Guest Speaker Sofia Underland our Inbound Exchange Student from Norway.
Sofia comes from Ski (pronounced She), a city slighty smaller than Geraldton which is twenty kilometres south of the Norwegian capital Oslo. It is a transport hub.
Norway is a Kingdom, the current King is Harald the 5th. It has a population of 5 million plus and shares a border with Sweden, Finland and Russia. Its economy is driven by petroleum, minerals and fishing. While the main language is Norwegian, there are over one thousand dialects and two forms of the written language.
It is famous for its Viking and Norse heritage.
Norway has an indigenous population called Sami who are traditionally reindeer herders. They have a separate culture and mainly live in the far north.
Winter sport is a major pastime in Norway. They have been very successful at the Winter Olympics where they have won over 600 medals the highest number of any participating country.
The main foods of Norway include fish, lamb, pork and cheese. Sofia apparently cooks a very good lamb dish!
Some of Norway's famous people include Raold Amundsen, Magnus Carlsen, Henrik Ibsen, Edvard Greig and pop group Aha... and now of course Sofia Underland.
Sofia shared her frustrations of not being able to see the fabled 'northern lights'. She will have to wait until the Norwegian summer of 2025.
Questions:
Russell McKinnon – Do Viking helmets really have horns?
Laurie Dines How many people in your family? Two older sisters. One is on exchange in Singapore
Prathamesh Despande – Did you have culture shock when you arrived? No I felt I was on holidays.
Laurie Dines- Is school different. Yes we don't have uniforms and our periods are often far longer than the ones at Geraldton Grammar.
NB: Sofia has been learning and speaking English since First Grade.
Guest Speaker thanks by Grant Woodhams: Sofia is presented with a book of WA wildflower drawings by Margaret Peironi.