I'm Well Aware Of How It Aches

Every time I see an airplane in the sky it makes me think of home, of how it was to fly here, and how it's gonna be to fly back home. It's the strangest feeling of them all, and I just disconnect with reality and lose myself in thoughts. The fact is that I'm trying not to think of home, friends, family, and how much I miss it all. No matter how hard I try though, it doesn't work, there's always something reminding me of everything. This doesn't mean that I'm in constant agony, or that I'm not having the time of my life... 'Cause I am, it's just hard. The feeling I've got now, after only one month is indescribable. You might think you know, but you don't. I'm sure you've all been gone for a month from your home, but that's not the hard part.

The hard part is knowing that I won't be home for another 9 months, that everything here is new. The food they eat, the things they say, the language they speak, even the way they act amongst each other is different. That I lost 1-2 kg the first weeks I was here proves how hard it was for me to settle in here in the first place. I'm extremely happy that I have slept a lot better lately though! It feels great to sleep 7 hours with only awakening one or two times instead of every hour. So I'm happy about how most things are evolving to the better. I've gotten more than enough friends (at least from my point of view) and I've got a proper American life.

Enough of thoughts! Haha. Today I was at my first football game, which was amazing. We won like 63 -6 over Madison, or something like that. Seriously, we crushed them. Go Trojans. If you're reading Pål, everyone here makes fun of the fact that Trojan is a condom brand here xD  The game was so American, cheerleaders, football players, star spangled banner, yeah just everything. It's kinda retarded how the cheerleaders here think they're better than everyone else. And also, if you don't wanna try out to be a cheerleader you can pay 3000 dollars to get into the team... What the fuck. So they're mostly rich girls, or really talented girls who made it through the try outs. Oh America, you so retarded. Yeah that's another thing, you'd think everyone in America is like "aw yeah, amuurrica is the best country" but no, most people I talk to here say "America is a fucked up place, the government sucks" and the teachers here make fun of the fact that Americans don't use the metric system. Quoting both my Physics teacher and my Chemistry teacher "why do we use feet, oz, lbs etc? Because we're stupid."  Yeah didn't say it exactly like that, but seriously, they really do make fun of America like that xD I love it! They're not dumb here at all, they're actually quite insightful. That only goes for the teachers and some of the students though. There are people who are pretty stupid, but oh well, it's America.

Also, there's a German teacher here who talks Norwegian, so I went to his classroom and I was all like "snakker du norsk??"  "Ja, jei snakker litt nårsk, mene jei har ikke snakket på 10 år så ere litt rusten(+ some german 'cause he mixed the two)" I've never been so keen to talk Norwegian in my whole life xD And there's so many people with Norwegian origins here, it's pretty impressive.  To all my friends and my loved ones, I miss you so much. My heart truly lies scattered in my little town Arendal, and in Amerongenstraat in the Netherlands. No feeling can explain how it feels to know that I'm not gonna see you for so long, it sounds gay I know, but it's true. I miss walking around just being angry because I have to wait an hour for the bus, I miss running into people I know because in Arendal everyone knows everyone. I miss sitting in the mall reading, and what I miss the most is Norwegian. I miss talking Norwegian, I miss having education in Norwegian, I even miss thinking in Norwegian. I'm losing my Norwegian speaking skills :/  I'm sorry for this being such a long and meaningless entry, but sometimes that's what happens. Have a nice day, mine is just over.


Bob is so funny, and mean! My grade in English is better than a C, but I told him "I need to get a C or above, or it's a problem" so he just wrote C or above xD I've got A in guitar, B in physics, Pass in math I guess, A in history, and B in spanish so I'm not doing great, but it could have been a lot worse.





It was kinda chilly today as you can see on the cheerleaders wearing jackets. Look how American it looks! With the football teams, the football field and the cheerleaders. Only thing I could think of was Blue Mountain  State xD


I'm sorry the image sucks, but this is our mascot! A god damn Trojan xD I love this place, I love America seriously.

Hey Kids, Do I Have Your Attention?

So I've gotten new friends, and a somewhat equivalent to my friends at home. It's my new bros, you've got Dylan the first one I got to know who's a god damn great guy, and his father talks norwegian, more or less. He lived in Norway for 3 years and was in the city where I'm from a couple of weeks. Next is Carlos, he's an american mexican or something like that. First time I saw him he had an awesome goatee, and he's a very nice guy, too nice for his own good. The 4th and last one is Sean, he's my wingman(and I'm his), and he's the fucking best wingman ever. He looks after everything, and so far he's gotten my back. I'm not allowed to say too much because of the exchange, but he's told me he's told me that he can put me in a Lamborghini Gallardo in the drivers seat. If that happens I'm gonna have the best moment of my life here.

