English Translation to my non brazilian friends :)

I have been in Norway for exactly 5 months now. Five months ago I heard a knock on my door at nine thirty in the morning and found myself almost unable to speak English after just woke up. When I opened the bedroom door, there was Eirik (one of the Norwegian former students from last year who works at Hald this year). He was waking me up to ask if I would like to have breakfast and I had to make mimics to explain the reason for being late because my English vocabulary was gone.Memorable!

Five months later I woke up alone in my house in Trondheim after a long day traveling from Mandal back here. I had a kind of déjà vu unpacking and trying to find food in the refrigerator. It was like being re-living my first morning in Trondheim where I woke up starving and had absolutely nothing to eat because I had arrived late at night after traveling 12 hours by train from Mandal here. That morning I was full of fears and anxieties: fear of not adapt, afraid about how much I could spend at the supermarket on my first purchase, fear of geting lost and afraid of not survive the winter in Trondheim. I remember that I got lost when I went to the supermarket and had to come home empty-handed and stomach growling until Kristine, one of my housemates was willing to go with me. That day I was shocked by the distance and the “hill” that I would need to climb every time I needed to go to the supermarket and thought to myself "How can I carry my purchases without a car?". In fact, I have a life a lot easier than I used to think back in Home :)

Three months after that dark morning I do NOT have any trouble finding the store, or transporting my purchases:) The winter is going out there, but I discovered that there is any cold when you have warm clothes and are moving. Last night I walked from the bus stop to my house carrying my bags and arrived home sweaty when the temperature outside was around 14 degrees below zero. It seems that I will survive the winter with much health and provision ... And I also have to admit that it is very nice to feel the cold wind on your face when you have a lot of warm clothes, I think I'll miss it!

But back to the subject of the post, I'm exactly in the half part of my exchange and five months from now I'll be on my way home. The question that hangs in the air is: How is going to be like back home? Will I feel really at home? I doubt it. So because I already see my little refuge in Trondheim as a home, which means that go back to Goiania will leave a little space left in my heart.

So much has changed so far, yet so many things will change in these 5 months I’ll spend in Norway. Sometimes I'm afraid I will not re-adjust in my old life and I will feel like a foreign for ever. But I know that is nonsense and that even if it takes a little time, I will re-adjust. But not before facing a reverse culture shock, which is normal, but with some time everything settles. I know I'll never be the same, but I am hopeful that the changes that have taken place so far will make me a better person and I will have more noble goals in the future than the ones I used to pursue before coming here.

I was back to Hald last week. Being back there among the other international students was very comforting. Especially in a time that I was feeling tired of being here and very non well adjusted because of the difficulty with the language. But to see my dear teachers and have the chance to reflect upon what happened so far and dream about the next five months was extremely encouraging! I feel so excited now as was I was in my first day in Norway and hoping that many good things are yet going to happen!

Now that I'm more settled in the place and more used to the people, I think I will have more time to penetrate deeper into the culture and developing my Norwegian, wich is still poor. But I have time and I am very, very, VERY motivated to learn as much as possible in those three months I have left in Trondheim and in the two months back Hald before returning home.

Reading the blogs of my friends from Hald has been very inspiring! It seems that in despite of the geographical distance that separates us we are all on the same “song” ... Inspired by the classes at Hald and the willingness to fight for a better world. Because it was for that reason we met in a school that has the slogan: "Go-Learn-Become".

I do not know what I will become yet, but it's been wonderful being out of my poor self-centeredness world and to see how the world is MUCH bigger than I am. I think everyone could do that one day. Perhaps we would become less egocentric and alienated and would start be willing to make the Earth a more decent place to live!