I'm in NORWAY!!!

Sorry to take a while to put this up. Just started to make friends so now can borrow computers :)

After 32 hours I finally made it to this beautiful place! The plane rides were long but reasonable. I didn't realise how long the first leg (Brisbane to Bangkok) actually was until I was half way through the flight. I stopped over in Bangkok for 4hrs, then left at 1am for Oslo, an 11 hour flight. At least I had two seats to my self by the window and was able to sleep a bit. I did, though, manage to wake up feeling a bit sick (almost over it thanks to some drugs :). And then after arriving in Oslo at 7-30am, I spent nearly eight hours waiting for my 45min flight into Alesund, when the base is. While I was waiting at the airport in Oslo, I saw a guy wandering around looking lost and carrying a guitar, who I guessed looked like a YWAMer, and turns out to be on my DTS!! ha. A couple of students had already arrived on base by the time I got there, so that night (Sunday) we and the staff went into town to Lyspunktet http://www.lyspunktet.as/ the local YWAM mission cafe. It felt strange being there a day early and not having responsibilities, as I am so used to in this context being a leader on camps. etc. On the plane ride here, I was feeling a bit unsure and doubtful about going, but am really happy to be here, it feels like it will be the perfect place for me - like a green house.

My first impressions of Norway:
It is beautiful - mountains with snow already on the tops, rivers and fjords. Quaint little villages speckled all over the place. Looks like Tasmania cross with what I have heard and seen of Canada. The roads are very narrow and people drive on the right side of the road. There aren't really any fences, or if there are they are only very low, or sometimes just hedges or nothing at all. The houses are really cute with pitched/ A frame roofs and all nestled next to each other. Also, it is very expensive!!! On Monday I went to the shopping centre (one of three right next to each other, with supermarkets the Norwegian equivalent of Wall-Mart. Oh, and they eat 4 meals a day - breakfast, lunch, dinner (4pm) and supper at 8, and they like brown cheese, which I think tastes like cheese with peanut butter. It's a delicacy with jam!!  

I am sharing a room with two others, one for Finland and the other from Norway, both lovely girls. I allocated the loft part of the room (!!!!!) which is excellent as I was feeling a bit unsure about sharing my personal space with other people. There are 30 students living on base and then about a dozen staff plus staff families living close by in the community. We have 13 different cultures represented in the students alone, including another Australian - Johnny for Melbourne. It's strange being one of the few native English speakers, I was told by one of my roomies that it is hard for them to be speaking English so much at once - so we have to be gentle with them.

Last night (Monday night) we all went into town to Atelier for the 'Opening Night' of introductions, music and laughs - worship with a sync! Today has been mostly ground rules etc for the house and living and going over the year ahead - there is a possibility that Ken Helser may come to teach at the end of the school!!! It was a bit of information overload! During the weeks we get to be involved in the local community, serving in various ways, including in Lyspunktet! The calendar ahead looks very exciting and I am soo keem just to get into but, I could tell you all so much more, but for now I think I just need to get over jet-lag.

Till next time, Gud velsigne! (God bless:)