Day-"A Period of 24 Hours as a Unit of Time"

I do stuff like… not think of anything clever to write. So I will just give you a little synapse of some of the happenings that occur during my “ordinary” weekdays.

I usually wake up to a little tune from the alarm on my phone and dance around a little bit in my bed before springing down from my bunk bed feeling like a cheerful child throwing open my curtains (which resemble those of a hotels) to discover more snow and further murkiness. Oh well moving on, to fulfill the expectation of being an adult I then sing the old tune…“The best part of waking up is Folgers in your cuuuup” which honestly is a total lie and they don’t even have Folgers here but a fresh pot of Norwegian coffee works just as well. (Although the coffee is not exactly Cherry Bean caliber but it works with a little milk). Then I proceed to get ready for the day, I think you get the point so let us fast-forward to the oh so lovely excursion to la escuela (Spanish for school, thought I’d add a little more culture, met a girl from Spain the other day). J

The walk usually begins with the wind getting knocked out of me (the air is too cold to breath for a few seconds) as I skip down the front stairs into the parking lot; which would be the end of my walk… if I had a car. But considering my preferred form of transportation here is my lower limbs (legs) I trek through the parking lot and get on my way observing in much astonishment how much more snow has accumulated since yesterday. I have now been informed that there are four different routes one could take to end up at school, only two of which I can ever remember so I just stick with the good old hill. As I stroll through town I thoroughly enjoy the fresh air and observing the people and places around. There is a little bakery around the corner that always smells quite delectable but I know if I ever go in there alone I will never come back out.

After trudging through the snow, ice, rocks, and slush for (at a good pace) twenty-five minutes I pass the Spicheren (the exquisite gym) and end up at the University. As you probably already know the education system is MUCH different here, I happen to be taking a class on the Norwegian education system so I’ll let you know here in about four and half months what it actually entails. What I know thus far is that there is usually one or two assignments each “pupil” must complete and turn in by the specified date. If you complete the assignments on time and pass them you are allowed to “sit the exam” at the end of the semester. I would just like to emphasize that you don’t actually receive “marks” for these assignments they are just prerequisites qualifying you to be able to take the excruciating exam, oh why thank you so much. The exams I am potentially to take (considering I pass my “turn ins”) consist of a 30-minute oral presentation on (I have no idea), two four hour written exams, another presentation, and a paper I believe; all of which I am enthusiastically counting down the days to “sit” (take). SARCASM.

Preceding about five hours of class I usually am the first one out the door. I think it might be a European thing, but they usually have just closed their notebooks by the time I’m walking out the door. I don’t mean to rush but its like John Burroughs said, “I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see.” So in other words, I just like to move along with my day. Depending on the time, I usually scurry over to the gym to get in my daily 7.5k run, J and make it home in what should be the fully lit sunny afternoon, but in reality is quite gloomy and dark. I generally check my mailbox on the way to my lovely bungalow anticipating mail… that occasionally ends with me giggling like a little schoolgirl when I actually see a little surprise inside as I skip down the hall.

To sum up the evening, it usually incorporates a long warm shower, checking my email, dinner with Kayla, a lot of reading, drinking tea, an occasional movie (The Holiday is ALWAYS a big hit in my book), and sometimes a little writing. Now I clearly skipped and omitted portions of the day but I think you can perceive the major idea of my daily life here in Europe. J