Godt Nytt Ar (New Years in Norway!)

The Norwegian bus trip was perhaps the most beautiful trip that I have taken in my entire life. The Scandinavian way of life must have rubbed off on me at least slightly because I was listening to Nightwish’s Bye Bye Beautiful on repeat on the journey. The song was fitting for the journey, it being in a minor key and all. The song has a melancholy air about it but also I sense of urgency and of adventure to it as well. I took a 5-hour bus from Gothenburg to Oslo and then another 3-hour bus to Kristiansand. When I arrived, Aashild was waiting for me at the bus stop! Man was it good to see her standing there. There was just a moment’s pause of awkwardness as we began the long string of conversations ahead. We took a city bus to her place, as I had that cumbersome bag with me (which I will not be taking on any more trips across Europe!) We arrived at last at Aashild’s spatious white college house. I was amazed at the sheer amount of space in her house, especially for only four girls. While there was only one bathroom, the living room/dining room was huge! We made tacos for dinner and spent the evening chatting and catching up. The next morning, after a lieserly breakfast during which I discussed the Norwegian trash and tax systems with Aashild’s dad, we walked around town and I helped Aashild pick out some decorations for her New Years party. We went to this cute little store (of which the name is escaping me, something like Upstairs?) dedicated to party decorations. But this was no Party City. It didn’t have any lame-o, cheap-o, cliche decorations, oh no. This place was awesome. They had everything that you could possibly imagine for every different color-themed party, down to the napkins and silverware. Aparently parties are about colors and not themes in Norway? Just a guess, feel free to correct me if you think I am wrong. I think that Norwegians and Scandinavians are just more classy when it comes to partying. They don’t need some lame excuse (AKA: theme) to have a party. They can have a party just to have a party, and they will. Whenever they feel like it. Because of this, they choose to invest a little more something that they could possible re-use for a future party instead of buying cheap, dispensible party favors that will get chucked out the door the next morning. Again, the recurring European theme of quality over quantity. I am starting to like this mentality alot, and I hope it rubs off on me. It will be hard to change my shopping habits, but I think that I can be done, with a little practice and effort.
I have to admit that Aashild is like me in many aspects, including indecisiveness. At least it made it easier to shop with her since we both took forever to make up our minds! (The only bad thing about this ist hat you end up spending all of your time in one or two stores). We stopped for lunch at a cute little sandwich place (again I have forgotten the name...which isn’t hard to do with these long Scandinavian names!) inside the stripmall where Aashild ordered sandwiches with some sort of curry patte, which was utterly delicious. I could have eaten the whole thing, but I noticed that Aashild wasn’t even going to be able to finish half of hers and I didn’t want to look like the typical American pig of an eater, so I decided to follow suit and save half of mine as well. Not only did fear of stereotypation motivite this decision, but also the fact that the sandwich was so darn expensive. According to Aashild, it is really super expensive to eat out in Norway, so many rarely take the opportunity to splurge on a meal outisde of the home. Another thing completely different from the United States...thanks to McDonalds, it is actually cheaper for some families (who lack the time, energy, and funds needed to prepare a proper meal) to eat out than to buy all of the ingredients. Also, it is more about convenience. Why take the time to cook a meal when you can eat something cheaper and in less time? Also speaking of McDonalds, there is a McDonalds in Kristiansand that is located in a grand-looking historical building that used to be a bank or something. Walking down the main street in Kristiansand it is pretty hard to miss. I couldn’t help but gawk when I saw i and I had to take a picture. If you’re lucky you will see it posted on here. Anyways, did I mention that I am in love with the Scandinavian eating habits and choices for foods? For breakfast, we would eat a soft boiled egg, and a couple of small sandwiches with meat, lettuce, cheese, etc. While many might not conisder this typical breakfast food, it makes sense that these kinds of foods should be served at breakfast since it is, after all, the most important meal of the day. Also, who has the right to determine what a typical breakfast is like? Everyone gets used to eating different things for different meals out of habit, not necessity. After all, food is food so what does it matter at what time of day you consume the different elements that your body requires to function? (Just a thought, I have been noticing how some people can be so set in their ways when it comes to eating habits. Some people are not willing to sacrifice routine for the