Disneyland Nov 23

For anyone that still checks this site, sorry for the delays in posting. Work has been VERY busy including trips to Finland and many long hours at home.

Anyway, I got a nice break last weekend by taking the girls to Disneyland. They are decorated for the Christmas holiday and the photo shows Minnie in a holiday dress.

Ina, Bethany, and Hayley came along and invited Simone to join us for her first ever visit to Disneyland.


The Disney photographers took a picture of Simone with Tinker Bell in her hands.


I don't have time to write all of the details, but we had a fun time. We were able to balance time to go on rides with time to take some pictures. Ina was even brave enough to ride the California Screaming roller coaster with the other girls. It was a big step for her since she was terrified of it. She says that she won't ride it again, but I can tell that she has some pride in conquering her fear of trying it!



It was a lot of fun introducing Simone to Disneyland and giving Ina another chance to see some new parts of the parks (Disneyland and Calfornia Adventure). I have to admit that I am a kid at heart and enjoy the rides and the overall atmosphere too. However, I find that I enjoy watching the kids have fun and paying attention to the decorating details as much as the rides and shows. For example, they have some very creative landscapers which is something that I never noticed when I went to Disneyland as a kid!

Flat Land? Depends on your perspective...

One of Ina's first comments about California was that it is very flat. She is used to rugged fjords and mountains at home.

She is basically correct. We have small mountains in Orange County and bigger mountains to the north near Los Angeles.


This is a picture in the Los Angeles area with mountains in the background. In the Winter, there is often snow towards the top of these mountains. On most Winter days, we can see the mountains in the distance. In the Summer, the haze and smog often hides the mountains from our view.


In Orange County, we have local hills and two mountain peaks. The two peaks look like the saddle on a horse, so together we call the peaks "Saddleback Mountain". We get snow on these peaks maybe two or three times per year.


This is a typical picture from the Orange County area. We have rolling hills and flat lands for houses. Saddleback Mountain is in the background throughout most of Orange County.

So Ina's perspective makes sense. She is used to a rugged landscape and a lot of the area here is flat with mountains and hills in the background.

Last week, we met another exchange student that is new to the area: Simone. She is from Denmark (note: a flat country with no mountains). Ina and Simone spent some time at a local mall to get to know each other better. I picked them up and on the drive home we could see the mountains by Los Angeles in the distance. Simone's comment: It's so nice to have mountains to look at so that everything doesn't look so flat.

A different, but still valid, perspective! Are we flat or not?

By the way, I got the photographs for this post from a nice website from a local blogger. He has a camera that takes panaromic pictures and posts them to his blog. He has a lot of fun California photos there!

The website is: http://geraldsfuller.com/the-panorama-page/

- Rob

A few notes

Sorry that I have not been able to do very regular updates. Life is busier than I expected right now!

Now that Ina has been with us for over 2 months, there are a few things that I have observed.

Mail from Home: Ina LOVES to get mail from home. Whether it is a letter or a package with some goodies, she always has a large smile when something shows up from Norway.

Picking on Bethany: Ina and Bethany delight in picking on each other. They really are like sisters sometimes, but it is in good fun. Like real sisters, it sometimes goes too far and someone gets annoyed. However, neither one seems to stay upset for long. Overall they get along great and seem to have a lot of common interests.

Speaking Norwegian: We have tried to get Ina to teach us some Norwegian words. However, we are not very good at it. We have picked up a few words, but usually we just say them wrong. Ina is very patient with our attempts to speak a few words, but she has to laugh at us sometimes since we have trouble saying things right.

Reliable: Ina has been very reliable. She always gets ready for school on her own. She offers to help with meals and does the chores that we asked her to do without complaints. She is always ready to go when we are leaving somewhere. It has been great to have such a reliable member join our family!

Patient with our Schedule: We have a lot of activities as a family that do not match Ina's interests. She has been a good sport about trying things out with us and patiently joining us for things that are probably boring for her.

Sense of Humor: It has been very important that Ina has a good sense of humor with our family. We like to joke around a lot and Ina has never taken that personally when it is directed at her. She has also said some funny things and can be silly with us. That helps all of us learn how to live together!

There are a lot more things that I can say. However, I wanted to make sure that I got a start and made some notes about some of my thoughts.

For Ina's family at home, thanks for being supportive of her while she is here. It makes it easier for her and us that she has the support and love of her family.

For our friends (especially Hayley and Bethany's friends), thanks for being so accepting of our new family member. You have helped Ina fit in while she lives with all of us for this school year.

For Ina, thanks for being part of our family, for having a great sense of humor, being patient, and continuing to let us know your likes and dislikes.

- Rob