Homecomings

I am now back in the US, after what seems like so much longer than 7 weeks abroad. "Come to Norway, meet the world" is the slogan for the International Summer School, and indeed it was all that and more. Not only was it the world in terms of the diversity, but it was the world in terms of, well, how much all these experiences meant to me, and in terms of the immensity I feel I've grown and experienced as an individual.

And what I always find interesting is how one thing -whether in life or in "the big picture"-always leads to another, or, that nothing about where you are or where you came from came from nothing. So---why Norway, and why the UiO International Summer School? And, in essence, what was the main thing that brought me half way around the world to meet and learn from the people I did?

As I mentioned in one of my first blog posts, I must say it was because of the personal connections, and especially, my connections with so many wonderful people through my experiences as a Youth Ambassador in 2007 to the Sunnfjord area of Sogn og Fjordane. It was not an incredibly long time in Norway, but the time I spent there was so impactful on me---each day I learned a lot, experienced a lot, traveled a lot around a beautiful corner of the world with a very dedicated and loving host family, and in the end, I knew I found something special...since then, I had always longed for a way to return, and I really don't think a day went by when I didn't think about the great time I had in Norway.

So it seemed only fitting that I concluded my summer adventures back where I first came to and "experienced" Norway...and of course, it was well worth everything, despite a few glitches. First being that (I think back to when I first came to the ISS..) I had just as an awkward and uncomfortable experience with my suitcases as before-complete with dragging heavy baggage through the gravel! The second being that, less than a week before I would fly to Foerde, my host family informed me that one of the members of their family had swine flu, so I couldn't stay with them (!!!!!). But shortly afterwards, the director of the program - who I had been in contact with ever since I was chosen as a YA - graciously invited me to stay at his house for a few days, and later arranged that I would stay with the female Norwegian YA's family from last year.

I ended up having a wonderful time. I have never been anything but impressed all along by the amazing and warm hospitatliy of the Norwegians, and my time in West Norway was absolutely fantastic. I have once again tried to upload pictures from this trip, and once again technology has decided not to be friends.

HOWEVER, I can at least list/briefly describe what I have done...!

-I flew to Førde from Oslo the day after the ISS concluded, and was picked up by Erik, the leader of the exchange program on the Norwegian end. I was taken to his house, where his family made an incredible kebab chicken salad from scratch (and, as I would very quickly discover, wherever I went there was always a lot of very good, home-made, local and local specialty food, made by the people I was staying with with so much care and consideration. And always everything was so fresh, and in many cases, hand-picked, hand-caught, home-grown, or otherwise had a lot of very personal investment!). We talked a lot, about the ISS, about what was new in Sunnfjord, and of course, about the upcoming Storting election in Norway. Later that day his family gave me a tour of the nearby daycare and elementary school, which I really enjoyed.

-The next day we started by spending hours on blueberries...Erik lives on an old farm that belonged to his wife's family, and not only is it in a beautiful location with a wonderful view of a lake and the mountains, but it also had what appeared to be an infinite supply of fresh wild blueberries. After a few hours of picking (there's a change from studying for exams!), we had at least ten pounds. Then later that day, we visited the Eikaas Museum - a small museum dedicated to this now rather famous (at least in Norway) local artist, and then after that, we returned to his house where we had a classic Norwegian "barbeque" and later picked through the ten pounds of blueberries. Another really great, relaxing day that really helped me reconnect with what makes this part of Norway so terrific.

-The "Homecoming" Part I: So, as it turns out, I got to spend the entire Sunday with my host family!!! We definitely made the most of it.

*The first part of the day we went to a small Viking festival, complete with an outdoor theater play that chronicled a popular local story with almost all volunteer, local people being cast. As it is, the Gaular Kommune where I was is well known for having an ancient Viking settlement, and celebrating this rich history has become very important, especially in this biannual "Gaularspelet." It was a wonderful play, and of course, it had so much musical and especially linguistic richness, as, of course, people sang Viking-style songs in their own dialects (complete with a Viking ship sailing in the background..). As someone who is especially interested in the Norwegian language situation and especially would love to learn more New Norwegian, this obviously thrilled me in and of itself! While there, we also had some really great home-made rømmegraut that was being sold by friends of the family...And this is also what I love about these small communities in Norway. Not only are they nestled in such beautiful scenery, but everything has such a feeling of authenticity-the people, the connection to nature and to their products....and then, at the same time, part of a very modern and progressive country. It's a very nice balance.

*Fishing!!!! So many of my best memories in Norway were fishing on the local lake, Viksdalsvatne, and once again, it was just so great to be back. Bragging moment---I was very happy I did actually catch a fish (you can tell I don't normally go fishing...haha). And, of course, as anyone who does normally go fishing knows, the best fish you could ever eat in your life is that which you caught only an hour before from a pristine lake....and of course, with some great people.

-The next day, I was taken to Foerde to stay with last year's YA host family. I was instantly greeted with a fresh pot of coffee and a whole stack of Norwegian waffles being made right in front of me. I instantly hit it off really well with my host family, as we sat for the longest time discussing Norwegian politics, the language issue, and literature...in fact, it was a really great match, considering that the family I ended up staying with are huge literature buffs, and---yay!---I had just taken a really great class on Norwegian literature. Thus things began very well. Later that day I went with last year's YA to downtown Foerde, where we shopped a little bit in anticipation for her friend's birthday/going away to New York to study. I actually had many times during my stay in Foerde where I got to meet many Norwegian youth, and it was great just to be able to be with them and be so instantly welcomed and invited into what they were doing. There I met some of her other friends and we chatted and hung around. I think what made this all special was the fact that I was in Norway (speaking Norwegian...), and here I was just so openly and warmly accepted and welcomed wherever I went, and I felt I was truly living in Norway and not just travelling through...it's a great feeling.

