Plucking up my spirits for Norway

Geirangerfjord, Norway

"A too long time ago, I have found in myself an endeavor, an urge to travel around the world and explore cultures, historical places, forgotten lands, undiscovered spaces."

   But, I'm just a dreamer, I dream my life away... I cannot say I have trotted the globe, but I am a traveling maniac and the odds have been and are with me, since I have visited several countries in different parts of the world and lived in three others so far, so fingers crossed for the future - who knows the next destination!? 

   Since I have known myself, I have always been fascinated by vikings and their origins. Between all continents, countries and cities, I have therefore chosen Norway (and others, but this is the first one) and everything related to it: culture, people, traditions, social norms and expectations, history (love Vikings beyond hope). But since I have never paced on Scandinavian land before my period as an exchange student coming from the Netherlands, I was absorbed almost immediately by the immense beauty of the vicinity. A main reason for this daydreaming is that my origins are rooted in Romania, South-Eastern Europe, where mother nature rests at its peace in all forms of fauna and flora: mountains, lakes, caves, sea, forests, deltas, wolves, brown bears (did you know we have over half percent of the brown bear population in Europe?), foxes, wild horses, all kinds of wild animals and insects. In contrast, the Netherlands is a relatively small, rich(ish), technologically and architecturally developed, tradition keeper and any celebration participant, but sadly - a flat country in Northern Europe, where I have been living for two years before my arrival in Norway. On the other hand, Norway is closest similar to my origins, only that entirely different simultaneously, since it has its own, unique characteristics that may also (some) not be found in other lands: fjords, northern lights, vikings history, Nordkapp, troll stories, wild reindeer, glaciers, polar bears, whales and so forth. Romania does not own this kind of natural heritage, but that is what makes Norway special.

   Because among the main reasons I am here is to discover and adapt to the western Norwegian culture, there are a few events which I can attend, that focus on cultural aspects of the local community:

1. University Students Associations Fair
2. The International Dinner
3. Norwegian night for Erasmus students
4. German night for Erasmus students
5. French night for Erasmus students
6. To be: Belgian, Spanish, Romanian
7. Animation Volda Festival (volunteer)

   During the university fair, I became aware of most of the existing student associations, clubs and organizations, mostly diverse: outdoors student organization Natura (I became an active member of the board, as an International Students Officer), students' radio and television, Christian association, students' parliament, the animation department, sports clubs, etc. I had a tour among few of them in the following days and we had one activity per association, for instance in the TV tour, we chose a scene from one of three famous movies and we had to act the characters and the producers and crew would record us (we chose The Lion King scene).

   Since I became an official board member of Natura, I am assigned to different tasks within the bounds of my position: be the contact person for international students who are members of the association, inform all Erasmus and international students about upcoming events, contribute actively to the brainstorming sessions in the board, create events for the mutual embedding of Norwegian and international students and also, only for internationals. Having this function within the board (and the ten Norwegian people & me, have I mentioned?), for which I also volunteered, actually means for me that I took some responsibilities toward the other international students and I need to fulfill them, because they are all counting on me to eliminate their doubts and be there for them.

   By spending some time with Norwegian people and, also making some additional reading (The Social Guidebook to Norway, Julien Bourrelle), I found out many interesting aspects of the Norwegian people and social norms, all that added up to the extension of my cultural knowledge, which is gained practically and theoretically:

• standard of living is very high with educated and trustful people
• they keep cities clean, unpolluted and well-organized
• very little social classes exist; everyone is equal and there is a strong feeling of community
• people: often shy, reserved, pragmatic, serious and well-behaved
• people on alcohol: small talks, they become curious and happy to talk to strangers, they stand close to each other, men give hugs to each other, all compensating for the difficult sober state
• dinners are a result of an established relationship
• they need a lot of space (so they build hytte, cabins in the woods)
• women can do things by themselves, they are independent and not used to compliments
• dating is... a complete other way than in most of the countries
• they refrain from showing success/achievements and never brag, except in sports; kids who excel in school will be encouraged to help those who struggle
• Janteloven or Law of Jante refers to a mentality that depreciates individual efforts and places all emphasis on the collective (e.g. 3: You're not to think that you are smarter than we are.)

   I am continuously learning from my everyday experiences and these all build up on my cultural knowledge and on my own adaptation to a new culture.

P.S: I have prepared another post containing a photo gallery with some of my tours across Norway in these two months since I am here. You will find the gallery with a short description of every place.