Finding the words for goodbye...

This semester has been an emotional roller coaster. With the independence of this program I have been given four months to better understand myself. In many respects, I have been happy with what I have found. In nearly all of my contemplation, introspection, and perceived transformation, I have noticed a consistent theme: community. To be at my best, I need a stronger community around me. Those who I care about and am interested to work with and I will take a lead, and can do incredible things.

Now, in my final hour in Norway I have found such a pull between these two communities in my life. My mind wanders to the people and places I call home to which I will soon return. I have been absent these four months and require a reacclimatization period. Thus, I need to put in considerable thought about how I fit back into that place with those people. However, I can't help but feel like I should be thinking of my last moments here in Hamar and live them to their fullest potential. Stepping back however, I realize the importance of both. Moreover, I must find the necessary balance for my optimal transition. I can't wallow in guilt of leaning on one community more than the other. Both are a huge part of my life and it is necessary to understand how they fit together. Reasonably, that wont be an overnight happening. It is and will continue to be a process.

Tomorrow will be my last entire day in Norway and it is incredible to think that I have lived here for four months now. That is a decent amount of time and so much has happened in my home during that time. Coming back to the aftermath of the PNW's massive storm will be eerie because I have heard so little about it here. I have felt so much more the global citizen watching BBC this fall. However, it is interesting to see how isolated people on Earth still are. The impact of this storm is close to my heart and personally impacted many people I know and love...yet from this angle the world has not batted an eye...hell, it took Bush five days.

I guess my point is, that in many ways I have felt smaller and more insignificant and simultaneously realized the numerous ways in which I can make an individual difference on this planet. This semester has been incredible time to realize that the community I value is not the true picture I imagine without me in it. That statement might sound a bit conceded at first, but I believe in my heart that to truly be able to feel humbled by our individual minuscule being whether on the Earth, through the Universe, or in the eyes of God we must first explore our potential for positive impact and influence on others. Life is about embracing or passion and letting it fuel our talents. With those talents we can change the world.

I suppose these simple yet profound philosophies have not come for the first time during these four months but perhaps this experience that has finally given me reason to actually believe them.

I can't begin to explore how Hamar will feel once I am gone, but I know it will never be the same. When I return, down the road, I wont have the same family here that I have had these four months. This place has been a unique spot on this earth to isolate myself just enough and gain some incredible emotional insight. I have learned so much about my discomfort with loneliness and its many ugly forms. I have learned about the pain that results from distance, and being with loved ones. This pain cannot, unfortunately be subdued by the unending 'fantastic-ness' of Skype. This pain I feel has resulted from the lack of emotional depth with loved one's at home. I miss the dynamics and emotion that I would have otherwise shared with so many people.

I have had to explore these feelings in a new group of different, and now, close friends. This has required all of us here to embrace one another and use this shared experience to connect and understand. As such, I look forward to this life challenging transition and synthesizing my Norway community with my PLU, Aberdeen, and family communities. Yes I am done with this semester abroad and I may never live in Hamar or Norway again but I must allow the time I lived and breathed in Norway, to continue to affect my life and impact my decision-making. It is now a part of me and whether or not I ever called it home, it has become one.

Leaving the snow tomorrow and all the little children in their 'one-zees' will be difficult for many reasons and easy for others. This semester has shown me that I adapt to my surroundings and thrive when I am. It has also shown me that my ultimate surrounding includes a number of impacting people who were absent these four months. I want to run around and do what I love to help the world, I just need all of you to do it.

Thank you again for your patience with my lack of blogging this semester. Thanks for entertaining my rambling. Just maybe you were able to find some diamonds amidst all the rough...if not, I hope you have at least enjoyed a look inside this head of mine and the impact this experience has had on my life.

Kyle

Giving Thanks

I didn't realize how important Thanksgiving was to me until I found myself on a train in rural Sweden (my 8th in two days) this past Thursday. Danes, Swedes and Norwegians all either sat quietly looking out the window, or simply had a nap. Beyond the obvious fact that Thursday was only special to Americans at home and all of us abroad, our seat reservations were in the ‘quiet car.’

So as I sat there in silence for four hours and noticed how little any of the people around me were impacted by the day that had always been something special to me, I realized that the importance of holidays are about being with people you love. We have all the fancy décor and inexplicable traditions on the surface, but at the heart holidays are really about congregation, comfort, and love. It is funny (not Ha-ha, but odd) that it took feeling so small and far away from Thanksgiving to understand its impact on me. It was however, a raw and poignant reminder of the theme I have identified while studying abroad this semester. That being: ‘I am my best when I surround myself with the people I love.’

I have always heard that ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder’ and thus, time apart from those you love can often provide the necessary reflection to ‘truly’ appreciate them. This semester, I have taken this idea a step further and realized that I am not quite myself when I am not around the people who have shaped me. Thanksgiving day was the most definitive example from this semester. As such, it was such a delightful surprise to get back to Hamar that night and find the rest of our American group (and one of the Namibians) waiting for us with dinner prepared. I hadn’t been in the door for more than two minutes and I was asked to ‘cut up the bird.’ It was definitely one of my happiest moments from this semester, and one that I will definitely remember. It was nice that such feelings of comfort and belonging came on a day that had been heavy with loneliness and the discomfort of traveling.

I got calls that night from both Ingrid and my family, messages from the Base Camp crew and lots of fun within our Hamar family. I was riding high and it was all so unexpected. After everything I felt that day, I have promised myself that I will work hard to relax and enjoy the Christmas holiday and take advantage of spending time with my loved ones. That being said, I have a mere 15 days to finish things up here in Norway and come back home.

It is pretty remarkable how quickly this time has gone by. Although my program has not been all that intellectually stimulating, I have learned so much about my current surroundings and myself. I traveled to five countries while living here and visited probably two-dozen Norwegian cities/municipalities. I have learned about the indigenous people of Norway while kayaking in the Arctic.

I am so thankful for all of you back home, and my friends here in Norway. Your support during this semester has at the core of my success. This whole thing has been a humbling experience. I never felt much loneliness when I was traveling in South Africa, or traveling this summer. I suppose it was because it felt like traveling the whole time. Here, I had to move into this dingy apartment and live a normal life. Soon, I realized that it wasn’t so bad, but found myself comparing to home to my current situation and how this was lacking from my usual semester. Being an otherwise optimistic and active person, the onset of this dismal attitude spawned an incredible amount of laziness and repetition. I ate the same foods, and I did the same things (e.g. wasted a lot of time online). But it was hitting that low that allowed me to learn about myself, and how I deal with change. Even though I knew I was coming to Norway, I will still resistant to it, mentally speaking. I found many parallels between this semester and my first semester at PLU. I really wanted to be there, but many of my thoughts would be stuck yearning for the structure of old, and what I had left. As such, that attitude would almost inhibit me and make me reticent to try/do new things…let alone doing those with my usual passion and conviction.

Going through this during my senior year however has been fantastic and will be a good transition through graduation in May. Considering the different academic program this semester, I am anxious to return to PLU’s way of doing things. I think the laziness of the past few months might has been my “senior-itis,” of sorts. Instead of spending my last entire year and PLU and feeling burnt out, I will have had this nice break from the usual academic and social track and now I will be able to thrive and appreciate everything at PLU during my final semester.