-The "Homecoming" Part II: Or, that is to say, the day when I got to be a minor celebrity for a day...on Tuesday, I got to be a Youth Ambassador all over again!!! Not only did I get to meet this year's YAs (one of them was actually a friend from high school..! Imagine finally meeting up with someone again halfway around the world..), visit a World War II museum of special historic significance to the region, and meet with the mayors, but I even became something of a field day for the local paper and radio. I suppose it was the fact that I was somewhat of "the one who came back;" ---not only did I have lasting memories from my experience as a Youth Ambassador, but it was a life-changing enough experience that I decided to make Scandinavian Studies one of my majors, and came back able to conduct these interviews entirely in Norwegian...and, the mayors remembered me and were thrilled to see me again. So it truly felt something like a very pleasant homecoming.

I should probably preface now that this entire time in Western Norway, I heard and spoke Norwegian essentially the entire time. I realize how much my Norwegian has improved this summer, and hands down it is thanks to these wonderful connections and personal encounters...

But anyway. And later I got a tour of the local press (which I thought was something in itself...considering Norway's status as having the highest per capita newspaper publication/consumption rate, I thought it was cool to finally go inside a local newspaper press), and was given a few copies of the next day's paper--where I was on a part of the front cover. It's quite odd to hear yourself speaking on "foreign" radio or being on the front page/ being the subject of the story...not something that happens every day. So that made for somewhat of an exciting day, to say the least.

And therefore, I had what turned out to be an extremely momentous - and yet entirely fitting - conclusion to my time in Norway. I was able to go back to Oslo and spend one more "farewell" evening there, but returning to Sogn og Fjordane was something I longed to do--it was only two years ago, but I know I have changed so much in those two years, and not to mention this summer. I am truly so grateful for everything I have been given, and after everything that has happened this summer - after everyone I have met and all the chances for great learning and growth I have been given - I am even more in debt.

I hope to write more, expound upon the many holes I left in my sagas in Norway, and perhaps continue this blog afterwards (perhaps as a sort of "recompense" for not being consistent enough in the summer?)...but for now, at least...

Takk for alt.

The International Summer School has finished, technically speaking...

It has always been something that has kept me from this blog, but I can vouch that I have really had a marvellous time at the International Summer School - to say the least - and I look forward to now being able to write about it much more extensively than I have for weeks. Indeed, I feel that the six weeks I spent at the UiO constituted an entire lifetime in and of themselves. I have had so many meaningful experiences, created so many meaningful friendships, and, just as importantly, learned a lot.
And what do I mean by learned a lot?
It means that while I took my studies seriously and learned a lot from the courses themselves, the real learning has also been taking place outside the classroom, certainly. When I first thought of the idea that I was really learning as much from each other and from Norway as from formal/traditional instruction itself, it finally began to dawn on me that perhaps this was the intention of those who created the ISS all along --- could it be possible that offering these courses, etc., had an ulterior motive of making us come together - from all parts of the world with all walks of life and different life philosophies - just to learn from each other? I'm suspicious.
After all, there's a reason why I enjoy the discussion-based class, and especially why I loved the literature class: the more diversity there is in the classroom, the more interesting interpretations, perspectives, and certainly literary backgrounds to draw upon. I remember the director of the ISS Einar Vannebo saying right from the beginning of the summer school that when he taught Norwegian Literature at the ISS, he especially enjoyed it just for the reason that he got a completely different take on classic Norwegian literature when he heard it from a global perspective than when he instructed a class of all Norwegian students...
So, then, couldn't we also say that this was the real reason for the International Summer School? If this is what could just happen in one classroom, imagine what happens, then, the rest of the time we are not in class or strictly nose-to-the-books studying...it means we are together, discussing. And-finally!-a real dialogue may occur! People from historically "opposing" groups will begin to come together. People may learn much about a country that beforehand they would hardly have been able to find on a map (me included...). Amazing support networks are created. I can't tell you how much I have relied on and confided in some of the people at this school, people who (it seems so strange to think now..) were complete and utter strangers to me not even two months ago. Isn't that wierd to think that? Besides the fact that the days were so long at the ISS (both in terms of sunlight and in terms of the complete and utter lack of sleep...), That's why I truly believe the ISS was a life unto itself. How strange it will be when it finally occurs to me that it's over, that where I am now in Western Norway (more on that later!) is not simply a nice break from the school, but is truly the tail end of this summer in Norway. It hasn't quite hit me yet...

But anyway:
That, I think, is the take-home lesson of the International Summer School: There is something to learn from everyone and everything, and there is life to be lived everywhere, so make the most of it...it might just be the next best thing you've ever done.

Picture update, among other things

Hello!

FINALLY some pictures...unfortunately, I do greatly apologize that the pictures are out of order, as is everything else on this post. Going forward, I will try to see what I can do to solve this....
Anyway, enjoy for now!!!



Gro learning how to swim!!!

It seems photos won't do this justice, but I can at least put some on. This is Gro and I at Sognsvann, and a documentation of her first time swimming in a lake....

This is just a funny side note, but this very knowledgeable and friendly lady was my guide the first time I took a tour of Oslo City Hall in January also. The knowledge she gave on that tour gave me SO MUCh information for my final paper, so it was great to be able to see her again and thank her for her help!