benefit of gaining a valuable cultural experience). Also, nobody rushes around at breakfast time in Norway. Every morning that I stayed in Kristiansand, I would awake to find the table already set, coffee already made, and the entire contents of Aashild’s refrigerator covering the table. I think this is definitely a characterstic of Norwegian people, because I remember the same table strewn with juices, yougurts, fruits, butters and various spreads when I stayed at Per’s house in Norway. I never really understood why Per did this, I just accepted it as a more formal dining experience since we were guests at his house. But when Aashild did the same thing, I was left with no better explanation except that it has something to do with the Norwegian way of life. From personal observation, I have come to the conclusion that Norwegians (and this probably goes for most Scandinavians as well) are just more laid back about life. They are not in a hurry to start the day, and like to start it off right with good conversation, good coffee, and a little relaxation. This is completely opposite from the rushed and frenzied American breakfast that I am oh-so used to. (I think that this style of emptying the contents of the fridge has actually rubbed off on me....when my mom and uncle came to visit in Wiener Neustadt for a week I found myself taking out everything from milk, soy milk, orange juice, yougurt, friuits, rolls, coffee, sugar, etc. because I had a guest who I knew to be a picky eater.) And now I have gotten off on a long tangent. So where were we? Speaking of food, Aashild and I also did a little grocery shopping that afternoon. Kiwi is one the most popular Norwegian grocery store chains. I noticed some fresh shrimp staring me in the face, and Aashild promised that we would have that for dinner some night. The first grocery store that we went to was sold out of turkeys, so we went to a different one. (I found it slightly odd that a grocery store could sell out of something like a turkey, but apprently it is not very common. Also I have to take into account the fact that it was holiday, and the turkey was a desired commodity for many hungry families!) Apparently the Norwegian New Year’s meal is quite similar to the American Thanksgiving and is made wonderful with turkey, vegetables, and potatoes. We finally settled on a 5 KG bird, and went back home to do some research on how to cook the darn thing. I also convinced Aashild that I should purchase a Kransakake, a tiered ring-shaped cake tasting like almond marzipan. Adorned with miniature Norwegian flags and Norwegian jokes and drizzled with white frosting, I simply could not pass it up. Aashild was a little hesitant about the purchase, not sure that it would get eaten. She said the she personally liked it, but not all youngsters like us did. That evening we picked up Helena, Aashild’s best friend, from the bus station. On New Years Eve, Helena and I walked around Kristiansand while Aashild worked on the turkey. Kristiansand, located on the southern tip of the Norwegian shores, is a beautiful place. It is a port city, and as Aashild has told me, is a summer town and really lights up during this time of year. Helena and I had a discussion about Norway and about all of the immigrants from Samalia and Afghanistan. According to Helena, the Norwegian government (along with other governments in Scandinavia) feels overly sympathetic for people living in asylum and therefore provide them with housing and funds necessary to survive. Currently, about 8% of Norway’s population is made up of immigrants. We arrived back at Aashild’s just in time to see the bird make its way into the oven. Later that afternoon two of Aashild’s good guy friends joined us. Before dinner, we chatted about the political and social systems in Norway, comparing them to the US. Mainly we talked about the differences in the education systems. I think that future blogs will focus on a more in depth comparison of country’s social and political systmes, but you will get a brief overview for now. For example, college education is free, but when students get jobs after graduation in Norway they are taxed out the wazoo. However, they do have to put down a deposit which gives them incentive to pass their classes. If they do not pass, they do not receive the doposit back (I think there are other countries with this system as well). Also, students in Norway (as well as all of Scandinavia) are held under ten social rules that is called the Jante Law.
The ten rules are:
1. Don't think that you are special.
2. Don't think that you are of the same standing as us.
3. Don't think that you are smarter than us.
4. Don't fancy yourself as being better than us.
5. Don't think that you know more than us.
6. Don't think that you are more important than us.
7. Don't think that you are good at anything.
8. Don't laugh at us.
9. Don't think that anyone of us cares about you.
10. Don't think that you can teach us anything.

In my opinion, this makes it difficult to set very high goals because of society’s innate fear of success but also of failure. It is almost an oxymoron...you are supposed to try, but not too hard. What is that supposed to look like exactly?