Looking back now, I wish I would have blogged more often. It would have been helpful to voice a lot of this crap on my mind. All of your comments and reassuring words along the way have been so helpful. Yet, a reoccurring theme from all of you has been that ‘this is your time for you, Kyle,’ as such, maybe it was best that I kept a lot of this crap to myself and learned how I deal with it. Although, I believe that we (humans) have no purpose without each other, it is extremely valuable to be able to learn about your individual capacity and its corresponding relation to everyone else. My time in Norway will be remembered for this reason. Considering my expectations and plans, I am disappointed that I am not as good at journaling and blogging as I would like to be, but they gives me something to work.

At this point, I can’t quite give a full summary of everything I have gained or lost. I imagine that for the next few years I will continue to fit the pieces together and realize just how much living in a foreign country as a student has affected me.

Two weeks from tonight I will be in Oslo watching Al Gore accept the Nobel Peace prize. After that, I will take my last of probably more than 100 trains to the Gardemoen airport. In the mean time, I have a few tests, a few papers, collect some things, say ‘good-byes’ and from all of that see what I bring back home.

Working with time

Now don't get me wrong. Things have been, and continue to be much more relaxed in Norway as far as time and planning are concerned. Our class schedule is basically the only structured 10, or so, hours we have each week. However, maybe it is the death-march of insanely long papers and their due dates fast approaching, the planned activities for the rest of the weekends, or the random 'hey guys, only six weeks left,' but time feels like it is flying.

It's odd. Because it seems like ages since I have seen loved ones at home. So long in fact, that it is hard to put that distance of time and space into perspective. Yet, the program and time in Norway is passing so quickly, I know that I will be home before I know it. As such, rather than letting those kind of thoughts consume my in-the-moment experience here, I need to take better control of the time I have here and challenge myself.

I have completed more than half of my semester abroad and I am finally starting to realize that every element of this term is what I make of it. There is very little guidance or even motivation from teachings, mentors, friends (like I am used to at home). As such, this lack of external incentive thrusts that responsibility upon my lap. So whether it is choosing to allot time to read the material, work on papers, blog, plot out sustainability stuff for the spring, think about graduation and what the hell I am going to do with my life, or simply where we are going out for a drink...all of those decisions are mine to make.

I believed this from the beginning but after some experience here I know now that studying abroad for a semester is not about academic stimulation. The majority of the learning takes place outside of the classroom and the main subject is me. I have already discussed at length what I have learned about myself as a traveler and group leader. I have learned more about my eating habits, need to exercise regularly, and complacency that thrives when people don't challenge me. I think because I live here now, it is much easier to do nothing if I want, then I ever thought it could be.

As such, to better center myself and feel more productive, I am scheduling out daily slots for exercise (run and bike mostly) and want to begin yoga at a more regular rate consider this silly $25 mat I bought. Also, I need to have a scheduled time to be more productive for school. That has been a challenge considering the material we cover is so rich and presented in such an uninspiring way. I really believe that all situations can be greatly impacted by my personal outlook, goals and general disposition. Therefore, it is imperative in my time remaining that I embrace this opportunity as one where I construct and administer my own challenges and obstacles...because if I sit around waiting for someone else to do it, I will be here for a long time.

I am off to pick up a package from my mom, mail some letters, go grocery shopping and then head out for a run. It is a beautiful crisp, sunny day. It is just about 40F and the world seems to make a bit more sense.

Embracing Loneliness

It's been quite too long since I have written. I wrote so often early on and now I think I have made 2 posts in the last month. So, with the day off, I have to write. Not only to I have an obligation to the readers and loved ones interested in my life, but for my mental health as well. The therapeutic feelings of reflecting through journaling have been absent from my life lately. As such, I find myself more irritable and far less optimistic and confident about my life. It has been my experience that the less I actively reflect upon my experiences the more likely I am to wallow in the surface level, negative feelings.

Now many might argue with me that a true pessimist is one who analyzes life to a point beyond the surface and sees the true, often dismal intentions and actions of people. Yet, my nature of questioning and challenging my life as well as others empowers me mostly because I treasure the ability to do so. Having a good conversation with one other person for me will often leave me with more questions then I came in with. This to me is the ultimate reward of human connection. The fresh, new ideas that result from that connection is what fuels me daily. Therefore, when I am lacking such reflection and connection I assume a default 'glass is half empty outlook,' and forget to ask questions like 'perhaps the glass is simply twice as big as it should be?' (Shout out to DHue)

The connection that I have formed with many of friends here in Norway has been quite rewarding and has been shaping me in news ways from friends and loved ones at other places and times in my life. However, the cost of forming these friendships has been distancing myself from so many people that I love. Lately, I have had what for me can be described as my first full-blown homesickness. Now, the term was thrown around a lot during my childhood, but often I was just across the street at Luke's, or at the Worth's and considering the proximity of my supposed distance, I could never really commit to 'legitimate' homesickness. Even, my freshman year of college when I was living away from home, my roommate and I weren't hitting it off and I was told that my mom had been diagnosed with cancer, I still had but 72 miles between me and home. Recalling on that time however, the situation was greatly eased having Ingrid during down the hall in Pflueger and 4 of 5 other Base Campers as neighbors.

Right now however, is a different ball game. With Cole's surgery, Ingrid's new job and life, Base Camper's Sr. year, Whitney choosing a study abroad location all happening whilst I am so far away...I am overwhelmed with the anxiety that I am missing these pivotal moments in my loved one's lives. And although I am comforted by all of the aforementioned individuals that "what you are doing and where you are Kyle is important for you and your growth as an individual," with these feelings of separation from 'home' I am beginning to realize how much of 'me' is defined by others.

At this point many of you might scoff and say, 'Kyle, you are the one who is comfortable in any situation and your confidence and passion make you adjust and thrive anywhere.' Although I generally agree with this confidence booster, after being here for two months now, I believe that I am at 80%. It is as though this distance from loved ones is decreasing the energy that I otherwise feed off of from them.

I have been feeling this way more and more after my mom left. She was here two weeks ago for my mid semester holiday. We took a cruise from Stockholm, Sweden to Helsinki, Finland. It was a lovely trip. We went on incredible site seeing tours, had unbelievable meals and had great conversation. She was such a great travel partner. Our styles are quite compatible and our pace for the week was great. After everything we did I can say with great confidence that Stockholm was my favorite. I had just been two and half weeks prior, with a group of 8 for a weekend trip and I love it. It is a city comprised of 14 islands and much of its old architecture remains and gives the city unprecedented character. Considering it location and I believe the time of year, it is the most beautiful place I have been in my life. We stayed at Hotel Rival, the first boutique hotel in Sweden owned by Benny Andersson of ABBA fame. It was such a neat place and relatively inexpensive (considering the region of the world). Our first night we went to this great French/Sweden restaurant called Bistro Sud. Amazing.

