more Juleball

Me and Nikolai
We made a bet to dance on a table
Me and Jonas
Bored at dinner
Me and Simon

Juleball

The girls are ready to go to Juleball!
Isn't he handsome? Property of my dear friend, Sabine.
Marthe and me
Me and Ingrid. She did my hair... you like?
From my balcony at my apartment

What makes Norway more successful than the US?

I think it's the people. Of course, there are bad and good people every where and yes, I shouldn't generalize so much...

But I was sitting on the bus with my ticket which expired a week ago. I decided a while ago I'm going to go as long as possible without buying a new ticket because the bus drivers never check... But I thought to myself (and asked some Norwegians) 'would a Norwegian try to cheat the system like this?' The answer is 'no.' The Norwegians I asked said they wouldn't do it because they couldn't imagine what it would feel like to get caught. I, on the other hand, have already thought of 100 excuses to tell the bus driver... I feel that this breaking of the rules or maybe 'bending' of the rules is something so common in the US. The reason Medicare of Medicaid isn't a strongly embraced institution in the US is because people 'bend' the rules to get extra care... people SEEK ways to take advantage of the system. Norwegians don't do this so much. Of course, the poverty level is much lower here, which gives a smaller percentage of people in the country a reason to seek extra opportunities from the government... but with this being said, where did the US go wrong? Is it that the states really don't have enough control over their own people? Is it that the population is so massive that this 'bending' of the rules I speak of is just so much more obvious?

I'm not really taking sides in the debate that is coming up from this blog, I'm just thinking out loud... The world is truly affected by the US and I have NEVER seen or known that like I do now being in another country. How many readers can name some great viking leader in Norway or even the current prime minister of Germany? All Europeans can name at least 5 great presidents in the US. I'm not saying Americans are ignorant or stupid... I'm just saying there has to be a better way for our country to set an example. Riding the bus with an expired bus ticket isn't the way...

Pictures- Sushi Night

Julius is pregnant... with Sabine...
When I tried to help Sabine karma made me bash my knee into the chair. I was probably spouting off some slew of swears at the chair...
Post dinner... I think
mmmmmmmm

Pictures- Tromso

Tromso

Well I have just returned from Tromso. The trip was fun, but a little disappointing. There was nothing arctic about the city besides some mountains off in the distance. The city was really cute and cozy, but I prefer Oslo with something to do all the time and people to see always. I was pretty sick of watching the two American tv channels (National Geographic and Discovery) and walking around the same parts of the city. The weather is AWFUL 6 of 7 days so going out and exploring the city wasn't on my list of priorities. The sun set at 2pm which was a difficult adjustment to make. There is something about the sun setting early that makes me feel like I should be at home getting ready for bed or eating dinner. I tend to wrap up my days far too early! Going to have to figure that out...

I have pictures of Tromso, but once again my life is packed in boxes at the moment. I'm moving to my OWN apartment tomorrow, so once I'm settled I will post the pictures. I don't have so many because there were 5 or 6 hours of daylight and most of those were spent in rehearsal. Anyways, the apartment is nice, slightly cheaper, closer to school, and with all my friends. Sounds like a good deal to me! Gregoire has a car so he is going to help me drive my things over. It's strange how much junk I have acquired in 3 months. (wow... 3 months... really?)

OH! Residence permit is being processed thanks to my school being awesome. Eat that UDI. You are really good for nothing.

Did I mention no northern lights in Tromso. Saturday night was perfectly clear but there was nothing. Carla and I were SO disappointed. And the music... the conductor was... interesting. The choir was pretty good and the orchestra was decent. I think I played well and it was fun to play under Max. I enjoy playing second the most. It takes an extremely talented musician to be able to imitate whatever they hear on their left side and that is what I'm working to accomplish.

Anyways, pictures soon of Tromso and the new apartment!

Election Night in Norway

Well, I can officially say last night was the most intense night of my life. Better than any party I've been to, any Christmas, any birthday... this is democracy and history.

At about 11 pm Max and I went to get some beers to make a toast to Obama and then we went back to the hotel and turned on CNN. A few hours later I woke up with a passed out Russian sleeping on top of me. hahahaha. We couldn't stay AWAKE! But at about 5 I woke up and checked the news and there it was. "Obama is the next president." Wow. It was the most moving moment of my life. Unfortunately the state being so heavily influenced by the church ruined this feeling for a moment (the passing of Amendment 2), but I'm still elated.