The last two nights I've had nightmares, for multiple reasons, I both think and hope it'll change soon though. I miss my friends a lot, and though people here are nice, and some of them remind me a lot of my friends at home, it's still not the same. Two nights ago I was at an awesome concert! With one of my new favorite bands, Unwritten Law. They were great! They're from California, and not too well known. Which was good for me, as I got to stand close as fuck. The moshpits were mostly good, but there were a lot of drunk people, and I wasn't one of them so it wasn't that fun with them around, haha. They played my favorite songs, so I'm happy about it. This weekend has been pretty cool, I slept over at Dylans place friday, and saturday I got to try wake boarding, which was pretty hard. It was a lot of fun though. My whole body hurts today because of the concert and the wake boarding, so I think this is gonna be a lazy sunday.

This is how close I were to the lead singer of Unwritten Law!


This is the awesome t shirt I got of them


This is Sean a random dude, his grandfather is norwegian or something. And he looks like someone I know from home! I can't remember who though, tell me if you can!


This is two of my bros, Sean and Dylan. They're awesome

I Want To Be Everything That Is You

It's getting harder and harder to find time to update, but I'm trying my best. I'm getting more and more used to living here, and I believe that I'll soon feel at home here in Portland. Some of the people I hang out with here, actually reminds me of people I know at home. Though no one could ever replace them, I see similarities in what they do think and say. Not everyone here is like they seem though, I've noticed some people who are not at all how they try to come across as. They seem nice and understanding, but in reality they're nothing more than a smile and a shallow pond of nothing. This however, doesn't go for many people, and almost none of who I'm around. I'm so very happy that people here are open, friendly, and glad to make new friends.

At the moment I'm feasting on jelly beans and twinkies because I'm trying to gain the weight I've lost due to stress, adjusting, and just everything I've had to go through. I went from 58kg to 57kg, and I'm going to get up again! It's my goal for September. And by the taste of twinkies and beans, it's not hard at all, haha. When it comes to how I feel these days, it's a lot better than it used to. My days are no longer up and down on the emotional bits. I've gotten accustomed to being here, and somehow my mood has stabilized because of it. A lot of things have helped me on the short(though it seems like years) way though. Like my new friends, the singing lessons I'm taking, my guitar, and just everything. I know it's way too early to think of, but I'm gonna miss those damn delicious twinkies… Anyways, I hope everyone home, and just everyone who reads this have a good day or night. Hope to get to write again soon.

Turns our my host family has got the whole series :D And Krystin, the host mom was like "yeah you can have it, we don't use it anymore anyways"  best day of my life, haha!!



This is a god damn oreo brownie earthquake, it was so good, but oh so fulling >.<
















WHY IS THERE BACON IN THE SOAP?    I made it myself C:  


Bitch, I know you like my style



Finally starting to feel like this is my place



More jelly beans! Will it never end



Check out these epic shirts! I love hot topic! Hence the "hoot kool aid" "death the kid" and the "idek" shirts xD

The End Of The Beginning

The last week has been so busy, homework is killing me. Especially Physics, the teacher is retarded. She gave us a test and based it on what the American teens have learnt in earlier science classes. How the fuck would I know shit they've learned here before I came? Other than that I'm doing a lot better at making friends that I thought I would. There is this awesome guy in my English class called Dylan, he's asian, a gamer, funny and just pretty much awesome. He's gonna get Skyrim, so I'm gonna hang out a lot in his place two months from now.  He's epic, and he asked me to the mall with some friends this sunday. It's gonna be awesome. Also another new friend, my lunch friend, who is also in my class. Her name is Kristin, she's pretty awesome as well. She's tall, skinny and she's got dreadlocks.  I'm finally starting to learn some of the names, so that when people in the hallway say hi, I know their name like 40% of the time. I'm living my life here in this wonderful place. I do miss my friends though, so much. I'll try to write here more than I have the last week, but I promise nothing.

This is Kristin! Awesome lunch friend, who makes fun of my english :c



Jelly Beans!!



