Homesick

The sun is shining, there's a gentle breeze, and our yard is full of gorgeous and fragrant flowers (pictured are lupines, ball-blomst, not sure what the magenta ones are called, and lilacs.) Everyone told me that I would love Norway in the summer, and I can't argue, it is really beautiful. Except that I am ridiculously homesick. I sat down to lunch in the school cantina today, and got a little depressed as I looked at my umpteenth thousandth slice of bread and cheese. I desperately wanted a honey grain bagel with honey walnut cream cheese from Bruegger's, with a tall iced latte on the side. It's not just my favorite foods that I miss, I miss my friends, I miss being able to speak easily with everyone I meet instead of racking my brain for the correct words and still making stupid grammatical mistakes, I miss helping out at the animal shelter...I guess I miss some big things and so many little things, and today it just feels overwhelming. I know this feeling wasn't actually brought on by a bagel. It was my American friend Heather's last day in Gjøvik...her husband is done with school here and they will now live on their farm 3 hours away full time. She was a connection to home, she understood all of my American pop-culture references, plus she kept me supplied with Life Savers--cherry, mint and wildberry flavors! I know the sadness will pass and I'll soon be excited and fawning over a cute pony or puppy again, but right now I'm wallowing in all the good-byes I have had to say over this past year. This sadness isn't about which country is better, the U.S. or Norway. They are both wonderful and amazing, and they are both maddening and frustrating. It's just that right now, only one of them feels like home to me, and it's not Norway.