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It’s been hard for me to write this post. I think because my time in Norway is quickly coming to a close and I’ll be back Stateside before I know it. And as ready as I am to get to my Colorado home and be with my entire family, who I left to come here, I know I will miss Norway. I have treasured every moment here, even the ones that were difficult. I have learned so much. I have grown in ways I didn’t expect to. I lived abroad when I didn’t think I would again. I have built a community and made wonderful friends. I have thought about my own teaching differently. I learned about another culture, and picked up some of its language. It has been so special. 

In the last two weeks I have been rounding out my 4×4 and living it up by coming home to Norway. I took a southbound cruise down the Norwegian coast with my college roommates, who are my sisters and best friends. I had so many core Norway moments. Among them? In a boat. Through a fjord. Waving a Norwegian flag. Singing “Take on Me” (did you know that Ah-ha is Norwegian?!) at the top of my lungs. Being awed by fjords and mountains and waterfalls and the fish! So much fish! Staying up all night with the midnight sun. Being awed by the small communities that make up so much of Norway’s coast. Reading about these agrarian fisherfolk. Being enchanted in the streets of Tromsø and Trondheim in the early morning light. Understanding how Bergen is Norway’s cultural capital. 

This weekend a dear dear friend in Halden asked me if I wanted to go rock climbing with her and her partner, and then go out in the Halden fjord with them in their sailboat. Another core Norway moment. 

And I realized as I was thinking of the theme of this post that I’ve had so many of these moments because I said yes. I said yes to graduate school. I said yes to apply for a Fulbright. I said yes to accept the invitation to live in Norway for the year. I said yes to the cruise. I said yes when my friend invited me rock climbing and sailing this weekend. 

When I graduated with my PhD, one of my best friends gave me an earring that said, “oui.” She said that she wants me to keep saying yes to opportunities and to myself. When I told her I got a Fulbright she and her partner sent flowers and balloons. She said, “say yes.” I brought this earring with me to Norway to remind me to be open, to say yes. My father taught me that a closed fist cannot accept anything new.

I sometimes have a hard time saying yes. If it’s not in my schedule it’s hard for me to say yes. If it interferes with something I had already planned on doing I’m more likely to say no. 

This year, though, I have practiced saying yes. Not saying yes to taking on more commitments at work! Let’s not get it twisted! I’m saying yes to myself. On my run this morning, Coach Bennett said that taking care of yourself isn’t selfish. It’s been a hard lesson for me to learn. I want to keep saying yes to becoming a better version of myself.

xo

Week 4 of my 4×4: four weeks, four countries. Final stop, Norway!

Sunday, 24 May home to prep for the final week of my 4×4: a coastal cruise along the entire Norwegian coastline with my college roommates!

Monday, 25 May flew to Kirkenes to meet up with the first set of college roommates coming into the country for our cruise! We were 10 kilometers from the Russian border! 10k!

Tuesday, 26 May received the next set of college roommates coming in for the cruise! SAS left one of our roommates’ luggage in New York! So we spent the better part of the afternoon shopping. I did enter a Cubus, which I have never done before! And bought a fly pair of jeans and a top!

Wednesday, 27 May boarded our boat for our cruise! Our final roommate joined us on the boat! Set about exploring the boat, met the crew, and we set sail! On today’s itinerary we were going to: Kirkenes–Vardø-Båtsfjord-Berlevåg (I’ll add links to the towns where we got off the boat). It was a rough few hours because of storms? What makes rough seas? I have no idea. I barfed up my lunch. Another roommate was green. A roommate had some Dramamine and I bought sea bands, which put pressure points on the inside of my wrists. By evening things calmed down. In Vardø I was really looking forward to seeing the Witch Memorial, which I turned down visiting when I was in Vadsø in March because I was exhausted and knew I was going to catch the town on the cruise. But because of the rough water we didn’t stop there for as long as was on the schedule. A friend and I ran out to the memorial, and were 50 meters away before we had to turn around to get back on the boat. One day. 

Thursday, 28 May today’s stops (a lot of them were in the middle of the night; here’s a good map of all the stops): Mehamn-Kjøllefjord-Honningsvåg-Havøysund-Hammerfest–Øskfjord-Skjervøy-Tromsø. The boat stopped for almost two hours in Hammerfest, which claims that they are Norway’s northernmost town. We did a hike to the top of the town and then visited the Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society. We got off the boat at Øskfjord too to walk on stable ground and eat some potato chips (called potato gold in Norwegian) and I think this is where a friend and I bought cute trucker hats that said “Norway Since 1814.” It was hard to keep track of some of the days and stop. At midnight, we docked in Tromsø and disembarked for our first excursion: a Midnight Concert in the Wooden Cathedral. Because we were still above the Arctic Circle, the sun doesn’t set right now. It was so disorienting! But also magical to walk around at midnight and then again at one o’clock in the morning and there to be no darkness. Inside the church the altar was backlit by a blue light that reminded me of what the sun looks like in the dark times (when it’s polar night and the sun doesn’t rise). The concert was a singer, pianist, and a man who played the saxophone and another woodwind instrument. They sang and played beautiful Norwegian folk songs. And Amazing Grace as an encore. Interesting choice. 