With Sylfest Lomheim, leader of the Norwegian Language Council, who also attended the ISS opening ceremony at Oslo City Hall, and who I got to meet in January as well...it was really an incredible course.

The amazing Oslo City Hall ISS opening ceremony!

Now that I have finally posted more pictures...

I once again apologize for a long and apparently convoluted blog post.

On an interesting note (the day before I left for the Bergen trip), when I started writing this post, I had just got back from a very, very interesting discussion/debate on the pros and cons of globalization. I really value that there are these panel discussions hosted by the graduate students apparently every Tuesday evening, because they really put into perspective everything that we often just hear as sound bytes. I found it both fascinating and quite disappointing that I was one of a whopping two Americans in the room, and one of only maybe 3-4 "Westerners" who were present. I think this is great because it means that the dialogue was almost entirely conducted by people whose countries are really experiencing a wide variety of the effects of globalization that I think even the most well-informed of us may not entirely know about. It's refreshing to hear about globalization and the concerns/support surrounding it from the people who we know are being heavily impacted, but we don't necessarily know how, why, etc....and it's nice to talk about the relevance of globalization in these concrete, economic, and political terms, rather than just as yet another "lofty" word fluttering around in the vast crevasses of JSTOR, to be used as part of some esoteric (right word..?) discussion harkening back to the Latin used in European universities in the Middle Ages, drained almost completely of all real relevance... So KUDOS to this opportunity. I'm quite disappointed because....I felt like this was an opportunity that may have largely been preaching to the choir. As we know, much of what makes up "globalization" is frankly "Westernization." Where...where were the Westerners??? I'd like to know that, honestly. Shouldn't they have been there? Out of all the people from the US alone who attend this school, out of all the young American college students here, WHY was I the only one here to hear what people from various parts of Africa, India, etc., had to say, especially when a large concern with globalization is the imbalance of information coming into/being exported from the West to and from other countries? It's not democratic, and I think this is wrong and, in a larger context, borders on dangerous.

Brace yourself...this is a long post. Grab some caffeinated beverage before reading. And please do read it, it took a long time ;)

Hello,

So, I realize that it has been over a week since I last posted. My sincere apologies. I really, really wish I had more time to just sit back and reflect, because, without any exaggeration, I feel that every hour I have spent here could be worth a whole blog post. But how many hours would that be between last I posted and now…? Well, too many anyway. And once again, without any exaggeration, I’ve been averaging about 5 hours of sleep each night as it is. So I am sorry to any and all who are following this post!
And it’s a Sunday night, and I just got back from a big presentation on Azerbaijan, which I appreciated…first and foremost because I realized soon after coming to the ISS how very little I knew about this country (indeed, even the name of the capital failed me….nooooo), and there is a big group from Azerbaijan. I also now have learned that there are lots and lots of connections between Norway and Azerbaijan, which is interesting also, as well as the fact I got a sense of a lot of the very recent history and current events that continue to affect the views, sentiments, and general culture of the Azerbaijani people. I saw some really wonderful dances and heard people singing Azerbaijani songs, we all danced around in a circle to the Azerbaijani national anthem, AND I got a free keychain!!! What more could you want?? Hence another reason to love the ISS.

-So let’s start back with what I did on the Friday after my last post. Well, there was the ISS party at Chateau Neuf, the student social house off Majorstuen. It was really nice to see all the people there, and to see people from all over the world dancing and partying…but still, I felt for those who had never experienced anything like a “Western” party before, and I could see how lost they felt, bewildered, some even wearing their traditional garb, only to stand there watching people dancing enthusiastically on the dance floor (albeit not scandalously). As for me, about an hour of just trying to socialize with some of my friends there (in particular a fun, quirky girl from China whose English name is “Fish,” of all things…haha), I realized that I was extremely exhausted, and that I could have fallen asleep standing right in the middle of the dance floor. So I found some people who seemed to be in the same boat, and left, grateful for the long hours of daylight and the overall tranquility of the city.
-The next day was, of course, Saturday, July 4th. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the big Independence Day celebration that was the week before, because that morning there was an orientation meeting for living in the dormitories that we had to attend, and then really not long after that were more orientation things that included the amazing Oslo City Tour…which I took all in Norwegian J. I hope to upload some pics from that too…

(Actually, on that note, I realize I haven’t even written anything about the City Hall reception, have I??? Well I’ll have to…note to me: upload pictures onto Blog…perhaps it’s a case of showing versus telling.)

