Tonje i Utah, USA 10/11

Paa onsdag var det endelig avreise til Utah, og siden det har det skjedd mye! Foerst og fremst rakk vi ikke flyet vaart fra Chicago til Salt Lake, saa det ble en natt paa Hilton paa flyplassen i Chicago. Ikke at det var saa verst. vi ble booket paa et fly paa morgenen på torsdag, men det flyet ble overbooket, saa etter aa ha sittet på flyplassen i 7-8 timer kom vi oss endelig paa et fly! Satser på at det gaar bedre på vei hjem :)

Rett etter vi kom hjem(til vertsfamilien), la vi ut pa roadtrip til LAS VEGAS, LOS ANGELES og DISNEYLAND! Sov en natt i Vegas foer vi kjoerte videre til L.A, og tilbragte hele fredagen der. Var i hollywood, hollywood hills osv. Loerdag og soendag tilbragte vi i disneyland, noe som var kjempemorsomt. Jeg foeler at to dager var mer enn nok der, og ville heller sett mer av California i stedet for aa vaere to dager i Disneyland. Men det var veldig bra altsaa! Mandagsmorgenen satte vi oss igjen i bilen, og dro tilbake til Vegas. Brukte hele dagen til aa gaa opp og ned "the strip"(hovedgata i Las Vegas) og var innom mange av hotellene osv. Vegas er den beste byen noen sinne! Har vaert der to ganger, og like bra hver gang.

Saann ellers lurer kanskje tidligere/naavaerende/fremtidligere utvekslingsstudenter paa hvordan det var aa moete vertsfamilien igjen?! It feels like I never left. Alt er som foer! Vertsfamilien min har en utvekslingsstudent fra Spania naa, og vi er to heeeelt forskjellige personer. Det er ganske morsomt i grunn! Hvis dere har noen andre spoersmaal om hvordan det var aa komme tilbake saa er det bare aa spoerre! Jeg biter ikke :)

I dag har jeg og Nina (den norske soestra mi som er med meg hit) vaert på shopping med Anne Marit! Kan vel si det saann som at kofferten er en del fullere, og kortet en del tommere. I morra skal vi til walmart for aa kjoepe "crap"(som Nina sier), saa gaar vel kanskje litt penger der og.

Paa fredag skal vi vaere med Bailey på skolen, og på kvelden skal vi til vertstante paa "party". Loerdag tror jeg vi skal vaere med venner osv, og paa soendag skal vi i kirka foer det kommer endel familie paa besoek paa middag. Og paa mandag drar vi jo hjem! Time flies. Vi har jo bare fire hele dager igjen her.

Siden jeg er supertroett, og klokka naermer seg midnatt, legger jeg bare med et par bilder. Laster sikkert opp resten naar jeg kommer hjem til Norge igjen. Hvis jeg gidder. Det er hvert fall veldig godt aa vaere tilbake! Hadde en super roadtrip, og satser på at det blir noen bra dager her hjemme :)

hollywood


las vegas


disneyland!

disneyland

15 days until I will be back, America! Be prepared for three awesome, crazy norwegian girls! I can't wait to come back. I've had this "wanting-to-go-home" feeling for a couple of weeks, because there's so much going on over here right now. I need to get away, and live the sweet life of americans for a couple of weeks! I am so excited!

Long time no see, huh? I told Janelle to update her blog because I wanted to know what was going on in Utah, and she told me to update mine too. I guess that's fair, right? I decided to not update my blog that often cause nothing really exciting is going on, and my life the last three-four months have been nothing but work and school. And of course I had christmas break in December. It was nice to don't worry about school, and just work and hang out with family and friends. The 26th I went out with some friends, and had a great time. Everyone in Norway goes out partying the 26th, so we met a lot of friends! New years eve was pretty fun too. I went to this restaurant with my cousin and some friends, and after a while we went to another friends house. Watching all the firework was fun, and we stayed out late.

GUESS WHAT? YESTERDAY I GOT MY DRIVERS LICENSE! Finally :) Haha. No one knew about it, so I think I surprised some people! It is fun though, cause now I can use my parents cars when they don't use them. It'll be alot easier with work and everything.