Friday, 29 May today’s stops: Finnsnes-Harstad-Risøyhamn-Sortland-Vesterland Islands-Stokmarknes–Svolvær–Stamsund. The boat was scheduled to go under a bridge that two excursion buses were going over, and for fun the Expedition Team wanted to gather a group of people on the boat to wave Norwegian and Sámi flags while this happened. A couple gals and I found ourselves in the right place at the right time and we started waving Norwegian flags while cheering on the buses (who could absolutely not hear us). And then they started playing music. Ah-ha. And I lost it. I was screaming “Take on Me” from the top of my lungs, waving the Norwegian flag like Norwegian blood ran in my veins, and jumping up and down for the buses to move faster or we would miss the timing. It was wild! And so fun! Disembarked at Stokmarknes, home of Hurtigruten, our cruise company! Walked around for a bit, and might have had a drink at a bar and picked up some food at a Thai food truck? The son of the food truck owner, who was 10, was sitting outside the food truck where his mom and grandmother were cooking. He was like a circus barker, inviting people to eat the food. We started chatting in Thai and he was just so adorable. Turns out both his parents are Thai so I asked him how he ended up in Norway. “My grandma has a lot of Norwegian boyfriends.” lol, sir, lol. Back on the boat (I think this is the order of things, but hard to tell), we went through Trollfjorden! We could get cups of troll tea and pancakes with cream and berries to help us see the trolls! This particular fjord was stunning. Then we had our next excursion in the Lofoten Islands where we got on a bus in Svolvær and then returned to the boat in Stamsund. On our excursion, we saw the outside of a church. I’m not sure why. Pretty church, but not quite sure. Then we went to an open-air museum that contained a manor house and smaller houses where the fisherfolk lived and worked when they weren’t on the water. On the same stop we checked out Galleri Espolin where we viewed Espolin’s art depicting the people of North Norway. We could have spent hours there. Drove through the amazing Lofoten Islands and met back up with the boat! The Stamsund art festival was happening and we saw a life-sized sculpture of a beached sperm whale and there were performing artists acting like the scientists doing research and the handler. 

Saturday, 30 May today’s stops: Bødo-Ørnes-Nesna-Sandnessjøen-Brønnøysund-Rørvik. We crossed the Arctic Circle today! To celebrate we took a tablespoon of cod liver oil! It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be, and I wanted to try it because every Norwegian I have ever met has told me that you have to start taking this in September in preparation for the dark times (literally what it’s called when we get like no hours of sunlight in the winter months). But I was too afraid that it would be too yucky (cod.liver.oil) to take everyday so I just ignored that potentially wise piece of advice. I took some on the boat! And we got to keep the spoon, which celebrated our crossing! Then the postmaster (our ship was also a postal vehicle) stamped an Arctic Circle cancellation stamp on anything we wanted! I bought several postcards and wrote them to friends and family who would appreciate this cancellation stamp! We also got to take pictures with the Expedition Crew and the Captains of the ship! The boat stopped in Brønnøysund and here is the center of Norway, equidistant from the way north and the way south!

And the past week

Sunday, 31 May still on the boat! Today’s stops: Trondheim–Kristiansund–Molde We stopped in Trondheim, one of my favorite cities in Norway, for three hours, beginning at 630a. Because we had crossed the Arctic Circle we were getting a few hours of darkness per night, but by 630a the sun had been up for a few hours already. It was weird to walk around the town in full light, but the streets were empty. It was like we had the town all to ourselves. We got back on the boat (we had been warned that people lose track of time and they end up missing the boat at this stop!) and headed further south. At Kristiansund we boarded the bus for our final excursion: a drive down The Atlantic Road. We had amazing weather and stopped at one of Norway’s oldest stave churches before going down the actual Atlantic Road. It was beautiful and we had some great light for a photo shoot! Then we headed for supper at a tavern that served a Norwegian specialty: bacalao! And caramel pudding for dessert! We met the boat in Molde and continued on our journey! Once on the boat we headed straight to the top deck, where the Expedition Crew was giving folk dancing lessons. We jumped right in! The moves were hard, especially because they involved many turns, which were hard to do while also on a boat. Then the Expedition Team leader taught us a line dance that we then danced to Beyonce and Cotton-Eyed Joe. It was hilarious! Everyone else left the deck and we were chatting with the Expedition Leader, who shared with us how he has noticed how people from different nationalities act on the boat and how they engage with the cruise and its activities. It was insightful!

Monday, 01 June (JUNE!) today the boat motored down the coast, stopping ever so briefly in Ålesund-Torvik-Måløy-Florø before our final docking point, Bergen. Bergen is another one of my favorite cities in Norway. It is one of Norway’s oldest cities and its cultural capital. After disembarking our incredible cruise, we checked into the hotel and then went shopping for Norway souvenirs on the bryggen. Then we had drinks at Henrik’s (please, where else) and dinner at Pingvinen (again, where else)?

Tuesday, 02 June half our crew were leaving today. Saw them into the cab early in the morning, then got ready and just hung out. Had to take a Dramamine because we felt like we were still on the boat. Got some lunch. Sat by the water of a little lake. Watched a seagull eat another bird. Chocolates and dessert from Fjåk. Then a friend and I headed to Oslo. When we arrived I put her on the bus to her hotel and headed to the train to Halden. What an amazing trip.

Wednesday, 03 June back at work! Delivered my final report at the Fremmedspråksenteret on my experiences in Norway, what I’ve been up to and what might this mean for the work of the Fremmedspråksenteret. Met with two advisees later in the afternoon. 

Thursday, 04 June happy anniversary to me and my husband! 17 years married! Spent the day working from home and getting situated on writing and my work.

Friday, 05 June met up with the director of the Fremmedspråksenteret to say our final good-byes. Continued working at home getting situated and back to work. 

Saturday, 06 June happy anniversary to me and my husband! 17 years married! (we got married in two different ceremonies and parties on the same weekend—it was a blast) went mountain climbing with friends! Then we picked up items for our shrimp supper picnic! Took out the sailboat and sailed to the quarry where they took the stone for the monolith at the Vigeland Sculpture Park in Oslo! There was even a little museum we checked out! Collapsed into bed happy.