Finally made it to Norway, after years of dreaming I’ve finally made it to the top spot on my bucket list, and so far it hasn’t disappointed. The trip here was incredible, five planes, 8 buses, 2 trains, 2 taxi’s and a ferry. For anyone who has seen the movie Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, I feel like I lived that movie out.
I arrived at the base early, being the second student to arrive. The first, Audrey was a hoot to be around and we got along very quickly. The following day the “original six” arrived and we all bonded immediately before the rest arrived. It was good to have a solid group of friends before the boat load of people arrived on the 14th, but we all quickly got to know each other and now about a week later we’re all a big family.
Base life isn’t quite what I was expected, it’s really freeing and easy going. People are nice and no one is nagging each other about rules. With forty-four people in the DTS chores go by quickly so that’s not a problem either. It feels great to kind of be in charge of my own life and have to take care of myself. I do my own laundry, help clean the house, organize my stuff and I have the freedom to come and go if needs be.
The adventures we’ve had here have been great so far. We’ve seen the fjords, done a couple hikes and even gone swimming in the ocean! People aren’t quite as sporty like I’m used to, but knowing this is a creative DTS I kind of expected that. With that being said, they all seem like they’re up for an adventure anytime which is awesome, plus football has been played here regularly, which has been fantastic, even though I can barely coordinate kicking and running at the same time. Just last night we had a spontaneous adventure up sukkertroppen, (Sugar Top) Mountain, which was incredible. Just a short 45 minute hike and you can see the entire city of Aalesund and across the way to the fjords. It seems like no matter where you go in this town you can get a great view of something.
Classes started yesterday with a bang, our speaker Mr. Payne was awesome, he was funny, he was relatable, and he had tons to say about truth and why it was so important in our lives. He spoke of the truth box and how we can sometimes trick ourselves into thinking a lie is the truth… Deception the greatest weapon used by the enemy to trick ourselves into see God and our own selves, wrongly.
His first point in the lecture was how information is great, but acting out Jesus is better. If you know everything about God, but do nothing to act upon it you are no better than the Pharisees in the Bible. You learn the truth, but you don’t act on it. Living a lie that rules are what will get you to heaven, where in reality the truth, Jesus, is the only the way into the gates of heaven.
Safe to say i'm having tons of fun here and i'm really looking forward to what this adventure throws at me next!
