Runaway: Life in Norway

I could think of no better title for this essay, as to me this song by Norwegian artist Aurora quickly became synonymous with the time I spent in Norway. I would listen to ‘Runaway’ frequently throughout the year, with its themes of reflection, home and belonging morphing to mean different things to me as the year passed by. Music has always played a big part in how I personally reflect and muse over my life, who I am, where I am and where I want to get to. Moreover, I often use music to help compartmentalise my thoughts and reflect on my experiences, which is why music will act as a constant theme throughout this essay. It feels to me as though this year passed in very distinct stages and I learnt much from it, both academically and personally. I truly believe that I am a better, more well-rounded and self-confident individual because of it and thus I am glad that I can now take this opportunity to manifest the thoughts and feelings I had over the course of my time in Norway into something concrete and tangible in the form of this reflective essay.

I WAS LISTENIN’ TO THE OCEAN, I SAW A FACE IN THE SAND…

For me, the opening line of Runaway rather aptly brings to mind the 10th of August 2021, where I looked out of a plane and saw the ocean beyond the UK for the very first time. This year abroad would be my first experience travelling outside of the UK and despite having to leave my family and friends back home, I was filled with anticipation and excitement for this new frontier in my life, while also being aware that this would be an experience not without challenges to overcome. It had not been an easy experience to get to the point of touching down in Oslo, as COVID-19 had made the application process become fraught with uncertainty and inevitably, anxiety. Most notably, there was a point in late June when I had to make the difficult decision of whether I should pay my £800 housing deposit in Oslo, and risk losing it should my year abroad be cancelled, with this causing multiple sleepless nights before I decided it was worth the risk. Fortunately, a few weeks later students were to become exempt from Norway’s travel restrictions, and whilst my gamble had paid off, it had also tested my resolve, with me proving to myself without a shadow of a doubt, how passionate and committed I was in completing this year abroad.

Nevertheless, I still had to come prepared with numerous vaccination, admission and COVID test documents to be allowed on my flight, and would be required to self-isolate in a quarantine hotel upon arrival. After a nineteen hour journey, exacerbated again due to COVID procedures, I was utterly exhausted, and thus the quarantine hotel came as a surprising advantage. I was able to rest and recuperate, with no meals to cook or chores to complete, but was simply left to prepare myself mentally and physically for a completely alien experience. Living in a different country. This four day period was one of peace and reflection for me and I believe was vital in giving me the adequate level of energy for the intense weeks to come. Once out of quarantine, the first few weeks were an incredible experience of finding my feet in a Norwegian way of life and meeting people from all over the globe. Having lived twenty-one years of my life in the UK, to say this experience broadened my horizons feels like a grand understatement.

I WAS PAINTING A PICTURE, THE PICTURE WAS PAINTING OF YOU…

With this line, I came to relate the picture Aurora imagines to myself as an individual, as we all have the capability of learning and moulding ourselves into something new. Academically, I feel as though I filled in many of the gaps in my historical knowledge in Norway, as throughout the structure of my courses, and the different interpretations on familiar content, I was able to encompass a far deeper breadth of history. In Oslo, there was typically one qualification paper per module, which allowed you to enrol upon the final exam, encompassing 100% of your grade for said module. Compared to Cardiff, Oslo has a far more reading intensive structure, with less of an emphasis on assessment. Initially this was quite overwhelming, as the sheer volume of reading expected was quite jarring to get used to. However, I learnt quickly that you most definitely get out what you put into Norwegian education, as by throwing myself into the vast amount of assigned readings, I was able to acquire and appreciate many important Classical works, such as the Iliad, or the 5th century tragic playwrights, which will all become vital when completing my degree in Cardiff. Alternatively, be it studying Celtic myths or Islamic empires, in Oslo I was able to study peoples and periods that I usually would never have had the opportunity to, which again deepened my all-round historical knowledge and general excitement for history. I honestly can not quantify how valuable the knowledge and heightened analytical reading skills I learnt there were for me moving forward, taking the content and skills I had learnt here into my fourth and final year of my undergrad.

More personally, I learnt much about myself through these differing learning styles, discovering that, as an individual, I find it immensely difficult not to throw myself into work wholeheartedly. Despite the year's grades not counting to my overall degree, I still felt the need to work to my maximum in every module, and achieve the highest grades I could in each. For the most part, I feel this was worth the extra exertion, as I firmly believe the knowledge you gain when you truly invest in yourself and your education is far more valuable than a simple grade on paper. However, going forward, I feel my time in Oslo has taught me to work smarter, rather than simply harder. Sometimes in life you must pick where to draw your focus, and I feel the year helped to teach me that this focus can not be on all aspects of life. None of us are perfect, mistakes are necessary. This is something I try to remember as it is immensely valuable when fully appreciated.

