Read time: approximately 14 minutes

This week

• Monday, 03 November facilitated an all-day writing workshop for teachers-in-training at Høgskolen i Østfold. We focused on how to offer and receive feedback on our work in preparation for students submitting their papers that will qualify them to be eligible for the final exam.
• Tuesday, 04 November traveled to Sarpsborg to do a couple workshops at Kruseløkka Ungdomsskole. Did two sessions of What does it mean to be American? What does it mean to be Norwegian? And one Systems of Oppression workshop. I realized this week that I did the Systems workshop for the entire 10^th grade class, about 200 students.
• Wednesday, 05 November traveled to Torsnes Skole in Fredrikstad to do two workshops for 6^th and 7^th graders (6 7 !!) introducing them to their American pen pals. They are partnering with two 6^th grade classes at Blevins Middle School! Got to observe the Elementary Rover and hang out with 5^th graders too, which was super fun.
• Thursday, 06 November traveled back to Sarpsborg to do three Monsters workshops at Kruseløkka Ungdomsskole. First time doing this workshop and it was successful! When walking across the school yard I started hearing my name. Turns out a few of the 10th graders who are pen palling with a class in Brooklyn saw me and were calling my name across the courtyard. It was good to catch up with them and learn about how excited they have been in sending letters to their new American friends! Flew to Bergen after school, on the westside of the country!
• Thursday, 06 November – Sunday, 09 November Spent the weekend in Bergen! Visited with other Fulbrighters and went to my first opera, Debussy’s Pelléase og (and) Melisande at the Bergen Opera House. Completed two big runs through the city. Ate good food!

Part of my running routine every week entails two recovery runs, just regular runs that aren’t speed runs or long-distance runs. In this week’s guided recovery run, the coach walked us through different ways to give thanks, which he likes to do every now and again. It might be hella cheesy, but I agree that it’s a good idea, so I thought this week’s post could extend what I was giving thanks for on my run and I could tell you about what I’m thankful for right now. It’s November too, and I was recently reminded by a Norwegian person that “Americans like to give thanks in November” (I guess?) so let’s get it.

Thank you, family. In the book that I’m writing, the acknowledgements page offers a whole bunch of thanks to a whole bunch of people. One of those persons in Jeremy, my husband. And what I say to him there is, “thank you for making so much of all of this possible.” Jeremy was game when we moved our entire lives from Atlanta, Georgia to Ann Arbor, Michigan so I could go back to school, and then again when we moved to northern Colorado when I got a job at Colorado State University. When I told him I wanted to apply for this Fulbright, he was like, yeah, do it! When I got it, and especially when we ran into funding and support trouble from the College of Liberal Arts, he doubled down on me coming to Norway. He wouldn’t hear of any plans otherwise. He is currently back Stateside running his business, running our home, taking care of our pets, taking care of himself. I love you, babe. Thank you for making so much of all of this possible.

My brother and our parents have always shown unconditional support in my pursuit of my dreams. When I got the Fulbright, they were like, who’s dropping you off? We’re dropping you off. Sure, they got a sweet European vacation, but they also helped me figure out logistics of moving my life here. They helped me figure out what to bring and put it in luggage. They gave me their baggage allowance so that I could schlep almost 200 total pounds of my stuff to live here for 10 months. They took care of cleaning my new apartment and helping me organize my stuff. They drove out to IKEA in Sweden to purchase things that would make my new home more comfortable. They figured out my internet and Netflix subscription. They worked out how I would get internet on my phone. They have always anticipated my needs and then supported me in fulfilling them. I am who I am because they are my parents and brother. I love you beyond words.

Thank you, friends. I’ve noted in a couple other posts that being in community and relationship with others is really important to me. I have a group of college friends and we’ve known each other since we were 18—more than half our lives at this point in time. One of them says that I made him be my friend, but you’re still my friend, aren’t you?! It has been so special and I am so lucky to have a rich history with these incredible humans. You have known me since I was a zany 18-year-old and continue to be friends with me. I love you all! I love that we have history, that we can hop on calls to say hi and talk about our lives and catch up and seek advice and give advice. I am looking forward to getting even older with y’all.  

Thank you, colleagues. When I told my colleagues back at CSU, especially my work wife, that I got this Fulbright, they immediately went into action to make this work for me, even though that would increase the workload on them. We had to figure out who would teach my classes, who would take on my department service commitments, how we could co-advise the students I advise. The best part about their support is that I knew I would have it if I asked. I didn’t even need to ask. They said you’re doing it and we’re going to make it possible for you to do it. Don’t you dare worry about us. I love them so much. I love too the colleagues, including the English Ed team, who push me intellectually and who challenge me to be a better scholar and researcher. Thank you to my writing partners and accountabilibuddies, especially as we navigate not just the time zones in the US, but the time difference to Norway. Thank you, too, to my new Norwegian colleagues, for teaching me the language, but also helping me understand cultural elements of Norway. For helping to push my thinking on the States and Norway as well.

Thank you, students. I have learned buckets from students across my 22 years of teaching. They have taught me about themselves, about the world, about myself. They have allowed me glimpses into their lives, their fears, their worries, their joys, their happinesses. They have taught me what it means to treat students like human beings and to humanize the schooling and teaching and learning process. After every workshop I conduct here in Norway, I ask students to reflect on their learning and it is a delight to read about the new vocabulary they’re acquiring and importantly how they’re thinking about the world—and language—differently because of our workshop. Lots of things have taught me how to teach, number one among them students. In the workshop for 6th graders this week, several of the students came up at the end of the workshop to ask if they could have a hug. I near about died and melted at the same time. They were so incredibly sweet. Another student asked if I like kids and teaching because I am good at it. Many students write on their exit slips that they like my teaching style and that I’m a good teacher. I am the teacher that I am because the students I have learned with and from and who have taught me to be so. I am incredibly thankful for the thousands of students I have encountered over 22 years.

