2nd Week of November

My life here in Norway seems to be taking a comfortable turn for the better. I have not been feeling hectically home sick lately and i feel like i am at peace with myself. I have accepted my new life here which even though is not surrounding by all the people i love and care about so deeply. Its still surrounded by kind people who i care about more and more everyday. Its getting close to the end of my Norwegian classes and must say i am still not confident with my Norwegian at all, well 4 months later i can only say 'my name is Nelly' and 'i come from South Africa' not very good hey. I guess when you are surrounded by people who speak the language so well you almost become very intimidated to even try. I know this is not within my character, because i always believe in trying and making a fool out yourself in the process but language is a different story.

My social life has had a bit of a turn these last few weeks. I went to a concert by one of the top South African artist Tumi and the Volumes. I don't remember when last i had such a good time, it felt great to be able to dance the night away and just have fun. I know for a fact that i want to do Oslo nightlife more often than not. I also had dinner at one of my colleagues houses yesterday, and then we went mountain climbing. We had the Norwegian traditional dish which includes meatballs, potatoes, greens and gravy. This is a dish that i gave come to encounter in alot of occasions, and for the record i don't mind it because i think its great. We then went mountain climbing and found a short steep hill that was good enough for a beginner like me, it felt great to climb to the top but its a pity i cant say the same about going down. I learnt a few tricks about climbing yesterday, thanks to my very informed companion. The trick of going down is to go with legs first unsteadying of the norm where you find balance with your hands. Its also important to keep the rope tight at all times, to find a solid tree to tie your rope on and last but certainly not least to have a good companion at the bottom who can hold your weight should anything happen. I am now looking forward to trying out skying.

The work aspect, we have just finished 'Fire and Flames' and personally i think everything went fantastic. I got to learn how to make Tapas over a fire, i was really amazed at how much you can cook over a fire. It was certainly amazing. I also did my HIV/AIDS badge presenation which i think went well, i just hope that when i do speak about this subject to people they don't feel like oh well it would never happen to me because that is where the power of this diseases lies. Everyone always thinks it can never happen to them until it does and they don't have sufficient knowledge about it. I also received a short crash course on Microsoft Designer yesterday from Ragnighd, when i was assisting her in putting together a poster for the Christmas Campaign. I will be sending out my invitation letters soon to all the scout groups in Oslo, so i look forward to meeting new people and sharing some of my country with them.

I know i have not been posting any pictures lately, but i will try to very soon.