Don't wanna be here? Send us removal request.
Statistics
We looked inside some of the posts by elsaeckhardt-blog and here's what we found interesting.
Average Info
Notes Per Post
8
Likes Per Post
8
Reblog Per Post
0
Reply Per Post
0
Time Between Posts
4 days
Number of Posts By Type
Photo
11
Text
6
Last Seen Tumblr Blogs
Fun Fact
Tumblr has a low social media market share in South America.
Text
18 mai Pt. 3 - Bergen!
On the weekend of the fifth I visited a fellow exchange student, Nicole, in Bergen!
Nicole is on exchange with Explorius and the Aspect Foundation like me. She is from San Francisco and has been in Bergen since August (she was originally only supposed to be here for one semester but loved it so much decided to stay the whole year :)). We had chatted about visiting one another for a while and it worked out that I could come to Bergen on her birthday weekend! It was a blast :)
I took a plane after school on Friday directly from Ć
lesund to Bergen (it only took about 40 minutes) and was met by Nicole and her boyfriend in the airport. We hadnāt met in person yet so it was really cool to find her in the airport and immediately connect š After settling in we went to the center of the city for the night and her host parents showed me this beautiful overlook of the city. We took a gondola to the top of the second largest mountain in Bergen and ate at a restaurant on the top. It was a stunning evening to see the city- the weather was perfect. We even saw someone paraglide off the top!
The next day Nicole wanted to show me a little more of Bergen, so we took the tram into the city and went to a little carnival, shopped a bit and saw some key tourist points of interest. It was a really beautiful place and actually reminded me a little bit of Copenhagen. The colors of the buildings were bright and the city was filled with people. There were noisy outdoor markets on the sides of the streets and bands playing every hour. It was gorgeous weather too which made everything seem more exciting.
Later that evening Nicole had a birthday party, and it was awesome to meet some more Norwegians, especially because I have really only met people from Ć
lesund. It was super special to celebrate with her!
I had to leave pretty early the next day, so after breakfast we took the tram to the airport and she saw me off to my plane. I made it home in less than in hour which is pretty amazing to think about.
It was a wonderful weekend and experience and Iām so grateful to Nicole and her family!! <3
0 notes
Text
18 mai Pt. 2 - Peterās Conformation
A couple weeks after pĆ„ske ferie I was lucky enough to attend a Norwegian confirmation!! My ālille brorā (little brother) Peter, Elisabethās little brother, not to be confused with my older brother Peter from America (jeez confusing stuffš
) had his conformation on Saturday, April 29th.
Conformation in Norway is similar to Catholic conformations that happen in the US, except they are not necessarily Catholic, just Christian, and pretty much everyone has them. It seems that the focus is more on a right of passage than religion. To get confirmed you must attend classes for a year leading up to your conformation. They happen during the weekends mainly in May.
The day began in a beautiful church with many people, probably about 500. A Christian band began the ceremony with some upbeat songs, then a video was played that gave a little insight as to what they had done over the past year. This was followed by the individual conferments (there were about 15) performing a short play/singing. They were then each confirmed with a special individual prayer, and that was it in the church. It was really cool because I got given a headset with someone translating the whole program into English. Afterwards each family went to the space they rented for the day to eat/celebrate.
Peterās family rented a space in the same church we were in earlier. We ate a big dinner and dessert, small talked, played a quiz about Peter, took photos and watched a slideshow. Throughout the whole day everyone wore either suits or bunads (traditional Norwegian clothing) which was really beautiful to see. It was a lovely to talk with everyone and be in such good company on this special day! Gratulerer lille bror!
love love, elsa :)
0 notes
Text
18 mai Pt 1. - PĆ„ske ferie
The last time I recapped on life here in Norway was early April, right before Easter break (or PĆ„ske ferie in Norwegian). In Norway, Easter represents both a religious holiday as well as a 9 day vacation for everyone, working or in school. My family went to Oslo for our pĆ„ske ferie to visit my brother, Eirik. It was really neat to visit another big city in Norway, as I hadnāt been far outside of Ć
lesund before. Here is a day-by-day of what we did :)
9 april: So my family drove to Oslo as opposed to taking a plane, which took about 8 hours one way. On the way we drove through Lillehammer and checked out the old Olympic ski jump. Lillehammer was a pretty calm place, and more quaint than I was expecting. We didnāt make too many more stops on the way because we wanted to get to Oslo ASAP! We got there late that night and met Eirik. This was the first time my host parents saw his apartment, so it was super exciting to visit with him and get a first glimpse of the city.
10 april: We got a late start to the day without any real plans, which was very different than the version of āvacationingā I was used to- in America Iām used to packing in as much as possible when visiting a specific place, so it was foreign to me to wake up at 11 am without any pressure to get out of the door. When we did get out of the door, we walked to the mall near Eirikās apartment (which was pretty freaking big) and poked around for a little bit. Soon after we headed to popular tourist attraction in Oslo, the Holmenkollen Ski Jump. We walked up the jump and then into a museum/gift shop. The museum was so, so cool, as it showcased the history of Nordic skiing. After checking out the museum we took an elevator-type-thing to the roof looking over the jump where you could see completely over Oslo. It was a stunning day and it gave me a really special perspective of the whole city. The rest of day was spent relaxing, and after dinner we went on a trip into the city to see the lights and streets at night. We saw the Opera House and a drove to an overlook of the city (fun fact: if youāve heard of the Norwegian TV series āSkamā, the scene of Nora and William on their first date on the bench was the same place we visited ;)). Beautiful night with my beautiful family!