Mom and I came back to Norway and we spent some casual days in Hamar so she could get a feel for my day-to-day life. We woke up to snow on our third day, originally planned for Oslo. It was great to stay in and watch a lot of Heroes with her. We cooked meals together, played far too much Gin Rummy and went on some great bike rides. Hamar was in perfect form and she got some great days to see the beauty of this country. On her last full day we did a walking, self-guided tour of Oslo and saw Karl Johans, the palace, Acker Brygge, the fort, and of course Vigelandsparken. The next morning I saw her off on Flytoget (the airport train) at 5:30 AM. I got some great pictures along the way and I have recently created a new photo album on my online site. Here is the link to it if you need it again. http://kylemorean.myphotoalbum.com/albums.php

As I have sat here typing this I have been thinking of more ways to inspire myself and push on despite my distance from and longing for my loved ones. It is a quite real experience and adjustment I have made living here. It has reminded me of the importance of three things:
1) To remain focused, happy and confident I need to write and reflect on my experiences more in journal form, when I don’t have my close friends to have the lengthy conversation with, which otherwise provide that reflection medium.
2) How important my friends and loved are to my happiness and life. My disconnection from their lives and desire to know how they are doing needs to be channeled through all of the fantastic forms of communication that exist (Facebook, email, skype). This way, I can continue to stay connected and feel like I am still a part of their lives.
3) It is a very real thing to be lonely. It is a state I am not terribly comfortable with. I have always been someone who prefers the company of fascinating people to my alone time. Yet, realistically I wont always be around my loved ones and this time in my life is an opportunity to build strength and learn that being lonely does not have to equate to being miserable. Because like an other feeling, emotion, or experience it is what I make of it.

In from the rain

The rain this weekend has given way to an incredible amount of TV and movies. I spent a majority of the wet weekend here at the girl’s house on Brenbakkvegen known as 'the Beehive.' Today we watched the two final matches of the Women's Soccer World Cup. The morning match, which decided third place, was a rather fitting showdown between USA and Norway. Unfortunately for my fellow Norsk citizens the US dominated the entire match and took home this year's bronze. The final match was a showdown between Germany and Brazil. And although the Brazil team proved to be just as exciting to watch as their men's team, their ball handling came up short to Germany's endurance...not to mention all the lousy calls in Germany's favor.

Life has been really interesting here. I have noticed that I am much more comfortable and settled in. The decline in both my personal journal and blogging is an indication that I find myself needing those tools less and less to feel comfortable. When I blog to recap my day or week and explore ideas aloud for all of you in the web-o-sphere, I have you ‘at home’ to live life with me in a way. I have found however, that as I have become closer and more comfortable with the group here, I am less apt to blog. It's as if that need to reflect and think is better satisfied in the flesh. I do regret that I have kept so much from all of you these past weeks. Yet, at the same time, you all know how much of a one-on-one, think out loud, kind of person I am. As such, the more opportunity I have for live, person-to-person interaction the more I rely on that to process my day, week and subsequently life.

That was in part to apologize about my lack of blogging and remind you all that I am thinking about you constantly. It is also a great thing to be able to tell you that life has begun to regulate itself over here. I have a scheduled daily life; it doesn’t feel like vacation anymore. Many friends have told me that it takes 4 to 5 weeks of living somewhere before you will really start to see the society around you. I think for the most part that is true. The rosy coloured glasses of Norway have begun to slide down my nose, so to speak. I am noticing differences in cultural life that at first seemed, well, maybe not exotic, but respectably different and are now just plain frustrating. The first one being: commerce on Sunday does not exist. Now although this is a cornerstone principle that allows Norway to be that much more relaxed and happy than the US, it is an inconvenience to me. I am used to doing my grocery shopping on Sunday and in this way, Norwegian cultural values impact the way I must practically live life. It is an odd, maybe petty complaint even, but one that I have found continually frustrating and thus thought it should get some blog time.

A second grief I have is charging money for so called, ‘public toilets.’ Now I know all of you with personal European experience can vouch for the fact that this is basically the norm. In the 5/6 (depending your opinion on Kosovo/a) European countries I have visited, I know this to be the case. It may be the optimist in me however, but I would think that my 10 Norwegian Crowns (nearly $2 USD, considering its recent decline) might contribute to a CLEAN and FUNCTIONAL bathroom. Instead many of these bathrooms are far worse than any NYC McDonald’s bathroom I’ve used. On top of that, it seems odd for a country like Norway to boast about its social welfare that provides a standard of basic needs to people far beyond almost every country in the world, but excludes a clean and free toilet from such provisions.

All in all, the frustrations are far outweighed by Norway’s natural beauty and the way of life here. I absolutely love how many people I see out everyday biking, running, walking along the lake, kicking around a soccer ball. I love the small cars and no trucks. I love not being able to find a vacant bike stall everyday at school. I love the weather. The rain, the sun, the hills, the evergreens, the fall colors are all so special. The cute stores, and gågate (the promenade) paved with cobblestones and full of people in our little town each day. It is so much quieter in stores and public places. Our mall, just a five-minute walk from the apartment is such a peaceful place of commerce, no loud people and thus no loud music!

As far as the program goes, I have discovered some fertile ground for improvements. It has become frustrating how isolated our English-speaking program is. We just go to school with each other, and eat with each other and live with each other. Although there is something to be said about our group’s willingness to go outside the comfort zone and meet more people, but the three pubs in Hamar has been really our little bit of success. Norwegian people are not outgoing, full stop (to quote Inger). As such, the friends we have made chatting, whilst drinking tend to be quite shy and reserved when they see us again sober. Although this is a frustrating social fact of life, there is room in the program we are a part of called “society and culture” that could contribute to our participation in the culture. The obvious one is of course language requirements. This program cannot sustain itself if we are to live in Norway for four months, study the culture, political system and way of life and disregard the language. Not only is this language far more contextual than English, but to learn a language and to think in that language is to start to understand…(‘walk around in their shoes’). By including a language component this program has the potential to really grasp the important balance of study abroad with both academic and social bases for learning and growth.

I have mentioned these feelings to Inger already and have documented them for later evaluation of the program. But, as you can imagine, I find it quite frustrating that there is such a roadblock that keeps us from integrating even with our fellow Norwegian students.

There are a number of topics I want to write about this week so expect to see lots. As far as upcoming news goes, my mom will be here this Thursday to spend 10 days here with my on my mid-semester break. Yup, that’s pretty scary…already half way! She and I will be traveling around Scandinavia by cruise boat to Helsinki, Finland and back to Stockholm, Sweden and then to Oslo and a southern trip through my neck of the woods here. I am looking forward to having her and I know it will be great to see a familiar face. Speaking of trips, as some of you have heard through various channels, 8 of us traveled to Stockholm, Sweden 2 weekends ago for a friend’s 21st birthday and painted the town red. It is definitely the best major city I have visited in the world second only to Cape Town, South Africa. I have pictures from that crazy weekend up on my photo album. Check them out and eventually I will post a blog about that third day adventure where not one planned aspect seemed to go ‘right,’ which kind made for most of the fun. Anyhow, there was an update, some fairly cogent thoughts and a whole lot of rubbish. I hope you are all well.

Vi snakes.

A Travel/Life Update

I have been away from the computer for quite sometime now and it has been quite liberating. With all the traveling we have been doing I have spent much less time on the internet. Now as many of you are well aware my emailing, facebooking, skyping and of course blogging (you like that string of verbs most not even a decade old?) have all been fantastic and efficient to stay in touch with all of you. However, there is something so peaceful of ridding my lap of the heat of my macbook battery and my ears the buzz of the processor and instead taking in the beauty as I kayak down a river in the Arctic.

