...Because Saan says so! Visioenen van chocopotten met vikinghelmen.
25-08-2008
First impressions.
Okay, due to unforseen circumstances, I was unable to write this weekend: -My notes for biology -My physics report -A decent update on my first week with my host family
Please receive in apology for this: -One philosophical entry on Norwegianness
Note before: 1) Read previous post 2) I'm writing this in English because I feel that I will sound like an insincere dimwit if I do it in Dutch or Norwegian.
I have been in Norway for nearly two weeks now, and although I couldn't say anything more intelligent than 'I speak no Norwegian' or 'Polar bears eat meat' in Norwegian, I do have developed a first impression.
Norway, as seen from my current point of view and experience, seems a bit contradictive.
For starters: -It is a country with unequaled equality among people. For example: my host father announced that, while bigger cities, like Oslo, were having trouble with immigrants and racism was on the rise there, it would be no problem in the tiny town where we are living, or even in the slightly bigger town twenty kilometres north. Part of this, he said, was that there were no immigrants in both of them, and that I didn't look different. I did not bring a counter, but there are at least one dozen people in my school alone who obviously have got more than one ancestor that didn't burst forth from the loins of a lusty viking, and more than a few of them I doubt strongly I will see in my host dad's church. Other example: while I was checking my e-mail in school, after lessons were over, a girl came over to me--and in true Norwegian spirit, I'll let you wonder if she was white, black, brown, yellow, purple or orange with green polka dots--and very carefully asked if I was a first year student in Norwegian. She seemed quite sure that I was too old to be one, but I'd dropped out of nowhere a week earlier, together with all the other first year students, and I seemed quite enamoured with my newfound ability to peruse the internet while slurping chocolate milk at school. She was very careful not to suggest I could be different from all other students in my failure should I truly be eighteen and still in what would be fourth year in Belgium. After asking her if she could repeat her question in English, she did. I might point out that I was wearing the YFU Flanders hoodie I bought before leaving, the one with the huge picture of all things definitely not Norwegian in bright blue and purple on the back, and a logo with YFU in BIG PURPLE LETTER on the front. I had to disappoint her by saying I wasn't, and apologised for it. -Racism, crime and poverty are among the lowest in world. See next point as to why the latter is so. -When it discovered that a liquid gold mine was just a few miles into the ocean, it took some pretty smart decisions, such as distribution of the profits and setting up a generous trust fund for when it would run out. A lot of the money was invested in things like medical insurance for all and several generous gifts to countries who needed it more. -Half of the population owns a cabin on top of their current state of residence, and less than twenty percent of the population rents their current place of residence. -Their monarchs are social, down-to-earth people, loved by most, if not all, of their subjects. -Children learn how to be independent and responsible from early on. -The majority of all teens in their last year of secondary education strive to limit all of their stupidity, vandalism and criminal impulses for that year to the days from the first until the seventeenth of May, and wear coveralls and silly hats in a certain kind of way to warn people that they're likely to not think and spray innocent bystanders with water pistols. Most of those coveralls and hats are bright red. My classmates think it would be cool if I joined them in this, and--seeing as they're not threatening with excommunication or physical bodily harm while doing so--I'm seriously considering it. -The coastline is magnificent, as is the sheer amount of unspoiled nature inside the country. -You have cell phone reception in places where the nearest school, hospital, police station or friefighter is twenty-five kilometres away. -ICT is widely imbedded into the school system. -Public transport is widely available. -People are polite. -Roads are not congested beyond belief while there are road works going on. -They are perfectly able to blast through five metres to several dozen kilometres of pure bedrock to put in a tunnel that will make it easier for cars (nothing else, though) to go from point A to point B, if there's a mountain inbetween. If rock is still visible, it will look neat. If no rock is visible, it will look urban, possibly with some murals inside, but practically no grafitti. -Winter sports are so available that they've hosted the Winter Olympics twice. -Light pollution is minimal for an industrialised country. -Culture is widely available, architecture celebrating culture is almost certainly exquisite to the point of bringing anyone who knows something about it to spontaneous brain-orgasm at the sight of it. Museums are to be found everywhere, including in the aforementioned towns who shun other government-funded buildings, even if they are offering medical assistance.
And yet...
Norway seems to feel inferior quite easily.
