Hei frå Norge! (This is probably the last time I will be writing that for a while!) My IFYE experience ends in 2 days...I am shocked! I cannot believe how fast the last six months has passed! It seems like only yesterday that I was landing in Stockholm, Sweden very excited and anxious for my IFYE trip to begin! It is truly hard to believe that I will be flying back to Kansas so soon! I also never imagined what wonderful experiences and great people that I would encounter during my trip! It has been so amazing!

The last few days of my trip have been just as exciting as the first few days! Now that December is upon us, everyone is beginning to get the Christmas spirit! In Norway, they celebrate Advent during the 24 days before Christmas! I have had the opportunity to participate in a few of their traditions and activities in preparation for Christmas! We decorated the house with purple decorations, stars, lights, and candles for the Advent period. I also helped prepare the Advent calendar for the children in the family. For the calendar, small gifts are wrapped up for of the 24 days before Christmas. The gifts are usually tied on a calendar and each one is opened on the specific day. The kids are very excited about this tradition!

Christmas music concerts are also very popular! There are concerts of many different types of music. Over the weekend, I attended two different concerts with my host parents. Astrid and I went to a choir concert at a nearby church. The sang many Christmas songs in Norwegian and even some in English! It was very pretty! Tor Olav and I attended a Christmas concert of another type, we went to the D.D.E. concert. This is a band that is well known in Norway and they often have rock music and comedy during their shows. Most of the concert was in Norwegian, so I did not understand everything, but it was still really good! I enjoyed hearing the Norwegian songs and the band was very active during the show! It has been very interesting to learn about many of the traditions that Norwegians participate in for the holiday season!

Going home to my family and friends and everyday life will be great! I am really excited! But leaving the Solberg-Brandtzæg family and the exciting life as an IFYE will be difficult! Their family has been very welcoming and I have really enjoyed living with them and getting to know them all! I know it is going to be sad to say goodbye, just as it was very hard to leave all of my host families! I will be back to visit though!

I would once again like to thank everyone for all of the help and support that made my IFYE experience possible! The experiences have been invaluable and my views of the world have been remarkably expanded! I could not have done it alone! Thank you all! Love you and see you soon! --Martha