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The Citizen, 1989-07-26, Page 8PAGE 8. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JULY 26, 1989. Norwegian lifestyle now a fond memory for Steve Souch BY USA BOONSTOPPEL He has light blonde hair and blue eyes so even if he couldn’t speak the part of a young Norwegian, he looked it. He is Steven Souch of Blyth who has just returned to Canada after an 11-month experi­ ence in Norway. Last year in August, Steve left for the small, European country on an exchange which was sponsored by the Goderich Rotary Club. "I went on it because I thought it would be exciting,” said Steve who had just completed his Grade 12 year at Central Huron Secondary School. The small town of Kirkenaer, which Steve describes as a little larger than Blyth, was his home in Norway. “It was a farming com­ munity,” explained Steve. From Kirkenaer, Steve travelled a half hour to go to school in Flisa. Their school system is similar to the United States in that there are fewer grades in a school said Steve. The school he attended was for the last three years of high school, and taught about 300 students. Blyth’s population dropped to 899 until a few weeks ago when one of its absent villagers, Steve Souch returned from an 11-month experience in Europe. Steve displays the Norwegian flag where he stayed for most of the Rotary sponsored exchange. Steve studied in the final year there to correspond with his Cana­ dian advancement into Grade 13. Steve said the final year is called ‘Russ’ and there are parties throughout the year, especially the last 17 days of the school year. “The 17th of May is the country’s national holiday so they have parties all the time to lead up to this during Russ,” said Steve. Steve got right into the action wearing blue coveralls which is the traditional costume to wear during the 17 days. Blue coveralls are for the math and science students while the arts students wear red. However, since Steve had no familiarity with the Norwegian language, he found the schoolwork very difficult. “By the time I learned the language, it was too late for some of my courses.” Understandably, Steve didn't do as well in Norwegian History and Religion but he maintained good marks in Math, English and Phys- ed. Another aspect to the Norwegian schooling system Steve found un­ desirable was the lack of school sports. A noted long-distance run­ ner, Steve’s talent was unusable in the school. In comparing Norwegian schools to Canadian schools, Steve dis­ covered that teachers have more discipline in Canada. “There, (Nor­ way), classes get out of control.” He said that teachers in Canada also spend more time with you. In Norway, the teacher leaves as soon as the bell rings. Outside of school, Steve found Norwegians ‘rare’. “That’s the only word I can think of that would explain them,” he said. Steve found Norwegians to be very patriotic which he thinks may be because they are such a small country surrounded by powerful countries. “I was told that Nor­ wegians are cold but once you get •Vanastra* AIR COMPRESSORS Second Street, Vaneetra, P.O. Box 1198, Clinton, Ontario, Canada N0M 1L0 Phone (519) 482-1730 FAX (519) 482-5880 We manufacture and distribute for RANGER. All our air compressors are made of cast Iron construction W - 25 H.P. pressure to 175 psi single-stage and two stage. We back what we build with Ranger 3 year warranty program. O-P-E-N-l-N-G SP-E-C-I-A-L-S 3 H.P. RANGER AIR COMPRESSOR eu Anr Model #101V60-3 SPECIAL FARM PRICE...............* 1 UoO. W H.P. RANGER AIR COMPRESSOR fkft Model #34H20 SPECIAL FARM PRICE..............V V . 2 H.P. ELECTRIC MOTOR AA 115V, 230V, with 3600 RPM SPECIAL FARM PRICE...............v I U V ■SPECIAL FARM PRICE. SHOP HOURS - Monday-Friday 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. AFTER HOURS CALL 263-5335 to know them, they’re great,” he said. \ Steve had considerable oppor­ tunity to really get to know this breed of people since he lived with three families during his stay. The rotary program was organized this way to give exchange students a well-rounded view of the country and its people. It also helped Steve to learn the language quickly since none of his host families knew any English. Steve discovered that in Norway, everything is expensive. “The people get very high wages but the taxes are also very high,” he said. “Some people get taxed up to 75 per cent of their wages.” For instance, the price of a beer at a bar in Norway is six dollars Canadian, pop is two dollars Canadian and gas is one dollar a litre. After his Norway stay, Steve and 50 other exchange students toured Europe. They saw about 10 Euro­ pean