It’s me again, Madison. Tomorrow I will have been in Norway for 1 month. The thought of that is a bit unsettling. The reason I have titled this blog as such is because Forelsket is an untranslatable word that explains the euphoria that comes when a person is first falling in love with someone, or somewhere in my case. I won’t say that Oslo is all fun and smiles, because it is not. It is still very foreign to me and I’m in the part of the “Culture Shock W” between my lowest point of being home sick and starting to move up the curve toward developing coping mechanisms and coziness in my host country. It’s a hairy process, cultural immersion. This country is amazing and brilliant and untouchable. The feeling you get on rainy days and really cold days when you want to curl up with a good book and a hot cup of earl grey, I feel that every day almost. So far here I have visited 3 museums: The Norsk Folkemuseum, The National Gallery and the Holmenkollen Ski museum. ?The first is a walk-through museum depicting how life would be like through the centuries starting in around the 16th century, although the majority of houses and barns are based around 18th and 19th century living. The most beautiful staple is the very old stave church that is housed there that was built in the 16th century, though the outside was remodeled in 1888. The second is the art museum that houses Edvard Munch’s “Skrik” or the Scream. It was a small but beautiful art musem that also housed artists like Johan Christian Dahl
, and Edvard Munch 
.?The third is a very Norwegian experience in that it revolves around the national past time; skiing. The more I learn about the culture and history, the more I come to love this beautiful little country and all it’s inhabitants. The most amazing thing about this culture is how self-ruled and equal these people have been the majority of their existence. Even when under Danish rule, Norwegian peasants were comparable to Danish nobles in that they were able to address the king directly and demand things; something Danish peasants would never have dreamed of. There is a very famous picture from 1973 of the young king Olav the 5th had to buy a metro ticket and ride the metro during the petroleum crisis in the 70’s.
This was the same king who walked around without a bodyguard and he said he had no need for another because he already had 4.5 million, referring to his people. ?This is how kings were in Norway, how they have always been. No bodyguards, no fancy clothes, no extravagance. They believe in living like others, and being equal to their people. Although Norway is very much a part of western European culture, they still hold onto these ideals I feel. Although the people are trendy and tote around Michael Kors and Louis Vuitton bags, the heart of this place is still very much a balance of equality and introversion
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This whole process is the beginning of a long a grueling journey to finding who I am as a person and what it is that unites me to the rest of humanity. Maybe this sounds a bit nebulous but in fact it is how I feel and many of my international friends feel. There is a place in all of us that is longing to be home, partly due to nostalgia and partly out of a need for normalcy but it is there nonetheless. However, there is also a part of us that hungers for a connection, a sameness with these people. It almost seems hard to put your finger on. I feel very Norwegian sometimes. I look the part at least, save the fact that I’m 5 foot nothing that is. ?There are times when I look out my bedroom window and I can see the fjord, and I can see the tall trees and mountains and I just want to become the wind so I can travel atop this place and watch the life happening here. I want to watch the skiers and the sledders and the hikers and the animals and just feel their energy. Its hard to believe that I won’t be here forever. I’m not quite to the point of not wanting to leave, but it is creeping in. I am slowly adjusting to ways here and my friends and the locals are making it very easy to love this place. I often feel like I’m cheating on Texas with Norway… It’s such an obtuse way of looking at things but it also makes me laugh a bit. I’ve given up bar-b-que for Jarlsberg and Wasa crackers. I’ve left my bikini behind and picked up ski pants and mittens. I hope that this somehow explains what is going on here, within the international student here. I hope it makes want to travel or at least learn about others’ culture. It makes one appreciate one’s situation but also find meaning in bettering it. Until I write again,
Tusen Takk- Madison