The International Moose

Today we met Aaron and Una (and Elvira) the brother and sister-in-law of a friend in Yellowknife (Kelly Slack). They live here in Bergen. We went to the old fort of Bergen that is 500 years old and saw the castle with the bunkers and canons. We also went to the science fair, and I went to the whale section, where I had to listen and repeat the noise that the whales made. I was a expert at Narwal noises and even got a diploma. My mom was very proud! 😍Then We went to a burger/sushi place and we all got burgers weirdly, which I thought was very non-Norwegian style.

School is going well. I did a lot of Norwegian practice before coming here, which is paying off. I have a couple of friends now. One is from Somalia and the other on is from some where else in Africa. There names are Ubdi and other one is Nigel. I like them very much. Ubdi is in 7th grade and Nigel is in 5th grade, like me. Ubdi does not talk a lot ,so I can’t say much about him. He is nice in a silent way. When I see him, he makes feel better, even if he does not speak much English. I also joined a soccer team the other night and scored a couple of times, but it was hard getting coached in Norwegian. Our team is called Djerv, which means “the bold”. We have our first real game on Thursday. Our field is outside, which means I will have to get used to playing in the rain ☔️

We do a lot of hiking and walking around in Bergen. We probably walk at least 10 kilometers each day. We’re getting strong because there are a lot of hills and mountains (see photos below)… so my mom finally caved and is letting me play Pokemon go on her phone on some of our walks. There are pokestops everywhere because Bergen is full of monuments and statues. The famous Johannes Kirkken (church) right next to our house is a gym! I have some advantages.#1, I can find Pokemon that only exist is Europe. I caught a Pokemon the other day called Mr. Mime. That makes sense because this Pokemon would be very common in France. I find it very fun to explore Bergen, and taking a phone around. Some times a Pokemon lands in very odd place like this. (See below).

 

Hope you enjoyed this week’s issue of the International Moose!

Ha det og har en god uke (good bye and have a good week)

 

 

Lucky ducks:

Since we can’t get a pet in Norway, we went to the park to feed the ducks our stale bread because I collect it now for the birds. Then I fed a couple of ducks and then suddenly, the whole pond was on me. All the ducks and all the seagulls were feasting on bread, like a parade of birds and I was happy until I ran out of bread ☹ (see video below). I think grandpa Wayne would approve of my new pets. Speaking o️f eating, in Norway there seems to be a tradition. All the stores are closed on Sunday and people can’t buy dinner. We noticed lots of people carrying pizza boxes around. So what do we do? Well, we do what the Norwegians do of course! ORDER PIZZA😛😝😜😍😍😍😜😜. Every Sunday we get take out pizza and eat it in the park (unless it’s raining). Rudi, if you ever want pizza, you know what tell your mom. PIZZA SUNDAY!!!! 🍕🍕🍕🍕

 

We put the “fun” in funicular:

We went on a hike up the Rundemanen mountain (one of 7 mountain peaks in Bergen) and it was very beautiful. A funicular (a railway that goes up the mountain) runs from town part way up the mountain. We got up as far as we could with the funicular then we hiked to the very top where we had picnic as we watched the clouds and the sunset. Mom packed us snacks and drinks and Sprite, which was for me!😋 (see below). One thing to know about Norwegian mountains is that they are FULL of TROLLS!! 👹👹👹👹👹. The sign said do not feed them. We didn’t see any, luckily, but we did see a movie called Troll Hunter. We highly recommend it!

 

What is funny is that almost EVREY SINGLE DAY so far we have gone on the same walk to the mall/ grocery store. It’s pretty boring exploring a trail and then never explore the rest of Bergen. My map of Bergen is not even half complete. This weekend we will explore more. This photo was taken around the corner from our apartment. I call it town sqaure.

MY NEW FAVOURITE: My family went to the fish market and saw a LOT of salmon. In Norway they eat a lot of fish and seafood.

 So we got an idea. My mom bought salmon and made this awsome meal. It was salmon cooked in lemon, butter, and garlic with sliced pickles on top with roasted potatoes and a very good salad. It tasted so good my face did this (see photo below). 

STARTING SCHOOL: yesterday I had my very first day of school. I did not get friends exactly, but some people were very friendly with ,me so that kind of counts. Half of It couldn’t understand but the teacher translated every thing she could into English.

Norwegian word of the week: fartslop. You may think this funny or disgusting and if you find it disturbing, don’t, because means speed slope in Norwegian. But when I saw the bridge sign, I had to share it.

Tune in next Saturday with more from the international MOOSE 👉!

Norway notes:

We arrived in Norway on the afternoon of Sunday September 4 2016. As we got out of the airport we met a friendly cab driver. As we drove to the hotel he gave me advice about getting freinds. He told me to be myself. YESTERDAY: we got in to the buffet and for Norwegian food. I mostly stuck with what I knew was good but my parents had a different idea.they finally got me to try Norwegian cheese (it’s called brunost). It tasted like peanut butter and a strand of it has 128 calories. After Breakfast, we moved are bags into a apartement that was extremely tiny. Honestly, you may think eating hot dogs and salad is bit ridiculous on our first night in Norway,but let me tell you:they eat it here like you have ever seen. Also do you know how many seven elevens they have here? There around every corner and are jam packed! There seems like there are 711 7-elevens here!