Peek-a-BOO!!

fun news for this week, since my student visa still has not processed, i am now an illegal immigrant! yay! I hope everything processes quickly. I don't want to have to go to Sweden for a bit. I don't know how long I would have to be there.

Men men, week number 4 flew by. I can hardly remember what I did!

In class we took a day to learn how to do stage make-up. That was fun. But hard. Sometimes when people are very into what they are doing, they don't have time or energy to translate for me. And since everyone was putting on make-up, it was really hard to get what we were suppose to do next. I feel bad that they even need to translate for me. it's not their job to do such a thing. So nice they are to try when they can. Anyways, make up was fun. We also started working on something else, that I am not allowed to talk about yet in case HEDMARKTOPPEN PEOPLE read this. Which apparently some of them do. Which i think is weird. =P silly Norwegians. But anyways, I will tell you guys all about that later.

Um...lemme think. This week i have had a really hard time focusing on God. I am quite homesick, so it is very easy for my thoughts to just go to home and how much i miss everyone, especially Tom. But i am gonna try to get into the word more this week. Hope i can do it!

So today we went to a local hockey game. The team is called the Storhamar Dragons. We all went as a school and cheered and what not. It was a lot of fun. In choir on Thursday we had learned all the fun cheers, so we were prepared today. All of the "environmental workers" had shirts and stuff. Perhaps I will get a scarf if we keep going. But that was fun. My first hockey game that i have never been to. What kind of northerner am i??

Also this morning i made "american breakfast" for myself and 4 others. We had friend eggs, bacon, toast, orange juice, and dunn brother's coffee. SOOO good. I missed fired eggs. Every day we have bread with different spreads and toppings for breakfast, lunch (for most of the days) and kveldsmat (their fourth meal of the day).

This week i got to know some more people. Which is good! more friends=happier boo! That's how i roll. =D

Thanks everyone for the prayers and support. much love!!
FIN

So i guess i never did write about my second week here. Well basically what you need to know is that i made some friends, started learning Norwegian grammar, got used to class more, and now have a prayer group every night in the super cool prayer room. That's a good summery i guess. =D

So this week i had kitchen duty. Having worked at the kitchen staff of trout before, i figured it would be no big deal, even fun. Turns out it was super difficult and tiring. There were fun parts, like serving the food during Middag. But since norwegians have 4 meals, it felt like i spent FOREVER there. Dishing really was horrid. The dish room they have i not efficient at all. I think they usually have the sprayer scrub the pots and pans. sooo slow. Plus i had to wake up at 6:30am every day. laaame. So my week was mostly a blur of kitchen duty, classes, and being tired. I had to time to hang around friends, so i also got kinda depressed. And since i was so tired i never had to energy to try and learn more norwegian. Which makes me feel bad. So this week was a hard week. But at the end of today i am DONE with kitchen duty and get back to normal life! YAY!

so as long as my update on the week was so short, why don't i share some about Hedmarktoppen to get you a bigger picture of what life here is like.

Hedmarktoppen is actually an old resort that was turned into a school. It is placed on the top of a hill (as the name implies if you know what it means). At the bottom of the hill is the town of Hamar. You may know the place from the Olympics many years ago. Hamar is your typical European-style small town. A mixture of super boring, and super fun, as well as super cute. I actually find the greatest amusement going to grocery stores and seeing all the weird food. Well not super weird. But still weird and different. I found Topicana Orange Juice! Apparently it is the most expensive juice you can get here. Kinda funny.

Anyways, like i said the school is on top of a hill, so the view is beautiful, as i said before. It overlooks the biggest lake in norway (which i forgot the name of at this moment). Even though fall is totally coming there are flowers everywhere. Norwegian flowers are hardcore. It's super pretty.

Here at Toppen there are 150ish students, plus staff. There are many different lines you can take. Acting, Music, Dance, Sports/Camping, X-sport, Snowboard, Creative, and Disciple Training. My class has 10 students...i think....plus 2 "environmental workers". I quote "environmental worker" cuz that would be the direct translation, but in reality it is something quite different from what that sounds like. They are young people who have been at the school a previous year, who help out in a specific line (or as i just found out, area). The two workers in my class are named Janne and Erlend. Janne is pronounced with a Y and Erlend says his name so weird so i just call him Ireland.

The food here is interesting. Some i expected, some i didn't. Most of the meat is processed, and dinners tend to be meat based. Needless to say, one could not easily be a vegetarian here. It's usually taste, but sometimes it's a bit to processed meat filled for my taste.

So yeah. that's a broad idea of what Toppen is. More later i guess.

FIN

So I totally forgot to write something for last week. I am gonna update every Sunday. Sooo I will just post about last week now and this week tomorrow. Sounds good!!

