couple days like its supposed to!
And since it was just Thanksgiving, a few other things I’m thankful for at this moment in time:
Thanksgiving in Trondheim
I joined a Thanksgiving dinner put on by a friend from California. When we arrived she was a little behind schedule and needed help. As the only other American, I felt it was my duty to stick close and make sure all the fixings got fixed, especially the gravy. I have years of Thanksgiving experience, by which I mean eating, and not preparing, the food. Neither one of us had cooked a Thanksgiving meal before and there were many near disasters in the kitchen (oven randomly turning off while turkey was cooking; burnt, and therefore wasted, turkey neck; spilling hot, though thankfully not boiling, turkey drippings all over my hand; running out of pots and pans and serving mashed potatoes from a wok, etc.). We shared several laughs about how incompetent we were without our mothers’ guidance. But we improvised and made do and things turned out as well as they could have for a first Thanksgiving away from home. The Germans and Norwegians in attendance were impressed and satisfied with the meal, and excited to be a part of an American tradition. There is no substitute for being with your family on Thanksgiving, but the next best thing is being able to share it with others and see it from a new perspective. What a great holiday.
Knowing English
Living in a foreign country for a few months has shown me the importance of language. I’m so used to communicating one way, but have had to adapt to learning Norwegian and speaking English with non-native speakers. Though I’m sometimes the odd one out because I can’t speak Norwegian fluently, it seems like whole world is trying to learn English, and I am lucky for that. I think I’m the only native English speaker in my program this year, which is kind of weird. As if the subject matter isn’t difficult enough, others have to look up words like “arbitrary” and “constituent” (as my friend did today) just so they can understand what a lecturer is talking about. Having to learn in a foreign language must be pretty frustrating at times. After being around people who are trying to learn English or just get better at it, I definitely have a better appreciation for being able to speak and write it fluently.
Technology
I get to talk and email with people back home and around the world, and I take that for granted. If you think about it, why should I be able to communicate with people so easily? That wouldn’t have been possible a few years ago. Makes me think about my great-grandpa about one hundred years ago. He moved from Norway to Seattle when he was younger than me and could only communicate with home through very slow and sporadic snail-mail. That must have been really hard. I moved across the world, shouldn’t I have to deal with the consequence of less communication? Doesn’t seem fair or right, but technology has made the world small and people close. and that is great. Today I got to “participate” in some of Jackson’s 1st birthday party through skype. Watched him devour his first piece of cake, like I was there!
Screen shot: Jackson – 1, Birthday Cake – 0
Lots to be thankful for, these are just a few things…
...and I’m thankful to be in Norway!
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