Anya woke up at midnight or so. I stayed asleep to about 3 AM before we got up and started getting more settled.
At 10 AM we walked up to Anya’s school, Giske Ungdomsskole, to meet her teacher, Jan Magne Johansen. He was very welcoming and said that the class was excited to meet Anya! He clarified what we hoped to get out of this educational experience, and I think he was encouraged that our focus was learning Norwegian and a cultural exchange. Most of Anya’s prior school work has covered the content she will see this spring semester, but she’ll be doing it in her third language.
I’m just pleased that in this lower secondary school for 8-10th grade is homeroom based. So, Anya will have Mr. Johansen and the same students for what seems to be about half of her classes (not math, PE, art, or Spanish). So, it will be easier for Anya to make friends.
On the way back, we took a little walk to the grocery story and explored this cross-cultural experience. Our Norwegian is limited, but we figured out mostly what we wanted. Anya has an intriguing description on her blog. http://recentlyrelocatedtonorway.blogspot.no/
It is tough staying awake this afternoon, so I went for a walk to downtown Sandnes, which is about 1 km (.6 miles) away downhill, toward the fjord. There’s a section that has been closed to traffic and makes a nice walking promenade with a collection of shops and restaurants. It was pretty quiet mid afternoon on a Monday.
We’re really dragging now and will be crashing tonight at 5 PM, which is 2 hours later than Anya made it to yesterday! Tomorrow we’re off to immigration!
With blessings,
Beth