TAKE ME HOME, TAKE ME HOME WHERE I BELONG…

Unfortunately after a honeymoon period of around a month, home sickness began to creep in. I am a rather introverted person, preferring fewer, more meaningful relationships with people and have an incredibly close relationship with those in my friendship group back in Cardiff. Moreover, I found when this tendency is extrapolated out into a year abroad, it can feel quite isolating. Early on, it appeared to me that it would be almost impossible to establish these close relationships while the thought of having to leave was always in the back of my mind. As well as this, in the year prior my family dynamic had changed drastically, as my parents had separated in the summer of 2020 and my family were all still trying to figure out our new normal. All this compiled together, meant that I began missing my family, friends and the life I had built in Cardiff, and so it took some time before I truly began to settle in Oslo. However once I had found a new friendship group and began keeping in more regular contact with those I love back home, I tried to remember to live in the moment and enjoy the here and now. My life and loved ones back home would be there for me when I got back in the summer, and this year was an opportunity too good to wish away longing to be elsewhere. Through these mental challenges, I have learnt so much about what I value and want out of life, and most importantly, how to better look after my own personal mental health. In this age of social media, it is an immense challenge not to compare ourselves with others and social pressure can be debilitating if you do not listen to your own personal wants and needs, and through my experiences in Norway, I have truly begun to understand that.

INTERMISSION: IT MIGHT BE OVER SOON...

A line from Bon Iver’s ‘22 (OVER S∞∞N)’ has been a mantra I have tried to remember for many years now. When someone says ‘it might be over soon’, this can have two very different, and equally important meanings. In times of stress, anxiety and hardship, this can act as a comfort, reminding us that life’s struggles will always end in time and to take solace in the fact that ‘it might be over soon.’ Alternatively, this statement can be used to help remember and appreciate life’s beauty and happiness, as they may not stick around forever. In short, enjoy the good times because ‘it might be over soon.’ Two adverse, but equally powerful messages that I tried to adhere to more faithfully upon my return to Norway. After a December at home, where I finally celebrated my sister’s wedding after years of postponement, as well as travelled all around the country to visit friends, I was now going to make the most of the time I had left in Oslo as, again, ‘it might be over soon.’

I HAD A DREAM I WAS SEVEN, CLIMBING MY WAY IN A TREE…

As nature makes Aurora feel young again, so Norway did to me. The land there makes you feel small, humbled by the sheer scale of endless treetops. I spent much of my time there in nature, both to unwind and explore, with a good number of my evenings being spent walking around lake Sognsvann after a day's study. Despite everything however, it was the winter that made me reflect most of all. I remember having to google search techniques for walking on ice as soon as I returned in January, as I was not at all adept at life in a Norwegian winter. It now appears to me that we do not truly have winters in the UK, merely long autumns. The entirety of British infrastructure is affected by even a hint of snow, whereas in Norway, there was close to six months of thick sheets of ice and snow, burying the grass beneath it, and despite this, life seems to run along as normal. Norwegians have learnt to adapt to their reality, accepting nature for what it is and working around her rather than trying to work against her. Through this, I came to truly realise just how adaptable humans can be, and that even in the extreme conditions of minus ten degrees or days of six hours sunlight, once we accept that we can learn to work alongside nature, we as human beings will be happier because of it.

AND I WAS RUNNIN’ FAR AWAY, WOULD I RUN OFF THE WORLD SOMEDAY?

I would like to end this essay with a moment that has stuck with me since coming back home from Norway. One day in early March 2022, I woke up feeling the desire to get out into nature again. Looking at Google Maps I found a hill overlooking all of Oslo and the fjords beyond called Grefsenkollen and decided to hike to its peak. However, halfway up I was halted, as being very early spring, I had arrived at a point still covered in ice and I was not wearing suitable equipment to make the hike any further. I would have to settle for halfway and come back again in a few months’ time to finish the journey once the ice had melted. On my way back down, I believe I had an important reflection because of this. We live in an age of instant gratification. Instant meals, instant news and instant communication. Sometimes we have to realise that we live in a world that decides the rules we must adhere to, and stop pretending to ourselves that we have ultimate control over everything in our lives. Because of this thought, I remember experiencing a warm, wholesome feeling of being connected to the natural world. At this time, I still had yet to experience the wonders of a Norwegian summer or have the trip of a lifetime with my best friend in Northern Tromsø. I may write a follow up essay reflecting on these, however the lessons I have learnt about myself and the world around me that I have discussed within the scope of this essay, will stick with me for the rest of my life.