Tomorrow it'll be 5 weeks until me, Nina and Anne Marit come back to Utah. We will be there next month! Can you believe it?! I am so excited, can't wait to see everyone. And to go shopping and eating fast food! Haha, hopefully my sister will like it. I think she will :)

christmas eve - dinner

december 26th

new years eve

It's already december. Time flies, right? Tomorrow it'll be 26 weeks since I left Utah, but it feels like yesterday! And even better, it's only 9 weeks until i'm back! Only for 12 days though, but I am way excited. but first, I am gonna have the best christmas time ever! I have never been this excited for a christmas break before. Haha.The last couple of months have been way busy, and when school's out for the weekend, I have to work. Yesterday I worked from 5.30 pm to 03.00 am. Yep, that's right. No time to relax for me. Oh well, I like it though :-)

We actually got snow this week, so it's finally white outside. I love the snow, it's so pretty!  It's only a couple of inches, but a lot better then rain and the weather we've had the last couple of months. I saw someone from Lehi write something about snow on facebook, so I guess you've got snow too.

Wow,  this is such a random post! I have no one to talk to at the moment, so I figured I could write an update. My sister is working, my mom is working, my dad went skiing, my best friend is in Barcelona, and no one is answering my texts. Way to go, Tonya! Or, Ton-Ton as Bailey would have said. Man, I have to stop now, cause this is such a crappy update. Haha, anyway, I am counting the days until I'm back, and I hope you're as excited as I am! But first, I have to get through 8 more school days before I get christmas break! Yay :)

"The worst thing you can do is make me fall in love
with you, if you don?t have an intention of catching me.."

Missing you gets easier everyday. '
Because, even though it is one day
further from the last time I saw you
it is one day closer to the next time I will

2 år. 104 uker. 730 dager. 17520 timer. 1051200 sekunder. Så alt for lenge. jeg håper du har det bedre der du er nå. Jeg savner deg..

Happy birthday to the best host mom in the world, Kristen! I hope you have an amazing day, and I can't wait to see you in February. I miss you tons, and I miss living at your house. We had our ups and downs, but we got through it all, and I think everyone learned alot from the experience of me living with you for 8 months. I loved everything we did, and I got to see so much of the U.S. thanks to you! Skyping with you makes me miss you even more, and I am so so so excited to come visit! Make sure Bailey gives you a big hug from me, and once again; happy, happy birthday :-)

Moab, April 2011!

one of the first pictures we took together.. November 2010!

"How do you know what a dream is, if you've never accomplished one? How do you know what an adventure is if you never took part in one? How do you know what agony is without ever having to say goodbye to your family and friends with your eyes full of tears? How do you know what diversity is if you've never lived under the same roof with people from all over the world? How do you know what tolerance is, if you've never had to get used to something that is different, even if you didn't even like it. How do you know what autonomy is, if you never had to take decisions by yourself. How do you know what it feels like to be helpless, if you never wanted to hug someone only to have a computer screen preventing you from doing it? How do you know what distance is, if you never had looked at a map being able to say: "I'm so far away from what's familiar to me". How do you know what a language is, if you never have had to learn a new one to make friends? How do you know what patriotism is, if you never shouted "I LOVE MY COUNTRY", holding your countries flag in your hand? How do you know what an opportunity is, if you've never taken one? How do you know what pride is, if you've never taken a moment realizing the amount of things you have accomplished? How do you know what it really means to seize the day, if you never have witnessed time running so fast it literary flies right by you?  How do you know what a friend is, if the circumstances never have showed you the ones that stay true? How do you know what a family is, if you never have been given unconditionally support without even asking? How do you know what borders are, if you're never crossed your own to see what's on the other side? How do you know what imagination is, if you've never thought about the moment when you're going back home? How do you really know the world, if you haven't been an exchange student?"

