I still cannot believe how fast my time in KC has gone by. My last day has arrived, packing and cleaning my way out of the Oak Place. Tomorrow I’ll be in NYC, and I’m stoked!

I remember I wrote about how I appreciated the American superficiality, everybody calling me honey and darling. Well, I stick to that. But, then again, I’ve also had enough. Today I went to the bank, to cancel my account here. The lady at the bank has been very helpful, and nothing but a good Bank Lady. And I propose we leave it at that. When she today told me no less than three times HOW MUCH SHE WILL MISS ME, I thought she had reached her limit. She had not, she also needed me to know THAT WHENEVER I MISS THEM, I CAN JUST CALL, WHEN-EVER! Like, really, Bank Lady? HONEY, DON’T STAY UP AND WAIT FOR THAT CALL is all I got to say. I couldn’t help but think that that was my cue to leave, back to Europe where nobody kisses your ass for canceling a bank account.

I want to thank everybody who has made my time here a really good one, because that’s what it’s been. Those of you who have touched my heart, I’m sure you know who you are. Then again, just to make sure you do (I’m afraid I might forget someone, but I’ll take my chances):

Kate, for making me feel welcome even before arriving, and patiently helping me out with all the thousand questions I had. I truly hope Toril left you with an invitation to Norway. Andrew, for welcoming me with that big smile of yours. Keep it up, it suits you. Alvin, for my very first trip to Walmart, and Kansas STATE. Good luck with the poopy-scoopy! Anne, for kicking my butt back on the treadmill. Wir sehen uns in Bremen! Jerry, for befriending this homeless girl from Norway. And for introducing me to The Union. And for some dang good nights out. Viola, how I wish I had met you earlier! It is such a shame. SHAME. Wiener Melange in Wien, ich bin dabei! Victoria, you are one great girl! Never become American, and make sure this is not our last good bye. Estuardo, for being you. And jumping borders with me. And making sure I get the American experience I came for.

This is it, for now.

♥ ✌ ☼ TTYS, from the East Coast.

Can you believe it, my last three days of KC have arrived now.. It’s crazy how fast the time has flown by! The last weekend here has definetely been a good one!!

Friday night at the Rodeo in Tonganoxie, Kansas (I kidd you not). That was awesome! I have never seen so many cowboy hats in one place. Tonganoxie is located in the middle of the heartland of America, and that is exactly how it felt. I’ve never uploaded a video here before, hope it works (you can skip the first 52 seconds, unless you wanna get the most of the Tonganoxie-feel. The announcer is from Missouri, though, not from Kansas, as you can hear from him pronouncing “Missouri” as “Missourah”. Some Missourians do that, crazy folks. To me he sounds as from Texas, born and raised. But what do I know.).

Nope, I tried to upload the video onto the blog, but couldn’t make it work. You can see it on Youtube, here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzupIBXJ734

Saturday was spent at a lake, or beach (well, both). That was just AWESOME!! The 20 minutes ride took us 2,5 hours, but it was worth it. Degrees well above 30 C, the water cool and refreshing. Fantastic.

My arm does not really look as disformed as it does here.

The joyous splashing around in the water was interrupted by a “Jaws”-moment, when somebody started screaming “Snake! Snake!”, and everybody fled the water. There it was, about a meter long.

The poor 17 year old lifeguard had no idea what to do about it, besides blowing his whistle and bringing his megaphone with him, looking completely clueless. Poor kid. To everybody’s relieve, a cowboy-hatted (now all of sudden they are everywhere, have not seen anybody with a cowboy hat here before now) hero made his entrance, by simply grabbing the snake around the tail and neck and carrying it away into the woods, no fuzz about that. The simplest way sometimes is the best way. Everybody agreed on that the snake was not a dangerous kind, so I was happy to be able to continue my bathing (I surprised myself a bit here, but I did not worry about the snake’s possible big brother coming for its rescue. Who would have thought).