Our excursion week was nothing short of phenomenal. It provided a full spectrum of Norway. Rich history, ancient architecture, current political and economic struggle and the serenity of the Norwegian outdoors. Many people use the remark that Norwegians are the way they are because of the 'nature' around them and in the six days we explored the foundation of that stereotype. The country is sparsely populated. Whether by train, bus, ferry or plane each place we visited would appear out of nowhere. 3/4 of the country is inhabitable and consequently gorgeous. Maybe because it is so similar to Washington, but the woods hear have this green glow about them that is so inviting!

We made our first stop in Trondheim, the 3rd or 4th largest city in Norway at about 200,000 people. Home to the famous Nidaros Cathedral, Trondheim (formally Nidaros) was the original capital of Norway when first united as a Kingdom in the 11th century. The cathedral was the main attraction in Trondheim and for many (myself included) probably the best experience of the excursion week. I'll stop here and plug my new photo album, because no amount of babbling on my end can do the breath taking architecture justice. So visit my new photo site and check out the excursion pics: http://kylemorean.myphotoalbum.com/albums.php
A few people who have visited the album already told me that the website is not that user friendly. Let me know if more of you have problems in which case I will find another provider and drop this one like its hot.

We left Trondheim by natttoget or the night train. We were one short on tickets and I received the extra hand-written train ticket...quite the souvenir! That morning we woke for more bussing and eventually got to our destination: the Sami cultural center 'Arran.' There we went on a guided tour of the premises and learned about Sami history, culture and politics. The Sami are the indigenous people of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. They are the largest indigenous group in Europe at about 90,000. Many of the political issues that exist in Norway between the state and Sami parallel those of the Native Americans and US gov.

From there we went to Hamarøy, my favorite stay on the trip. Although it literally means Hammer Island, it is neither shaped like a hammer nor an island. Nonetheless, we stayed in these fantastic barnyard red cabins along the river that follow just 5km into the Arctic. The entire next day we relaxed around Hamarøy. We made a visit to an incredible lighthouse amongst the fjords. We had crystal clear weather with a crisp chill. Our afternoon was spent down by the river either kayaking, canoeing or fishing. Following these lovely activities a few of us made the trek over from camp about 2km and climbed up a 120 ft. waterfall that we could see from our cabin windows. After our relaxing afternoon in nature, we had a group dinner of pork and potatoes and celebrated Joe's 22nd birthday.

We had purchased Joe a bottle of Southern Comfort which was shared amongst a select few, along with shots of Norwegian Vodka (Kalinka!) and of course good old shotguns of Tuborg (18 0z. of course!). Needless to say, all of this excitement prompted dancing in the rain, streaking in the arctic and staying up pretty much all of the night because our ferry left at 7 am.

Now although my trip took a turn for the worse at this point, I do not regret any part of the experience. Through the good times and the bad I learned and grew a lot. Anyhow, the ferry we took that morning was actually a catamaran that went about 40 knots. So we're takin arctic waves like it aint no thang and sure enough...me, mister car sick driving to the grocery store, gets big time sick. Luckily or unluckily my body had digested all the booze and food in my tummy so I had two rounds of the water that I had that morning. Then however, it was bile. All day long. When we got on land it is the closest I have ever come to passing out because I was vomiting so hard. I of course got that fatigued muscle feeling all over and my body temp began to spike every direction imaginable. Sparing you more vomit stories. I did not keep down my lunch...at no dinner and could keep down water until 4Am that night. I was fortunate however, that I had some great friends to take care of me and let me be when I needed it.

It was the last full day of the excursion that I was sick. So, I was there, but I was not A-vailable. All in all, I recovered after one full day of agony and kept food down the next day. Not to be outdone by the prior days events, I preceded to leave my wallet on the bus on the way to the airport. Luckily, Norway is legit and Inger made two calls and was taking directly to the bus driver on his cellphone...he made his loop through town...on a different bus mind you, and got my wallet to me! That was an incredible experience and one that I still have not begun to appreciate how awesome it was!

There were many lessons from the excursion. Number one, raise your children bilingual. Although there has been no mention of it so far, Alexandra, our teacher, brought her family with us which included her Dutch husband Peet, she is Danish and her 8 year old daughter Vigdis and 5 year old son Egil. The kids speak Danish, Dutch and Norwegian fluently and could speak about as much English as I can Norwegian. The really remarkable thing however, was their communicating with the Namibians. Because the colonial language of South Africa and Namibia is Afrikaans (practically Dutch) the kids and the Namibians could converse, and became good friends. I thought is was a rather heart warming example of benefit of sharing culture through language and how that can connect people.

Other lessons include...streak in the arctic every chance you get! (and you thought the 'fun run' was cold!) Take lots of photos. I am usually horrible, but I think I done pretty good this time. Make friends with the people you travel with, so they'll take care of you when you are sick. I was so fortunate that people were so great about helping me. Finally, share the world with others. The whole excursion would have had none of the character it had without the 22 of us traveling and experiencing it all together.

ON that note, we are off this weekend. In three hours in fact. It is 1:20 AM and our train from Hamar to Oslo leaves at 5:12. For the weekend 8 of us are going to Stockholm, Sweden to celebrate a birthday and explore. Although I would like to get some sleep it is looking less an less likely as this blog drags on and both the shower and backpack have yet to be touched. Hey, I'll sleep when I'm dead.



P.S. Today (Sept. 21 - my time) is Ingrid and my 5 year anniversary, go us! It kinda makes me feel like an old man...and mostly makes me want to tell you all how fantastic being in love is! Thanks for all your love and support in our life-shaping endeavour.

Thoughts on Leadership

It is a beautiful day in Norway. A crisp breeze is blowing through the trees and chills the skin, but something about the bright sun staring you in the fast prevents you from being very cold. Walking along you can smell the fresh rain on both the pavement and grass, (both very distinct smells). The ground is still moderately damp from the early afternoon rainfall that brought such gray clouds you thought they'd never clear.
Out in this scene, I close my eyes and let what my remaining senses note influence my imagination. Immediately, I am taken back to Friday afternoons in the autumn of my high school days. We have started our pre-game warm up with the marching band and everyone is shuffling around with horns, and burgers (made by Music Boosters), and plumes. In reflection, those times seemed so simple.

As I fast-forward to the present, I remember I am living in Norway studying society and culture. Although this scenery, weather and overall environment of Hamar, Norway reminds me of my hometown of Aberdeen, this autumn is much different then all in recent memory. The beginning of school has always held a special place in my heart. There is of course the first day of class. You get to see who is in your class and pick out who you want to sit by based upon things like ‘whose summer you want to hear about most.’ This otherwise annual feeling is missing from my life this year. Although we began the school year, as always, perhaps all the traveling, living, eating, partying with this group of people has expedited or even negated that first day of class process.

This change in feeling comes at an appropriate time in my life. It is the start of my fourth and final year of my undergraduate degree. This is an appropriate time to experience this transition out of the first day of school feeling. As this loosely structured, independent study abroad program takes flight I am being constantly reminded of the necessity to become independent and self-sufficient. This metaphor thus applies. I can't expect to have ease of the first-day, starting fresh, in the same environment many other places then school.

