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.