After the swimming we went on to some tasty BBQ, enjoying the warm night and lake view. A wonderful day, thank you all!! Now it’s good-bye to Anne, too. One by one they’re (we’re) leaving. Crazy!

Then there was one last night out in KC to be celebrated, Victoria and me went to Westport. Had a blast, fo sho.

Today I spent this 33〫☼ – sunday lying by the pool on campus. Not too much to say about that really, besides THANK YOU, UMKC for this pool.

Now I don’t have much to do besides packing. Have a wonderful day/ night, TTYS.

Lotsa love from KC.

Acrophobia is an extreme and irrational fear of heights, and one of the most common phobias there is. About 2-5% of the general population suffer from it- and I am not ashamed to admit I am one of them. Facing the object of your phobia is the only way to get rid of your fear, and I know I have to face some heights sooner or later if I ever want to be free of the cold claws called Acrophobia. As a soon to be psychologist I also find it very important to live up to one sentence in particular:

☞ Practice what you preach ☜

So I decided that today seemed like a beautiful day to challenge my fear by visiting the Liberty Memorial.

It’s a memorial tower (66m) to honor the soldiers fallen during WW1, with an observation deck on top. Perfect for todays task! Let me fill you in on my standpoint concerning heights here: I think I have always been jittery when it comes to heights, but my fear reached a whole new level when visiting Copenhagen last year.

When in Copenhagen my friends and me decided to get a good view over the city by walking up to the top of Vor Frelsers kirke.

You can walk all the way to the top, following the golden path that circles its way upwards on the outside of the tower. It’s hard to see on this picture, but it is like a mini-sidewalk that gets narrower and narrower the higher you get (and it is not broad to begin with, maybe 50cm?). Not only is the sidewalk-thing narrow, it is not straight, either. It is skewed. So when you stand there, your back towards the tower and overlooking the city, your feet point downwards. The railing is beautifully crafted, but neither high nor stable-looking. So there I stood, trying to look out and take in the beautiful view. But, I have never been so frightened in my life as I was there. In fact, I believe I have never felt real fear before standing on the top of that church. Pure terror, really. I did not know what to do first: faint, throw up, or wet my pants. Surprisingly, I did none of those things. I wanted to walk right back down, but that was easier said than done- as I had problems moving my legs at all. I eventually did get back down, safe and sound, even though I might not remember how.

That was in September, and I decided that today was the day to climb another tower! Hell yeah! When I got to the Liberty Memorial I first went to the WW1 museum that’s below the tower. I have never been very interested in WW1, but after having watched two seasons of “Downton Abbey” I kinda felt like it. The museum was surprisingly interesting. I was relieved when the tour started with a video trying to explain what really led up to WW1 breaking out- as I could not have answered to that question. Besides the prince getting shot, that is. Now I know a little more, but I’m probably not all quite ready to write a book about it..

Chain reactions explained. Who fought whom.

How to shoot down people while flying (I also learned that no country had as skilled airforce pilots as Germany, they killed the most. Just sayin’.)

Then it was time to face The Tower.

You know that spinning sensation when looking up tall buildings- needless to say I felt that when looking up the tower. Even worse, I felt like throwing up when looking at the entrance of the tower- on ground level. I tried, I really did. I approached it twice, but I could just not go inside.

Here I am, running away from that Tower of Horrors.

I failed. So sorry, my dear followers readers, to disappoint you.

Should I let this sunny day be The Day I Failed and nothing else? No. I could not let this be that day. I needed the feeling of success.

When going to the gym afterwards, I tricked myself to step on the treadmill (how to trick yourself? Tell yourself you’ll only be spending ten minutes for warm up, but then “forget” to check the time. Before you know it- 20 minutes already. Ops.), since I’m still a little nervous of pushing my legs to hard. But as 20 minutes had passed, and still no pain was felt, I knew what success I wanted today: run my first 10km. So I did.

Felt awesome, yay! 15km next. 😉

As for the tower: I might try again before leaving KC. Maybe. Maybe.

Now I have one last episode of Downton Abbey waiting for me.

