Going home

At Lambert
Originally uploaded by Brynejentå.

So I'm back in Norway.
I left the US last Wednesday. I left home at 11am, Keith and Lauren took me to Lambert Intrl. Airport, St. Louis. My first flight was from St. Louis to Detroit, Michigan. I didn't really cry or anything, because I'm not really a crying person, but it was sad to leave all of the things that I have learned to love and appreciate behind. I know that I will be going back there sometime, preferably sometime soon.

When checking in at Lambert, we ran into another Norwegian exchange student, Ingrid, so we joined up for the flight home to Norway.

When we got to Detroit, we discovered that we only had about 20 minutes to get to the gate, because of the time difference. We thought we had plenty of time, till we found out that Detroit is an hour ahead of St. Louis... So we ran, through this really cool tunnel, and made it to the gate just on time.

The flight from Detroit to Amsterdam wasn't too bad. Unfortunately, some Dutch lady didn't want to trade me her seat, so Ingrid got stuck next to her, five rows behind me. I got stuck next to two Christian Missionaries from Texas, who were going on a mission-trip to Africa. They were nice though.
I watched The Lion King and Big (good old times), listened to an Indian baby crying in front of me, and a drunk Jewish-American who was going to Poland who figured it was okay to smoke on the plane. Till the crew came and told him he had to pay about $6000 in a fine, that is. AND, I do believe that they had Dutch cops waiting for him at Schiphol.

When we finally got to Amsterdam, we had trouble finding the gate, because it was D82, which is like, far away. But we found it, with some good old Nowegian team-work. Ingrid was really anxious, because her last stop was Gardermoen, so she would be home after the flight from Amsterdam. We got a little delayed, but got there on time. Almost. Ingrid was really excited to see her family again, but I had to run upstairs to check, so I just waved goodbye to her.

I ended up paying NOK1040 because I had 26 kg. over-weight (which would not have been an issue if only EF had bothered to send me straight to Stavanger from Amsterdam. But no.), and so there goes all my savings.

When I got to Stavanger, I was met by my family, my sisters running up and hugging me. My mom was crying, and so I had to cry a little bit too. I got flowers, and hugs, and flags. it was all good. And my friends, the twins, were there too.

Later that night, grandma & grandpa, and my other grandma came over, and so did my aunt and my cousins. It was really nice. But I had to go to bed, because I could barely keep my eyes open, I'd been up for about 30 hours.
It's good being back home again, but I miss it, I miss America.

Good times

Sunny afternoon
Originally uploaded by Brynejentå.

Dad's here! He came to the USA on Saturday, and we picked him up in St. Louis. Then we went and got a rental car (after much trouble trying to get in to the rental car place), it's a red-ish Chevy Trailvlazer, and it's pretty neat.
After picking dad up, we all went to Applebee's and had a good meal.

On Sunday we went to church, and then to the school concert. I forgot my music in my locker, so I missed half the first song, but then I was back, playing.
After the concert, they handed out all the awards, and I got three patches (band, conference band, 1st chair conference band) and I also got the Outstanding Brass award. Yay! They didn't have the state/districts medals yet, so I'll have to wait for those.

Gotta go now, the bell rung. I'll write more later.

2006 State Music Festival

This weekend was the big State Music Festival, aka State competition. That's where all the people who got a 1 at District Competition go. I got a 1, so I went.

I've been practicing just about every day for over a month, sometimes even twice a day; once alone and later with the accompanist (Mrs. Brock).So this Friday, at 2pm, Mr. Schaffer and I left school (I had changed into my "pretty outfit") and we went to the elementary school to pick up Mrs. Brock. Then we went to Columbia, where the competition was held (UMC aka Mizzou).

I was playing at 4:31, and I was super nervous. The people in front of me were all nicely dressed, and they were all smiling and stuff. How can you be that happy when you're about to play in front of a college professor of music?

Anyway, I went in, I played, and I waited. About 30 minutes later (after getting my picture taken, and buying a t-shirt), Mr. Schaffer came over with the results. He said "Let's go", and I'm like "well? What did I get". He stops, and he goes "You got a 1". I scream. And I scream some more. Yay! It felt really good, and I'm proud of myself (yes, I really am) for doing good. Yes Kaja, you can watch it, Mr. Scaffer videotaped it.

New week

Cheerleader!
Originally uploaded by Brynejentå.

So, today was a half day. We have MAP testing this week. Well, the juniors and sophomores do, we dont. So all we do is to hang around in the gym or the library. Bah, its really boring!

