Goteborg Weekend

Gotebord weekend went really well, Magnus and I made a 4 hour car drive over to Goteborg, Sweden for a 3 day track meet. It started with my competition on friday which went was alright... it was my first time throwing in such a big stadium. I got second with a throw over 62,50m and the rest of my throws were all right around that so im still hoping for a big throw soon. Just have to make some minor corrections and I think 70m shouldn't be out of the picture. On Saturday we went outside of Goteborg an Magnus had a discus comp, then he also threw in the stadium on Sunday. Both competitions he threw around 51m which he has been throwing for the last month or so. 

Besides the throwing the city was amazing and we spent a lot of time walking around. I met a few new throwers from Oslo that were definately not shy and introduced themselves to me. Thing have been going good and this week we will be getting back to training and working basics. Ill be updating on here more often, sorry I didn't have internet access in Goteborg so thats why I haven't posted in a few days. Thanks for reading miss you all and hope everything is going great.

Sincerely, Jesse

HAPPY...

HAPPY FATHERS DAY DAD! and of course HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! Love you both very much and thank you for everything you have done for me through the 20 years I've been alive. Hope all is going well, this trip for me so far has been worth it and I hope to come back a better person that has learned a lot from this experience I know all of this work will pay off because of the support you have given me and the opportunities you given me like this one right now.  Hope you have a wonderful day!

Love, Jesse

Meet update

Hello again, dedicated readers of my "Scandinavian Summer! I have just finish my second track meet of the trip and it was better, but still nothing close to where I want to be. The day was nice with a mix of sunshine and clouds in Lillehammer, Norway. We had a bit of a tail wind to throw with so it was very good. The competition wasn't so good, I ended the day at 61,50m, which was well off of what I came in thinking I could achieve. The warm ups felt amazing! I had both of my full approach warmup throws at 65m maybe and maybe even almost 66m on the second of the two. They felt very rhythmic and relatively easy, maybe going after them a bit... I stayed in on both of them also. So having said that I still believe I can get a good throw off when I'm here. The meet throws were forced and pulled down on (I went back to my old form)! Magnus threw on Friday, which was also a great day to throw, with a good right hand wind for the discus. He ended up at almost 51m. He has been training very hard and is ready to throw big next week! Besides the throwing, the sites were remarkable in Lillehammer. It's where they held the 1994 winter olympics. They have a massive ski jump looking down at the track. It's a beautiful site! I would post a picture of it, but I'm having a bit of trouble with it right now, so ill have to fix it, but I do have pictures! Well thanks for reading the post today. I'll get back to work and try to get after a big throw soon.

Thank you all

Thank you all for the wonderful comments you have been leaving! I would have thanked you earlier, but I didn't realize you could leave comments on the posts haha, so my fault. Things here are going great and all of the support yall have shown me is more then enough to keep a smile on my face and continue to learn. And yes when there are no clouds it doesn't get dark in the summer time here. It's almost like a light blanket of shade comes over, but you can still see for miles. It's amazing! Well again, thank you all and keep leaving comments, they are very encouraging and I will try and learn some better norwegian so I can send you some words.

Food is great!

The last couple of days the food has been amazing! Today we went over to Magnus grandparents to have lunch at it was absolutely great. Lots of veggies, pork, and Potatoes. His grandparents are very nice folks that always have smiles on their faces! The people here are very nice even though I can't understand what they are saying haha... I learned how to say "Thanks for the food" today, which was nice and it was very easy not something thats to hard to learn. Anyways Magnus and I have been going to practice everyday learning new things and lifting weights. The weather is great just hope it stays around for the meet we are going to this weekend in Norway. Next weekend we will be traveling to Goteberg, Sweden. Well tomorrow is our day off so perhaps I will post again. Hope all is going well back home! And everyone should wish my mom a happy birthday coming up here on the 21st...first day of summer!

Track meet and more

Today Magnus finished up his throwing this weekend with a throw in the shot put of 14.15m. Yesterday he threw the discus 51.37m which is a very good result for him right now. He has been training very hard in the weight room and throwing quite a bit so he was very happy with his throw, also he was consistently over 50m in that competition throwing over 50m 4 times! As for me I have been training and waiting for the next competition which is on Saturday. Im hoping the weather will be nice enough to get a good throw off. In the mean time I will continue to learn and expand my knowledge of the sport. Training today went well, Paul and I did a lot of jumping and tested in the bar jump. I was  able to jump over 165 cm which was a really good result and tomorrow we will be testing in over head and backwards shot, we will also throw tomorrow.

The last couple of days the weather has been very nice here which is good for a change. Magnus and his youngest brother bought an xbox 360 and seem to be very into halo, Video games really aren't my thing so I just sit back and watch haha. The food is still great and they are feeding me a lot so I never feel very hungry! I suppose thats a good thing for me sense I'm so skinny ha. Well I hope everyone is doing great I post back soon enough talk to you all SOON! 

