The Final Post

Back in Philadelphia at the Norway flag on Ben Franklin Parkway (holding a Norwegian mitten and wearing a Norwegian sweater)

Well, one year ago today, I was on my way to Oslo. When I returned to the US in July, I promised a final post within a few weeks. But a few weeks in, I was still unsure what a final post would really say. Assimilating back to America was fairly easy. I made myself busy, spent months catching up with friends and family, and took advantage of cheap food and drink. It wasn't a culture shock. I wasn't depressed. I just picked up where I left off and let the busyness take hold.

But six months later, as I've settled into my first true break since returning, I can't help but find myself thinking more and more about the impact Norway has had on how I view life. Norway made the world huge. Ginormous. Full of options, people, cultures, and opportunities. As a senior entering my final semester of college, at times this fact seems overwhelming. How can I choose the best option when the choices are endless? Should I teach English in Asia, delaying starting a career and family? Should I move to a new area of the US and discover the hugeness that is America? Should I stay where I am and start a business? Or find a job at a company that I could learn from and become an adult? Norway put ideas into my head that abandon any sense of direction. But the flip side to this is a mentality that I didn't have before. That any option is a good option. That even if I fail or find myself feeling stuck where I am, I have the confidence to learn from it and better myself.

Mentality aside, I find myself just missing things. The free schedule with ample time to socialize, work out, walk, and cook. The relaxed environment without the pressure to be somewhere ready for something. The constant snow sticking to my beard. The daily grocery shopping where every item was price-checked. The sunsets. The long summer days. Grans Bare. The way the brewing beer gurgled in my closet. The traveling. Smoking hookah and freestyling on my guitar about Norwegian foods like Nugatti Crisp (chocolate spread with crispies), Brumost (brown cheese), and cheese with pieces of bacon in it. Club 46. Group dinners. Reliable public transportation. Naked manikins. Fresh shrimp off the boat. Constant story telling and culture comparisons. Making popcorn at parties. Wearing Norwegian sweaters and not standing out. That feeling that I could go anywhere and do anything on a dime. Akademisk Koreforning rehearsal. RyanAir flights. Collecting souvenirs (and stealing glasses). Taking friends to 'The Naked People Park'. Watching the entire country change as winter became spring. Eating strawberries. Making hamburgers and pølse on disposable BBQ grills. Pomme Frittes. And that empowering sense of discovery. It was truly amazing. It really really was.

A video I took in the first week of my room and apartment

Maybe this last post should be a bit more profound. But Norway for me is constant little stories. Little feelings. Little tastes and smells that leave me feeling nostalgic and lucky. I know that Norway broadened my view of myself and the world around me. But the little stuff - the facebook pictures or the videos on my computer or texts with people or skype chats or stories I tell to people now. When I think about the things I did, it's just insane that it was real.

It's been a year since I got off the plane in Norway. Since I met Lotte and searched for our housing building. Since Lotte and I met Chris and decided to live together after 5 minutes of meeting. Since I carried 4 bags and a backpack, all without wheels, for a mile or so down an ice-covered hill to our house in the next student village. Since I settled in and started the most unbelievable 6 months of my life.



- Jonathan