We are setting out for our first major excursion into the Norwegian countryside tomorrow. This theme of taking confident, big steps forward and helping others along the way applies directly to traveling. I have noticed in many traveling experiences in the past years, that I am generally the one to take the lead. Whether a group of 3 or 30; it can be directions, activities and site seeing, or just general motivation and I seem to be organizing everyone to make a uniform decision. I find myself at the head of the group urging them onward. With this role comes a certain responsibility and awareness. I have found it integral, thus far, to make my feelings transparent in these situations. If the leader can admit to being ‘lost’ they can help inspire a collective effort and help get everyone on the right path. The people who remain sour even after you admit to your mistake are the cynics who can ‘always think of a better way’ yet lack the confidence or agency to pursue those options themselves.


Secondly, I have noticed that people all have different traveling styles and learning to adjust to each of those at a moment’s notice is necessary to keep moving and ensure that people enjoy themselves. You can have the person who is ‘on the go’ and willing to do anything but doesn’t necessarily want to do it with anyone. The challenge with these people is motivating them to see the benefit of traveling as a group. This is challenging because usually it is apparent that they would thrive on their own. The extreme opposite traveling attitude usually accompanies they former. That being, the person who would have no clue what direction was down if you left them alone for one moment. Group travel can then help these people to become more competent and confident travelers through the shared group experience. There are of course a myriad of attitudes between these poles, yet, the one I notice most often are those people who take a moderate about of persuading before each new activity, but once they are there they generally enjoy themselves. The one frustrating part I notice with these kinds of travelers is that they are often reticent to put forth an opinion about what they would like to do. Sometimes this is fine for both that person and the group. But there are other times when these ‘middles’ can feel as though they are not contributing and/or being listened to.


Lastly, I have found that traveling is wearing on people. You are often in uncertain places, without the same creature comforts of home and crabbiness can set in quickly. Often the easiest solution is food and water. If raising the blood sugar doesn’t quite do it, then maybe taking some alone time by putting in the ear buds or journaling can do it. However, if people’s frustration starts to take on a harsh tone and/or snide remarks to other people, then the best way to talk that person down from the edge is to calm them with kindness. You gain nothing but high blood pressure by firing right back at them. If you let frustration envelope you in those situations it will be all you can think about and thus taint the whole experience. Therefore, to listen to their complaint and rephrase with less emotional language can be helpful. Where chiding them will only perpetuate the problem.

Traveling takes incredible amounts of patience. But with that patience comes the potential for a shared experience with group that invites numerous insightful perspectives and can be so rewarding. I am excited for this week to see some of these travel theories in play and challenge myself to continue to hone my skills as a travel leader.

Two Weeks In

We have come to the end of our first week of class. Our group of 10 Americans, 5 Namibians and 1 Norwegian began module 1: The Norwegian Welfare State. It is structured similarly to a JTerm course. We have class three days a week for three hours. We are studying the Norwegian society and culture from various political, economic, ethnic, geographical and historical standpoints. Half of the course is spent in the classroom and the other half is made up of various excursion.

Tomorrow we are going to visit the Elverum campus of our university college some 25 km north. We will be meeting with representatives of the NGO NAMAS (Namibian Association) where some of the students in our class will do their field study. Then on Wednesday, we are taking the train down to Oslo for a visit to the capital and our awaited dinner at Mucho Mas, the rumored cheap and good Mexican restaurant. Then a week from Monday we will be leaving on our major, week-long excursion north. It is an exciting course and one that will have considerable time in the field.

I enjoyed my first academic week. Class discussion is already going well. We have an intelligent, eager group and I think we'll have good discussions. On Tuesday, we had the morning off so 5 of us we went on a bike ride and explored the perimeter of the lake. It was beautiful. The weather here has been gorgeous this week. We have had cold, crisp, bright blue days much of this week. Having our bikes has been incredible. We have less than a five minute ride to campus, five minutes to the Beehive and about a 25 minute bike ride, up hill, to the blue house in Ottestad. As such, Joe and Allison and I have gone to the Beehive for humerus group meals this week, including the past 24 hours which I have spent here. We also had one group dinner in Ottestad on Wednesday. It including a captivating game of "10 fingers"/"I've Never." It was a great icebreaker for this group who have known each other for about two weeks.

Thursday night, following our afternoon class we went on a cruise of the lake on the oldest running steamboat in the world Skiblander. It was a student government sponsored event and was a beautiful two hours out on the lake. A group of us returned quite hungry and decided it was time for a burger. Luckily for our American urge we found Deniz! It is a little shop owned and run by a Middle Eastern immigrant who makes incredible bacon cheeseburgers. It was a nice taste of home!

I am finding myself missing people from home quite a bit these past few days. It is struggle, of course, because I am, at the same time, becoming closer with the group here. I imagine that as the routine of school develops a bit more I will be able to better manage my homesickness. In the meantime, these feelings are a great reminder of the important people in my life that are a considerable distance away. As I teeter on the brink of growing up, this distance factor is something I will surely have to take into account the next few years when considering further schooling, job, traveling and living.

Although I have already found that this new and different environment invites a world of creativity and inspiration that I was lacking in Parkland. Yet, I find those thoughts of individual pursuit always paired with Einstein's notion that the only thing humankind could agree upon was that we were here (on earth) for each other. For me, that means the people that I love. As such, the relationship factor is important piece vocation that I am thinking about more and more. Our vocational focus at PLU is quite individual: 'where your heart's greatest desire meets the world's greatest need.' My heart's desire is sharing what I love to do with the people I love.

As this next week begins, I am excited to see how my new relationships in the group continue to develop and how they will continue to impact my excursions and entire semester. I am excited to share the specifics of our upcoming travels.

A lovely afternoon

What a beautiful day! It was clear and bright, with a high of 68! The wind was blowing off the water and the day was crisp like early October afternoons in the Pacific Northwest.

I awoke at noon after closing down the student pub Hydranten last night. The group celebrated the second birthday in just the first week. And of course, being the party goer I am, had quite a lot to drink on both of those occasions. It was fantastic though. We danced, chatted with new Norwegian friends and continued to bond as a group. The one very unique part about this international study experience is that the group of Americans I came with and the Namibians and one Norwegian (go Henny!) we've met up with, will be together for our entire academic program. Therefore, we have lots of time with these people and some incredible opportunity to make great friends. As such, nights like last night are fantastic 'going out' 'European' times to bond.

On that note, this afternoon we all met up down by Mjøsa (the lake) on our bikes ready to ride and picnic. On Sundays in Norway everything is closed. You can't buy groceries, very few restaurants are open and almost no shops. As such, many can be found out walking, hiking, biking. We all embraced that relaxed Sunday mentality and biked along the lake to now protected ruins of Hamar's ancient Domekirken (Cathedral). Built in early 1100s, it is now completely encased in this incredible glass structure. The glass casing resembles the design of the entrance at the Louvre in Paris, so I have been told.

The sun and bright blue sky relfected off every panel and blinded me. But as I walked closer to park my bike, the glass panels revealed it contents. On the right side remained three distinct Roman-style stone column and arches. In the middle, contemporary chairs were set up around the decripit alter and to the left an archway leading to the back of the cathedral and what I later found out were the Bishops quarters. Our group went on a guided tour of the grounds and learned about history of the place. I took many breath-taking photos and basked in the cathedral that once was. Our guided tour ended with our tour guide signing a familiar (for Lutherans) liturgical hymn in Norwegian. Although I could understand a few of the Norwegian words, the familiar melody struck me in a way like it never had before.

