Adventures in language

One of the best things about living here is learning Norwegian. My goal is to learn and speak as much as I can and rely on English as little as possible. Norwegian really is my first second language (high school French was kind of a disaster) so every day I'm learning something new. I have way more motivation to learn Norwegian than I ever did French and am having much more success with it. I owe a lot of my progress to the background I got from basic Norwegian classes at the Nordic Heritage Museum in Seattle (highly recommended, if only because you get to hang out with other people who love Norway). Those classes gave me a solid foundation to build on and that has made all the difference. I have a Canadian friend who moved here at the same time I did but without any previous language knowledge and we are at very different levels in our Norwegian ability. I can't imagine moving halfway around the world and starting from scratch with the language. I'm thankful that I at least knew what the "ø" should sound like even if I couldn't (and still can't) say it perfectly.


I also can't imagine not trying to learn Norwegian. Some people live here for years speaking English and not trying to learn Norwegian at all. I think that's sad and a little disrespectful. Especially because Norwegian is not that hard to learn. Unlike English it has rules and sticks to them and the spoken language is almost completely phonetic. I've found that learning Norwegian has made my experience better than it would have been and helped me connect with people in a different way, especially those that don't speak much English.


So how much Norwegian am I speaking? I don't really know. My comprehension is good and I can understand almost everything that's spoken, depending on the content and the dialect(s). Basically, I speak Norwegian whenever I have the chance. But that depends on the setting and who I'm talking to. At school it's mostly English because we have lectures and reading in English. With friends and family it's as much Norwegian as I can manage. It can be harder with people my own age because they speak faster and usually want a quick response, but most are very patient with me and have joined me in my quest to learn Norwegian. 


Norwegian is a language of dialects and that deserves its own blog post so I won't go too much into the dialects here. The point is that there are approximately a million variations of spoken Norwegian, and this can make things confusing and difficult but also very fun. When I first got here it all just sounded like Norwegian, but then I began picking up on the differences between dialects and started to understand what people meant when they make fun of people from other places. Now I'm at the point where I can guess pretty well where people come from in Norway based on their accent, vocab, etc., always a fun game.


It's so fun to learn the nuances of another language and in that, learn more about the culture. I am determined to get as fluent as possible, though to be honest I'm a little worried about my English. Every once in a while I notice that I just used the wrong preposition in a sentence because I've been listening to non-native English for a while. And whether good or bad, you tend to start saying what you hear around you. Something I didn't expect was that I've also started to say "oi," a typical Norwegian response when you make a mistake or hear surprising news. That's something my family back home would poke fun at after we visited Norway but now I'm doing it too... Oi!


It's great to have the chance to learn a new language and I can't wait until I can say more of what I want to in conversations. My American accent shines through and I butcher a lot of things and struggle with grammar but I can't believe how much I've improved since I've gotten here. The cool thing is that most Norwegians can't either. They are usually surprised, and some are shocked, when they ask and I say I've lived here only since August. My dream is to be able to speak Norwegian as well as they speak English. So I definitely have a ways to go, men jeg tror det går bra.

Spring has sprung!

At least in Oslo... the sun is out and blåveis are in full bloom:

I don't know about Trondheim, though overcast and raining is a safe bet. I'm in Oslo for a few days before I leave for Croatia to go on a mission trip with a group of students from Trondheim. We're flying out of Oslo on Thursday so I decided to head down early to relax a little and visit relatives. And boy, did I pick a good time to skip school because it's basically summer down here!

Today was warm and beautiful so my cousin Kirsten and I had a lovely walk down to and around the water. Thankfully I packed sunscreen but I should have brought shorts too.

All I needed to do to find the sun and beach

was get down to Oslo. Who knew?

Now I'm not Oslo's biggest fan, but there are a few things I like about it. One is how it reminds me of a miniature Seattle with all the water and boats. Another thing I like is the Viking Ship Museum. I've been before but decided to go again yesterday with some friends who were also visiting. For a student price of 35NOK ($6) you get to gawk at well-preserved, real-life viking ships, so yeah, definitely worth seeing again.

Viking ship = instant manliness

The museum has lots of other viking artifacts too and what I find most impressive are the intricate designs carved into everything. Maybe they had nothing better to do on those long voyages to the New World.

Typical wagon decorations? I dunno...

So that's about all that's going on right now. When back in Trondheim I'm trying to keep up with school, applying for summer jobs, and certainly enjoying the days as they get longer and lighter. It's mostly just normal life but I'm still thrilled to be spending it in Norway.

25, alive, and in Norway

It was my birthday a couple weeks ago and I could have only ever dreamed I'd be celebrating it in Norway. When I step back and think about it, I'm constantly amazed that I'm actually here. But there was an extra dose of surrealness in the birthday experience. And while I've never been a big birthday person because I don't like a lot of attention, this was a great birthday for a lot of reasons.