This is a beaconator, it's epic dude! the reason why I took a pic of the side instead of the burger was because the old man was amusing, lol



Mmm I love pop rocks! c:


Look what the fedex guys came with :D It's epic! And I love fedex ^^

My Infiltrated Mind, My Lacerated Soul

So today was very good, and not as tiring as I thought it would be. First class was English, and today I got to know a lot of new people. So it went by pretty fast, and after that I had advanced algebra. We did a test, that was pretty okei. It won't be graded though, it was just to see how good we were. Anyways, after that we had an assembly, which was very amusing, haha. So we were in the gym, and we sat divided as freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors. So the first thing that weirded me out was when they introduced the new teachers... They got out a red carpet where the new teachers went, and had students with cameras following them pretending to be paparazzi. I found it kinda strange, but it was fun. And then suddenly the girl talking in the mic wanted all the exchange students, which was about 8 people down to taste hotdogs and get a flag! It was pretty awesome. And this assembly did so that all the classes was shortened. Epic! Anyways, in the guitar lesson, me and some other dudes, about 4-5 I think was too good for the group so we get to do our own thing haha xD It was pretty slick to be honest, and I got to know more people. After that I has physics, and after that I was done! So me and some new friends hung out. Got to hear some strange stories about this place xD But the people here are very nice, I like them a lot.


Wilson high, home of the Trojans!




The flag they gave me at the assembly!



The cats are so fucking strange xD This is not even a strange position compared to what the other cat, Milo does!




What the fuck America, really??




This is Megan and Sarah! Two of my new friends. Megan has got an identical twin, Kathryn(if I spelled it right) They remind me of Peyton from One Three Hill, haha.

I've Been To Hell And Back

Yesterday, my second day of school was not really that good unfortunately. It was a hard day, a long day and a lonely day. I had made a friend called Sarah, but she was not in any of the classes I've got on long days. I felt like the world was coming down around me, for several reasons, not many including school. However, school and stress made it worse. Physics in English was rather hard, not because I didn't understand anything, but because I find it hard to understand where the teacher is going with her terms and such. I hope it'll get better, if not I'm gonna have to ask for a tutor, or at least some tutor time. If there's anyone who doesn't know what a tutor is, it's basically someone helping you with a class after school. Furthermore, after school I did homework. Which was okei, but still not very fun obviously.

With no expectations for the next day, I awoke 3:30 and couldn't sleep anymore. I like to make my time useful, so I started to do some math problems. Without being sleepy, I tried some more and failed. The thing about being here, all alone. Is no matter how much I want help, or attention, nothing can compare to safe and home. My friends at home, my family, basically all that matters to me... Now gone. I can barely speak to them at all because of time difference, and when I can it's short. I'm very tired as a mix of jetlag, adjusting and school. There is nothing I want more than a couple of hours with my friends at home(or Ilanne in the Netherlands), not having to think about anything but how much I enjoy it. What seems like an eternity, now 9 days has passed, and there are so many to go. It's unreal.

After I went to school by a very bumpy bus ride, I went to my first period, US history. I met Sarah again, and we talked some more. In class we did a fun round of 2 truths and a lie, got to learn some new names. I also learned that one of the persons there. When he was 10, took his mothers car and drove to school, and then home again after school, completely safe. All because his mother didn't wake up. I found that to be quite amusing, you would too if you saw how redneck/harry(I know only norwegians will get that) the guy looked. After history was chemistry, and I sat next to Sarah, which was very nice. We talked some more, did the experiment together. After class we went down to the cafeteria and she introduced me to a lot of new people. Some of them were people I wanted to talk to, but were to shy to do by myself. So that made me very happy. Last period was spanish. The spanish I take here means basically no English in class, so only spanish. And here they learn latino spanish not castellano, which makes that a little bit hard to me. But I met some new friends as well, mainly a guy called Greg. A goodhearted geek, that has the same childish humor as me. The teacher wrote '20 inches long' at the board. And Greg whispered to me "that's what she said" and we both bursted out in laughter. We had some activity which included talking to each other in class, so I got to know more new people. All in all, this has been a great day, now I'm very curious for tomorrow. I'll have the long day, the one where I'm more or less alone in my classes. If not some of the new people I've met are in my classes, I hope so. Have a nice day to all you at home, and in the Netherlands as well. And goodnight from America where it's now 11:32 pm or 23:32 if you prefer.