-If a student excels during class, other students feel intimidated. If, when pressed, a student who is less good at the subject has to perform a similar task after the excelling one, they will stammer and blush, even if only three other students will notice, one of which doesn't even speak Norwegian. -If anything about Norway is different from another country, any Norwegian is quick to point out that it is better that way, from their point of view, or that they like it that way, without suggesting that the other country is in any way lesser. -If they print a picture of a Belgian waffle and a Norwegian waffle on a billboard at a gas station, the Norwegian waffle will have trouble fitting into the rectangle, and have an enticing dollop of jam in the middle of it. The Belgian one will fit into the single corner not filled by the round, Norwegian one, not have any decoration whatsoever, and still have room to spare. The Belgian waffle, however, will be in the foreground and in focus, while the Norwegian one will be in the back, unfocused and looking as though it's hiding behind the Belgian one. -They're quick to point out that they are really a small player on global scale even if, oh, they're responsible for a lot of the oil used in Europe, are (as I said before) more than a little rich and frequently appear in the 'Bestest Countries Worldwide' top five. -People use the phrase 'ikke sant?' (Litt: 'Not true?') A LOT at the end of their sentences, meaning they're constantly asking you if you agree with them, if they aren't talking complete nonsense and/or if their facts are correct. -Patriottism is insanely widespread. You'll find little (paper or toy) Norwegian flags in practically every store and in a lot of supermarkets' biweekly magazines announcing the discounts and specials. A lot of cars emphasise their Norwegianness not only with the token formula of [Flag, N, Norwegian Licence Plate], but also stick a big, fat, obnoxious N on the right side of their trunk. The Norwegian Church is called that worldwide. Plans for the national holiday and the three weeks before it (ie. the start of May) start being made in August of the year before. -There are actual laws stating who may/must hang out the Norwegian flag at all times and when the mere mortals may do so, specifying the dates and time of day as to when this is allowed. So far, I'm presuming it's either to keep the die-hard patriots from becoming completely addicted to their own country, or to keep the other flags from feeling like the Norwegian one is getting more attention than they are.
voor ik hier haatmails ontvang voor enige of alle berichten die ik al dan niet in de toekomst op dit blog ga smijten, zou ik graag één ding verduidelijken.
Wij leven op Aarde, waar het menselijk ras een wonderbaarlijke verscheidenheid aan kleuren en culturen heeft. Dat is de REALITEIT. Dit op merken is niet noodzakelijk een daad van racisme of xenofobie. De schrijfster van dit blog zal er opmerkingen en commentaren over maken, zonder bedoeling of voornemen om deze minderwaardig, gevaarlijk, schandalig, dom en/of enige andere gemene termen waar je aan kan denken te laten schijnen.
Dank voor uw aandacht.
Note:
Before I start receiving hate mail for any and all entries on this blog that might or might not appear in the future, I would just like to clarify one thing.
We live on Earth, where the human race has a wonderful variety of colors and cultures. That is REALITY. Remarking upon those is not neccesarily an act of racism or xenophobia. The author of this blog will remark and comment upon them, without meaning or intention of suggesting them inferior, dangerous, scandalous, dumb and/or any other mean names you can think of.
De WiFi in het huis van mijn gastouders heeft een verborgen paswoord. Iedereen weet waar het zit, maar jammer genoeg zit het in het brein van mijn gastbroer Nikolai, die momenteel in de VS zit. En ik ben vergeten om een fatsoenlijk bericht voor te bereiden om hier te zetten terwijl ik de WiFi op school gebruik.
The WiFi at my host parents' house has got a hidden password. Everyone knows where they keep it, but sadly enough, they keep it in my host brother Nikolai's brain, which is currently in the US. And I forgot to prepare a decent post to put up while I'm using the WiFi at school. >>;;
Oké, mensen, ben dus gisteren veilig en wel aangekomen in Oslo met ons aller Katleeeeeeeentje. Daar stonden op ons te wachten: Mari van YFU Norge, Maria van Rusland en Nico van Hongarije. Nadat ik daar mijn laatste euros door het machientje gehaald en er kronen voor terug gekregen had, zijn we in de taxi gesprongen en zijn we in noordelijke richting gereden voor anderhalf uur. Het was elf, twaalf uur toen we aankwamen en boterhammen kregen en het was halfeen voor ik mijn Nederlandse kamergenote naar de klok deed kijken en zich realiseren dat het al zo laat was.
Ik heb geen idee waar in Noorwegen we nu zijn, maar ik kan mijn moeder zeggen dat het hotel buiten een jacuzzi heeft staan, een ping-pong hal heeft en gratis wifi in de lobby, waar ik nu zit te typen. Sterven van de pest gaat er dus nog niet in zitten.