In Norway I have tried escaping the identity of an American and have tried becoming just "Johanna" plain and simply. But today I WANTED everyone to know I'm American and I felt some respect for the first time because of my nationality. I bought a Norwegian newspaper with an awesome report of the election. I look forward to returning now. :)

Anyways, this gig is awesome. It's basically payed vacation. 4-5 hours of rehearsal everyday and the rest is free. I haven't seen too much of this city (besides there not being much to see). But I have used these couple of days to revamp. School is hard when you go an entire semester without any break. And I have been told to expect about $2000 from this gig. Pretty amazing. No northern lights yet. Still waiting for the rain to go away. Blah.

But now I'm going to try to get my blood pressure back down to normal and go eat at another expensive restaurant (because that is all there is). Ciao for now!

VOTE!

OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA!!!!!!!

*whining*

My lips hurt.

Practice 1 hour
Practice 30 minutes
40 minute lesson with mean Latvian guy
30 minute lesson with accompanist
Practice 1 hour with Marthe

Tonight I will go home... and die. After I cook dinner for my flat mates and Sabine. uuuuh. And my headphones broke. Sad day.

Pictures

Oslo Opera and Ballet
Sognsvann... from Ian's perspective
A nice picture through a corridor in the old fortress
Max. Notice the glass like water. Absolutely beautiful.
We played alp horn by the lake for a while.

A few random things...

Well let me start off by saying I haven't had issues with bugs until this very moment... there is a fly in my room!!!

Anyways, I got the gig in Tromso. WHEW HEW! I go up there on November 4th or something like that and stay for a week. All expenses paid. Looks like I will be sitting pretty for the month of November. :)

I am making my plans for my Christmas trip to Germany. I will fly into Munich and then take the train to Augsburg to visit Scott and Blake for a few days. Then I will take the train to Berlin and see the Berlin Phil play Mahler 3 (I'm peeing on myself... I can't wait). Then I will stay with my friend in a city near Dresden for a couple of days and then I'm off to Dresden for a good week or so to be with Romy. After that I am thinking about ending the trip in Paris. That will be one depressingly long train ride, but straight through the heart of Europe... I think it will be worth it. This whole trip will cost less than half of what it costs to go home... so I think it's a pretty sweet deal considering I finally get to go where I want with no restrictions!

Ian is coming tomorrow for a week. I'm sure I will be too busy to take him all around the city this week, but we can at least catch up a bit and it will be nice to have someone familiar around. I'm actually looking forward to it very much except sharing my room... with a boy. ewww.

Hope everyone is alive and well. No one reads this anymore, so I just kind of type it up so no one can blame for not keeping them informed.

Love you all -jo

Possible Gig

If you pray, pray.
If you cross your fingers, cross your fingers.
If you send good vibes, keep em coming.

I was offered a gig in the very tip of Norway in November to play the Brahms requiem; all expenses paid plus a salary. And OF COURSE, I am obligated to play the one piece I was assigned for the chamber music week at school at the same time. It looks like there may not be a sub for me, but the possibility is still out there. So everyone do the thing you do that makes good things happen for people... I need it!

Update

Well nothing too interesting or new has been happening here in Oslo. Things seem to be settling a bit and I'm falling into some kind of routine. I have at least one class each day so I am at school all day every day usually.

This past Friday the horn studio had a class recital. Everyone played really well and I think I did an ok job. I have been doing a lot of "strength training" on my lips and it's definitely taking a toll right now so I wasn't 100% secure playing, but I think it was fine. This strength training consists of an hour of long tones every day and 5 or so Conconne etudes. None the less, it has hard and tiring work. After the recital me and my group of friends went over to a German horn player's apartment (Carla) and had tacos for her birthday. We ended up playing the game where you all stand in a cluster and mix your hands up and make a big knot and then try to untangle yourselves. We gave up after 45 minutes. But by that time the last T-Bane to take us all home had already came. So we caught the train to school and walked home from there. This was the most miserable walk of my life. I had my bag with my books in it, my horn, high heeled shoes and POURING RAIN. And did I mention it was pretty cold? None of the boys walking with us had umbrellas either, so most of us ended up sharing. Never the less we made it to the Sogn student village where all my friends live which is about 25 minutes walk up hill to my apartment. I couldn't do it! It was about 2 am already and I just decided to sleep in my friend's room. So the next day I got up at about 9:30 and caught the bus up the hill to Kringsja. Then I didn't do anything until about 1:30 and I practiced an hour MAYBE. My lips need rest. I'm using muscles I haven't quite felt yet and they are very sensitive and weak. So then I came home after that and watched Forrest Gump. At about 10pm Sabine called me and told me to come over for dinner and to hang out. I knew we wouldn't do anything special but I hadn't really done anything all day so I didn't care. So I walked back down to Sogn... then at 1:30 when I decided to leave, who would have thought... it was RAINING. But this time I didn't care and I walked. Did I mention it was pretty sunny all day yesterday? And it was fairly clear when I was walking there... the weather here is INSANE. It changes in minutes.