countries altogether but Steve said his favourites were Austria and France. “Everything is so old and beautiful and cultural,” he said. While on the trip, Steve became close friends with an Australian student and the two decided to tour Scandinavia. They travelled on an Interrail and Steve jokingly said that there weren’t as many blondes in Sweden as he expected. Then, after almost a year of European life, Steve returned to Blyth on July 2 to the humidity of our summer which was something he wasn’t used to after the spring­ like weather in Norway. On Juny 21 to 23 Steve went to a conference in Grand Rapids, Michi­ gan with all the Central State students who went on an exchange. The conference was for inbounds, outbounds and rebounds. Rebounds, like Steve who have returned from a trip, give out­ bounds - those who are leaving on an exchange and inbounds - stu­ dents from other countries that are here; a little bit of advice and share with them their experiences. Steve hopes to go back to Europe for the Winter Olympics but for now he’s busy working at Ball and Mutch Furniture in Clin­ ton and has just started a job at The Red Pump Restaurant in Bayfield. When Steve reflects on his trip, he said that he had hoped in Norway, he would be able to decide what to do with his life. But he found that the experience has Forests: Our Growing Concern Jason Lamont Lowell Winger Ethel students earn honours Lowell Winger of RR 1, Ethel achieved the highest standing of the graduating class of Listowel District Secondary School. Out of a class of 164 graduates, Mr. Winger attained the top grade of 97.5 per cent and was one of 21 students to earn Ontario Scholar­ ships. Mr. Winger, who is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Leroy Winger, will attend the University of Waterloo in the fall and will be enrolled in the Systems Design Engineering course. Red Meat Program is helpful sags farm specialist BY JOHN BANCROFT FARM MANAGEMENT SPECIALIST FOR HURON COUNTY Recently, the Red Meat Program II was announced as a continuation of the original five-year program. Of course, there have been some changes made in order to address the current needs of the beef industry. Overall the program will contribute to Ontario’s competi­ tiveness and productivity in the livestock industry. Cow-Calf producers will be re­ quired to submit supervised wean­ ing weights in order to qualify for the various incentive grants. A grant of $10 per eligible weaning weight will be available for super­ vised weights taken since February 1, 1989. Weaning weights are to be taken when calves are at least 120 days of age to a maximum of 250 days of age. Huron County produc­ ers are to contact the weighmen in advance to arrange their weigh time. The weighmen are Neil Dolmage, 527-1196 and Jim Taylor, 357-2768. Also, a $10 grant per yearling heifer weight is available for super­ vised weights taken since February 1, 1989. A heifer yearling weight Robert McIntyre, Reg. O.H.A.A. Hearing Aid Specialist will be holding a HEARING AID SERVICE CENTRE on WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 2 AT 74THE SQUARE, GODERICH PHONE 524-7661 FOR APPOINTMENT THURSDAY, AUGUST 3 AT MEDICAL ARTS BLDG. JOHtyST., WINGHAM PHONE 357-2111 FOR APPOINTMENT If your present hearingaidneeds service or you are thinkingofpurchasing a hearing aid CALL TODAY mcintyre hearing aid SERVICE 275 HURON ST., STRATFORD Another L.D.S.S. student to obtain an Ontario Scholarship is also from this area. Jason Lamont, son of Elsie and the late John Lamont of Ethel had a standing of 83.3 per cent. He will be attending the University of Western Ontario in the faculty of music and will be majoring in voice. Both young men will receive their $100 scholarships at the commencement ceremonies at L.D.S.S. in the fall. must be taken 120 to 210 days after the weaning weights. Cow-calf producers who partici­ pate in the Beef Herd Improvement Program will be able to use the following grant areas to strengthen their operations. The four areas are a capital facilities grant, herd health program grant, a forage and feed testing grant and an enter­ prise analysis grant. Preliminary details have been released on these various grants but the final details will be available in the fall. In the meantime, it is important to continue to weigh calves as indicated above. BRUSSELS OFFICE HOURS Monday -10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Tuesday - Closed Wednesday -10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Thursday -10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Friday -10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Saturday - Closed Sunday - Closed