Toodeloo, my dear readers. TTYS.

One day too late, but who cares: Happy Birthday, my dear Norwegians! I hope you all had a wonderful 17. mai! I heard that Norway was a little nervous about the weather, but would it be 17. mai without that worry, really?

When I started my semester here in January, we had a welcome-day for the international students. One thing we did was called “call of nations”. All new, international students (there are many of them at UMKC!) were gathered in the auditorium, and all the different nations were called, and the students belonging to that nation had to rise. By mistake Norway was not on that list, but I still got to stand up when asked “somebody we forgot?..”. Anyways, my point was: I am the only Norwegian (or Scandinavian) student on campus. I think I might even be the only Norwegian in KC (just guessing, and making myself sound special). Only Norwegian if you don’t count all the “Norwegians”, that is. I have met a few of those. Like the woman working in the KC-souvenir shop at the Plaza. When she asked me where I was from, and I replied Norway, her face just lit up and she replied “ME TOO!!”, smiling like a little kid on Christmas Eve.  ..Oh, really, I thought? I asked if she spoke any Norwegian, having the slightest feeling that there was some more to that story–  “nooooooo, of course not.” Her great grandmother was from Norway, so in her heart she was Norwegian, too! Aaah, silly me! Same story with the woman working in the bank on campus, she is “Norwegian” too (what are the odds). Nope, she does not speak Norwegian, either.

My whole point here was just to let you know: no parade in KC, no Norwegian flag to be seen waiving, nobody selling kransekake. Only me. So I made myself a Norwegian flag on my yoghurt for breakfast.

Then I thought: if not an all Norwegian day, why not an all American one. So I went to see my first baseball game. They do sell hot dogs and beer there, afterall. The Kansas City Royals also have blue and white uniforms (or what do you call that in sports?), closest I get to the Norwegian flag, sort of.

Drinking in public places is NOT allowed in the US, but oddly enough it is tolerated when in the parking lot before sports games. So people have a little picnic on the parking lot before going to the game, how fun! So we did, too.

Then we saw the remaining half of the game. Baseball, I was warned, is the most boring sport to watch there is. A regular game lasts three or four hours, and most people who did not grow up in the US don’t really understand the rules, either. I have to admit I didn’t even try, after all these warnings.

We had beer, afterall.

He was here from the beginning of the game, I believe.

Today I have 13 days left till leaving KC for NYC. It is the most beautiful weather here, which I am truly happy for. Because I spend most of my days lying in the grass, reading a book, before going for a swim in the semi-outdoor pool. I was a little nervous I would be bored out of my mind here, but I’m good, really! I truly enjoy these last days of not doing too much, before I come back to working for the rest of the summer in Bergen, and a new semester (2. avdeling!!).

Now the grass is calling my name. No, not in a weird way.

TTYS <3

Good evening/ morning, my dear readers,

no matter how many devoted followers you have as a blogistah (I have now reached a new new highscore- 53!), you can only have one Number One Fan. The one fan that reads every entry with the joy only a truly loving fan can feel. Mine happens to be:

My mom.

As today is mothers day, I think it is only fair to send my best wishes where I know for certain they will be read- on Kansas, Siri & the City, of course.

Here we are holding snow balls. ☃

No one can say it as tastefully and subtle as the Americans, so I decided to go with the flow:

Yes, a spiritual cardigan.

Or, in other words:

.. But then again, I’d rather just say it like this: Mögen Twisterns Felder heute so erstrahlen,

der Mohnstrietzel frisch und saftig, und der Sekt gut gekühlt sein! Alles, alles Liebe zum Muttertag! Hab Dich lieb! ♥ ❀ ☀

All you other mothers or daughters or just people out there: Have a wonderful sunday!!

Love from KC.