Anyways, that has been my not so exciting weekend. I don't have class this week which is nice. The contemporary music ensemble has four hours of rehearsal every day though. BLAH. Not looking forward to this. Sabine and Max are going out of town. I think Gregoire will be out of town. Looks like me, Carla and Julius will be having a dandy old time! Mom and Drew's birthday is on Wednesday. Ian comes for a week next Tuesday. Yay for visitors! Although it will probably wear on me having to share this small room with someone... with Ian. hahaha. But I will do my best NOT to think about that yet.

Anyways, missing everyone in the US. Love you all.

Hiking in the forest

These are some pictures from Sabine and my trip into the forest next to my apartment. We were out for a total of 6 hours and probably walked 7-8 miles. I was telling Sabine about the trip to Yosemite when I threw a fit about hiking there. Let's just say I've come a long way since I was 15. It was really nice to be out in the fresh air all day. When we left it was probably 60 degrees outside which is perfect for a hike. But by the time we got to the top of these mountains, we were FREEZING. And I felt that most of this trip was uphill... but when I would say "Man, does this hill ever end?" Sabine would respond in the most perfect way: "It'll give us good asses!" hahahahaha... this is just one of many reasons why I love this girl!

My Dinner Party

Julius (Lithuania), me, and Max (Russia)
Ingrid (France), Elsabe (South Africa), Kazia (England)
Carla (Germany), Marthe (Germany), Bernhard (Germany), Sabine (Germany)

Gregoire (France)

My day...

Consisted of walking past this disgusting, crowded flea market...


And looking for decently priced boots that will be nice in the winter when it isn't super snowy... what do you think? A bit combat-boot-ish, but I think I could work them...

Reminding myself

I will not forget to take pictures of my party tomorrow.
I will not forget to take pictures of my party tomorrow.
I will not forget to take pictures of my party tomorrow.
I will not forget to take pictures of my party tomorrow.
I will not forget to take pictures of my party tomorrow.

Tomorrow is practice, Gronland for vegetable shopping, downtown with Carla for tights and boots shopping, ICA for groceries, and home for potluck at 830. Maybe some practicing in between there? I don't know. I'm starting to think a day off is imperative. Maybe not.

More pictures

Nissa and Hidayah. Two of my Singapore girls!
Vidya! She is super cool.
Linda! She is so sweet.
This is Karl Johanns Gate on Saturday afternoon when the weather was actually decent. This is the most popular shopping road in the city.
And this is where I decided to sit and watch people. This was some cute little outdoor cafe with 36NOK lattes.........$7!!!!!!!!!! But I enjoyed like I enjoy every other expensive thing I buy here.

So anyways, those are a few pictures to keep everyone updated. Everything is going pretty well now. I finally have made 3 hours of practicing a day a habit that is usually pretty easy to attain. Tomorrow my first class is at 12.30 and it's historical dance. I need to be careful because last week my calves were KILLING me a couple days later. Then I have brass class at 15.00. Followed by a 4 hour rehearsal starting at 17.00. Boo. I think a 4 hour rehearsal on 2 fairly simple pieces is a MAJOR waste of time, but maybe the standard for music making here is much higher... that point hasn't been proven to me quite yet, but I'll be open minded. On Tuesday I have hornklasse at 13.00 and a piano rehearsal at 15.00. Then another 4 hour rehearsal on the SAME 2 pieces. At that point I will probably ask God to spare me... we'll see.

Hope everyone is alive and well. The homesickness is under control now but don't think that I don't miss you all. I really do. :)

Lactose Intolerant?

This is a personal post, so if you can't deal with the thought of gas, read no more.

Ever since I got here (and I can remember a few times before), if I drink milk my stomach goes on the fritz and I get really uncontrollably bloated and gassy. I have been drinking a lot of milk here and have noticed it happens whenever I finish a meal that is milk based. For instance, I just had coffee (with milk) and cereal (with milk) and the gassiness has come! Unfortunately I haven't seen soy milk in any stores here, but even if they did have it, it would cost not only an arm, but a leg.

