The Norwegian Dream

[thenorwegiandream]

Goals For Next Year

In the coming months, I am preparing to pack up and move to another continent by myself. This is a very special time in my life and I have many wishes and wants for the school year. I hope I can build strong connections with people from Norway so I can come to visit them after the school year and with my family down the road.

I hope I have a greater sense of Norwegian culture so I can continue those traditions wherever I end up after Folk School. I was lucky enough to live near a preschool that taught Norweigian and I hope there are similar schools for my children. I also hope that I am nearly fluent after spending nine months abroad in Norway and hopefully, I will improve upon my accent.

I am curious to see how my time aboard will shape the way that I plan out my education. I hope that I am still excited to go to the college that I chose and that I still have the motivation to earn a few more degrees. There is a lot to look forward to and a lot to learn which I am more than excited about.

[thenorwegiandream]

Languages

I have recently made a goal to become a polyglot by the time I am 25 years old. I hope to have enough proficiency in Spanish, Norwegian, and English. This goal would definitely surprise my younger self because she hated going to Spanish class and had no interest in using the language after high school.

I am still surprised how language has evolved to be as diverse as it is The fact that their many versions of the same language is mind-blowing. There are people who technically speak the same language and live in the same country that would struggle to communicate if placed in a conversation.

Aside from words and comprehension, there is more communication than just speaking. Humans are able to understand one another without understanding the words that come out of someone's mouth. This is such a fascinating subject and I look forward to my studies in the Norwegian language next year.

[thenorwegiandream]

Summer Trip

During the summer of 2022, my family and I flew to Norway to visit some family. We stopped in Lisbon, Portugal first for three days as our "tack-on" country. I loved Lisbon and the beautiful historical buildings that make the city so inviting and mysterious. We out into a small town to visit old estates and gardens which reminded me of Eve. I was fortunate enough to be in Lisbon at the same time as a friend from school so naturally, we united our families and spent a wonderful evening together.

After Portugal, we flew to Lillehammer and stayed with relatives in town. I love Lillehammer and I am glad that I am old enough to remember the landmarks and traditional places that we visit each year. My cousin took a train from Germany to join us for the week which was amazing and I loved traveling with her. As a family, we took many hikes and visited with friends. One of my best memories was climbing the ski jump that was used in the 1994 Winter Olympics.

I just received my new passport and I am thrilled to fill the pages with stamps and track my movement around the world. I also made sure my photo was acceptable enough because I anticipate that many people will see it this coming decade. However, I need to build enough courage to fly on my own and be able to navigate an airport without tailing my father.

[thenorwegiandream]

The Quiet Game

At summer camp, there is a special time during the week when the entire program travels into the woods for an hour and a half and sits by the lake. This time is taken very seriously because everyone is high-energy all week and then they completely settle. If you ask around, most people would have the same opinion.

Normally during this time, I would read or make friendship bracelets on my water bottle. Sometimes, I would play card games but only if the wind was calm. Other times, I would write in a journal or attempt to draw the scenery around me.

I miss the smell of the woods and the sound of the breeze. I have never felt more serene and calm even while sitting upon the prickly pine needles. I would give anything to go there right now and be amongst the birch trees and my fellow campmates. I hope people never forget the value of stillness and silence.

[thenorwegiandream]

All You Can Eat Pancakes

Norway is not known for its rich cuisine. If I were to prepare a plate of typical dishes, you would see the rainbow, Actually, just the clouds on the ends because somewhere all of the colors disappeared. Despite, all of my critiques, I love Norweigan foods more than anything.

Some classic dishes are open-face sandwiches loaded with toppings, I love to start with cheese and cold cuts. Then, I add cucumbers, tomatoes, and a hard-boiled egg. The sandwich comes together with some mayo and mustard. If I am feeling adventurous, I will add baby shrimp. Another way to eat open-faced sandwiches is with jelly and brown goat cheese which sounds like storage but tastes like 100 dollars in your mouth.