My dear readers,

it was with jittery hands I today checked the statistics. But we did it. Yesterday’s post had 45 readers! Breaking my own highscore by no less than 2 readers! Did that sweaty post-treadmill picture do the trick OR WHAT! Needless to say, I couldn’t have come this far without you, my beloved readers. Thank you. <3

Today I’ve decided to make my doctor proud and be a patient patient. No running, just swimming. As swimming does not lead up to a sweaty tshirt, I will not be able to repeat yesterday’s success-photo. But, I realize there is another picture category I haven’t touched too much on my blog yet: the bathroom mirror self-portrait. Every serious blogger should have at least one, I guess, so today is the day for that.

Voilà.

Checking the mailbox today lead to a happy surprise, too:

Three of my girls back home who did not study abroad this semester decided to go on a little trip to Greece, to make up for the lack of studying abroad. Next year we’ll hopefully repeat the trip, study abroaders included. I can’t wait to see you all again, gahd! I miss you all so much. <3

Have a wonderful day/ night, TTYS.

As some of you know, I am a faithful follower of Norway’s First blog-Lady, The Soccer Wife (www.fotballfrue.no), or Caroline. For those of you who don’t know her (or understand Norwegian): she is a very skinny, blonde beauty, married to a Norwegian soccer player. I think her blog started out when she was planning their wedding, how to put together a perfect wedding and stuff like that. But it became so popular that she kept it. It’s just about her perfect life, basically. I think she has around 80.000 readers every day. The most readers I have had here on one day are 43. So I wondered: How can I improve my numbers? Then, when scrolling through her blog the other day, I suddenly realized what it is my blog misses! There are three basic components used pretty much daily by Caroline that I have never had on my blog. Gahd, how stupid of me:

1. Show what clothes I buy.
2. Have picture proof of my workouts.
3. Post low carb recipes.

So I decided: Today is the day!

As much as I love clothes and shopping, I actually dislike buying summer clothes. I could buy thick woolen sweaters and scarfs everyday, but shorts and skirts- hate it. That is probably the reason why I don’t have too many clothes to chose from between May and September. But today I finally had enough of my ugly jeans shorts (nope, no picture here), I went for some new clothes. I actually like these, awesome.

Then I went to the library, got a new book, and went on to get some Italian coffee. There is one little Italian café in Brookside (five minutes bike ride from home), really good coffee there.

Then I went to the gym. Today I had to try the treadmill, I just couldn’t help myself. Ran 7km, that was so much fun! The eliptical machine is boring the hell out of me, so I really enjoyed running again.

My leg hurt a little afterwards, not too bad. But I can take a hint, I’ll have to wait longer with the running (Caroline was hurt a little while ago, too. I think it was her knee. But we are so much alike, it sometimes scares me).

After taking this picture it hit me: I think Caroline always takes her workout-pictures before working out. She is never sweaty or red in the face.. I’ll remember that for the next time.

Then it was time for dinner. Today I ate what I’ve practically been eating every second day here, namely low carb tortillas. Here we go:

Low carb tortillas. Sooo good, I have my doubts they really are low carb.

Then, Steak-umms. Thin meat that you fry in a pan, I like to add onions, too.

Then have cream cheese on the tortilla, and add cucumber (I was out of lettuce today), peperoncini, cheddar.

Add the meat + onions, and hot sauce (only if you like hot sauce, of course).

Roll it up, and enjoy!

I hope you enjoyed today’s entry. Can’t wait to check my numbers tomorrow.

Have a wonderful day/ night (wherever in the world you are), TTYS. <3

… or as I like to call it: Just doin’ my thang. ⚅ ☕ ✌.

Now that my grades are in box (as we say in Norway) (BAM! ☺), project “May in KC” has started!

Friday was Anne’s and Alvin’s graduation. Unfortunately this lousy picture is the best picture I have:

Nobody threw any hats (WHY?!).

Anne, Viola, me, Annemarie.

After having a better dinner at the Plaza, Viola, Victoria and me went out to celebrate that summer is here.

We had such a good time, we did the same on saturday.

Today I went to see the roses in Loose Park. Loose Park is a huge park right up the street from where I live, and there’s a little rose garden within. Now it’s in bloom, very beautiful.