11 april: The next day we took it easy and slept in again, and after breakfast Frida and I took a tram into the city. We shopped a little bit and saw the Kingās palace and grounds, which was free for all to walk around and see (not inside the palace but everywhere outside). It was magnificent! We also began chatting with a local who happened to be originally from Ć
lesund and had lived as a hippy-musician in New York for a few years in the 70s. Small world! Frida and I went to a hole-in-the-wall spa and got Thai massage after taking tram after tram looking for the place. It was fun adventuring around such a spectacular city so independently. We took a train to our cousinās apartment after dinner and visited for a bit with the whole family. I noticed that although my grammar was still pretty broken when I spoke Norwegian, I understand about 75% of whatever conversation was going on. In the month and a half since then my Norwegian has improved (I hope), but it is pretty cool that just being surrounded by a new language has taught me so much so quickly. We drove back to Eirikās after chatting and eating until late hours and got some rest :)
12 april: Unfortunately we had to head home on the 12th, but before we did so we stopped at a place called Eidsvoll Building, which was where the Norwegian constitution was signed in 1814. The building wasnāt open but we read a little about it on the signs/statues around it. We then head home and said our goodbyes to the capital.
Although we werenāt in Oslo for very long, it was a really awesome experience. The rest of vacation once we were home was just that, vacation :) It was nice to relax with friends and family <3
One difference I wanted to point out was that in America we celebrate Easter Sunday with a family dinner and church (typically), but here the whole vacation was kind of that celebration. We (Frida and I) got little eggs filled with godteri (candy) at one point during vacation, and there were little Easter decorations in our house, but otherwise there wasnāt one big day dedicated to celebrating like there is in the U.S.
Part 2 might be kind of delayed (like this post- sorry sorry!) because my host family and I are going on a trip to our hytta in Geiranger for the next five days :)
love love, elsa <3
0 notes
Text
18 mai: HELLO!!
Hello again!! It has been quite a while since Iāve posted about things that have happened here, both daily and big events, so expect a āminiseriesā over the next few days! Ā
<3 <3Ā
Elsa
0 notes
Text
24 april: Moments
hei igjen :)
One thing that has been in the back of my mind over these past few weeks is the concept of the constant motion of daily life and how big of a role it has played in my study abroad adventure, so I thought Iād write to it a little bit.
The idea that every moment is fleeting is pretty cliche, but Iāve found it to be incredibly significant in my life, especially since January when I first arrived here. Not to sound pretentious (forewarning this post might sound pretty pretentious), but studying abroad has given me a total different awareness of time.
I first gained this awareness in a sense of weeks and months. When studying abroad, one lives a different life for a specific period of time: a set amount of weeks and months. Of course this time frame isnāt so black and white, as studying abroad played a role in my life before I came here and will continue to once I leave, but there is a day you come, and a day you go. I came on January 8th, I go on June 28th.
I canāt help but think about the numerical amount of days and months Iāve lived this newfound life, and how much more of it is left. There is something so fascinating about looking at a calendar and contemplating the numbers of an experience, seeing how many days of memories have been filled and the exact amount of days there are left to be filled with memories.
It is crazy how one day can feel like an eternity, and how one month and can feel like a week. Of course Iāve experienced this perception of time in Vermont, but when there is a set date that your new life in another part of a world, absolutely separate from your previous life, will come to a halt in a matter of hours, this perception of time is more prominent.
It wasnāt until last month that I realized how precious this time was, and how the moments I experienced on those specific days on that specific week of that month on the calendar were just that- moments. There is a start date and an end date to this exchange, but the moments in between are a blur, a jumble of thoughts and happenings thatāve occurred in said span of time.
Of course these moments are special simply enough because I am absorbing a new culture, but they are special on a more personal scale because after these next two months, I will never return to this life in Norway in the same way. I know I will always be welcomed back here with open arms, but it will only be a visit. I wonāt go to school with my class (and now close friends), go to training for fotball or spend a koselig evening at someoneās house with godteri until early hours. These people I have formed such strong bonds with play such a big role in my life right now, and it is strange to think that naturally I wonāt have the same contact with them once Iām in the US again. While it may sound like I am just complaining that I am eventually saying goodbye, the reason I am expressing this timeframe is because it has made me appreciate what Iāve gotten to experience here with deeper meaning.
In recent years Iāve realized how vital gratitude is to maintain a healthy mind, but it hasnāt been until this exchange that it has clicked. The subconscious flow of seasons and school years in America have given me little time to truly reflect on how important a mere hour can be. Having the slight amount of pressure in the back of my mind that this exchange will ultimately end has made me think about living in the present a little more thoroughly.
Every moment and experience is 100% unique, whether that moment is good, bad or indifferent. There are memories and photos, but it is physically impossible to truly live that experience with all six senses again. In a way, that blows my mind.
I am so thankful for having the six senses to write this entry right now, to have experienced what I have and whatever I will in the future.
Thank you so much for reading, sorry if this entry sounded kinda preachy :)
love, elsa <3
2 notes
Ā·
View notes
Text
4 april - p.s.
I have failed to mention this earlier, but to look at the photos so they correspond with the text read them from the furthest group down (closest to the text) from top to bottom/right to left then scroll up to the next group :)
1 note
Ā·
View note
