Back in Norway - And finally realizing it
I'm here. In Norway. In Oslo. School's started, school's been in session for 2 and a half month, and I've finally realized it. I'm not in the US anymore, I'm in Norway, where everything's same ol', same ol'. And dare I say it: Boring. Dreadfully boring. No sports events, no football games, no pep rallies, heck; not even any pep.I'm wondering why I see everything differently now. I mean, this was perfect only a year and a half ago, but now something's different. Color, maybe. Maybe everything here seems gray and subtile because I have something new and exciting to compare it to. And a whole different culture and society to idealize. Maybe it's all so great since I need just that, something to reach after, and maybe my mind has already erased all the negatives about living in AZ. I don't know. It's all guesses.
posted by CK @ 21:07
1 Comments:
Interesting problem you are talking about. Cultureshock. The US may look glamorous and enticing to you, but Norway looks glamorous and enticing to me, sitting here in Australia. When I went to Norway - admittedly only in the summer - I thought it was very beautiful, the people very endearing, and the culture rich and ancient.
In the end, insight is not about moving on, but about digging in. If your present world is boring, it is because you are missing something. As we all do.
And you are starting on the great adventures - of family, love, professional life and personal identity - in a safe, warm, supportive society.
I have a Norwegian friend, around sixty years old, who is a filmmaker and an anthropologist. I saw her home movies once, and I realised she has a great sense of humour and laughs a lot. In Australia, where she speaks a second language and sees her family rarely, she is achieving a lot, but never laughs.
That set me thinking. Home is a pretty fabulous place, wherever it is.
I came here by accident, through the random blogger thing and this set my "middle aged teacher of young people at university" instincts going.
- david tiley, at barista
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