Anyway, it started out as a very bizarre Saturday. I made plans to go with some friends into the city, but woke up at 9 AM, which was when they said they would leave. So I thought I missed them…as it turns out, almost everyone decided to sleep in until at least 12 or 1 PM…so I guess I didn’t miss out as much as I thought. So, while I think that it is so wonderful that there are so many wonderful people here, to say nothing of the many great opportunities at my fingertips here, I find it almost a curse! One of my absolute most hated things is when I feel like I’m stumbling through life, and that when I am too overwhelmed with choices, people to do them with, or just in general too many things to pay attention to all at once, I find myself confused and frozen up, unsure of what to do, and tottering on the brink of not doing anything, which would be the worst thing to do. I don’t quite know how to explain this, because I also just mean it in a much bigger context than just what to do for a Saturday afternoon. But anyway, regardless, there ended up being a change of plans…so, how did I end up spending Independence Day, you might ask? By hanging out with my Turkish friend and two Armenians walking around the city and on the Oslo Opera, of course! It ended up being a really nice time, and it was just so nice to be able to once again walk around the city and talk with new people. One time they all hugged each other, than looked over at me and said, “You’re watching history happen.”
And later that evening, when the campus finally got back to life again, I watched the film on Knut Hamsun’s life, and I found that especially rewarding if a bit long. Besides, after looking at the optional excursions, etc., that I was given by my literature professor, I found that I had done almost all of them already, including that movie!!! Woot woot! Once again, props to SCAN 331. What an amazing course...essentially, I think, it’s Scan Studies all crammed into one month…
Now, that all said, I was congratulated by many of the other students on Independence Day, and I thought that was really cool that there was so much attention being paid to it….it almost reminds me of when Obama was elected and I was in Norway then, but on a much smaller scale…haha
-Sunday the 5th was especially remarkable, because that was the day the ISS organized a hike to Nordmarka, or the forest areas North of Sognsvann. By that point, the weather had taken a turn for the worst, after the glorious days of warm, humid weather we’d had since I arrived in the city. Well, nothing lasts forever….but it made it all the more refreshing to hike in the cool air, even in the rain. There were so many incredible people who went (actually, it’s just incredible that there were as many of us as there were!), and I really enjoyed being able to talk with them more…I just can’t get over how beautiful this country is, and how wonderful it is to be able to hike here. It’s what I was looking so forward to doing, and it has just been really rewarding. We hiked up to a small cabin-ish area, and then the group split up between those who would swim and those who wouldn’t. In a way that was reminiscent of Holden Village last summer, when I spontaneously chose to do the overnight-length hike in essentially half a day, I was prepared to swim, and gosh darn it, I was going to swim. I learned a new science lesson: apparently water retains water better than air, so the water was still warm from yesterday! Woot I win!!! It was wonderful. I swam for apparently a half hour, just going straight from one part of a long lake to another….the mist was swirling up from the water, and it was just incredibly beautiful, once again. All the while I was talking with some more students from Eastern Europe and Portugal, and the way down I continued to talk with some of them about human rights, the environment, overpopulation, and other light and fluffy subjects. I felt I was able to connect with a great number of fascinating people on that hike, which is why I love being in nature. Alone, you have time to think. With others, you have time to have good, deep, conversations. The hike took a large portion of the day, so then after that I buckled down and did some homework….yay for Norwegian literature! Sadly enough, we are now done with the Viking Age, but then we started on the Enlightenment Age in Norway, which is something I have hardly given thought to. Now, after this week, I know much more about the playwright Holberg, whose influence and writings I appreciate more than I thought I would…and, of course, I now know even more first-hand the fun stuff about why both Oslo and Copenhagen have statues of him…oh yes, KUDOS to Scan 331!!!
-The next day I decided to try to get some books from the library in anticipation of an upcoming project on Ivar Aasen. It never happened, as I was stopped in the library by a professor of economics from Prague on sabbatical, but studying human rights as part of his studies not connected with the ISS. We ended up discussing the UiO (as I really, really, really want to come back here!!! An incredible university in an incredible location, of course, to say the very least…), the economic situation of modern Africa, Barack Obama, the Xinjian riots, and other trite, gossipy topics. An amazing afternoon, indeed, and entirely unexpected.

-The next day Gro and I had a second trip to Sognsvann…swim therapy, you may call it. By this point, the weather and water had gotten considerably colder, but we didn’t mind. In fact, I was extremely proud of her for being so “I’m going to do this!” about just getting in the water…it was very fantastic, and even more so because of how placid and tranquil the lake was this time…essentially we had the whole place to ourselves. Once we got out of the water, we ran into this incredibly friendly young Norwegian couple. Soaking wet and rather cold, we ended up chatting with them for almost an hour (and of course…all in Norwegian…)!!! By the end, Gro and the woman exchanged email addresses, and what do you know, but this last Friday night we were invited to their house and had a wonderful time. I went with Gro and two other really awesome Norwegian major Beijing students. So at around 9:00 we met at the National Theater and walked to their apartment, a very cozy, friendly place very close by the tram line. As it turns out, the couple was having a small party that evening and invited us along. It become just an amazing evening. We talked a lot of course (all in Norwegian, of course), with one man who was especially interested in/taught Taiji and owned a Chinese restauarant, and was overall one of those kinds of people who is very interested. We sang songs---Britney Spears (to acoustic guitar, nonetheless), Pink Floyd, the Beatles were in there, Abba, Heavy metal, and other well-known singers and bands that often at least sang in English. And also, of course, I and the other three who were with me all started attempting to dance and sing the embarrassingly catchy Korean hit song Nobody…indeed, you’ve got to love globalization sometimes. I have to admit I still think it’s very interesting that anyone from anywhere in the world could essentially exchange just about any information, song, etc. That there could be this loud and chaotic melding of songs, languages, and everything right in one tiny room in the downtown of a relatively small city in Northern Europe speaks much to this, I suppose… But then, of course, the party really got started when they put on the Eurovision music, and we all danced. Unfortunately, the party had to be cut short because we had to take the tram back before it closed down for the night, but it was just really wonderful to be taken in with such hospitality and with such fun and friendly people, to be able to speak Norwegian in yet another different setting, and just to feel that we were all experiencing a very real Norwegian culture. And it’s instances like that when you realize….if I hadn’t done A, B, C, AND D, I wouldn’t have been there, doing these things. Certainly, the world is full of possibilities…

This summer school has been for me, of course, already so much more than a school. It has become something of a way of life. I can’t describe enough how much I have relished all of these kinds of moments, where I was able to really get to know so many of the people who live there from so many different walks of life…and, of course, all at once it all seems so incredibly Norwegian. Truth be told, I have never much believed in the stereotype of the cold, standoffish Scandinavian/Norwegian, because I’ve never found that to be the case. No, you may not be greeted with pecks on the cheeks or something more Mediterranean, but I’ve found that there is still a very good chance you will be welcomed with open arms and be invited into, if not someone’s home, than at least a very interesting and meaningful conversation. So that’s Norway. You go to the lake, you get wet and cold, and you make great friendships.