Looking forward

Well hello again! Today I had my first track meet in Oslo, Norway. The meet was a good learning experience for me. I ended up throwing 59m which was not the worst throw in the conditions we had but I was looking forward to throwing around 62 or 63 meters which didn't happen. I felt stiff similar to my first meet of the year back home so I feel like i can for sure improve and throw far once again. The weather was cold and rainy with a light head wind which isn't bad but the rainy weather wasn't good for any of the competition today with everyone throwing well under their best. Although the competition didn't go well I am still having a great time and putting it behind me to look forward to the future and in the mean time have fun in the present because this is all new to me! Magnus throws tomorrow at around 130 so I will be updating on the blog soon enough about his throwing! Hope everyone is doing well back home, hope to hear from you soon!

Hi! Jessie's parents. You have a very great and nice boy. We think it is exciting to have him live with us. Thank you for the beautiful blanket we received from you. It was very pretty and contained much history. We hope Jessie will feel right at home with us. We are going to treat him as the fourth son in the house. This means, that he must endure a little clutter and a lot of sound. We hope he will have a great summer with us, and that it will be a summer he will remember with pleasure for years to come.
Lillan and Jack

Good times in Norway

Though the time change still doesn't like me I am having a good time in Norway. Training is going well and my soreness is going away from the first week. I have my next throwing session tomorrow around 4 p.m. which should be good after todays workout which was mainly focused on jumping which went well and didn't bother my knees much at all. It has been raining a bit here lately but thats okay because I'm use to it I guess haha. My goal in the first meet on friday is to throw over my old PB which was 63m or so. Im hoping to consistently be around 65m and then make the 70m jump sometime while im here or in the early stages of next season. Anyways besides throwing Magnus and I still play the Wii a lot and are both at the pro level in golf haha. Also the last two night Magnus and I have went out on his local golf course with these old clubs that he has and we play about 3 or 4 holes. This has made us want to play every night now...we sneak on the course at around 11 p.m. maybe a bit earlier and its still light out, we can see the balls fly, its really fun! Anyways thats it from me its about 2:30 am here so I better get some sleep. Nata from Norway and I miss and hope everyone is doing well!

Time change

Im still getting use to the time difference. Some nights I will sleep 11 or so hours and others just 5 hours. Its frustrating but I'm trying to get use to it so I'm not tried all the time! Today was my day off of training so Magnus and I took his ll year old brother out to teach im some discus  and I just got some basic stretching and jogging in to loosen up because of the soreness that I have experienced from my first real javelin workout.  Magnus is beginning to teach his brother Henrick the basics in discus which is pretty cool to see. Tomorrow I will be doing my first real throwing session with my coach. I'm very excited and hope to preform well although I probably am not going to be a 100 percent because my body is still recovering from workouts. Magnus and I have been playing a lot of Wii video games, and watching the French Open on TV together haha. Lame but pretty fun and it makes the down time when were not working out go by fast. The food is still very good! Also I've been trying to learn some basic norwegian, things like thanks and goodnight. They are simple but the family seems to like it when I try to speak norwegian. His family is very easy to get along with and we have fun together which is important. Nothing has been boring so far! I can't wait to throw in my first meet next week and am hoping to be consistently at 65 meters or so and PR later in the summer once I start to get more explosive. Least thats what I'm hoping! Keep praying for me and I miss you all back home, hope your having a good time.   

Getting Used To Norway

Today was slow at first but turned out really well. Magnus and I went out for a little warm up at his old high school and there was a track meet going on for about 200 little kids. So that was pretty cool to see. During our afternoon session we did a pretty hard workout that Paul, my javelin coach, made for me. Some of the lifts we do here are different from the American lifts and I believe it will help me after a while. Later, Magnus and I went to the mall with Fredrick who is the best discus thrower in the world for his age. Now we are back home eating great Norwegian food made by Magnus' mom! Hope all is well back home talk to you soon.

Greetings From Jesse's Parents To The Berntsen Family

Mr. and Mrs. Berntsen, We want to extend our greetings to you from Oregon. We are very happy that you have welcomed our son Jesse into your home and we hope that he will be a pleasant addition to your family for a couple of months. Here in Oregon we take a lot of pride in our landscape, so I hope you will enjoy the tapestry from Oregon highlighting some of our most special landmarks. Jesse is very impressed with your own landscape and we knew he would be. When we were Jesse's age we spent 6 weeks in the beautiful countries of Sweden and Finland and enjoyed the people, culture and sights.

May God bless you,

Joe and Pam Staub

First day in Norway

Before the take off from Philly to Oslo I found myself becoming very nervous! The flight wasn't what got to me nervous or worried, or even excited me. I am nervous and excited for the opportunity that has been thrown my way. For a few years now since I have started to throw Javelin I've joked about coming over to Europe to learn and train with the best. Now I have an opportunity to do it. All of this wouldn't be possible if it wasn't for my friend Magnus coming to America and also my parents getting me the plane ticket and giving me the support they have given me. Also the support from my friends and other close family.

Today it is beautiful here in Norway with the temp around 65 degrees and clear sky's. Flying in was amazing, the land here is breathtaking with hills, forest and many lakes. Farming seems to be a big thing here! Every barn is red and the same size... there is way to many to count; its remarkable. Pictures will be posted sometime in the next day. Hope all is well back home!