Moving to Norway solely for the gut feeling reason? Is that what people do?
Well, I'm not sure, because ever since I've done that I am still the only person I know who had no 'real' reason to move countries. And I'm finally ready to share my experience.
[December 2013: my (then) boyfriend offers me to visit Norway upcoming year. He's super excited, I couldn't care less. In fact, I barely know anything about Norway. I just know the mountains must be amazing. And the language must be a bit sweeter to my ear than Danish. But yes, of course I'd like to come!]
[End of June, 2014: my very first visit to Norway is about to happen. How do I feel? A tad excited as I know I'll see a lot of beautiful landscapes, & that girl is really into nature. Did I do any decent research? Zero. I still know about Norway as much as I knew on the day I was offered to travel there.]
[July 3rd, 2014: We land in Bergen closer to midnight. We're met by a wonderful phenomenon called Noctilucent clouds. One truly magical thing to notice in the sky. One fantastic way to start this journey.]
The trip actually sucked. Big time. Yes, I got to see one of the most beautiful cities of Norway -- Bergen & some charming rural places too. I hiked in the mountains, saw a glacier, drank glacial water, played with snow while walking in +30°C heat for the first time in my life. There were plenty of other experiences that were for the first time in my life which were fantastic, but I refuse to leave out the fact that the trip obviously sucked. My (then) boyfriend wasn't really into small things when it comes to traveling, it was barely possible to get him to walk around in Bergen (he's not into any sort of cityscape), nor I remember ever tasting anything special or visiting a single museum. 'Tight budget?' one may ask, but no. Actually, there was another first-time experience -- I returned home with lots and lots of money which was saved up to be used during travelling in Norway. Imagine returning from Norway with lots of money!? If you've ever been to Norway as a tourist, you know it's a challenge. Well, whatever happened, happened. I was a 17-year-old with no bossy qualities, in addition to that, I didn't initiate that trip, neither I was given any responsibility.
It was never meant to go my way. Which is fine. Why?
Because Norway still managed to take my breath away so hard, I barely spoke throughout the trip. I remember being constantly asked if I didn't like it here. Well, maybe my face expression was saying something like 'Your organisation skills suck out all the joy off the trip', but my heart was telling me 'Girl, it's your home'.
Don't get me wrong, I know what being impressed means. I have been impressed by places before. Actually, a couple of weeks before that trip I was travelling to Saint Petersburg for the first time too. And boy was I impressed at every corner! But did I feel anything like what I'm trying to describe right now? Not remotely.
I remember really well the moment when I ended up on Festplassen in Bergen for the first time not knowing a thing about this town, country, society, I told myself 'Ok, I have to finish high school & I'm moving here no matter what'. Yes, that's how the decision came to me. In the beginning of my first visit. Something just clicked inside me & I knew I belonged here before I even got to experience being here.
Two years later, in May 2016, I finished high school. I didn't enroll the university in Norway because I was confused about my wishes. So I had enough flexibility in order to choose the date. But I couldn't wait.
After finishing high school, I started working in order to make some money for a good start in Norway (spoiler: it was barely enough, but I didn't earn much either). In addition, I finally started learning Norwegian language.
There weren't many language learning resources in Norwegian available at the time. I'm grateful to those two YouTubers I'd found who were a great addition to Norwegian course on Duolingo. I really wanted to attend some live classes, but nothing was available in Riga back then.
I was working at harder pace than Duolingo was built for. I wrote down absolutely every sentence from each lesson, no matter how many times it was repeated. I turned new words into flash cards. I wrote down everything from "tips" section. I did a colossal amount of work, but it all paid off. Once I moved, I wasn't struggling with the language around me at all. Yes, I wasn't really able to hold a conversation really well, but I was able to speak.
I didn't have any problems reading signs, stuff at stores and many other things. My grammar sucked, but I managed to speak Norwegian during serious occasions (like job interviews, police station or tax office) & got a lot of encouraging compliments, especially when people found out it was my first month of living in Norway. So here's an advice:
Milk your Duolingo course dry. Especially if it's your main language learning resource. It's not perfect for it, but writing things down is the key.
It was around September when I started looking for a place to live. I managed to find a room in a student collective & finally set the date.
[November 9th, 2016. A very snowy day in Riga. A blizzard, actually. I'm spending a pretending-to-be-regular morning with my family & we drive to the airport. A sentimental goodbye, as it's supposed to be. Hopping on the plane and...]
Peace. Yes, peace. All the worries were gone. All the sadness was washed away. It felt like I reached zen once I had reached the sky.
Funny enough, I don't remember thinking about anything particular during those almost 2 hours on the plane. I didn't stress about the fact that I'm literally flying into nowhere. I didn't think about anything regarding the fact that my life is drastically changing right now. Didn't think about the past either. Which was weird, because I usually come up with great thoughts about things that bother me when I'm on a plane. But that time it was just blank. Weird.
Weird, but right at the same time. It made sense. I was about to start my life again at age 19. All alone, on my own. In a completely new place where nobody knew me. I was going to be reborn. Of course my mind was blank. I don't remember thinking any deep thoughts when I was coming to this world for the first time either. It really made all the sense in this world.
But I did feel something when I was flying above Bergen. First of all, it's crazy breathtaking to fly above all these mountains. Secondly, it was an interesting contrast between snowy Riga and sunny Bergen. And Bergen is not known for being sunny, trust me.