-And perhaps there is something to be said that is essentially Norwegian about the folk dancing class the ISS offered for its students…I loved it for the same reason, which is my favorite part about my Norwegian language class itself. All at once you see people from every corner of the world, all coming together for their own unique reasons to learn about Norwegian language and culture. In my language class, I thoroughly enjoy the fact that there are so many who have come to the summer school either because they are new immigrants, want to work in diplomacy, or are just curious…and the accents…I mean, everyone there speaks Norwegian differently…it’s actually almost kind of funny in a way, simply because I’m not used to it…English, absolutely, but to hear 20 different Norwegian accents – and all of them not “originally Norwegian” – is something else, I tell you. And NEVER have I heard a stronger German accent than in that class…heehee German is fun J

So, think of that like this one great, big dance, where we all stand in 2-3 big circles, holding hands (yes, it just occurred to me that it’s rather like those sappy pictures we’ve all been exposed to as children, where there are all these smiley people standing on a globe holding hands…but I digress), and then paring up to learn traditional rural Norwegian folk dancing. If you’re looking for nation-building and the construction of identity and how a nation projects itself to the world, look no further, I tell you. It’s made for an interesting experience.

Similarly, as part of the Studentparlament, I am now helping with the Norwegian committee (and perhaps social, as well…we’ll see next meeting), so I’ll be helping plan events centered around more opportunities to practice our Norwegian skills, and I’m definitely looking forward to it, one reason not in the least is that when I return to PLU, I will be a Norwegian language tutor…fun times ahead indeed!!!!

Okay just to break my train of thought, I was just looking at someone’s computer, was reading it, thought it was a Norwegian essay, and then I realized it was Chinese. Well. I fear that I am going to be completely screwed up when I come back to the U.S. I haven’t usually had too much of a problem keeping languages straight, but there have been a numerous number of instances where I have switched between Norwegian and Chinese in the same sentence…also sometimes this has been deliberate, as perhaps I knew the right word in one but not the other. So, my hope is that upon returning to the U.S., someone will be able to understand me. At least I can still write in English…hahaha…I jest.

- Oh my gosh. Wednesday was incredibly intense, long, and centered around Nynorsk. I started first with adventures in doing laundry, considering all of my towels were in various stages of wet or dirty following adventures swimming in lakes, and the last spots were at 6 AM when the laundry room first opened. So I decided to make the most of the fact that I was up anyway, and went for an early morning jog, continuing to discover new places around the city, listening to Chinese music, and running a long time on Vinje and Aasen roads because, well, I guessed it would fit the spirit of the day, which it did. In my literature class, I was finally given the assignment to give a presentation on the poetry of Ivar Aasen (which I requested, considering I knew he wrote poetry but I never had the chance to look at any of it…), which would be due the next day. Ahhhhh.
I decided to make a day of it---why not?? I started by deciding that because I had not been enough to downtown Oslo yet, I would make this project an excuse and pay a visit to Deichmanske Biblioteket, the main public library in Oslo, which was well worth it in and of itself. So I spent some time learning to navigate the library, and then got Symra, Aasen’s collection of poetry, and a book on 1000 years of Norwegian poetry, both in Norwegian (I couldn’t find the English resources, and figured that would be silly anyway when I’m in Norway!). AND (I’m so ridiculously proud of myself about all of this..it’s stupid, I know..you’ll have to forgive me…haha) I got a library card!!! And the people who got it for me did not dare to speak English, which was wonderful because then, once again, I’ve HAD to use Norwegian, which I have been pretty bent on doing here.

Yet another sidenote: See, that’s another thing. I haven’t had this experience where Norwegians have immediately switched to English, never giving you a chance to speak English. For me, it’s been about 90% of the time that Norwegians have used Norwegian on me completely, and it has only been when it looked pretty apparent I didn’t understand enough that they would blink, take a step back, and switch to English. Haha. So anyway….I don’t know….

…Anyway, so I now have a library card for all of Norway, and that’s pretty fantastic. Then, I decided that I could celebrate this and getting a chance to play with Ivar again by going to Kaffistova, which is probably my favorite venue so far in Oslo, simply for the reason that it has these strong connections to New Norwegian, etc., and it was the first restaurant we visited in Oslo in January, when we had just had a very long day already flying from Iceland. So I went to the bench where I sat that first night in Oslo (I actually went there twice that one day in January…haha) that has a nice view of the street outside/people coming and going (which is actually more fun than it sounds…), bought an over-priced bottle of water (it’s the experience…), and began to research. It was a very productive time, and I felt thrilled I could use these sources that were all in Norwegian, and even translated the poetry I would use in class, because I didn’t have access to the Internet/English translations!!!
Then I took the tram back and read Dagbladet and learned a little bit more about how Michael Jackson’s funeral was taken in Norway. Anyway.

Then I did more work after dinner, until some obscenely late hour.

When I started the presentation the next day, I was so tired I felt I would collapse before I even opened my mouth. But then I started talking and it was all fine, so, yay! I win! It went really well (about a half an hour…? And wow, once again, kudos to Scan 331….I pulled on what I learned there so much…). It definitely energized me for the rest of the day, and the professor thought the translations were very, very good, which also put me in a good mood, considering my only really good resources were a modern one-way Bokmaal and a Norwegian-Chinese dictionary...I celebrated by buying some svele from a nearby cafeteria afterwards.