As to other academic habits in the North....while Scandinavians take education very seriously, the system of being able to retake classes more than once makes it difficult to set very high personal standards. For me, when this exists, it is hard to get out of the mindset of...well, since I can take it again, why try now? Of course I still try my best, but this is always in the back of my mind...
Getting down off of my soapbox...
We had a lovely dinner and enjoyed some pre-party drinks to go along with the plethera of desserts before us. We opened one of the jokes on the Kransakaka, but I cannnot remember what it was. (Whatever it was, it wasn’t very good. Aahild’s friends willingly admitted that Norwegians are not very humours at all, as if this would explain why the joke was not very funny!) before making our way out the door. We literally only made it out the door at midnight, but were able to enjoy a fabulous fireworks show. We then slowly ventured into the cold (freezing, really!) outdoors as we made our way downtown. Since all of the clubs were closed, (which Aashild’s analytical friend insisted was Norway’s doing, since the government has that much control and all....but I’m not sure how much of that is really true) and made our way to a house (or I should say, aparatment) party. In Norway, home parties on New Years are more popular than going out anyways. We managed to dance the night away into the wee hours of the morning. At around 3 or 4 we made our way back to Aashild’s place where you would think that we would have gone to bed straight away. However, I think we were really too lazy to get up and change our clothes, so we ended up lounging around in the living room for a few hours singing oldies songs along with Aahild on the guitar (which she rocks at, by the way!) Finally, we called it a night and proceeeded to sleep until well after noon the next day. We bummed around the house, took our time to get up and around, and watched a couple of movies. The boys had gotten up early to go shopping (can you believe it? Boys getting up to shop the sales, and not the girls?! It must be a Scandinavian thing, I swear) but Helena, Aashild and I spent the morning lounging around and listening to music. When the boys got back, they announced that they had to leave soon and sadly would not have time to take a walk with us. We said our parting farewells and then decided to take a walk just us girls. It was a lovely day, and we stopped to pet a few horses on the way. Soon we approached a cross-country ski path and made our way down the middle. With skiiers wizzing by on either side (some accompanied by their favorite form of companion, the family dog) I felt pretty lazy. Apparently walkers like ourselves are not a common sight on such a skiier-dominated territory. It got to the point where there were skiiers remarking on our langsam (slow in German) speed. One man passed us at least three times and at one point, yelled out encouragingly...come on girls, speed up! That night Helena, Aashild and I cuddled up on the couch and watched chick flicks. The next day we were lazy again, but took a walk before taking Helena to the bus stop. Again, Aashild and I enjoyed another night in.
The next day I got to attend classes with Aashild. Well, so I thought....we arrived at the school only to discover that the classes for the day had been canceled. While I did not get the classroom expreince this day, I got to meet several of Aashild’s friends. That evening we went sledding with one of Aashild’s roommates before heading to the swimming pool. Finally the day came when I got to attend a Norwegian class, Renaissane Literature. The professor went on a long spiel about Italy and the large cultural influence that it has had on Europe historically, politically, and artistically. That night I decided that I would take Aashild out to eat to thank her for putting up with me for over a week. After much discussion, we finally settled on Egon, a Norwegian restaurant chain. I decided that I would order something typical of Norway, so I settled on the fish soup. Ashild, on the other hand, went full out American and ordered a hamburger. This was probably the most expensive hamburger that I had to purchase in my whole life! For the two of us, the meal was over $50, and this was not including drinks! That means that the hamburger alone was about $25. Maybe this will help put into perspective how expensive things really are in Norway? That night, after making it back, Aashild began to play her guitar and I began to sing along. We headed to Oslo in the morning, arrived in the afternoon, and went to Helena’s place of employment (the Scandinavian travel agency Apollo) to drop off our bags before walking around the city. Aashild and I walked up and down the main streets, and stopped in front of all the important buildings including the Parliament, the Grand Hotel where President Obama received his Nobel Peace Prize, the Royal Palace, and the Opera House. I just looked this up on Wikipedia to confirm this, but Oslo regained status as the most expensive city in the world in 2009. Of course this is the year that I decide to travel there, wouldn’t you know? Also, over 25% of Oslo’s population is made up of immigrants (mainly from Pakistan, Samalia, Sweden, and Sri Lanka), and the city’s population is growing at a record rate of 2% annually, making it the fastest growing Scandinavian capital. This is really mind blowing when you stop and think about it for a second. 