On My Own

Today, the 6th of September I had my first schoolday. I came with pretty much no expectations, and just enough energy to go through the day. Krystin drove me to school around 8:45, we got my textbooks, and I had my picture taken for my ID. The thing I thought about most though, were all the strange looking people, haha. So, this first day we were gonna go through all out periods, but in a short version of 30 minutes. My first period was US History with Mr.Nam, which was pretty okei. I met a girl called Sarah, she was very nice. Next was English with Bob Anderson, he was awesome! He gave us candy, haha. Furthermore, he seemed like a funny but disciplined teacher. There was this one guy who tried to talk to me, but my world was at that moment revolving around understanding the schedule, so it was a short one. I'll talk to him tomorrow if I get the chance. Next class up was chemistry with Duchow-Pressley, he made the whole class try to pronounce my surname(Høilund), which was epic! Haha. And I sat next to Sarah, turned out we had chemistry together as well, which was nice. Next up was Advanced Algebra, which was okei, nothing special really. Not sure if it's my level of math or not yet. Spanish 5 honors was fun, met some new people, two girls I don't quite remember the names of(one was Natalie I think) and a guy called Logan. Spanish was pretty fun to have again, I've missed it. And then the intermediate guitar, ahh… Well they mixed us with the beginners, so I think it'll be a bit easy for me. But oh well, I get to play guitar, and my tests are me playing in front of the teacher! Best test form ever! I had the 7th period off, and 8th was Physics, which also wasn't really anything special. All the teachers were amazing compared to home where you're lucky if you've got a couple nice ones. Oh, and in lunch I met two girls as well, they were pretty nice and showed me the room where I was supposed to meet next. Wouldn't say that I made any friends apart from Sarah though, and I don't know if she sees it the same way, haha. Tomorrow I'll have period 2, 4, 6 and 8. The schedule here is fucking hard! But I think I got it now.

And here is my student ID. I look like a hot girl from the early 90s, but I like it.


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Squirreeeel!!

I saw this squirrel today, and I had to take some pics, and tape it. I love squirrels! And they're not very shy here as you can see by how close I got to it. His name is Nicklas, I just decided.





Original Video - More videos at TinyPic

Can you see the light?

I've been here in Portland for what seems to be ages, but in reality it has only been 5 days. I'm okei, for anyone who wonders, I'm okei. It has not been easy facing up to all this, to really see what's going on. If everything were to be as planned, I'd be in misery now. However, thanks to Krystin; and just everyone here that are so nice to me, I'm perfectly fine. If school goes as planned, and I actually get some friends, this year is gonna be the best one of my life for sure.

I'm probably one of the luckiest ones, when it comes to being matched with Krystin. Her personality doesn't differ much from mine, though in some ways she's completely the opposite. Like she talks very easily, which I don't. But in this case I'm glad she does. It makes it a lot easier to get a long. She's a great host mother to me, and I couldn't ask for any better. There is not many people I trust with real thoughts and she proves to be one of those few.

I'm not following footsteps, I'm making my own!

Here is some pics I've taken the last couple of days. I will probably write an entry later today if I've got time.

This is my new guitar. The fine thing is called Jackson Kelly KE3

I went for a walk, and found the riverside. You unfortunately can't see it or the bridge very well.

Random football field by the park, haha!

We watched (partly) Harry Potter and the deathly hallows p1.

And behind the random football field, a random playground. Like the swings!

It's epic! Kripkes assistant or something has written a book, it seemed very awesome, but I didn't wanna use anymore money that day.

Ash! Fat cat :D

Everything here is supersize o-o Look at that!

Hot Topic, the best store on earth, I swear! Found two shirts there.

Running Up That Hill

Yesterday evening me Krystin and Nick-1 went to see Krystins dad. He's suffered three strokes, the last one taking away his ability to speak properly. His mind is fine, but he can only say "ay" but that didn't stop him from communicating at all haha. He was very amazing, and believe it or not, he had a lot to tell. He was a very nice guy, I'm glad I got to meet him. Today started a bit heavy as I woke up around 5 or 6. I tried to sleep more, but though my eyes were heavy, I wanted to talk to Ilanne. So I tried my best to keep awake, sorry if I wasn't all the time. After I had taken my morning shower, Krystin went out to work, and I had a conversation with Ilanne. After we were done, i went back downstairs where Nick was waiting. We went out, as I had an appointment at the hairdressers soon anyways. Time flew and suddenly I was there getting my hair straightened. It worked out pretty good, but not at all perfect. Some waves, but mostly Okei. After I was done Krystin came to pick us up and took us to the park. It was very nice there, and the people were cozy. I got to meet a family friend called Mary(I think) and two of her kids, Tony and Vivi. We watched a movie, but it ended up being too cold, and we ended up being too tired. So I'm probably gonna go to bed as soon as I can. Thanks to Krystin for making these first days very easy and good to me.