Later that day I had to sit through a rather dry lecture on the state of religion/the state religion of Norway. Again, kudos to Scan 331, because we got to talk with the people who translated Bibles and helped run the ministry of culture, from which I learned incredibly a lot more than 2 hours where a guy essentially just read over and over the same information that was on three sheets of paper…gahhh.

Oh my gosh. And then there was the Norwegian cultural evening later that night, complete with traditional dancing (actually, the same group that taught us traditional dancing on Monday), some crazy Siberian-Sami fusion Joik (!), a nice modern band, and a woman who was class president of the 1947 ISS who read us a Norwegian folktale….in fact, the very same folk tale we discussed in class that day, same translation! Ha…! AND of course, amazingly amazingly amazingly good food afterwards…Roemmegraut……..my heart sings…..NRK was there, too, and just overall such great people. I love the people here!

-And, speaking of Ivar Aasen, guess what I did on Friday!!! I forwent my normal Norwegian language class in order to attend a special lecture at the Språkråd…again…so fun. So I had a lecture on what the Language Council does, but this time in Norwegian with the Nynorsk learning students, and that was so fun. The people in that class are fantastic (and, once again, I believe almost all of the students from Beijing are taking that class, which has also caught the undying attention of both Sylfest and NRK…in fact, this is now the third time I’ve met the leader of the Spraakraad…so, cut class, meet the Norwegian government. There we go…although is attending another class’s lecture truly equal cutting, or does it just mean nerdy…?).
I must say, it was incredibly exciting to be back there again, and especially just that you realize how much there is to do, how many choices you have, when you can just hop on a subway and arrive downtown in less than 10 minutes. To me, I find that especially exhilarating.

And that brings me to the rest of this weekend, which I think I’ve mentioned elsewhere already…did I mention Saturday night?? I can’t remember. Well, some other time. This post is already disguistingly long. NO….I didn’t…well, next time.

I should upload pictures soon. That will help everything fall into place…

So, so far, during the time that I HAVEN’T been doing homework, going to meetings, and other such tasks (after all, my time spent in class every day is between 5-7 hours, not including of course homework, etc. 哎哟), what have I liked best so far? I think overall, I have just loved being able to go where my feet take me, whether that means hiking out in the forests or walking or jogging around the city in various places. I like watching the people, hearing little short bits of their conversations, watching them interact, occasionally talking with them also, and just enjoying the general people-friendly spirit of this place. Just a great way to really get to know the city, and just think, reflect, and process everything. It’s just been really great to go down the streets, watching people coming and going, seeing the signs, advertisements, schools, old houses, and even street signs. And of course my J-Term class hasn’t left me at all, because I still have a lot of fun with even simple things like whether a street is named Gata or Gaten, the usage of English (perhaps it’s just more because of what I have been doing this time, but it seems considerably less pronounced than it was in January…interesting considering the rise of the number of tourists in the summer), and other things.

The world as a classroom

So it's a cheesy title, I know, but to me I feel like I have a much better connection with this idea. And no, I really, really, really, really don't mean anything sappy, trite, or otherwise casting images of smiling children holding hands around a world, because that's really not what I mean at all. What I mean is the dynamics of this university. Everyone wants to talk with everyone, and everyone is happy to talk about where they are from. There is overall just this strong sense of unity that is just incredibly appealing. It's really just through talking with these people, listening to them and their stories, and your realizations that there is a lot about a lot of stuff that you know nothing about that I think is really what makes this university what it is.

That said, I love being in class. Tell me if I'm wrong, but I don't think I mention that I added another course to my schedule---Norwegian literature. It is now the class I really look forward to and am just absolutely relishing. It probably makes it that much cooler just with the fact that I feel so well prepared for this class, thanks to my J-Term. I mean, they're talking about Per Thomas Andersen, Njal's Saga, and my professor just really knows her stuff, and it seems that in her somewhat reserved way obviously has a lot of enthusiasm for what she's teaching (I mean, I think it's just cool to have just listening to music from the ancient Icelandic cycles as part of our instructions in prose, the various forms of poetry, etc....).
But I know I'm also just loving it because it was a rather spur-of-the moment decision. I felt like I really needed to take something in addition to just my Norwegian language class, because as it stands it's once again outside the class that my Norwegian is really improving. To me, it's really more of a springboard for me, a map that charts what I can and should learn/know, but the real learning and everything once again is not in class. I can't tell enough how wonderful it is that countless times people have asked me things in Norwegian, and I have always been able to answer them back in Norwegian; if they asked anything more, they wouldn't even bat an eye and switch to English,...always in Norwegian!!! How cool is that?! Even today I was at the university's bookstore, I asked one of the workers where I could find some of the books, and even after she saw the booklist and saw that it was an ISS course and thus taught in English, she still continued speaking with me in Norwegian. Woot.
And why not take advantage of this? I am in Norway, and have chosen to surround myself primarily with people learning the language and are at least just as equally interested in getting just as much out of being here as possible. Therefore, outside of some certain situations, I find that the vast majority of the time I am just not speaking English (and even when I have to - such as in my lit course - and even then I am having to stop myself from saying something in Norwegian. No, there's a lot I still can't say, but when you've been switched on this way, it's just like when you're running for a long time: after a while your learning/running just becomes second nature, and you pick up so much simply by staying in the zone, which is just so easy to do). What will I do when I am no longer surrounded in this environment??? Well I'll cross that bridge later. (Okay, other sidenote: really, I am just so incredibly impressed with these students who have come from Beijing. Their commitment to learning the language is so impressive, and they always do it with so much gusto and curiosity. What an asset to the ISS...and actually they're quite well known in Norway, if I'm correct..)

