Buttermilk and absurd questions

[pengolodh_sc at yahoo.no]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at y..., Meredith Wilson 
<aviationoutreachcoord at m...> wrote:
[snip]
>  > We have foods like that in Norway too:  lutefisk, smalahove, 
codfish-
>  > tongue...  And of course the codliver-oil, which is very 
healthy, and 
>  > tastes accordinlgy.  And the Swedes of course have their 
surstrømming 
>  > (which is some sort of freshwaterfish, which has been allowed to 
>  > ferment in a brine, I think).
>  
> Yes, there's a large scandinavian population here, actually, and 
I've heard
> about some of those things, but I haven't been brave enough to try 
any of
> them!
>   
[snip]
>  First, what are you doing in Kentucky?!  That's hilarious about 
> the VCRs, too, since there's nothing to do in Lexington but watch 
> TV, go to the movies or out to eat.  I just have to marvel at 
> questions like 'do you have cars.' And I know there aren't any huge 
> bodies of water in Kentucky, but they hadn't even heard of 
> whaling?  I guess I can count myself lucky to have lived in an 
> educated household growing up!  Where are you in Kentucky?
>  
> Mer

I was in Kentucky as an echange-student, being a hig-school junior 
1993-93.  I was in Garrard County (pronounced Gear-ard by locals), 
which was an interesting experience.  When I first arrived, 
temperature was in the mid 90s, with heat-index in excess of 120 - 
and the school did not have air-condition...  At high-school, I found 
that it is indeed possible for a Norwegian and a Japanese exchange-
student to be the two best students in the US-History-class (I got 
the diploma), my algebra-teacher gave tests with 11 questions, each 
counting 10%. 

I got a sinus-infection, a lympho-knob-infection, an ear-infection 
and another sinus-infection (though Dr. Click thought it was jsut the 
same infection, doing the guided tour of my immuno-system), and I 
experienced the health-service trying to bully me into going on the 
six-month cure to cure a tuberculosis I dod not have in the first 
place (it was my BCG-vaccine - "but we had an Ethiopean here some 
years ago, who said he had the BCG-shot - and he got TB, so you have 
to take the cure").  

I even got to watch a real, authentic girl-fight, with claw, cuing, 
screaming, tearing of hair - the works! - until the assistant 
principal came running into the room, jumping across desks like he 
was trying out for the '96 Olympics.

I was a member of the band - the first live performance the band did 
after I joined it, was a festival - the tobacco festival!

I got to see how Kentucky handled winter and snow - we had fifteen 
snowdays (days when there was no school because of snow), and had to 
make up for ten by the school lasting longer into the spring/summer.  
Quite amusing for a Norwegian, that is!

At prom, I experienced being used by a girl in an attempt to extort 
some jealousy from her four year older boyfriend... (and I am not 
even good-looking, so that was a bit of a surprise, to say the least).

I got to see a shuttle-launch, and got to go to the Epcot-centre, I 
visited Kentucky Kingdom (as part of my physics-class) and another 
park (King's Island, I think), I went to Washington DC (doing most of 
the regular tourist-stops).

I did many things, as can be understood - Kentucky is an interesting 
place, but I must concede that being Norwegian, I am not likely to 
choose the bluegrass-state for my future abode.