Project Week

Wow, so just a week or so after getting back from break we hop into project week. We have one week to create, rehearse and perform a show using the whole school. The first weekend we brainstormed ideas and sunday came up with a basic plotline. Monday we divided up into the different working groups: Theatre, Dance, Costumes, Lights and Sounds, Music Composition, Music Performance, Scene Makers, and Poster and Sign Makers. For this I chose to do dance. Everyday of the week we worked about 7.5 hours on our dance and i ended up getting very sore feet.

The show is basically summarized like this....It is based at a train station and there are three main characters A, B, and C. Each is finding their identity. B is waiting for her boyfriend to show up, A is a buisness barbie- very uptight and proper. C is going on travels about the world and is very flexible and laid back. First you meet them, then they meet each other and have a negative expirience with that. There is a scene with a video on tv and dancders on stage showing how we let our identities be molded by television. It is a very deep play. Being in dance I really don't know the story line that well, they tel me to dance and I dance. I am in 2 scenes. The first is after you first meet the actors and announcement plays that a train has arrive and the dancers create the chaos that ensnues when trains arrive. It starts with me and a couple others just wandering lazily about and then the announcement plays and everyone marches determidely in and are all walking about like they are in a hurry and everyone else is in the way. Randomly, different dances begin, a boyfriend and a girlfriend are saying goodbye to each other (in a dance like way) and other such stories portrayed by dance. My dance is with 2 other girls, I am looking for my friends (again, in a dance like way) and Mari and Tine are twins that mimic each others dance moves and they look for me and when fnding me they mimic my actions a little then come up behind me and scare me, i fall back into their arms and then am spun away, they come up to hug me but to get them back i duck and they hug each other and then we hug and skip out of the station. Its really cute, i only wish i could show you people.

The next dance I am in is the Hip Hop battle scene. Actor C decides he doesnt want to be in this gang anymore and then there is turmoil because a new person wants to become leader so there is a rap battle between the old leader and the wannabe. The dancers are divided in two groups which are the gang members supporting each person. My group (of about 8) goes out and does a dance and then the other group comes out and does their thing. Then the rap begins with our guy that ants to be the leader. We party and cheer him on and send offensive messages to the other gang and some small fights start. Between the different rap sections us dancers do a hip/hop dancing battle with small groups. First that go are me and Mari and we made this really cool dance that was really hard an really awesome because we were one of the few non-dancers doing dance and wanted to show them up. Our instructor said ours was the best, most "hip-hoppish" dance there was. Yay! The end of the battle ends with everyone doing a dance together and then running out. It was tons of fun!!

We go on a study tour to london next week and I am really excited, we will be there for about a week and then have 4 days off before school starts again. We (the music students) are going to a Shostacovick 100 anniversary concert, master classes at the Royal Academy of Music, and get to go to gamelan seminar where we will actually get to play different parts of the gamelan. There is other stuff we will be doing but I don't remember what. I am making a shopping list because London is a lot cheaper than Norway. Well, I am getting bored of sitting on the computer, sorry for not making these more often but it is hard finding time once there is something to talk about. Har det bra!!

Fall Break

Okay, so we just finished our fall break which was last week. The school is normally closed over holidays and everyone has to go home but they made an exception for me and Solvej, the German girl, to stay at the school since it would be too costly for us to travel home.

Sunday, everyone left us and we got some leftover food from the kitchens.

Monday, we walked to Sæbevik to go grocery shooping. Solvej hates cooking so she left me cook every meal and she did the washing afterwards, what a deal!!

Tuesday, we played chess, hung around the island, borrowed some bikes and took a little tour and like every night of vacation, watched a movie before going to bed.

Wednesday, we caught a boat to Leirvik and did a lil shopping, I got a new straightner and charlie and the chocolate factory in norwegian. Next, we caught a boat to Haugesund and wandered about there for 4 hours and then caught another boat to Stavanger where we met up with Karen, had some pizza, and then went out partying with some of her friends. I was in between wallets at the time and stupidly left my ID at the school so I had to borrow Elizabeths (one of Karens friends) extra ID. We went through her birthday and everything incase the doorman asked but then the problem arose that if i were to be asked a question and I A) didn't understand or B)Understood and answered but have such an American accent with a norwegian ID....well we decided i was gonna 'lose my voice' and left Karen do the talking. Fortunately, the doorman couldnt speak norwegian so all was well.

Thursday, we returned home after seeing some of Stavanger and took long naps.

Friday, we chilled around the house and played more chess.

Saturday, we caught a boat to Bergen where we met up with Anetta, Karoline and Adrian. We went and saw the Aquarium and other sites but, being Bergen (it rains about 300 days a year), it was raining and streets looking like they were flooding. WHen i pointed out that it was insane for people to drive in 6 inch water as they could hydroplane, Adrian just smiled and said, "Welcome to Bergen".

We went out Saturday night as well. We went to a hip club called 'Z' and then walked over, getting lost on the way, to Hulen to meet up with Karoline and Adrian. They werent there so we just finished the night dancing there but I have come to the conclusion that everyone on the dance floor was really drunk because they were all gleefully dancing and the music wasnt even really music, it was crap, we couldnt stand it. But after looking at the DJ, we saw like 7 empty beer glasses and a half full (half empty?) one in his hand....DJ's should never drink on the job if that kind of music is the outcome.

Sunday, we returned home and played chess and watched our movies, looking forward to the early arrivals on monday.

Monday, we cleaned up the place, i rearranged and mopped my room, and awaited for life to come back to the school. Everytime a car drove in we looked expectantly out the window hoping for students but none came until a bus carrying about 15 classmates. When i saw this out the window I ran, screaming down the hall to get SOlvej, who was reading in the living room, we both ran back to my window and greeted everyone through the window and then rushed down to hold doors open and give and recieve hugs of welcome.

Overall, it was a pretty nice break. Today we started classes and it is nice to have everyone back. We had a futball (soccer) competition this evening and i got all muddied up and a pretty sweet livesize tatoo of a soccer ball on my inner calve/knee area...it kinda hurt as i was standing not even 2 feet away when STeinar kicked it, and he has a really strong kick. It's all cool, i enjoy showing it off.

Chopstick Kharma

Okay, so the concert went good, now all the other students have gone home and it is just me and Solvej, the german girl, at the school. We went grocery shopping today and will be going to Haugesund on Wednesday, staying the night at Karens in Stavanger and then seeing Stavanger on thursday. We will then be going to Bergen saturday morning, hitting the clubs with all the students from that area, spending the night at Annettes and coming home sunday morning. School starts again tuesday at 3.

On to my name....never run with chopsticks in yur mouth. I was pretending to be a walrus before the concert and someone brought up my americanness so i started saying "look! i'm an american!" in a retarded voice and running about but then i tripped and one of my chopsticks hit the wall, cutting into my inner lip. It bled for like and hour as the skin is very thin there and now is quite sore. I have no problem playing my bassoon as I dont use that part of my lip, thank heavens.

On another note, I got into Concordia for next year. I don't know if I will be going there but I go in...yay! I will be applying to a couple more american schools and some norwegian schools as well. This is very complicated because american schools do all the admissions a lot earlier than norwegian schools. In order to apply to a norwegian school, I must take the Bergen Test in January. It is a test to test my norwegian to make sure i will be able to get through school ok. Don't fret though. I still am not sure what I am gonna do so you guys don't need to start freaking about me being here for 4 more years , yet.

Well, that is about it for now.
Har det bra!