Another popular dish is flat pancakes. Pancakes are often enjoyed with sugar, jam, and sour cream. At camp, we have a day where the chefs make all-you-can-eat pancakes. However, the day is always a surprise and you would not until they serve pea soup before. Sometimes they just served pear soup which was a real bummer but still tasted great.

Other than that, Norwegian eat a lot of potatoes and fish which is actually quite tasty and always reliable. Now, I am hungry so I will go find a snack.

[thenorwegiandream]

Going Away

While many of my peers are submitting their college decisions, I am mentally preparing to move across the country to Norway. I will take a gap year at a Folk School to go skiing and eat bread for nine months. I will be taking a significant break from school which is both exciting and daunting at the same time.

This is a huge decision for many reasons. However, I am most terrified to move away from the generalized passage from high school to college. After I graduate, I will forever separate myself from the class of 2023 which is sad but won't mean much in the end.

I am excited to live on my own and travel the world. I will miss my friends and family and most likely live the college experience vicariously through social media. Nevertheless, I will have plenty of stories to share with my college friends down the road.

[thenorwegiandream]

Rubber Ducks

This is a short but funny story. One time at summer camp, I was in the same cabin with a girl named And Solveig; and, not "and", means duck in Norwegian. She normally went by just Solveig but her name was taken by another camper that year. Solvieg was the life of the party, she had the best spirit and the best sense of humor. All could agree that the name was incredibly fitting.

One day, while we were all on the beach, Solvieg found a dirty rubber duck lying in the sand. We all thought the duck was placed there on purpose but no one would come clean. Plus, the duck had clearly seen better days. We brought the duck back and placed him on the window sill and immediately moved on. Then a couple days later, fifty-plus ducks were scattered on the outside of the cabin. They were up two flights of stairs and all over the balcony. The prank was random and no one had a clue who the culprit could have been. To this day, the duck master remains a mystery.

Luckily, there were plenty of rubber ducks to go around and I took some home and placed this in a mason jar. I love these ducks and they remind me of my cabinmates, especially And Solvieg.

[thenorwegiandream]

The Spy Life

One unique aspect of Skogfjoden, and most immersion camps, is that the campers are expected to pick a name that I culturally relevant to the camp. When I arrived at Skogfjorden for the first time, I was handed a long list of female names to choose from for my week-long session. At first, I was confused because I already had a name that was Norwegian. In fact, I was named after my grandmother who was born and raised in Norway. Nevertheless, I had no choice and picked out Inge for my name. I was proud of my name and did not want to stray far from it.

Once I returned for my second session, I was handed the list once again but this time I picked a completely different name, Johanna. There is something so amusing about going by a different name that I could only comprehend after my first time at Skogfjorden. I realized that all of my campmates had this alternate persona that they created a camp. For the next few years at camp, I picked out different names and developed a new identity each time.

I still love my name and cherish the significance of my heritage. However, I love that I can pack away "Ingrid" for a couple weeks and become more in tune with my own alternating persona. I have discovered new aspects of my personality through this approach and most importantly, this was the closest opportunity to becoming a spy.

[thenorwegiandream]

Senioritis

The main thing on my mind since Monday, January 23rd is the encroaching and consuming feeling of senioritis. When I was younger, I was certain that I would be immune to this feeling because I loved school and could not imagine a world where I was not being educated. I still love school but I know I have served my full sentence and I am ready to move on to the next chapter.

I often think about little mundane moments throughout each to remember that my time as a high school student is winding down. Exactly a year from today, I will be living in Norway with students from around the globe and most likely sitting in a classroom learning Norwegian. While this reality excites me, I realize this world will be vastly different from anything that I have ever known or experienced before. So for now, I spend more time at home with my family playing games and learning about the quirks and tiny habits that make each member so unique. I spend extra time with my dogs playing fetch and going on walks because I will miss the a whole lot when I am away.

Senioritis is a bittersweet feeling which is frustrating because I cannot distinguish between happy and sad. I feel sentimental when I am with my friends because our time is limited but I do not want to sadness to become fear. I still want to feel motivated to explore even when that requires dramatic life changes. It feels purplish gray heading into the unknown but I am content with the fact that I will not be alone in the experience or the feeling.