- written by an exchange student

I miss America. I miss Utah. I miss Bailey. I miss Bradley. I miss Mark. I miss Kristen. I miss speedy. I miss Kevin the Cat. I miss Hailee, Braedon, Jon and Stetson. I miss Elisabeth and Maria. I miss Summer and Samantha. I miss listetning to "look at me now". I miss (haha, I never thought I'd say this) going to church with amazing people. I miss everyone from my classes. I miss Lehi High School. I miss Mr. Griffiths history classes. I miss dance with Mrs. Allgaier. I miss american school spirit. I miss roadtrips. I miss going out for dinner. I miss shopping. I miss everything.

I could go on like this forever, cause there's so much I miss. I guess I just miss being a foreign exchange student. I miss the feeling and excitment of being able to travel and experience the american dream. The year I spent in Utah was something I looked forward til for years, and now that it is over it's kinda sad. I'm so so so glad I did it, but in one way it's sad to be back home knowing that someone else is experiencing the same thing that I did. I've been home for 18 weeks! Can you imagine that? It's crazy how time flies by. But in less than 18 weeks I'll be back. I am so excited to bring my sister back to my american family. I can show her how I lived my life for ten months, and I hope she'll love it as much as I did.

It's such a wierd feeling knowing that I have two "homes". I have two families, and I love both equal. The probably wierdest and hardest part about coming back home, is that no one here understands how I feel. It's not like I can go somewhere for a year, and then just forget about it when I get home. That's how I feel people think it should be like. Maybe I've lived in Norway for 17 years, and only 10 months in Utah, but I love both places! And whatever place I'm gonna be at, I'll always miss the other one.  I'm always gonna be a little bit American, and that's just how it is :-)

Florida, february 2011

De siste dagene har jeg lært mye nyttig. Blant annet at det kan være lurt å ha på seg gummistøvler når man skal på 8 kilometer lang natursti med skolen, siden det eneste det har gjort de siste månedene er å regne. Foredrag med Håvard Tjora(programlederen for tv-programet Blanke Ark) har jeg også vært på, hvor jeg lærte at det verken er uvanlig å høre på musikk på fulleste volum når man gjør lekser, eller å ligge på gulvet med lekseboka foran nesa i stedet for å sitte ved pulten med nitti-grader i både rygg og knær. Får jeg noen gang klager fra mamma eller pappa på hvordan jeg jobber med skolearbeid igjen, skal jeg bare skylde på Håvard og si "det har Håvard sagt!"

Ellers har jeg lært meg så og si alle forskriftene og vedtakene som har med innbytte av amerikansk til norsk førerkort å gjøre. Hvis noen lurer på noe er det bare  å spørre, jeg veit det nok! Jeg har ikke telling på hvor forskjellige regler jeg har hørt, og når kjørelæreren sa at han hadde snakket med biltilsynet som sa jeg måtte ta ALT(kjøretimer, glattkjøring, langkjøring, kartkjøring, teori, oppkjøring osv) på nytt, satte jeg meg ned og grein, og vips, var jeg på vei til biltilsynet sammen med kjørelæreren. Etter å ha lest side opp og side ned med regler, fant vi ut at det var som jeg hadde fått vite, jeg trenger kun oppkjøring for å få førerkort! Om jeg får mannet meg opp til å ta lappen er en helt annen sak, men jeg har frem til 14. juni på meg. Dèt skal jeg nok greie. Håper jeg.

Livet som pirat skal leves fullt ut på fredag hvor vi har "kjønnsbytte-russekro", og jeg gleder meg! Gutter i minkjoler og sminke, og jenter utkledd som gutter kan jo bli et syn i seg selv. Om en uke er det tekstaudition til russerevy, og sammen med to venninner skal vi fremføre en dialog fra filmen Buddy. Danseaudition er det neste helg, og også feiring av 18årsdagen til Guro! Deretter gjenstår det fem dager på skolen, også er det høstferie! I fjor tilbrakte jeg høstferien i Las Vegas, og i år skal jeg ikke noe mer spennende enn vassandgutane-konsert på Koppang. Livet er hardt, dere. Utenom det som er nevnt ovenfor her skjer det ikke så mye spennende. I kveld står det lekser og diverse forbredelser til russekroa på planen. Kanskje en film for å bedre litt på humøret? Det skader vel ikke ;)