Then I went to the gym. I may or may not have tested the eliptical machine today (depending on whether my doctor reads this), without any pain. Wee! I’ll keep on focusing mainly on the swimming, but I may or may not try the eliptical again towards the end of the week. Soo badass.

Now: Dinner and Paradise Hotel. Favorite time of the day.

Have a good one, peeps. Love y’all. ❤

Today I finally went to the doctor to have him have a look at my leg. My Posterior Tibial Tendinopathy (painful ankle) will now be treated with 500mg of Naproxen (antinflammatory pill) twice a day, alongside with some stretching exercises. No running allowed, no elliptical machine allowed (I was stupid enough to ask), but swimming is fine! So this is where I can be found in the days to come (check out the movable walls, makes it semi-outdoor afterall):

After the doctor I had to pick up my pills at the pharmacy. When I gave my prescription to the pharmacist she told me it would take 30 minutes to get the pills ready. I was baffled. 30  minutes for what? I was the only person in line!

After sitting there for fifteen minutes I couldn’t help but wonder: Are all the boxes of medication there really empty? Have they just been put there for decorational purposes? Are some well hidden pharmacy-workers busy cooking my medication in the back somewhere? In case you are one of my many American readers, let me fill you in how buying medicine at a pharmacy works in Norway (and Germany):

1. You give the pharmacist your prescription.
2. The pharmacist turns around, grabs the box of pills you need.
3. The pharmacist gives you the box.
4. You pay.
5. You leave.

If, as in my case today, there are no other customers in front of you, this process takes approximately 1.3 minutes.

After twenty minutes of wondering about these questions, I received my pills. Did I catch one effective busy bee of a pharmacist or what! Cultural differences, no less fascinating after four months.

Now watching the graduation ceremony next! I will try to catch one of those flying hats, hoping that makes me the next one to graduate. ✌

Aaaaand DONE! Last final today, no more being a UMKC student. My finals have all gone pretty well, I think- will let you know my grades when I have them all in a few days.

My textbooks are sold (the bookstore buys them back here, which is awesome. UiB should start doing that!), my desk cleared. BAM, this semester went fast!!

So what to do now? I have been asked that some times now. “What are you gonna do in Kansas City for three weeks?..”. My answer to that is: I truly do not know. It’s hot here now, around 30〫C, and very humid. Funny thing the outdoor pools don’t open before the last week of May (I miss the ocean!). But I’ll have three days of sunpooling then, at least. Besides visiting museums, get a tan, have vodka tonics in the sun and stuff, I was planning on filling this time with a lot of running. The treadmill has become my new best friend here! Such a good friend actually, that my legs now say NO MORE. I have an inflammation from back in the Follo days (damn you, Riverdance!) that comes back when I work out too much, and now it is back. I’ll see the doctor tomorrow, hoping for something to speed up the recovery. We do have an indoor pool here on campus that I’m still free to use throughout May, so swimming will be my second best friend for a while.

I love how karma works sometimes. Today I finished up a package that I’m sending to myself, as it is cheaper than paying overweight on the plane. And guess what: I got a package today! A little smaller than my big one, and the big one is for myself really, but I still call it KARMA! Sweetest Kristin back in B-town has been listening to my eyebrow-problems for a while now. Thing is, they do not sell eyebrow dye here, at least none like the one we have in fashionable Europe. I have tried to get it online, at the hairdresser, at the beauty parlors. They do simply not have it here (USA is sooooo far behind, GEE!!). So Kristin couldn’t take it anymore, I guess, and sent me some. And the obligatory milk chocolate every exchange student receives when abroad. Mykje kjærleik tilbake. ♥

Big + little package ✌

Some swimming in the gym next, then a trip to Walmart (FUCKYEAH). Tomorrow? Sleep in! Have coffee in the sun! Watch the graduation ceremony, look forward to my own, then pop some bubbly to celebrate six weeks of freedom.

TTYS, my friends. Love you all!