Time goes fast from the day I arrived here, almost 3 months ago. Every day I wake up looking at the window, wondering “ok, so what’s going to happen today?” and watching the white of the snow, the cold birds trying to stay warm under the roof, and the trees.
As time passes it’s getting more and more cold, but I think I’m getting really used to it. I’m also becoming really good to not fall on the slippery roads.
As norwegian people say, and maybe you also know, «Det finnes ikke dårlig vær, bare dårlige klær!” (with the right clothes, there’s no bad weather).
And now we’re near Christmas already… what can I say so far? I’m enjoying this Country very much, even being in a small city there’s still so many things to do and appreciate. Norwegian school lessons are also entertaining and interesting, as we have a really nice time with the teacher and our classroom mates. I’m starting to learn and understand a bit, even if it takes still time.
There’s no time to get bored, as you can see in the picture I’m in Røros, a magical place part of Unesco at the famous Julemarked, with the real «Sven», the reindeer from the Frozen movie. We met a reindeer crossing the road at night, coming back from the market: it was so exciting, but you have to be careful. I also tried cross country skiing for the first time, and it was so fun and so tiring! I’m not that good at it but who cares?
Every day is precious here, and you start to appreciate the very little things that maybe you don’t usually notice. And still now I’m meeting new people every day, everyone is so nice here! We have been in many meetings, and had middag with several people, det er så kuselig! It was also nice to organize an aperitif / dinner with the staff, as we felt the need to say tusen takk for the very warm welcome here in Norway.
The job here in youth houses is challenging, but I never felt demotivated yet, as every night in the Ungdomsklubb there are different tasks and activities, and I’m getting more close to the teenagers. It takes time, also because of the language limit, but at least we’re starting to understand, and I think that having achieved this in almost three months is really good! I also organized a special “Italian evening” in the club, and everything went well. After all, who doesn’t love Italy? Pasta and pizza were a big success.
Days are now becoming really short, as the sun comes up quite late in the morning and goes down quite early, but with all the things to do every day, I don’t even notice that.
This time I decided to stay here in Norway for Christmas, as being both me and my brother in this wonderful Country, my parents are coming to Oslo for a week, so we’ll stay all together to celebrate Juleferie. I’ll be back to Vinstra soon after, and then I’ll be in Oslo again, to celebrate the new Year with some friends.
It’s going to be a really different Christmas, with mixed Italian and Norwegian traditions. I wonder what my parents will think of it, I’m curious! We’ll try to get the best of both them.
Usually in my hometown Christmas is a very quiet day, with only me, my parents and my grandmother all together. We eat many things, typical from my region: main dishes are «agnolotti del plin» which is a kind of pasta with meat inside, similar to tortellini. Then many starters like salami, salmon, olives and so on. But the main dish is «arrosto di lonza» (pork meat with vegetables). And of course we can’t miss «Panettone«, typical Italian dessert for Christmas holidays.
But this time, how will it work? Will we be able to eat both Ribbe and Panettone? We’ll see…
Buon Natale | God Jul
Emanuele