I was used to singing the English words along with the melody and never paid too much attention. The hymn usually fell near the end of a church service and meant that I got to go home soon. Yet sitting in the acoustically perfect, glass edifice and seeing the ruins of a remarkable cathedral around me I wanted to stay forever. It was one of those moments that just moved you. Being amongst ruins, a physical reminder of human loss and hearing the simple and true, enduring melody of a song hundreds of years old was incredible. It was another important reminder of human connection. The power of music cannot be reduced to words.

The group meandered through the rest of the museum grounds and ate our matpakkene (packed lunches). We all then parted ways and biked back to our separate homes. It was a peaceful afternoon on a beautiful day and a wonderful experience to share with one another. Quite different from last night's but equally important as this group begins what I can see will be a life-shaping journey with each other.

The Power of Connection

Today begins my first weekend in Hamar. Although I have been here a week, I am just now settled into the apartment, have most of the place furnished, and have a sufficient amount of food. Our first week was quite relaxing and class minimal, yet I think my head was in a daze from traveling and trying to believe that I am living here, right here, in this dingy little apartment for the next four months.

Therefore, in order to motivate myself and inspire my world traveling and passion, I visited the Wang Center's World Conversations blog this morning. I read my last post from my January 2007 excursion to South Africa. My post was epic, to say the least. I found myself wondering if I was simply writing so profoundly because of the forum and the potentially large PLU audience? Optimistically, I also entertained the notion that SA is simply that moving a place, and anyone experiencing the places and people I saw would have written about it in such a way?

Nevertheless, I could not help but compare that writing style of a short six months ago to the one I have assumed on this blog. Many of my entries here thus far sound a little forced and not entirely thought out. As such, I want to make a concerted effort from here on out, to use this as a medium for not simply regurgitating the days events. Moreover, I don't want to try and force anything to be profound or life-altering. I wrote only six times in 25 days while in SA. I remember Internet access was sparse, but I also remember the times that I blogged I had an overwhelming urge to do so. I want that feeling to return here, so I can enjoy it...and you all can have more exciting reading.

That said, I am finding this experience here in Norway to be an incredible time for reflection. On one hand, I am actively pursuing friendships with my classmates and other Norwegians. Everyone knows there is plenty of energy that goes into being oneself and finding the connections in life experiences and aspirations that connect us to new people. And more often than not, that times does not permit much reflection. Yet, at the end of the day, I have found much of my reflection in journaling is about those 'at home' and the foundation of our relationships. That is to say, when thinking about Ingrid, I am not thinking about the last time I saw her, when we parted in Roslyn, or about my housemates and the activities we did this summer. But I have been thinking about the building blocks of my relationships with those people and how each piece individually highlights us and has subsequently shaped us over the years. In this way, it is an incredible way to think about those whom I miss because I can reconstruct the defining memories that my brain holds onto. I see them as a still shot. Just a Polaroid from that exact spot. I can see myself as if I watched the conversation happening.

And that's just it. In reflecting on many of my happiest memories at PLU these three years, I realized that they have taken place in a one-on-one conversation. Whether it was on the old futon in 367, in NPCC, my lofts, the 3E hallway, Cory and Cole's room, the Maroon 5, Red Square, the Base Camp hallway (upstairs), or Pflueger lobby; so many of my defining moments and friendships have been through the power of conversation. It is a connection that happens, if for just a moment, where context melts away and it is just the two of us. It is almost as if life makes complete sense. Truth, beauty and love are all simultaneously realized and you are free to just be. That is what grabbed me so much in SA and re-reading my final post this morning helped remind me of what I am so passionate about: Dialogue. In it's essence, dialogue is human connection. Sure it can be conflict resolution, community building, world shaping...but first it must bring two people together and be.

Many often quote the idiom "to err is human, to forgive divine," to remind us that compassion and forgiveness are humankind's greatest virtues. I would add that at the core of both of those notions are the skills of empathy and listening. They are skills that we can actively pursue and hone. To quote Ralph Waldo Emerson (the great, great, great grandfather of Britt Inga Emerson, the American girl from D.C. in my programme here, and my friend): "To know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived, that is to have succeeded." This beautiful reminder of the fundamental impact we can have on another's life and thus our won; is for me, the reason to live.

I still holds true, that is never to late to forgive someone, nor to say you are sorry, nor to tell someone how much they mean to you. Embracing that connection with humanity is what life is all about. That is what I saw in SA. That is what drove me towards these further international adventures. Perhaps PLU had begun to cloud that for me? Maybe I grew too comfortable in one spot? Perhaps my laziness inhibited me seeing the big picture, the pursuit of something unattainable. Yet is that pursuit that drives me, it has driven people for millennia. Challenging and questioning life, pursuing that countless connections and friendships that take us to the ends of the earth, and reveling in humankind's spirit and capacity as we be and take in the beauty around us.

As this current adventure continues to evolve, I want to keep these important guiding lights as my side to remind me of how much I appreciate this opportunity and should never discount any experience. Each one as the potential to be breath-taking and life-shaping.

Norwegian social life

After going out the last four nights now, I can say without a doubt that Americans have nothing on Europeans party 'legs,' if you will. I imagine, and Dan you can fill me in, but after so much practicing drinking so much, you begin to develop the proper stamina? I have already had the stereotype confirmed that the otherwise shy and reserved Norwegian opens right up when they get a drop of alcohol in them.

Yesterday August 22 was Chelsea's birthday, the youngest Lute in our program. She turned 19 and was ready to celebrate her second European birthday. She had her 16th birthday while living in Germany for a year. To celebrate we went to the barn party at Blæstad, the farm campus and facility associated with out university. We had one our now many, orientation week events. It began with a BBQ, like Monday which is always, BYOB/M. So we brought dogs and lompe. Lompe (pronounced like Umpa Lompe!) is a thin potato bread that is great for rolling up your dog. Quite tasty, I wish we had it in the states. After the dinner we had an activities course, which the Norwegians referred to as a scavenger hunt, although it was not in our traditional sense. It was more like a relay race with 9 different stations. My team was comprised of four Norwegian girls and six Americans. Our tasks included a tractor pull, milk barrel toss, stacking soda crates and taking apart and putting a chainsaw back together.

I represented my team in the final two events. In the first, I was on belay and stacked, rather quickly 16 soda crates as they were passed up to me. At the attempt of the 17th, the tower swayed and plummeted to the ground. It was fun, I hadn't been climbing in quite a while and it was reassuring to know that I could still climb efficiently. After that, we made our way to the chainsaw. I was asked to take off the guard, turn the sword, tighten the chain, put it back together and start it. I had the second fastest time of all ten teams participating and was pretty impressed considering I have never had any reason to take apart a chainsaw in the past.

We went to the bar, inside the barn, after that and enjoyed 30 kroner ($5 USD) imperial pints (20 oz. instead of 16) of Ringnes pilsner. Definitely the cheapest beer I will drink in Norway. Joe, Chelsea and Kristin and I were the last of the American when the bus picked us up at 1. I must say the bus full of drunk Norwegians singing back to the student apartments was one of the most experiences thus far.

