bye bye.

Today I said goodbye to my dear Katie. Top 3 saddest goodbyes ever.

lonely?

Here is the photo series I worked on with Andre. The tape says "I'm fine." and on the person next it says "Thanks."

We really liked our final product.

pox.

Ken Robin got the chicken pox. poor guy.

It brought back a flood of memories when I had the chicken pox, and my mom taking care of me. I had so much fun counting them with her and taking baths with oatmeal. It was a terrible test of self control, wanting so badly to scratch and itch and itch. I remember wiggling all through my body trying so had not to! I had to wear mittens to bed.

Most tragically, I missed my kindergarden musical, in which I was the star, the blue flower! oh well.

I got them from the Smithwick kids! I strategic play date made by the mothers. So funny.

thanks mama.

Intermission.

I don't know, but I will find a new dance somewhere along the way.

I don't, I don't know, but I will find a dance, somewhere along the way, way, way, way.

Spinning in circles all around you, I got my tangled hair behind me and my arms free to surround you together only, falling into loves imperfection leaving this evening with my heart and both my shoes.

Melancholy moments come, hope will need restored in time.

It doesn't hurt if I am numb.

I point my toes, tilt my head and keep a steady grin, oh if I could only keep a sure and steady balance. As the moon light shows, I will dance alone. As the moon light shows I will dance.

Take my bow.

Tonight I will sing these words with Alida as Hanna dances for the Grand Finale.

i like.

I like writing lists of wonderful things.

the smell of cedar. old chairs. cold pizza. cosy time. lace. presents with bows and for no reason. Indian tea. good books. tile that has real color like deep blue and red. chocolate made by German speakers. berries and grapes. when you can feel the creativity and forward thinking oozing out of someone. a good day dream. when someone gives me their old clothes because they want me to be the one to wear them and like them. turkey turkey. learning a new doodle. pleasant sounding laughter. three year olds. running to somewhere. good sketches. the idea of decorating for a party. a new weird song. patterned skirts, leggings, and pants. accents. daisies, dandelions, and sunflowers. if you are still reading this you are a champ.

Profound.

I am reading this guy's book "Crazy Love" right now.

umm...knock knock

We be awesome.

Katie and Sadie.

ending.

Currently, I am fading out. I have taking all the pictures and art off of my wall and cleaned out the closet. I started putting things in m suitcase and it is really nice, a bit premature considering I will be here for 2 more weeks but I got motivated and I feel it is natural. I need a long time to process things so I guess it is good to start early.
A bitter sweetness is coming over these last days with my sweet friends. We are all excited for the reunions we will have at home, but we know that we won't be seeing each other again and most likely the community that we have here will be very hard to find again.

Tomorrow we will display our Loneliness Projects at the cafe and the rest of the week we will have teaching on "Keep the Fire Burning".

I don't know if I said this or not, but I didn't get to make my final project due to the inability to walk and I was sick, as we say it here "I have spiders in my throat and cotton in my head." I have been in bed for two weeks, therefore no film. Super sad! It was going to be my last art piece.

Okay, this is really depressing.

There, there...

latest Norwegian experiences.

Eurovision: each country in Europe sends a singer or group to a competition. It is outrageous, and I got totally into it. Youtube, Eurovision. I was super disappointed with the winners though.

17th of May: Basically this is Independence Day. The tradition is watch the parade, wear traditional dress, and the kids get to eat as much ice cream and hot dogs as they can. I was more into Eurovision, but get a bunch of Norwegians all dressed up and they are a beautiful sight to see...

the randoms of today.

Well, this weekend I made a video with my dear Aubrey for her 1 year mark of dating her boyfriend. I find it pretty hilarious. Find it here.

Today, I saw the cutest kid in the word, Jeanette Marie and she had a shovel with a long shovel and was pretending it was her crutch... She wants to be like me! So cute! I wish I could bring her home.

I started actively working my final project today. I went and bought some pots and plants, so that they can be destroyed and I shot a little bit when the rain finally subsided.

Currently, I am sitting in the studio recording the song that I am doing my video to with Brian and Alida.

Tomorrow is 17th of May with is NORWAY day. So we eat a lot of fabulous food, go to a parade, and dress up.

splash.