Since I've been here I haven't been homesick too often, but at one point I found myself missing the familiar for my birthday. It was a little weird to be here when I'm used to celebrating at home with close family and friends. I don't like a fuss to be made about me, so I had specifically asked my parents not to send anything for my birthday (because it's so goshdarn expensive and I didn't need anything from home at the moment). But leave it to them to not listen to a word I say and send an awesome birthday package anyways. Besides a gratuitous amount of chocolate, it contained really special things from a lot of my family and friends. The most special things being the original artwork by Cadence and Jackson (now proudly hung on my wall). Thanks to everyone who contributed and to my mom for putting all this stuff together. It means a lot to be remembered back home and I could honestly feel the love and thoughtfulness that went into it.


Some of my birthday loot:

OK, enough sap for now. How does every mildly homesick American in Norway want to celebrate her birthday? With a pile of meat, of course! And thanks to my sweet, perceptive, and incredibly generous friends, that's exactly what I got:

 Equally excited about the food

as I am to be in a restaurant.

We feasted on two platters of various meats including spareribs, steak, chicken, and lamb (this is Norway, after all)... and it was delicious!

 They do free birthday milkshakes in Norway, too!

Later in the week I threw together a last minute party to hang out with as many people as could come. What a great time of just hanging out and enjoying each other's company. Though I wish I could have done the same with my friends at home, it made me realize what great friends I making here, and I am thankful for them!

Surprise rice krispie treat cake

Got all the candles in one breath,

even the sinisterly placed ones sticking out on the side.

Thrilled party-goers

All in all, I realized that I am blessed to have both good friends in Norway and amazing people back home who love me. Thanks to everyone who celebrated with me and made my first Norwegian birthday one to remember.

Take that, Zurich!

Nothing's cheap in Norway, except cell phone plans, for some odd reason. But cheap and expensive are such relative terms and I was starting to blame the continual sticker shock on my skewed American perception of the way things should be. Since Norwegians are mostly well adjusted and well equipped to deal with the prices, I feel like a wimp at times, like I'm the crazy one for thinking five dollars is a tad too much to pay for half a gallon of milk. 


Today I'm happy to report that I'm not alone. My disbelief is now (somewhat) justified because, according to some people who did something with numbers, Trondheim is the world's most expensive city. I'm feeling pretty vindicated right about now. I have no idea how credible numbeo.com is and this ranking is from early January, so things have shifted since then, but how crazy is it that Trondheim is #1? I mean, seriously, come on! I don't mean to complain as much as I mean to point out the hilarity that someone as thrifty as I am has freely chosen to live here. 


By the way, I am applying for summer jobs in Stavanger, Norway, apparently the second most expensive city in the world. Will no one slap some sense into me?

Breaking news: I got an A

I know you're probably thinking, "what's the big deal? Doesn't Kathleen always get A's?" Well, I used to, but lately they've been a little harder to come by. Shall we recap my academic history:


I had a 4.0 starting in middle school (possibly before) and going all the way through high school. That's six years of straight A's. I was accustomed to getting A's. They were normal, expected, and honestly, not that difficult for me to achieve.

What I probably looked like during high school

Then at Whitworth I got my first A-, then B+, etc etc,. It was a shock to the system, but not getting A's was a much needed experience for me. The pressure of maintaining perfection was gone and I became more concerned with learning. So I went on my merry way with A's and B's in college. Physics 2 was a mighty foe but I managed to stave off a C, squeaking by with a B-.

What I probably looked like during college

Then I came to Norway. They do things a little differently here. You see, most classes have no homework, papers, or projects, or even a midterm. Grades here are usually based on your score on a single exam at the end of the semester. You get one shot, on one day, to show what you know about the entire curriculum. C's are normal and expected, and B's are greatly admired. But to get an A, you basically have to be perfect and nail everything, plus give a little something extra special. 

What I no doubt look like in grad school

Needless to say, in my experience, it's harder, or at least very different, to get an A here than in the U.S. So, how did I get one?


Well, firstly, I should say that this A was probably made possible because it was not one of my science courses. The class was called Experts in Teamwork. It's a special sort of class, designed to teach students how to work on a project in an interdisciplinary team and mandatory class for all Master's students at NTNU. It was an all-day course for three weeks in January and I was in a group of six people working on a single project while constantly evaluating and discussing our actions and effectiveness as a team. Silly? Kind of. But it turned out to be a much better experience than any of us anticipated, and we all agreed we've become friends. Someone tell me that doesn't deserve an A!


In the end, we delivered two reports, one about our project and the other about our "group process," these being the only two things our collective grade would be based on. No one in our group cared too much about the grade in this class, because it is kind of silly, but we were actually the only group in our class to get an A. By the way, an A here might as well be an A++ in the States, and a B is basically considered an A, a C is a B, and so on. I just have to hope that the U.S. knows that Europe is a little more stingy with their highest grades. Also, they don't give plusses or minuses, but they do have an E between D and F. I guess that's only natural but I'm still not sure what it means.


Last night my Experts in Teamwork group got together to share a meal and celebrate our victory. Meet the A-team:

Tes (neuroscience), Camilla (med student), and Elise (neuroscience)

Me (molecular medicine), Ida (psychology), and Hans (psychology, and I promise he likes us more than he lets on:)

We had a great time hanging out, and we enjoyed not having to document our every conversation or reflect on our teamwork. We worked really hard on both our project and process during the course, so it feels really good to have succeeded together. Like I said earlier, school is not the main reason I'm here, but I'm reveling in the joy of a hard won A for the first time in a long time.

