Trains..

"One thing about trains: it doesn't matter where they're going. What matters is deciding to get on" (The Polar Express)

Christmas concert with Rabakoret: "Angels sing"

Angels sing, born is the King
Jesus Christ, son of God
Angels sing, born is the King
Hallelujah, glory to God
Hallelujah, glory to God

All people lift your voice,
sing to the Lord
Sing him a joyful song,
praise your God

Nature's first green is gold, 

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf's a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf,

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day

Nothing gold can stay.

-Robert Frost

Jeremiah 29:11

English studies

Whenever people ask me "What are you studying?", I simply reply  "English". I normally get two reactions on this: People who know me nod in recognition and say "Of course...", and people who don't know me that well ask: "What are you going to do with that? Are you going into teaching?" The truth is I don't really know. I might become a teacher. But for now, I just chose to study English for a year because it was always my favorite subject in school.

But what does actually it mean to study English? I want to explain it to you, because it is quite different from what I've been used to up until this point. The course is built up of six units. This semester we are doing American Studies, Phonetics and pronunciation, and English grammar and practical usage.

American Studies focuses on American literature, and also the American history and culture. It is a heavy subject because we always have a lot to read, but it is also interesting. Occasionally.
Phonetics and pronunciation is the study of the sounds of the language. We learn about pronunciation of words, about stress and intonation... and we have learnt the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) so that we are able to transcribe texts. This is handy because we are now able to learn the pronunciation of words in any language. I find this unit very interesting, but it is also very demanding at times.
English grammar and practical usage is probably what is most similar to what I have done in school before - however, the grammar is on a much higher level, and to be honest I find it difficult. It is very detailed. The "practical usage-part", however, is very useful (obviously), but having lived a year in England I think I have picked up a lot of the things we learn while I was there without noticing it.

Next semester we will continue the Grammar-unit, and we will be doing British Studies and a subject of our own choice. I have chosen to do Contemporary British Fiction. I have a lot of reading to look forward to...

The two modernist novels we have read this semester; "As I Lay Dying" by William Faulkner and "Beloved" by Toni Morrison.

And just to add some nerdy humour:

Busy days

The last two-three weeks have been busy, but good. Attending university is indeed very different from school, because you need a lot of self-discipline in order to get things done. So far, so good - but I'm not ready for the exams yet. Luckily, I've got another one and a half month to go.

But, I do try to take some time to do some other things as well (I can't have my nose in a book all the time), so in addition to studying I am also working once or twice a week, and I have started taking driving lessons. One Thursday I went on a moonlight trip to Holmenkollen with the NMS U-group. We had a lovely time there, and got some new friends. Saturday-Sunday I went to Barnegospelfestivalen in Kragerø (a children's gospel festival) with the choir. It was fun, but very tiring. This Saturday, after work, I went to Mishell's house to celebrate her birthday. It was great fun; we talked, listened to music, had dinner that Mishell had prepared (it was delicious), and Henriette and I learnt how to dance (very basic) salsa. I think we did terrible (and I don't think Henriette would disagree with me on that), but it was fun anyway.

A couple of pictures:

Moonlight trip

International friends

Barnegospelfestivalen

Two very tired leaders (Henriette and I)

Mishell's birthday party

Feliz cumple, Mishell

Lewis' Christening

In September I was back in England for a weekend, to attend my "little brother's" Christening. It was wonderful to get to meet all the family again, if not only for a short time, and also to see a couple of friends. Also, I loved being back in the church I used to go to every Sunday while I lived there... - and it was very nice to find that a lot of people did in fact remember me, even though I haven't had any contact with them.

The service was, like it usually is, very nice and very different from what I am used to in Norway, e.g. with the flags. And the celebration afterwards was lovely. Nice people, good food (bring&share) - all in all a very good day. Congratulations again, Lewis! Also, all the norwegian students (minus one) came back that weekend, so we decided to sing a song. You can see it in a video clip at the bottom. Thanks to John who recorded it :)

One big happy family

All the norwegian girls and our English dad

Here we are singing the norwegian song "Lykkeliten", and a self-written personalized verse for Lewis in English. I'm playing the guitar:

Georgia and I (and Une) shopping in Bedford