2% Annually? Wow! The following day, Helena had to work, so Aashild and I spent the day walking around, shopping, and trying to keep warm. I noticed that all of the most expensive stores could be found along the streets. I eve saw a Bose store, which blew my mind. However, it makes sense, since Bose speakers are of the utmost quality and are therefore outrageously expensive. When Helena finally got off work at around 4 PM, we went back to Helena’s place (a spatious apartment in the upstairs of a quite nice house in a quite nice neighborhood) to prepare ourselves for the evening. We went out to dinner at a savy little pizzeria caled Olivia’s. Established in 2008, the interior was very hip and modern with actual olive trees inside, and a few log walls. http://oliviarestauranter.no/
I grabbed a menu for Olivia, since it is, after all, her name. Our waitress was a sweet girl from Sweden who agreed that it would be fine if I made off with the menu. (Aparently a lot of Swedes go to Norway to work because they can earn more money). Helena explained that I ordered a coffee and Bailey’s for Helena and I, as Aashild had already ordered a beer for herself. It is an odd experience to be out to eat, willing to splurge, but also being forced to order the cheapest item on the menu so that the splurge does not amount to an extremely outrageous amount. I ordered a pizza, which turned out to be about a $30 pizza. With the two drinks, my bill came out be around $50. While in Norway, my two meals out to eat were perhaps my biggest splurges. Since I had a place to stay, I luckily did not have to pay for lodging or else I would have been in some serious trouble. Not only is eating out for me expensive, but it is expensive for Norwegians as well. This is perhaps why Helena and Aashild had never been to this restaurant before despite the short distance between it and Helena’s place. Our dinner conversation revolved around the outrageous amount of inflation in Oslo. I was wondering, as I am sure most of you are as well, how one (espeically a student) is able to surive in such a place when the cost of living is so high. Helena and I worked together to figure out how much she makes in US dollars, and it is quite alot. Therefore, the wages are simply higher in order to at least partially compensate for the outrageous cost of living. The thought entered my mind about how much I could make in US dollars by merely working in Oslo for a summer or so. Helena mentioned that a lot of Americans and Australians work at the TGI Fridays down the street, and speaking Norwegian is not a pre-requisite for the job. I was tempted to go request an application, but I chickened out at the last minute. I haven’t gotten the best vibe from Oslo, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to work in the food industry again....but who knows. Maybe Helena could pick up an application for me before she comes to visit in the spring? We’ll see...
That night after dinner, the girls helped me purchase the bus ticket online that I would need to get from the Oslo bus station to the Torp airport, where I would fly to Paris. The ticket for the five-minute tram from Aashild’s to the airport cost over ten dollars, what a rip! Oh well...it was well worth it, considering that if I would not have taken it, I could have missed the bus that would get me to the airport with plenty of time to spare at the airport. When checking in at customs, in Oslo, the lady asked me how long I had been in Scandinavia. I couldn’t remember the exact date, and went on to explain that I had taken a bus from Sweden to Norway. I think I just further confused her, because when I finally came up with the date of the 28th, I remembered that the 28th was the day that I had changed planes in Copenhagen on my way to Europe. This lady thought that I had been in Scandinavia since the end of August! She gave me a stern glance, and suggested that I not stay longer than an extended period of more than three months in Scandinavia. By the time I realized the reasoning behind her stern advisory, it was too late to do anything about it. Shortly afterwards, I was on a plane leaving the beautiful snowy land of Scandinavia and flying to Paris, France for yet another fabulous adventure!

See you soon Scandinavia, I will be back for sure.