Class has been interesting this week. We are only taking the crash course in Norwegian and I think some people in our group enjoy it and others seems to really dislike it. I am hoping come Monday, when our normal lecture/seminar begins that people will start to show a bit more interest.

Tonight we saw a great ska band at Hydranten that was most of the members of Hop Along Knut and another three man underground hip-hop group. It was a fun show with about 80 people there. I didn't drink tonight because I have been so exhausted, so I didn't quite have all the energy that most of the concert goers had. But the show was fantastic nonetheless.

I am planning on staying in this weekend and getting the apartment up to speed and functioning as my home for the next four months. Therefore, I intend on diving into a blog that explores some of the emotional/social questions I have been exploring this first week, rather than an entry that recounts that day.

Første festen min!

My first party in Norway tonight was a bbq held at the university college campus. They are BYOM and B (meat and beer). Our entire group went and seemed to have a great time. I think the little bit of drinking everyone did wore everyone out so most people crapped out by 8 pm! But Hydranten (the hydrant) the campus student pub had its grand opening tonight that we missed...so we are going for Chelsea's birthday Wednesday night! She is the baby in the group. She will be 19. I feel like an old man. A few of the Namibian's are older, but I am the oldest American in our group.
Day 1 of orientation was today and I must say it was far less stressful than that of three years ago in the Lutedome. Which is saying a lot considering today's was all in Norwegian.

We begin our crash course lessons in Norwegian tomorrow. We have four days of three plus hours a day. Considering I am one of the few in the group with experience, it will be interesting to see what I learn and what is just review. I imagine the context will be even more practical day to day student language than I already know.
Good news, I am finally unpacked. As soon as I have figured out how I will post pictures. If I cant on this site I will simply direct you to facebook photo albums.

We filled out this culture sensitivity, global awareness survey for the Wang Center which I thought was a bit presumptuous and leading this morning. It was an attempt to gauge PLU student's pre-abroad cultural awareness and interest in global education and vocation. I can't imagine my answers will change any in these four months unless this experience will make me want to pursue a less internationally inclined vocational path.

There seems to be an initial rift between the Namibian and American students...no hard feelings but just sort of the comfort group thing. Are humans really that fickle? White people gravitate toward each other and black people gravitate toward each other? If anything our shared common bond of English language should be bringing us together. I want to work, but not force the group to work on working together better. I am hopeful that after an in-class, one group, dynamic is established tomorrow people on the whole will be more inclined to work together. I know it naive to expect everyone in a 15 person group will get along and be best buds. But I don't think that in just three days people can make accurate divisions between who will be friends and not...people must explore all there options soundly.

I am anxious for journaling tomorrow. Norsk leskon nummer en! My money is on the Namibians.

Is 4 months all that long?

The question already came up tonight as the group discussed weekend travel and upcoming excursions. We had bids for Italy, Spain, Germany, Sweden, England, France. I suppose there are some of these girls who may travel every weekend. I would myself like to see more of Norway and get down to Copenhagen or Amsterdam. Accessiblity to 'all these cool European' countries is pretty unbelievable.

Our day today was simple. We slept in an joined the entire group for pizza at Mer enn Pizza (More than Pizza!). It was a great time. Following dinner the group of Americans went on a tour of the various living arrangements. First, we went by the flat that Kristin, Britt Inga, and Julie are living in. It is roughly 1/2km from the school and an attachment to this woman named Heidi's home that is completely mustard yellow. Following that we made the almost 1km walk over to our apartment complex which has been aptly named the 'communist housing.' Needless to say, the two monolithic structure that compose our student housing complex disrupt the otherwise quaint and colorful Norwegian neighborhoods. Lastly, we boarded the bus for 24 kroner a piece ($4USD) and road about 3.5km across town, across the bridge (and lake) to the blue house where Blair, Nacole and Taheela live. They have the downstairs of a house this cute, old Norwegian couple recently renovated. Following that the intowners walked back. Joe, Britt Inga and I got out in front and started talking high school sports. It was a good throw-back. It also provided me incentive to look into the swimming facility which I have heard it quite close to my lovely housing.

Tomorrow is our first day of orientation and maybe part of the Norwegian language crash course. I am still not unpacked. Although, Joe and I have decided to rearrange some of the furniture and situated the room so it has a bit more character and it subsequently more livable. I hope to have lots more to report tomorrow and hope this forum begins to take off as the big questions arise. Speaking of which, somebody through the politics card out to the group tonight...alright guilty as charged, but you know me I like to push a group. In time I'll get to more hot issues. As I suspected, many of the fellow Lutes come from staunch conservative backgrounds and at this point in their lives are gravitating towards a 180 turn of shared-parent political values. It will be interesting to see how the group does considering our Norwegian government class. Not only because of conservative backgrounds but because everyone in the program has some political science academic interest.

I have been thinking about all of you at home a lot. For many of you, I hope you are still enjoying summer. It is an interesting adjustment, it still has not set in that I am really living here. However, as orientation and courses start to begin, I have no doubt that the time will fly by. On the whole, two full days down...I am very glad I am here.

settlin' in

Første Dagen min! (My first day!)
Well, here I am...rock you like a hurricane. Wise words spoken many a year ago by the Scorpions. That is about how I am feeling. This country has already charged me up and I am anxious for school to start. I think probably to provide some good structure to a lifestyle I can already see will be much more relaxed then the one I am used to. I had a long flight which awarded no sleep, just a rather smelly, cute Indian man sleeping half on me and half in the isle. I await the flight home, not for timing sake, but because it is daylight the whole trip the 9 hour flight-9 hour time change it stays the same hour and you don't have the mandatory 'everybody sleep now' bullshit. I wanted to read my book and the flight attendant came by and made me feel like an asshole because I was the only one in my seciton with a light on. Anyhow, that is four months from now. I was utterly exhausted when we finally got here, but had my first grillpølse or hotdog at the airport. Had some confusion with the group and I had to play dad a bit...but all got worked out and I got them on the train and to Hamar.

I woke up this morning after a blissful 11 hours of sleep and strolled to our first group meeting, late. Oh well, Norsk klokka allerede! (Nowegian time already!) Joe, my roommate, and I got to the school and met up with the five Namibian students who are our classmates in what is called the "society and culture" programme. The group which we heard yesterday would be 30 is acutally only 18 people. 10 Americans, 5 Namibians and 3 Norwegians.

After touring the school with Knut Haugen, our rather eccentric International student coordinator, we came back to our apartment at Fredik Monsens Gate. I read more of Deception Point and relaxed. I have of course still not unpacked, nor showered...both of which will shortly take place. And now we just got back from a dinner at Inger Haug's home. She is the program director, our main lecturer and a lovely person. She will no doubt me like a mother to our group. We enjoyed olive bread and a wonderful seafood chowder which included cod, salmon and shrimps (they use the 's' to denote the plural...sounds funny to those of us who just say shrimp). At dinner I also met our second teacher Alexandra Klein who was one of the coordinators I met this summer at Nansenskolen i Lillehammer. It was nice to see familiar faces again in Inger and Alexandra.