Prom was flippin awesome! I danced a whole bunch, and my dress was really neat, and we got lots of pictures taken (will be coming later). After the dance, Shanon told me that I could keep the dress! Yay!! She is SO nice!

This week we've got cheerleading tryouts for next season, and I'm helping the new girls figure it out. Yesterday, Michelle fell down from a lib and had to be picked up in an ambulance and brought to the hospital. Poor girl! I hope she's gonna be okay!

Later today, I'll be going to school to help out more with the cheerleading, but right now I'm just about to leave. I have to ride the bus today because we have a half day, so Keith can't come pick me up. Oh well, I kind of like the bus, especially when we've got nice weather like today!

Anne the Birthday Girl

Anne the Candy Model
Originally uploaded by Brynejentå.

Today is Anne's birthday! Yay! Happy birthday, Anne! She's 17 today, so I better hurry up and turn 18, because I want Anne to be my lil' sis' again!

I moved out, for those of you who don't know, and I now live with the Thompson family. They live in Wright City, so I'm only about 5 minutes from school, which is awesome. the family is really really nice, and I love staying with them. I have a host sister (Lauren) and a hostbrother (Allyn), and three kitties (Pinky, Rascal and Kiki).

Tomorrow I'm going on a field trip to the St. Louis art museum, so, no school for me. Then, on Saturday, I'm getting my hair done at 3pm, and then prom starts at 8pm. Its going to be so cool!

Last weekend, I got a 1 (the highest score) on my solo in districts competition, which means that I will be going to State on April 28. I really hope I can get another 1!

Everything's good here, and graduation is getting closer and closer! I got my announcements this week, so I will be mailing those once I get my new address labels. All you people in Norway are gonna get one! Yay! Well, some of you anyway... I only have 25 of them...

See ya'll later!

This weekend

Ine and Anne
Originally uploaded by Brynejentå.

On Friday, Grandma Dolores passed away. We've known about it for a while now, that she might pass away any day, because she's been in and out of the hospital since right around Christmas last year.
I will always remember my American Grandma Dolores, she was really nice and saw me as one of her own grandchildren.

I also went shopping this weekend, to get my mind of things. Ms. Lucero took Anne, Megan, Suzie, Falguni and me to the mall to look for prom dresses and shoes. I found a pair of some really hot, really cheap shoes as Sears, which was great. And Ms. Lucero and Falguni bought dresses.
Shanon is lending me her prom dress from last year, and it is really pretty. I can't wait to wear it!

Today we went to Grandma Dolores' visitation at the funeral home in Warrenton. I've never seen a dead person before, but it wasn't bad or anything. She just looked like she was sleeping. We sat in there with her for about an hour, and then we let people come in and say goodbye with her.

All of us kids stayed in the lounge in the basement and watched movies, played cards, read magazines and had snacks. The visitation was from 3pm - 8pm, but we passed the time down there. Megan and Emily was there, and so was Charles, Ashley, Ryan, Alex, Samantha, Nicole and Thomas. Sometimes Scott came down too.

Tomorrow's school again, and no practice for the first time since October. Weird.

District Champs, again!

Timeout
Originally uploaded by Brynejentå.

Friday was the big game at Bowling Green, and the girls played an exciting match against Orchard Farm, and won! I think the final score was 57-40, which I think is pretty good. So now the girls will go on to competing for the State title. The first game is this Wednesday in St. Charles, and since the girls preferred us to the Varsity squad, we will be going with them to cheer.

The boys played Bowling Green, and to begin with they had them, but then things got out of hand, and we ended up losing. But at least we got second place, which is good too!

After the game, I went home with Shanon and spend the night there. The morning after I helped them clean their house because someone was going to come look at it because they're selling it. Then we went to Imo's Pizza in Warrenton and had a wonderful lunch. Jesse (Shanon's younger sister) and I shared a medium cheese pizza, and Shanon and I shared a Ceasar's salad, which was also pretty good. Then we went to Wal Mart to develop some pictures, and meet Franci.

I went home with my hostfamily, and we also brought my "cousin" Ashley with us. She wanted to come over and see the lambs. We played with the lambs for a while, and took some pictures, and then went home. Ashley and I played some games on my computer, and then watched Nightmare Before Christmas. Then we went to bed (she slept in my room).

Today I've just been chillin' out. I watched a Robin Williams/Kurt Russel movie that I can't remember the title of, and Wallace & Gromit and the Curse of the Were Rabbit, which was a great movie. Yay!