But on that side note, I think that's really the concrete example I want to get to about my pseudo-theme for this blog: it's 1 AM once again, and my homework situation today hasn't been bad at all. Which made for an excellent day to do what I have been saying every day since Saturday: return to Sognsvann. I dread thinking about this, but I've heard that the weather may get bad during the weekend, and this in itself was what finally spurred me on to get back to that wonderful lake I visited with my good friends from the Beijing Foreign Language Institue on Saturday (was it really only less than a week ago.........?).

So I should back up. I am the class representative for my Norwegian class, and today there was an incredibly loooooong meeting for deciding who would be president, etc. I decided to run, and unfortunately didn't get the position, but I suppose I'll stay plenty busy without the position! haha. But it's funny because I was debating whether or not to do it right up until I went up there to give my speech, and it goes to show you something about basic psychology that the more I had to get up and speak, the more I realized I could really do a good job at this and wanted to do it. And then I didn't get it, so that's called irony I suppose. Oh well, I'm still looking forward to helping out. I just feel like I should give whatever I can to this school while I'm here. And, of course, represent PLU well :P
So that lasted until dinner.
And after dinner was the lecture series I am attending for a Norwegian society course I'm taking.

So I pursuaded my friend Gro/Wang Qingqing, a girl very interested in international relations, the Norwegian approach and just stuff about rights, conflict management, osv. to come with me to Sognsvann after the lecture, because the sun was still out and from what I've heard, the water was still so incredible and warm.

She was freaking out so much about it ("YOU'RE SO CRAZY, ARE YOU SURE YOU'RE NOT ON CRACK???"...to confess I get this question a lot. Well, it's true I have a lot of energy and I'm generally an enthusiastic person...but I just really want to make the most of everything, you know?)---what if we couldn't get back? And, as I found out, she didn't know how to swim and indeed, it was her first time in a lake! But I don't think this is entirely uncommon in urban China, and especially the latter part. But anyway. Correct me if I'm wrong on this. She was scared to death of drowning.
I encouraged her to get into the water---as it turns out, it's really quite shallow for a long way- at least the part we were at. Oh, and it was really, really warm, even for past 10 PM.

And then, someone near by came to puruade her - a man who had come from Kurdistan in Iraq, and likewise switched between Norwegian and English as did Gro (who realized she wanted to also practice some English as well...haha). In a completely selfless way, he spent a very long time trying to help her, instructing her on how to swim and encouraging her as well, supporting her as many Norwegian kids would have when they were first learning how to swim. We were both very taken by the generosity with his time - he was really just doing this because he wanted to help, and it was clear he wanted nothing in return but an opportunity to give somebody confidence that she could do something she once thought impossible. And to me, this was the embodiment of Norway once again, because at once it was just this sense of collaboration, cooperation, consent, and unity, and of course it was very pretty outdoors and we were swimming in a lake at 11 PM because it was still warm and light out. And I really don't know how to say this last part without sounding really wierd, trite, or anything, because I don't like just saying "international stuff, "but just the aspect that we all come from such different backgrounds seemed part of that, and I can't say quite how it fit in, but it really was somewhat like that last day I had in Blindern when I got off at the wrong stop....

We kept telling her not to be afraid to let herself jump and let herself suspend a little bit in the water, and I just stopped for a brief moment and realized how once again, it was like one of my favorite quotes come to life: "sprang utpaa de 70000 favners dyp," or to be suspended over 70000 fathoms of water, Kierkegaard's famous statement on blind faith and a sense of passionate commitment...except that the water was probably only a meter high at most. ha.

She ended up excited, exhilterated, her fear gone, and the only thing that stopped her was that she began to get tired. She kept talking about how worth it that was, how happy she was, how much she wanted to go back and do it again. Actually, she was giddy. It was like something just lit up, and I felt so grateful I could witness something like that.

The sun was setting, the water was warm, and we were all learning from each other and talking about our lives. Our experiences were all so different, but it was met all with mutual interest. It was as if I had never left Blindern campus!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, that's what it felt like..Blindern with really warm water, a beautiful sunset, and something that just seemed so elysian.
And that is what it means to travel meaningfully, what it means to realize that learning and the things that make life be truly living.
Okay that's really all for now. I could say more, but wow is it late. This is why I should just upload pictures or something.

because I promised pictures!

Dang it!!!! The pictures are all out of order. Well then this is all I'll submit for now. Besides it's 1 AM.

Anyway, I realized yesterday when I was out jogging (it was incredible...jogged right to the edge of Vigeland and back, but I'll save telling about all this another time maybe), I realize that I think my last full day in Norway was exactly 6 months from when I started my first day of classes here at the ISS, and I spent that last full day on the Blindern campus researching for my paper...funny how that works.

Anyway, without further ado, enjoy my scramble of pictures from the first few days!



SOGNSVANN!!!! I'll share more pics later. But I love this. Typically Norwegian, which means many good things in my opinion.

The main ISS building, picture taken sometime around midnight.

My room! Some have complained about the size, etc. But it's cozy and safe and clean, so I think I'm quite happy with it. Besides I look out my window and see trees. I like trees.

um....so this is a view of Oslo from near Ekeberg restaurant, along a very old path that led into the city. Yes, indeed these pics are out of order. Anyway it was very, very pleasant indeed.