Any ideas? Like my mom said, sometimes it is just nice to be diagnosed even if there is nothing you can really do...

Anyways, I'm off to go practice and have a lesson. Then I imagine I will practice a bit more and then home SWEET home. <3

This weekend

Could be fun.

My room mate and I are talking about driving to Sweden to go grocery shopping. How AWESOME is that? I can just get in my friend's car and go to SWEDEN! Apparently groceries are about half as expensive, which at this point sounds pretty amazing. So... it's ok to be jealous. I would be too.

Also, the girls from Singapore are talking about going to the islands off the harbor of Oslo and going "island-hopping." This also sounds like fun to me. The ferry is free and will take us to various islands to go exploring on. There isn't really anything in particular on any island just random things we might happen to find.

I'm finally feeling good about being here and that makes me very happy. I have been here almost a month and while it feels like I have been here forever, it also feels like I just got here yesterday. I'm not sure how this works, but it does. :)

New Pictures

This lake is about a 2 to 3 minute walk from my apartment. It has a nicely paved trail all around it and my goal is to, like every other Norwegian, be able to run around it by the time I leave... I better get started on that...

This is Daniel. He and I share a bathroom and I must say he is the cleanest guy I have ever come across. He is more obsessed with keeping our bathroom clean than I am!

This is Nissa and Linda. Two of the 5 girls from Singapore I share dinner with usually every night. And this is in our terribly unhomely kitchen. I think it could use a little... something!

Benjamin and me. He is from France. He studies voice at the Paris Conservatory. He is actually very charming, but somehow this picture doesn't let on to that... haha.

And this is Gregoire. Also from France. He is also a horn player. He and his girlfriend Ingrid are very good friends of mine.

Well that's it for now! More pictures to come... sorry I haven't taken more. I'm just doing my best to blend in here and whipping my camera out in the middle of the side walk is a dead giveaway!!!

<3 jo

Norway...

We are apparently enemies.

I go to get my student card and wait in line for an hour and a half for them to tell me they won't accept my international student ID as proper identification. SO, here I am getting my passport and going back.

I feel like crying. Or screaming. Neither of which I should do while waiting for another several hours. Looks like I may miss my first class. Don't care at this point.

Weird feelings

I don't know what has been up with me today. Or for that matter, what has been up with me lately in general. Being in this strange situation has turned me somewhat anti-social. Instead of continuing to pursue friendships I have taken a liking to being alone... well, not necessarily a liking, but I'm exhausted from this process already. And I can't stop thinking about this visa. The website says it can take up to 5 months. 5 months!!!! Think of all the things a person could do in 5 months... I think sending a letter to someone accepting their application can be done much sooner. I don't understand how their could be so many applications ahead of mine that it would take 5 months. So... maybe it won't. But I don't feel good and I won't until that stamp is in my passport. I'm tired of walking around as a tourist. I want that stamp. I want to be official. I'm tired of the stress and worry.

I like this song writer Sufjan Stevens... but I've been avoiding listening to his music because I really got into it while I was in Alabama before I left. I don't think I've cried more listening to music than I have listening to his... not because it's brilliant or anything, but because I had an incredibly emotional week before leaving for Norway. I don't think you can imagine how a person feels when they have no emotional preparation time to move to another country... no visa... one of your best friend's father in law is dying... you get along with your parents... and you have to pay rent in two countries... it's overwhelming. I wasn't prepared to leave. I wanted to be sick of everything. Sick of the USA, sick of family, sick of Tallahassee, sick of Alabama... but I wasn't. I was perfectly happy with everything before I left and I think that makes it much harder. I came here alone and still feel quite alone. I haven't had the strength yet to INSIST on people being my friend... I just hate going that route. Maybe this week...

This weekend... well today... was a blow. I wanted to practice 4 hours. I sacrificed one of those hours for eating dinner with a friend... but she couldn't make it... which I found out once I got home. So here I am... in a bit of a sour mood. Yesterday I practiced this much AND cleaned Froydis' house and made 500 NOK. Yesterday was a good day. But I want more... patience. Besides practicing, today I've been watching Sixteen Candles. Perhaps I will call some family now.

Anyways, in a little while I will put of some pictures of the lake next to my apartment. Really pretty... unlike this depressing weather.