Oh hey, Middle of February, when did you get here?

Today my brother kindly reminded me that I've failed at my resolution to blog more (I knew I shouldn't have put that on the list). In fact, I've blogged less than ever since I wrote that resolution. It's no secret, we all know it, but someone had to give me a kick in the pants so that I would actually do something about it. As we are seeing, I'm just not a natural blogger. To be honest, I've always found the whole concept of blogs odd and I don't fully understand why people might be interested in what I have to say. And recently, I just haven't noticed a lot of things and thought, "Oh, I need to blog about THAT." Guess I've been in Norway long enough that the weirdness is wearing off and I'm actually starting to live a normal life. OK, that's only half true...


Sure there's lots of stuff going on with me but lately I don't know exactly what to say or I haven't felt like writing about it. It just feels forced, or the stuff I write gets a little too personal to post. I've been uninspired and unmotivated. Plus, I'm a perfectionist, so if I don't think I can write it really well, it's probably not going to be written at all, or it's going to take forever (even this post has taken way longer to write than it should have).


I'm in a blogging slump, and I need out. Suggestions are welcome. And thanks for checking in even though there hasn't been any incentive to do so lately. My promises about future blogging always seem to have the opposite of their intended effect, so instead I leave you with this brief glimpse into my life: 


Today I paid 135 NOK or about 25 USD for eight chicken breasts. Yes, you read right, 25 bucks for eight breasts of chicken. Were they especially special chicken breasts? No. Well, maybe, if you think Norwegian chicken breasts are special, but no, not really. The kicker? They were on sale. WAY on sale. That's the best price I've seen and I double checked with a Norwegian to make sure. Normally they are twice as much and I don't buy them, but I couldn't pass on these. So it was scrimping and splurging all in one purchase. And I'm not sure how to feel about it. But I am looking forward to eating chicken.

Resolutions, Norwegian Style

I've made a list of new year's resolutions that I really want to keep. They might be like most resolutions you hear people talk about, but mine are also a little different. They are based on positive things that I've noticed about the Norwegian culture that I want to apply to my own life. With that in mind, this year I want to:

Eat like a Norwegian
No, I'm not going to start eating lutefisk regularly. There are other Norwegian habits that make more sense. Here's what I mean:

Norwegians are fairly adamant about enjoying unhealthy food only on the weekends. I learned this after one of the first lunches I took to school in the fall included potato chips. I am used to having potato chips with my sandwiches in the States so I thought nothing of it to bring them in my matpakke (Norwegian lunchbox). But when I produced the chips from my backpack at school, the response from my new Norwegian friends was nothing short of, "What the heck are you doing?" and "Are you crazy? Potato chips are Friday night food!" I ate the potato chips in defiance that day, but their reactions stuck with me. While I have eliminated potato chips from my matpakke, I still tend to eat junk food whenever I want. I'd like to change this and limit my treat-eating to weekends and special occasions, an un-American as that is.

Eating like a Norwegian will also mean eating more fish, which will mean buying fish and learning how to prepare it. And to round out my blossoming Nordic diet, I will be eating more fruit, vegetables, eggs, and whole grains instead of other bad stuff. That was my obligatory diet-related resolution. Now, some others:

Practice hospitality
Norwegians are a welcoming and generous bunch. They love to have people over for a delicious dinner, or just sit and chat over a cup of coffee. I've been blessed by the hospitality of countless Norwegians since I've been here, and it's made me realize I need to be more hospitable. I want to take the initiative and invite more people over.

Speak Norwegian

My Norwegian comprehension is good, but my conversational skills are lacking. I can have simple conversations and I am nearly professional at following conversations in Norwegian (depending on speed and the dialects being spoken). But I struggle to keep up quickly enough so that I can contribute, and I don't always know the words I should use. The next step is learning more so I can actively participate and rely less on English. I've found that being able to speak someone else's language lets you connect with them in a whole new way, and it helps you get to know some people you otherwise wouldn't.

Each day I've been teaching myself a few new Norwegian words to improve my vocabulary and it is already paying off. I need to keep it up and make the effort to speak more in everyday life. Since my Norwegian is far from perfect, I often shy away from asking things in stores or other public places unless I know exactly how to say it. I need to be more courageous and willing to make mistakes if I'm going to improve. Still, when I speak, people are usually surprised and impressed that I've lived in Norway for less than six months. That means I've come a long way since I got here and is a big encouragement to keep going. A huge thanks to all the Norwegians who have helped me learn the language so far!

Gå på tur (Go for a walk)
I want to get more exercise, but I don't want to join a gym. Instead, I'd like to walk more. I find that walking is a great (and free!) way to get to know your city and get moving after sitting most of the day. I walk to the store often and home from school once in a while, but I want to do it more often and explore new areas in Trondheim. How is walking Norwegian? I can't explain it right now, but trust me, it is.


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