Vandaag hebben we al YFU Norway en Norwegian Life als levenslessen gehad, van ver naar bruine kaas gekeken bij het ontbijt, zelf ons boterhammetjes moeten maken voor de middag en het in boterhampapier moeten rollen en Language I gekregen. Ik kan nu min of meer lezen in het Noors en als het echt moet geslachten herkennen. Tellen, het alfabet aframmelen en mijn 'handige woordjes' kan ik mits spieken in mijn rommelboek ook. De Duitse meisjes hebben mij en Katleen er al van geïnformeerd dat snel Vlaams klinkt als een gemuteerd bastaardkind van het Duits en het Noors. Ik ben nog altijd niet zeker of dat een compliment was, eigenlijk...
Okay people, so I arrived safely in Oslo last night, together with our dearest Katleeeeeeeeen. There, we found waiting for us: Mari of YFU Norway, Maria from Russia and Nico from Hungaria. After putting my last euros through the machine and getting kroner for them, we jumped into the taxi and headed north for the following hour and half. It was eleven, twelve o'clock by the time we arrived and got sandwiches and it was half past twelve by the time I made my Dutch roommate look at the clock and realise it was that late already.
Ik have no idea where in Norway we are now, but I can tell my mother that the hotel has a jacuzzi outside, a ping-pong hall and free wifi in the lobby, where I'm sitting now. Dying of plague won't be in it for a while yet.
Today we already got [i]YFU Norway[/i] and [i]Norwegian Life[/i] as life lessons, looked at the brown cheese from a distance at breakfast, made our own sandwiches and wrap them in sandwichpaper and got [i]Language I[/i]. I can now more or less read Norwegian and--if I really have to--recognise genders. Counting, rambling off the alphabet and my 'handy phrases' I can, too, provided I'm allowed to peek into my mess-book. The German girls have informed me and Katleen already that rapid Flemish sounds like a mutated bastard child of German and Norwegian. I'm still not sure if that was a compliment, come to think of it...
Oké, dus vandaag heb ik een e-mail gekregen waarin stond dat ik mijn tijdelijk gastgezin niet ga moeten dwingen om nog een paragraaf toe te voegen aan de uitleg van hun gezinssituatie: ik heb een permanent gastgezin!
Ik kreeg de e-mail 15 minuten voor ik naar mijn afscheidsfeestje (dat trouwens geweldig was) vertrok. Het e-mail adres dat erop stond was echter nog steeds dat van Eli, dus ik moest naar Lien, Godin Aller Panikerende Outbound YFU Studenten, bellen en naar het correcte e-mail adres vragen en informeren naar YFU T-shirten met een embleem dat groter is als 5 centimeter en op een duidelijkere plaats staat als mijn linkerschouder. Beide problemen werden opgelost: ik kreeg het juiste adres en de T-shirten komen morgen aan (de gebraden vogels vliegen in m'n mondje, oh, ja). Om dat te compenseren: we waren de pannenkoeken voor mijn feestje vergeten en mijn Noors geld is mysterieus eventjes verdwenen.
Mijn nieuw gastgezin isssss.... *drumroffel*
Frede (53) gastvader en priester. Ik kan nu al veel Belgen horen gniffelen, ook al zit ik achter mijn computerscherm, dus zeg ik ze nu alvast dat ze ermee moeten ophouden en en zich volwassen beginnen gedragen: ze zitten nu op de unief en hebben geen slecht karma nodig. Gudrun, gastmoeder en advocate voor de plaatselijke kerkgemeenschap en Duitse. Drie kleine broertjes (oh, yes, ik ben eens de oudste!): Nikolai (17) die in de States zit op uitwisseling, Georg (13) wiens naam niet op een E eindigt, tenzij er een typfout in mijn e-mail van YFU stond en Harald (11) die even oud is als mijn jongste neefje.
Oh, en ik heb nog steeds de foto op Inges fototoestel nodig/wil nog steeds de foto op Inges fototoestel!
... Da's al dat ik vanavond te zeggen heb, vrees ik. Buiten het feit dat ik een nieuw notitieboekje heb gekocht en er mijn project in heb gezet.
Okay, got an e-mail today saying my temporary host family won't have to add another paragraph to the explanation of their family situation: I got a permanent host family!
I got the e-mail from YFU 15 minutes before I left for my goodbye-party (which rocked, by the way). The e-mail on it was still Eli's, so I had to call Lien, Goddess of Panicking Outbound YFU Students, to ask for the correct one and inform for YFU T-shirts with an emblem that isn't less than two inches across and is located somewhere not my left shoulder. Both problems got solved: I got the right address and there will be a new design of T-shirt arriving tomorrow (instant gratification, much?). To make up for it: we forgot to bring pancakes and up until now my Norwegian money is AWOL.