Here's stepping outside of the box...

The first class I have attended in Norway...

Arranging and Orchestration...

IN NORWEGIAN. YIKES.

The professor was really cool though and just told me to pay attention even if I don't understand so that I can learn the language faster. Then he said just to talk to him for 15 minutes or so after class to get the general points. I think I will make some friends in this class so I can ask them questions later on when I begin to understand the language but perhaps the professor speaks too fast or something...

So today I had that class at 9 then I practiced for a while. Then I joined some of my friends in the cafeteria and talked for a while. Then I went home and had some lunch and relaxed a little bit. Then back to school for more practicing... a couple of hours in fact. Then home around 6 and just kind of hung out until 8 when my friend Jonas came over for dinner. My girls from Singapore are great cooks and they made some potatoes and lentils and rice for dinner. Jonas was very impressed and somewhat jealous of the food I eat every night for dinner. BAHAHA.

Tomorrow I'm probably going to go get my student card finally so I can have access to the entire building without having to bother someone to open the doors for me. And this weekend... who knows? I will probably clean Froydis' house because I need to do laundry. And the money won't hurt either. Maybe if the weather is decent on Saturday I can get some people together to go to the Islands or something... or maybe Froydis' husband will take me fishing in the Fjord. Who knowsss?

Ciao for now! -jo

the sun just came out... literally

Let me first express to the ABC studios: YOU ARE GOING TO RUIN MY LIFE. Why can't viewers from outside the USA watch full episodes online??? This is CRAP. I want to be able to watch Grey's!

Next, my cell phone number is no longer in operation. So sad. BUT, if you have some sort of emergency and need to contact me, my new number is:

+47 46 27 15 47
The better way to contact me though is through email, facebook, or Skype. I don't want to pay for your long distance text messages or calls. So, EMERGENCIES ONLY, PLEASE.

On another note, my computer may have a virus! OH JOY! Once again, nothing in Norway has been easy. I got a link sent from a friend saying "Look at this hilarious picture of you!" And I clicked on it. DUH. I downloaded some virus killing software, but you can never be sure if it's gone. My computer is running a little slower than normal, but that may just be in my head.

Today has been a slow day. REALLY SLOW. I got up at 9. Went to school at talked to Solveig about my elective choices. Hopefully she was impressed with my organization because yesterday I didn't have a clue what I was doing. The verdict is (temporarily, of course):

Orchestra
Chamber music
Horn lessons
Horn class
Brass class
Contemporary music ensemble
Norwegian
Historical interpretation (maybe)
Audition training
Historical dance
Intonation (maybe)
Arranging/Orchestrating

So, it turns out that it isn't as terrible as I think. And only the Historical interpretation class is in Norwegian and I emailed the professor and told him I only speak English and he said I am still welcome to join the class.......... SO WE WILL SEE!

As for the rest of my day, I practiced for an hour or so. Then, I ate lunch... by myself. BOO. Then, I practiced some more. Then, I bought a cup of coffee because my caffeine with drawl is driving my NUTS. I'm always pretty tired and I'm tired of it. GIVE ME COFFEE! And now I'm here. And it's just past 2 oclock. Whaaaaat a boring day. Considering in a few hours I will probably go practice another hour.

Once again, someone has some random idea in their head that I'm a good high horn player. Do they realize how terrible my technique is when playing high? A lot of pressure and a weeny sound. I just don't get it. I trust Froydis............ but she will see soon enough. I mean, of course I'm working on it and I'm happy that it's obviously improving, but it is not COMFORTABLE yet... and who likes to do things they aren't comfortable with? But I guess I can add it to my list of things that make me uncomfortable in Norway.

Living in someone else's apartment
My visa taking some undisclosed amount of time to be issued
Playing high horn
Not having many friends
Living in a box

Anyways, I think this enough for now!

Ciao! -jo

Picture of the day

Pictures!!!

CLICK ON THE PICTURES AND YOU CAN VIEW THEM FULL SCREEN!

Did I mention this is where I live? I got this view by riding the subway about 20 minutes up the mountain. Pretty freaking cool.

This was taken from the same place the last picture was taken... just a little bit further to the west.

No. You will not see me skiing down this. This was the ski jump they used in the winter olympics when it was here. Now people do it for fun in the winter. I think I will venture back up to watch people take the jump!!!
Another picture of Oslo from the ski jump. Amazing. Can't wait to show some people this when they come and visit. :)