A swimming endeavor back in Vienna.

medical records.

Okay, so here you can kinda see the day after damage...

and also that I haven't shaved for a bit, minor detail.

from my toes to midcalf, lots of swelling. and bruising.

smash.

On the way to play a lovely game of soccer, I decided it was a good idea to test out Andre's new and improved longboard ...so after a two second long board endeavor, I sprained my ankle. Unfortunately, it wasn't one of those cutesy sprains that you wrap in an ace bandage and hoble around till you forget about it like in 1st grade. It swelled up in 10 minutes to a nice round ankle (estimation, half a tenis ball), so today I am on crutches and hoping to be rid of them in a couple days. I have gone through more Tylenol then I do in a year and feel quite useless.
Prayers for a good night sleep tonight and good humor as relay my not so flattering story.

"I'm out"

Today we played some volleyball... then.

I went swimming in the sea.

Behind a factory.

Fully clothed.

repeat 3 times.
I forgot it was salty.

The ladder we climbed up was super sketchy and we all got barnacle cuts.

It was quite delightful and I got some crazy out of my blood.

Then we rolled down a hill.

Then I left, by myself suddenly. Only saying a quick "I'm out." I guess no one really heard me. I think I have a brain malfunction of some sort because I do this. Totally engaged one second and then abruptly I feel the need to leave, in that minute. Impulsive and unpredictable, generally it comes off as rude or moodiness, both wrong but understandable and two qualities which I would rather not be associated with.

home.

in exactly 1 month,

I will put my two feet on Alaska's face.

woohoo.

music: HOME by Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeros

(This has been a favorite for a while but now it is my most favoritest.)

reverse.

When you look up synonyms for reverse, a thesaurus will give you: backward, invert, upside down, turn inside out, swap, switch, veto, and over ride. But none of them mean the exact same.
I am experiencing reverse culture shock, but it isn't completely reverse because this isn't my home culture either. To make matters more complicated I am in a multicultural home and all 25 of us are experiencing the same thing.

Over all it is splendid to be reunited with my lovely friends, to have a closet, and feel at home. However, when I am alone I feel quite restless. This morning I awoke to two sick and sleeping roommates. I wanted to shower and get dressed but I couldn't choose from my closet, I wanted to pull my dirty clothes from outreach out of the hamper. I wanted the all too familiar jeans that I had worn nearly everyday on outreach because I no longer had the capacity to choose. Then I got super sad over this and stood, just standing, looking, into a closet full of clothing. Then I stared at Katie, willing her to wake up so she could instruct me on what to wear. This didn't work and by then I was incredibly confused and frustrated at being "such a girl" and have problems with a simple task that I got back into bed.

Another time today, I felt so out of place, I wanted to run away but I couldn't think of a single place I desired to go. So my cure was to watch a tv show on the internet for some free entertainment and a way to get my mind to stop.

I was feeling weird earlier so I talked with my friends and hung out, we are sharing our experiences and so confused about what was good and what was hard. Today was up and down and all around, it was suggested by Jostein that I write about is, so here it is, maybe you can make sense of the jabber.
hadet bra.

mmm what you say.

She asked me,"Deutsch or English."

I responded, "Yes."

doneions.

Outreach is over. Tomorrow, I will fly to Norway.

We have been doing debriefing in a cabin in the hills of Austria for 3 days.

It was really delightful! This morning, we were met at our door by a cute band dressed in traditional Austrian clothes! Each May 1st they go to each house and play for the people living there! It was the most lovely surprise!

Today, we drove back to Vienna, I drove for part of the time. It was quite fun to be behind the wheel again, but quite weird to drive a 9 passenger, crapped out van in a foreign country and guessing exactly what the signs mean, but I only did the easy part in the middle on A1 the whole time.

I am ready to go home to my home away from home, but so glad for the time we had. One more month and I will be flying home to AK. Time flies when you are having fun!

So, there it is outreach behind me, we have done so many different things: a program for previously homeless men, feeding people on the street, street art and evangelism, teaching about art and prophetic, youth groups, concerts, children's program, working at a coffee house, refugee camps, and my personal favorite (trumpet noise) English Club!