Thank you, Fulbright. I’m having a pretty cool experience in Norway. I’m learning a lot about myself, like that relationships and community building are important to me. I’m learning a lot about my relationship with Jeremy, like figuring out what I need, asking for it, but also treating him with so much more love and kindness than I have in the recent past. I’m learning a lot about how to be a cultural ambassador in explaining US history, culture, and society to adults and young people who are only familiar with the US (and think they know a lot about it) because of what they learn on the internet. I’m learning how to answer students’ consistent questions about Raising Cane’s (yeah, the chicken finger place), about crumbl cookie, about Wal-Mart, about Target, about my favorite fast food in the US, about gun violence in the States. I’m learning a lot about teaching, as this is the first and only time in my career where every single student in every single classroom I walk into is an English Language Learner—from 6th graders to masters students. I’m learning how to let go—I care a whole lot about the educational system of the United States and how it can be improved and how to teach teachers how to improve it. In Norway there’s a lot of things teachers are frustrated about, and I’m happy to listen, but it’s been an interesting experience to then be able to just walk away and not really think about it after our conversations. There’s a national conference I have attended every year since circa 2009. This year it’s in Denver (it hasn’t been in Denver in 26 years) and I will be missing it. But I have to learn to let go and miss out. I’m thinking a lot about how knowledge and acknowledgement of our history shapes what we do in the classroom. I’m thinking about what we know and don’t know about injustice and how that shapes what we do in the classroom. I’m thinking about how Norwegians like to say they’re a we, but not all students are included in that we, and they are potentially feeling gaslighted because their lived experiences aren’t being acknowledged. Thank you, Fulbright, for giving me the opportunity to have these experiences and think about these things because sometimes it takes stepping out of our context to really recognize it. Thank you for connecting me with people I wouldn’t have met or interacted so deeply with otherwise. This weekend in Bergen I spent a lot of time visiting with other Fulbrighters and everyone is just so interesting. There are even CSU colleagues here and we are connecting in ways we would likely never have done in Colorado. I’m making friends! I’m building an intellectual community! I get to be a part of something really special.

Thank you, brain. In one of our orientations, one of the former Fulbrighters was explaining how he described to others what a Fulbright is and what he’s doing in Norway. For those who knew what a Fulbright was, they’d be like, whoa, you’re like a genius. And he’d downplay it. For those who didn’t know what a Fulbright was, he’d be like, well, I’m kind of a genius. Lolz. It’s become a running joke among the Fulbrighters. As in, don’t you know I’m kind of a genius? Sometimes I forget to tell myself that I’m smart. It’s nice to be reminded. And nice to tell myself not to let it get to my head.

Thank you, sense of adventure. I’ve been getting to travel for work and for pleasure and figuring out how to navigate Norwegian systems. It’s helped me develop my courage muscle. I felt super nervous about going to Sweden by myself and had a great time. I learned how to get internet and how to rest. I went to Bergen this weekend and it was so cool to be in Norway, but to be experiencing a completely different (literal) side of Norway. How to go hard and when to step back. How to take care of my body. I’ve been having to figure out what is what at the grocery store. Y’all. The other day I bought squeezable brie (like it comes in a squeeze tube—cheese out of a tube is very popular in Norway. They say it’s good for hiking.) and I’m kind of loving it. I’m definitely not mad at it. I’ve been learning Norwegian and using it when I can. I’ve been learning to say yes. I’ve been learning to let go. I’ve received my residency permit and was supposed to receive my person number (like a social security number but gets you access to a bank account) pretty soon thereafter. It’s been over a month and I haven’t heard back from the tax office. The same thing happened to another Rover and he strongly suggested that I call. He said he had to spend two hours on the phone with them and it still wasn’t entirely worked out. I think maybe back in the States I would have been like, okay, yeah, I guess I should do that too. But here I was like, nah. It’ll be fine. Over the weekend I got an email from the tax office to request a piece of information they need to finalize everything. When they asked me at my police appointment I didn’t know the answer. They said they’d send a guy, and I have no idea if they have, but they sent an email this weekend requesting the bit of information. And now I know the answer! So I just have to reply to the email. I’m pleased with myself for just chilling out. This doesn’t guarantee me a person number, mind you, but I’m not freaking out and it feels nice to know when to push and when to step back. When to be courageous and when to let go, which I think is its own kind of courage.

There are probably other things I can be thankful for, like for the clothes on my back that keep me warm—in Norway, there’s no bad weather, just bad clothing. Or I can give thanks for the seafood I get to eat (finally I live in a place with fresh seafood again!) and the food I get to cook and eat—it’s not poison like what we feed ourselves in the States. I cooked the most delicious piece of salmon the other day with salad and delicious homemade salad dressing. So yum. Thank you for my cooking skills! Funny story: in one of the pen pal letters from a 6th grader from Blevins, they wrote, “Colorado is a land-locked state.” When we were looking for unfamiliar vocabulary and the Norwegian student encountered this line in their letter the student asked about “land-locked.” His jaw fell to the floor. He could not conceptualize not having an ocean as a border. There’s probably more to be thankful for, but this post is already so long! Thanks for reading if you’re still here! ❤

And finally, for the One who makes everything possible—my life, my job, my brain—for putting me in the family I’m in and helping me find Jeremy, for letting me use my gifts to connect with others and build a better world. Thank you. amdg.