Once I was off the plane, I had a pinch of nostalgia mixed with stress. I was thinking about how wonderful it is to be at Bergen Airport again, looking forward to spending time in this town the way I want it, getting to know it at my own slow pace. At the same time I realised I was carrying a heavy backpack with two huge suitcases which contained all my life I was willing to bring with me at the time. Sounds simple: two suitcases & one backpack. Doesn't feel exactly simple when you need to carry it around all by yourself. But I managed, I had no choice but to manage.
It was stupid-challenging to grab a cab. First of all, I went to the wrong side of the cab zone, then dragged my belongings back to the correct side. After that, the cab driver who was willing to drive me, realised he couldn't possibly fit all my stuff into his trunk when one of the suitcases was already inside. Then I finally found the guy -- on the correct side of the road with a trunk able to fit everything I had brought with me. We drove out.
He was a middle-aged Norwegian man, very kind and as chatty as you'd decide it to be. Really knew what he was doing. Told me about the quickest route to Bergen city center (where I was headed to) which I should request every time I take a cab, because I can end up getting driven some long, expensive distances. Ah yes, he also missed a turn while we were laughing at something. He apologised, returned back on the route, drove a bit longer, then reset the taxi meter. It still remains my cheapest official cab ride in Norway.
We got to the spot. The cab driver unloaded my stuff and helped me to carry it to the door. He left. I rung the doorbell. No one answered. I kept ringing. I became stressed, I felt like I got scammed or something. The door was finally opened by one of the girls living there. She was home alone and wasn't expecting anyone. My landlord was late. As I would find out later, that's something to be expected, she was not the most reliable one.
I got in. I already knew where the room with a huge common freezer was, so I went to unload all the frozen food my mom had stashed me up with. Then I went to the common living room/kitchen (in Norway it's normally built without any wall separating them), spent an eternity unloading the rest of my food. The landlord showed up at last. I signed the contract, was shown around a bit more, got my key. Finally saw my room. Carried my partially unloaded suitcases there. It was on the top floor and the staircase was crazy. I still have PTSD from those stairs.
By that time, the other girl who was kindly asked by our landlord to sell me her old bed (as she was getting a new one), also showed up. Some of the other girls showed up too. They helped us to get the bed into my room then we carried up the newly-arrived bed. It was a fun experience to introduce myself to the very first new people in my new life during some intensive physical activity I'm not really good at. I went to my room, unpacked all my stuff. Set it all up.
The room was tiny. It was one of the cheapest rooms there (which was greatly appreciated by my tight budget), had a basic IKEA wardrobe and now also had a basic IKEA single bed. My two suitcases fit in perfectly. There was nothing else in the room. The windowsill of the only window in the room was wide enough to be my table.
After I got done setting up my room & texted back everyone I needed to text back to, I opened a pack of instant noodles which I for some reason still brought to the room instead of leaving them in the kitchen. I didn't prepare them properly. I didn't feel like leaving the room to boil some water. I had known all my life I was a bit of a shy person. But at that moment I felt like I was the most shy person on this planet. I didn't feel like going out and socialise with the girls. I crushed the noodles in the pack, mixed them with the soup base spice & ate them like any other snack. It was my dinner, dry and salty as hell. It was my first food ever since that breakfast at home in Riga. Then I went to shower which was conveniently right next door, washed off the whole day and, as it seemed at the moment, the whole past life. I went to bed. My new life was about to start in eight hours.
The next days were filled with being busy visiting police station, getting a new SIM-card & running around looking for a job and other errands. I also applied for a Norwegian course which was amazing and started somewhere in the end of November. I really do believe applying for a language course in the new country as soon as you move is one of the best things you can do to get yourself going. I also had to do a great deal of work on my head because I really had to push myself out of the room to prepare some food or tea. Yes, it was actually tea which I'm used to drinking in crazy amounts, that pushed me out of my room a few times per day & got me to socialize more with people I lived together with. They were nice and kind, but I had some sort of barrier that I couldn't explain back then & I cannot explain even now. It took some time.
So this is how my new life started. An unenthusiastic trip made me end up in a tiny room with a single bed, a wardrobe, two suitcases and a windowsill which acted as a table. A completely fresh start in a place that I barely knew, but which felt more like home than my actual home.
I decided to write this story now, 5 years later because I still keep getting asked about my reasons for moving to Norway. It fascinates people when they find out I didn't have a basic motivation to do that, such as earning more money or getting certain education. I understand why people keep asking, I understand why people sometimes need to build up their courage to ask. Lots of them secretly or openly dream to do something similar. Now it's here. And now it's going to get linked to everyone who asks.
Now you know that it's possible to come up with this crazy idea to move somewhere without any practical knowledge or large experience with that place. That this odd feeling which leads you to such a drastic decision, exists. The little 'click' inside your heart that lets you know instantly that you belong in that place. The feeling like you've been on a long journey your whole life ever since you were born & you finally arrived home.
P.S.
I have to say I've been through a lot of drama during my time in Norway. It had started turning into a Netflix show material at some point. For those who know me it may sound weird, because I'm the most neutral and calm person one can find. Yet I have attracted a lot of chaos somehow. Sometimes I cannot believe that already within first 6 months I couldn't walk in town without meeting someone I knew at least 3x per week. And I'm not the most social person either. It's just that life happens really fast. I was convinced I'd be a loner for at least a year. But here we are. Lots of great stuff, lots of drama. Lots of life.
Grateful to myself for not being afraid, following my gut & making this happen.
