Dating advice for all the boys out there...

I've seen this on a couple of the blogs I follow, so I did the obvious thing and reblogged about it here. I just like the idea of it, a declaration from some poor reader-chic to all the oblivious boys. Amen, sister.

"Date a girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes, who has problems with closet space because she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve.
Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her bag. She’s the one lovingly looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out when she has found the book she wants. You see that weird chick sniffing the pages of an old book in a secondhand book shop? That’s the reader. They can never resist smelling the pages, especially when they are yellow and worn.
She’s the girl reading while waiting in that coffee shop down the street. If you take a peek at her mug, the non-dairy creamer is floating on top because she’s kind of engrossed already. Lost in a world of the author’s making. Sit down. She might give you a glare, as most girls who read do not like to be interrupted. Ask her if she likes the book.
Buy her another cup of coffee.
Let her know what you really think of Murakami. See if she got through the first chapter of Fellowship. Understand that if she says she understood James Joyce’s Ulysses she’s just saying that to sound intelligent.  Ask her if she loves Alice or she would like to be Alice.
It’s easy to date a girl who reads. Give her books for her birthday, for Christmas, for anniversaries. Give her the gift of words, in poetry and in song. Give her Neruda, Pound, Sexton, Cummings. Let her know that you understand that words are love. Understand that she knows the difference between books and reality but by god, she’s going to try to make her life a little like her favorite book. It will never be your fault if she does.
She has to give it a shot somehow.
Lie to her. If she understands syntax, she will understand your need to lie. Behind words are other things: motivation, value, nuance, dialogue. It will not be the end of the world.
Fail her. Because a girl who reads knows that failure always leads up to the climax. Because girls who read understand that all things must come to end, but that you can always write a sequel. That you can begin again and again and still be the hero. That life is meant to have a villain or two.
Why be frightened of everything that you are not? Girls who read understand that people, like characters, develop. Except in the Twilight series.
If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are.
You will propose on a hot air balloon. Or during a rock concert. Or very casually next time she’s sick. Over Skype.
You will smile so hard you will wonder why your heart hasn’t burst and bled out all over your chest yet. You will write the story of your lives, have kids with strange names and even stranger tastes. She will introduce your children to the Cat in the Hat and Aslan, maybe in the same day. You will walk the winters of your old age together and she will recite Keats under her breath while you shake the snow off your boots.
Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you’re better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads.
Or better yet, date a girl who writes."
- Rosemarie Urquico

New Roles, New Hair

In honor of the fact that I will soon be a real teacher, I dyed my hair to a sensible color. Sensible enough for any conservative junior high school.

...It's brown.

It's fine, I guess. It has been one of the few times my sister has actually liked my hair change, which tells you how normal it must look. I just feel so, subdued...
BUT in the world of my dreams, I would really like to do what this picture shows.
Lots of colors in an oh-so-rockin hair style.
*sigh*
If only, if only.

A Prayer for Norway

Find peace and comfort, despite this tragedy, this I pray.

Get better soon. 

Love, me.

Berget means mountain or rock...isberget means iceberg

We took a little stroll around Oslo's Opera house. It's located right in the fjord and it's supposed to represent an iceberg. Or at least that is what my professor said. 
You can totally see it too what with all the snow white marble, icy clear glass and mountainous size.
One of the coolest things about it is the fact that you can literally waltz around on the roof! It is quite exciting. Just like a regular iceberg, there are hidden pitfalls. When we were coming down, one of the girls in our group took a little tumble. So, if you make it to Oslo and the Opera house, keep an out for the tricky steps.

Just a hint of homesickness...

You would think that only after two weeks, I wouldn't feel the homesickness wave.
I don't too much. After all, I LOVE my host family and the ward here is amazing, it truly is.
But when I watch my host sisters banter with one another, it makes me miss my sisters all that much more. And I would like to hug my momma and daddy too.
I miss my roommates and the comings and goings happening back home.
However!
I don't miss the 100+ degree weather. I will take any rainy Norwegian summer over a dry, hot Utah one, that is for sure.
I really love this country and everything that I am learning here. This is the result of three long years of study.
Even though I don't catch everything that is said and no one really knows me here, I still relish this opportunity to hear this beautiful language and to explore new avenues of my character.

Copenhagen in 5 hrs or less

This is our boat. I didn't remember to get a picture of my own. We were always in a hurry, either coming or going.

Our cabin. Small isn't it? We were on the most bottom level you could get. You couldn't get any lower in the boat than we were.

Pretty little island in Oslo fjord

Goodbye Oslo

Hello Copenhagen!

 For a broader experience, we took a little trip over to Copenhagen! Prior to the trip, we prepared ourselves most fully. 

Namely, we watched this:

*Note, they do swear once or twice FYI

It's mostly funny if you can hear the different between Norwegian and Danish. Danes speak wonderful English so we didn't hear too much Danish. But when we did, it was great and sent us into gales of laughter.
The boat dropped us off at 9:45 AM in Copenhagen and we had to be back onto the boat by 4:30 PM, so that gave us five or so hours to see everything we wanted to see.
So we made a list:
1. The Little Mermaid (it's a must. You are in Denmark, you have to Hans Christian Andersen's beloved little aquatic heroine.)
2. The original Christus Statue. (We are LDS and it means a lot to us. See here)
3. Danish bakery to try a pastry. (We did and we are converted)
4. Danish souvenirs (We have our priorities)
5. Strøget
6. The Marble Church
7. The Queen's Palace
8. Nyhavn
9. Tivoli
We accomplished our list! All in five hours! I say, we are quite skilled. All it took was a good map (I marked three with our destinations and routes), quick walking, and quick picture taking skills. Here are the results.

1. The Little Mermaid

2. The Christus by Thorvaldsen

3. Danish pastries. So good. I'm ruined for life.

5. Strøget: One never-ending mile of shopping and pedestrians

6. The Marble Church

7. The Queen's Palace, complete with guardsmen

8. Nyhavn

9. Tivoli

Ta-da!

I got some typical souvenirs but I really wanted a Hans Christian Andersen book of tales in Danish but NOOOoooooo. I couldn't find a bookstore in Copenhagen for the life of me. Which led me to the conclusion that although the Danes have a very pretty city with to-die-for-danishes but they must not read. Ever. 

Ach well, it was a busy day, but it was fun.

We made it back to the boat in time. I fell asleep immediately for a couple of hours. When we were seaborn, I rendezvous-ed with the other girls and we got some dinner, played some card games and so on. We woke up at 4 AM to see the sun rise...but it was cloudy.

See?

4 AM, I'm telling you folks.
Well, that is it for Copenhaven.
Ttyl!

Bygdøy: Picture Post (Words will have to come later...)