Endings - Nostalgia

It's a time for endings. The year is winding down (although it may seem like it's winding UP to many people in the run up to christmas) and we're all a bit tired and cold.

Today I took an exam. Not just any exam though, it was the exam for my beloved Fjords and Glaciers course, marking the end of an important 4 (and a bit) months. Although it was only a 30 minute oral exam which involved talking about my experiences on the course and what I will be taking away from it, examined by two of my closest teachers who are just like friends by now, it has a certain feeling of unrest or dissatisfaction.

The last 4 months have been a time I'll never forget, due to having done so much and had such strong experiences. To name a few:

• 4 main trips (I was only on 3) - Canoe, Mountain, Glacier and Sailing (which I wasn't on).
• Teaching practice in Kindergarden, the Norwegian school system (1st and 4th Grade) and Leirskule (camp-school).
• Teaching at a children's festival (Barn er Bra).

Of which I have only written about the festival so far. I will actually update the Blog with the reports from my trips and various other activities in an edited form for ease of reading. These trips and activities have all been together with my class of 14 (including myself) international students from:

• The Netherlands - 3
• Belgium - 3
• Denmark - 1
• Australia - 1
• USA - 1
• Norway - 2
• Spain (The Basque Country) - 2
• England (me!) - 1

Of course when you do all this stuff with a group like this, you are forced into situations where you must work together, so the group has become very tight and has been praised for working the most efficiently of any Fjords and Glaciers class of any year to date! Our teachers are impressed with how the group has ended up as one single unit instead of fragmented into sub-groups which has happened most years. Also, each of us had something special to contribute to the group and I will get around to these different personalities later as well.

Tonight was our official "Fjords and Glaciers Party" and some goodbyes were necessary as some people are leaving early tomorrow morning, whereas others are leaving on Saturday and one is staying a bit longer. All of them have said they'll return to Norway at some point and everyone agrees that a reunion would be fun in a couple of years.

Time is a little short right now though so I will come back soon with more details from the Fjords and Glaciers 2010 course!