As dinner went on we had a nice time getting to know the people around us. I am finding I am learning as much about my fellow Americans as Namibians. None of the fellow Lutes I know better than the other, so I see this a good chance to make new friends evenly and not have the "stick to your buddy at summer camp syndrome." I had a great conversation at dinner with two of the Namibian students who posed the question to me: "with all of this traveling around, do you ever intend on graduating?" I thought of my dad when I was asked this. Also, I explained to them PLU's emphasis and accredidation for studying abroad. They were amazed. One Namibian girl who goes by Jo and whose real name is pronounced Too-will-icka (I will get back to you on the spelling...she is easily the most outspoken Namibian of the five and I will no doubt write about her again) told me that she is here for the semester and receiving only 2 credits from University of Namibian...bearing in mind they take a semester of 30. In that regard, I was proud of PLU for its emphasis in international study.

The dinner conversation, with she and Francois (pronounced but also not spelled) included a discussion about Starbucks, Namibian languages, English accents both regional in the US and in the world, and the influence of English on Namibian culture.
Regarding the English influence Jo said of the five languages she can speak, she can "express myself best in English." When I asked her why she said it was because of the shared context so many people have with English. She said phrases, slang and generally meaning is so readily shared through movies and music that people understand me best. She said she never listens to Afrikaans radio or tv and therefore has the greatest lexicon of emotional language in English. Pretty incredible. I have heard this now from students from more than 12 different countries all whom have learned English from has early as 3...in the Namibian's case to those who are 18 my friends from the Balkans. Definitely a PRO on the tally for English's pervasivness.

I have also been making more active attempts to speak Norwegian. The American student who is from Virginia, Britt Inga, has family just north of Bergen (west Norway - fjord country) and speaks Ny Norsk fluently. She has been playfully forcing me to "snakk norsk" with her. It is fun because the dialect I have learned is bokmål which is surprisingly different. Ny Norsk is a collection of dialects more rurally spoken and bokmål is basically Oslo-talk. An extreme example being: in the Norwegian, the pronoun for 'I' is jeg (Yigh) and for Britt Inga it is eg (Egg). Therefore, it really forces me to recognize the dissimiliarities and listen carefully to those words that we do share. Anyhow, I know she will be a strong teacher and friend for me to continue language skills. I am planning a review of my first year stuff tomorrow after unpacking.

I am having a great time and I think the casual orientation week starting on monday will be great. The group dynamic tonight was fantastic and similar to a cross section of PLU 6 men 12 women. So, what I am used to. I have already not had my camera out enough. I will be better about it tomorrow, I promise.

My thoughts as you can tell are a bit scattered, but I have started a hard copy journal and will distill stuff out of that for blog-worthy topics. For know, this was a rather verbose update. I will be in touch soon.

Oh yeah, for all of you Pro-jetlaggers...I still cry bullshit.

I am ready

After walking a friend home last night I took my time meandering through campus. It finally hit me, I am not going to walk through this place for some time. PLU has been an incredible home these past three years, largely due to its inhabitants. Nonetheless, I got this strange feeling of longing as a passed by red square and saw that awful glow of the neon-blue 'Aquafina' machine from the second-floor Ramstad stairwell. I am really going to miss this place. The comforts it affords especially. I have grown fond of my corner room at Base Camp. Where the sun shines brightly in at 6:3o AM and I still manage to sleep in until 10. I will miss Ingram Hall and the trash cans throughout the building that collect the rain water cascading through the ceiling. The late night FOLFing, the gorgeous September afternoons when it seems like everyone you know is out on the grass, lounging around without a care in the world. I will miss my incredible friends, loved-ones, my Lute family.

This however, is a time for growth. And as I feel the pangs from the myriad of 'good-byes' it makes me want to stay for my friends' sakes. Yet, I know deep in me this is what I need to be doing. Upon PLU's doing J-Term of my first year, I have not forgotten the Explore definition of vocation: 'where your hearts desire meets the world's greatest need.' Something inexplicable, in the depths of me keeps urging me in this direction. Yes, Norway. A cold, small country (pop.) with a political interest in peaceful conflict resolution. At my core I have to understand how a society like this one works. It is inconceivable for we Super-Power natives, a country whose prerogative is helping everyone 'get their way' and not relying on the archaic, 'plop a flag down and its yours' mentality. I want to believe that the model that Norwegians pursue is one more compatible to the hundred's of suffering countries in the world that have found the 'solve it with democracy and capitalism' model inefficient. I want to pursue helping other people live their lives, the way they cultural, language, and surrounding allow - not how Angelina Jolie says they should.

So I am off. Out to live in and explore Scandinavia. See the beautiful fjords og fjellets! Jeg skal finne mange vakert tinger. It is unreal still as I sit here with all my shit strewn about my floor, but by this time tomorrow I might start to get it. I still have many outstanding(see unfinished) PLU projects that I will be working on remotely. I will undoubtedly be using this forum as a chance to synthesize questions and some greater meaning about those tasks and future goals.

My thoughts are rampant and rambling and there is much packing yet to be done. I did however, want to put down in writing, in hope to perhaps better believe myself, that I am ready.

Preparation for my Journey

It is difficult to come to terms with the idea that I wont see many of you for six months. I leave August 16, 2007 for my semester away in Hamar, Norway. I will be studying Democracy and Development at Hedmark College with eight other PLU Poly Sci and Communication majors.

I want to be able to stay in touch with you all and share our personal thoughts on a day-to-day basis. Mass emails only bring about anxiety and little revelation. Therefore, a blog seemed like the most logical way to journal (at a much faster pace than writing) and share with each other our experiences. Now just because this is 'my blog' I am hoping it can become our blog before long. I will attempt to make daily posts and use it in some degree as a journal. However, my hope is that you will all be inspired to reply and begin all together new threads. Your lives and experiences in Aberdeen, Parkland, Oaxaca, Azerbaijan and Macedonia are just as important as mine in Norway and I want to hear all about them.

Currently, I am finishing up pieces of two separate research projects from the summer. First, I received to a Wang Student/Faculty Grant with my adviser Amanda Feller to conduct research in Norway and the Balkan countries on the grassroots peace building efforts of a Norwegian Non-Governmental Organization(NGO) called Nansen Dialogue Network (NDN). We were accompanied on our two week excursion to Norway, Serbia, Macedonia and Kosovo by two recent Lute graduates Ingrid Stegemoeller and Jennifier Henrichsen as well as the Dean of PLU's School of Arts and Communication Edward Inch. The reserach aimed to get a better understanding of dialogue's role as a conflict management tool, how we (PLU) can better integrate those ideas into our conflict and peace studies curriculum, and the possibility of future January term experiences and student internships with NDN.

Secondly, my paid research gig this summer has been the PLU Sustainability Fellowship. The year-long fellowship began in May and pays students to conduct action research on behalf of the University's sustainability efforts. Along with my good friend and the other fellow, Tamara Power-Drutis, we have visited various and created projects and opportunities to integrate sustainable lifestyle tips into many areas of student life. The following link is the latest article from the PLU Campus Voice, an online publication, concerning Tamara and my research.

http://news.plu.edu/node/1951

Although I have a few weeks left before I go, I wanted to get this going and touch base with all of you. I trust you are all well and hope that you are enjoying your summers. Please comment with any questions you have. Would you like me to set it up so you get an email notification when I post? Currently that function is off. Just let me know.


Kyle