New host family issss.... *drum roll*
Frede (53), host father and priest. I can hear a lot of Belgian people snickering even from behind my computer screen, so I'm telling them now to stop it and grow up, since they're in college now and don't need any bad karma. Gudrun (47), host mother and attorney/lawyer for the local church community and has the German nationality. Three little brothers (Oh, yes, I'm the oldest one for a change!): Nikolai (17) who is in the US on exchange, Georg (13) whose name doesn't have an E, unless there was a typo in my YFU e-mail and Harald (11) who is as old as my youngest male cousin. There's also a dog called Max, but I don't know his age. My family's lived in Belgium for a while (oooooh!) and has been living in Norway for the last eleven years.
Oh, and I still need/want the picture on Inge's camera!!!
... All I have to say tonight, I'm afraid. Except that I bought a new notebook and put my project in it.
Check out Zero Punctuation for your weekly dose of game review, fast-paced talking and profanity.
List number two, because my time management is getting a little bit much out of control for the moment. I should play less computergames. And urgently clear out my room. ... Maybe after this message.
First item. YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!
Second item. Right. Clarification of first item: I have now got a (temporary) host family in Norway.
Family situation's a wee bit complicated: host brother Jakob (17) is staying abroad (Japan), host sister and -brother Ingvild (10) and Paal (13) stay with us every weekend out of two (or possibly three), host sister Live (17, twin sister of Jakob) lives permanently in Arendal for her studies, with host mother Eli (47). Host mother Eli will come live with host father Anders (50), host brother Jonas (19) and me (18,5) in Oslo every other week. Somewhere in all that, four dogs are frolicking happily, namely the Whippets Lotta and Celine (2,5, Live's dogs), English Setter Luna (4,5) and Borzoi Lilya (3,5). And in Arendal, there is a cat of which I do not know the name.
Third item. I have finished my summer job and have learned a lot. For one, a NN is a 'persoonsnummer' in the Netherlands, and the structure of a NN in Denmark is more or less the same as it is in Belgium. Some people are still nomads and cannot leave anything in the country they found it in, including their money and spouse. Also, I am now convinced that Heist-Op-Den-Berg has no idea what the electronical ID is supposed to be for. Oh, well, more important stuff: I made friendlies. Marit is a student Psychology who passed her first year on the first try (so good job, Marit) and conducted heavily philosophical discussions with me while we were enjoying free chocolate milk. And I met Jarno. Who is Jarno, you might wonder? Jarno is an exchange student, who will be spending the following school year in Norway, repeating his last year of secondary education. He's been in Norway since the first of August (the lucky b...ird) and is there thanks to AFS, which sent another six boys and zero girls. YFU sent Kathleen and me. Muahahahaha. ...Yes, I asked his e-mail and his blog will be added to the Wall of Fame as soon as I stop getting distracted from my e-mail-writing by trivial stuff, like my dog which honestly REALLY needed a bath.
Fourth item. I have been on holiday to Germany and have done practically nothing there. I have sat outside, quietly reading, doing cross-stitch embroidery and messing about with a laptop without an internet connection. I have taken small walks, now and again, together with my trusty camera. I have drunk a lot of spezi (because spezi is yum and that's the end of it). I have eaten one ICE CREAM (because ice cream and holidays go hand in hand and Belgium has nothing resembling mint-chocolate-chips). I have been, after more than an hour of playing, beaten gloriously at chess with XL-chess pieces. I have beaten, after less than fifteen minutes of playing, my youngest female cousin (who didn't really know the rules) at simplified Nine Men's Morris with XL-discs. And, finally, I have (imagine here, for a moment, a beatific, golden light and a choir of angels, with the Lord Almighty in the middle, playing the bass) hiking shoes that fit and somehow are not four sizes too large on me. And that's how I found out that my non-waterproof camera has a setting for underwater and can take up to 10 pictures in close succession with only one press of the button.
Fifth item. I want to do something with my friends before I leave Belgium. If I fail to grab a hold of them all, I shall have to resort to spontaneous, late-at-night phone calls until everyone goes to the evening show of a film among the lines of Kung Fu Panda. Rawr.
Sixth item. YIKES! MY BABY EXCHANGE SISTER IS ARRIVING ON FRIDAY AND I'M HOPELESSLY BEHIND ON SCHEDUUUUUUUUUULEEEEEEEEE!!!!
Seventh item. My dog smells nicely of shampoo and anti-tangle spray with starch-scent.
Gudrun, gastmoeder en advocate voor de plaatselijke kerkgemeenschap en Duitse. Drie kleine broertjes (oh, yes, ik ben eens de oudste!): Nikolai (17) die in de States zit op uitwisseling, Georg (13) wiens naam niet op een E eindigt, tenzij er een typfout in mijn e-mail van YFU stond en Harald (11) die even oud is als mijn jongste neefje. 