This is the translated Dante stuff I told you about. I thought I should stick it in to prove that it's in New Norwegian, as well as because it's the only record I have in photographs that I had an amazingly good day that day.

Ekeberg restaurant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So well worth everything. And apparently the Aftenposten Aften addition gave a review of this restaurant the day after the day I was there---almost perfect marks. I'd say perfect, but that's just my humble opinion. haha.

So this is a view of the Oslo harbor at sundown..or at least around midnightish on the very first night I was in Oslo!!!!

I think this looks very Munch-like.

So this was the first picture I took while on my trip, at the Copenhagen airport.......

思故乡...hahaha

But in all seriousness, time flies quickly. Last time I was there they had these same kinds of ads for the Twin Cities. Little did I know............okay enough of my griping. But seriously, a free stopover in Reykjavik????? Jealous. Teensie-weensie bit. But I have no right to complain, right??? I'm in Oslo!!! :D

I haven't disappeared...

I just feel like it! So here is the short story before I go back and attempt to recap my adventures so far at the ISS: Internet is a bit of a challenge to say the least, so currently I am sitting outside, once again not on full battery (smart, I know) because it is near the library that I get the next inernet connection. I wish I could blog from my room, but so far I have had wonderful luck with that. Same goes for SIM cards. So I feel that I am in my own special little island, right in the middle of a very cosmopolitan, modern, and connected city.

Okay, so now that I have explained my situation, you will now understand why if all of a sudden I stop in the middle of a blog post, it is because the battery on my laptop died and I posted just in time.

I should start just by saying again that I have so far experienced absolutely wonderful hospitality here in Oslo. I am so grateful for the amazing experiences I have had so far just in the few days I have been here, and that I feel I have really been welcomed better than I could have hoped for.

That said....
So I had probably the most ungraceful beginning to my start at the ISS---namely, that I got out of my seat on the tram before the Blindern stop only to fall flat onto my luggage, and not even realize that I had fallen onto my luggage until it happened with a comically loud bang, and everyone on the tram was staring at me with those looks of awkward apprehension. Sigh.
Then I pulled all of my belongings up a hill of gravel, only to be directed to the wrong dormitory and go up two flights of stairs (which aren't that many except if you have a large suitcase....and then have to drag everything over more gravel to the other side and go up another three flights, afte ryou have already been pulling your bag all around campus because you were so clever you didn't see how close the tram stop was to the dorm...).

Because I was one of the first to arrive, also, it seemed a little bit strange and surreal, and more like a moving-out day at college than moving in. But guess what? the first person I met here at the ISS was someone from Washington state---it's very odd to open a door and stumble into someone wearing a UW sweatshirt, when all at once you think it's normal and then realize that, wait, you're in Norway and UW sweatshirts are a little uncommon. As it turns out, my roommate is also a Husky. Go figure. Actually, there are overall more Americans here than I would have guessed, but maybe not so surprisingly a very good many are from Washington, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. They are all very nice. just like in college, I haven't met anyone I don't like yet (to put it in fairly understatement terms), so that's great! Then I spent a long time having fun (AKA troubles) with a free SIM card I got. Actually just connectivity in general. I met this really sweet woman from Tanzania who needed to find out how to get in touch with her family back home, so we ended up running all around trying to find out more about phone cards from some UiO offices while also going with my roommate to figure out about locations for exchanging cash, and so we spent a long time with SIM cards and phone cards and trying to figure out how to call from the dorms and other things. A strange start, but I really liked being able to meet people.


I have already had so many incredible opportunities here on the campus. Classes will start tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to seeing how I do in my Norwegian course.

Anyway, here is a very brief list of some of the things I have done since Friday:

-Meeting people from all around the world, of course, including making many friends with a fairly good sized group of students from the Beijing foreign institute who are all majors in....Norwegian. Go figure. Anway, I have been speaking a lot of Norwegian here, because we are all very enthusiastic to practice speaking Norwegian, which is also really fun. We've hung out a lot. So far this had included a really awesome trip to Sognsvann yesterday with them and their teacher, being almost exclusively at the "only speaking Norwegian" table for meals (which has many other really interesting people), and taking a tour of the city of Oslo in Norwegian instead of in English. It's been a series of great opportunities, one after the other, and I have really enjoyed speaking with all the people who are studying Norwegian and finding out their reasons. Here at the ISS you get some really cool answers....
-Actually, the first part of the previous point really summarizes everything else. Whenever you go to a school like this, it's obviously the people who make the school. Yesterday I had a wonderful, long conversation with two Americans and a nice woman from Turkey, who is one of the most cultured people I've ever met. It's led to some very cool discussions already.
-Good Norwegian food, like fiskekaker. They're kind of like Holden Village, actually, in that they do a lot of fun stuff with making other dishes out of leftovers. And of course the Norwegian breakfasts.
-What else is fun to point out for now...? Ah. The rooms themselves. Some have complained about them, but I don't find it's anything worth complaining about. Yes, they're quite small, but frankly, they're clean and comfortable and you can open the window, so I like it just fine. Besides, the weather has been so wonderful here that it just means you can be outside enjoying life more.

I hope to go back into the city soon. My excuse is to buy shampoo or go running, and I'll see if I do that later.

Anyway, this blog post doesn't do it justice, but I kind of already wish that this school went on longer than six weeks. Sigh. Well we'll see when classes start tomorrow..haha.

Perhaps if I can get my act together, my next blog can have a sample of pictures I have taken.

Anyway, hope all is well with you who are/is reading this (how many are reading this, anyway..?)!
Talk to you sometime when I have Internet!