So the first week was very very hard for me. I felt so clueless and alone. But I was able to make friends. Thank GOODNESS that all norwegians know english! I was able to get to know people even though i only knew basic basic norwegian. good stuff.
On Tuesday we went on a trip to the mountains! We went to a small town (small even for norway) called Hemsedal. It was BEAUTIFUL! I have pictures up on my facebook. I took a lot. maybe too many....naw. The first day we had a bunch of initiatives in groups. It was good, cuz it forced us to meet people outside of our lines. And it was a lot of fun. The next day we went climbing in the mountains. There were 4 trips, 1=easy and 4=most difficult. I went on the 2nd one to the top of a water fall. It was BEAUTIFUL! Some of my group stopped at the water fall, but I went on with another part of my group up higher it the mountains. The view was stunning. Then a group turned back around and another group continued on. We went around the lake that provided the water for the falls. That was fun, but the Director of the school was leading that and he walked very fast. I felt like i was running. We left for home (Hedmarktoppen that is) the next morning. It was quite fun, but it was super nice to be back.
Class started on Friday. In class I was scared to death that my teacher hated me because I could not speak more English. But the I was able to talk to her about my fears and we got that all straightened out. She said she does not mind at ALL that i need translation. she just wants to encourage me to learn. which i understand.

everybody is very supportive with the learning norwegian thing. I still feel super stupid, but they say i am learning at a good pace. I feel like a cheat every time i speak english or let someone speak english to me. but i do need to develop friendships as well. it's all kinda confusing.

In general the first week as very hard, but the Lord got me though it. He is giving me the grace everyday to help me learn norwegian. I owe a lot to him.

thanks for your prayers and your love!!

Well i am here in Norway and all moved into Hedmarktoppen. It is hard not knowing the language. I feel very left out of conversations, and i think a lot of people are scared of me. Just as i am scared of them. Hamar is beautiful, and the view from Toppen is just wonderful. People are kind to me, though i feel my american-ness and the speaking english annoys them. who knows. i say a lot of awkward things. My mom left today, and it was very hard, it made me cry. A lot of my time here has been spent fighting back tears. It is very hard being far from home, not knowing the language, and having terrible jet lag. or whatever that is called. But the Lord is good and he will have grace on me. Prayer is much appreciated, as is notes of love. I am on skype when i can, booannej, and checking my e-mail often, boojohnston@gmail.com.

The first week shall be hard. i hope it will get better. Maybe once actual classes start. Love!

FIN

So i leave for Norway on Thursday. It's kinda crazy. I am actually going. Life has been crazy. I had my going away party (THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO CAME!) and I have been hanging out with friends while I still can. I still have to pack, that's what I plan on doing all Wednesday. I am spending every evening with Tom, which I am sure is making him quiet tired. But this time I don't care. Muahahaha! =D So yeah, leaving soon. I plan on updating you all (all meaning either people who actually read this or the empty space of the internet) at least once a week while I am away. Hopefully I will have good stories to share about adventures and how the Lord is working in my life.

So in these for days before I go, I have a few prayer requests.
1. that the Lord would prepare my heart and that I would be strong leaving my friends and family and (hardest of all) my boyfriend, Tomas.
2. that Norwegian would come easily for me.
3. for safe travel.
4. that the Lord would provide people in Norway that can be a support system for me right away. (also that Tom would have the same thing.)


Thank you for your prayers/good vibes (as I know not all my friends believe what I believe). Sorry that I cannot hang out with every single person before I go. You shall be missed!

OH PS!
Skype!! My name on skype is booannej
find me. add me. we shall talk (if we can)

So I had somewhere around 43 days left in the US last I counted a few days ago. It's a coming up! I was reading my last post and goodness is the Lord GOOD! Since then i have been in contact with about 4 people that will be going to Toppen at the same time. I am excited to meet them. It is so nice to know a few people before hand. ^_^ Still kinda stuck in the money department, but it's okay. I CAN use my savings, i just didn't want to. But it's all good. My family is moving right now into a small small house, so i've started thinking about what i can put in storage while i am gone, or trying to find people to take things like dishes and my couch. Trying to find a place for my bird, Peony. I may just have to ditch tom with her. We'll see. It's nice to get my things in order so that it will be easier to pack and such later on.

well, better keep packing for the move.

FIN

So i have gone through a lot of craziness about Norway. emotionally i mean. excitement. stress. terror. sadness. anxiousness. joy. but for the past month i have been terrified. I am scared to death about leaving my love, Tomas, behind. Fears of feel so so so alone. fears of teachers being annoyed that i don't know Norwegian. Fears that some of the kids are gonna dislike me because i am American. Basically, i am afraid of the first 3 months. But, i am starting to get better. I have been encouraged by many friends that have helped me deal with some of my fears. I think what i really need to do is pray.

I do know people in Norway, and a family right near my school. But i need to pray that the Lord will give me friends there BEFORE i even go there! or kindred spirits that i will be able to befriend easily. especially my room mate!! i really need to pray away these fears and have faith in the LORD that He will help me through it all. I have seriously considered canceling the trip because i am SO SCARED! But fear is not a good reason. I am pretty darn confident that going to Norway is what the LORD wants me to do. Mr. Buttface Satan is trying to scare me away from it!!! man, that means i MUST go! if Satan does not want me to do it, that means GOOD will come out of it.


i need focus and prayer in my life. i need a support group here to prepare me for Norway, but i don't know who to turn to. Please! if you feel like you would be willing to help me prepare spiritually for this trip to Norway, tell me!! cuz i really have no clue who to ask.

FIN!