goo yool oh goat nitt oar

Once again, I find myself pulled northwards into the part of Norway everyone - except for those who live here - forgets about. But this is the best part of Norway...both the darkest and the lightest, both the coldest (temperatures) and the warmest (people), both the northernmost and the southernmost (if you turn the globe upside down.) It is a long bus-ride to get here from Tromsø, but the 500 kroner I save by not flying is good for the "poor student" budget. My whole AFS family lives up here, as well as my "contact" family, which makes for lots of laughter and "coziness" - as they say here. Kari, my host sis, has moved home from Stockholm after three years...it is great to see her again. We, along with Greta, Bjarne, Hilde and Eigir (what a cute little dude) decorated the tree this afternoon and commenced the approximately five days straight of eating. Mmmmmmm.

Merry Christmas, everyone. I wish I could be two places at once, but I don't expect teleportation to become a reality before 2057...at least. Until then, I'm sending warm holiday wishes in all directions.

And happy 2006!

R