Pictures ARE Worth A Thousand Words

Throughout my entire experience I was constantly conflicted.  Do I stand here and stare at this beautiful sculpture, church from the Middle Ages, Fjord, and rare summer sunset or grab my camera and capture the moment in some way that could possibly do it justice?  Thankfully, I always went with the latter.  I was in Norway for 6 short weeks..42 days..that is not a lot of time when you think about it.  Those precious moments I had were some that I knew I would never get back.  Now, when I feel like reminiscing I can go back through my galleries and remember exactly what I was doing or who I was talking to.  This summer taught me things about myself and others that I will forever be grateful for and I have the country of Norway and my classmates to thank for that.  There are things I missed out on and more places I should have explored but, now I know what somewhat of the world is like out there and I am just sitting here ready for the next wild adventure life throws me on.  I wanted to end my last post with my favorite pictures because I hope that one day you will get the travel bug inside you too.

            

 

5 Easy Ways To Stay Fit While Abroad

The struggle to workout is all too real when abroad.  It's always the ideal thing to do but, does it really happen?  While on vacation people are torn between relaxing and staying in shape.  There are a million different excuses one could make to forget about it but, it might be easier than you think!

1. Walk everywhere! Whatever city you are exploring, I know it is absolutely beautiful.  Don't waste your time on a tram or in a taxi or on a crowded bus.  Use a local map and try to find your way around!  You will be getting fresh air, exercise, and strengthening those directional skills!  Who knows, you might even run into some local people and have amazing stories to share.

2. Take advantage of farmers markets with fresh fruits and vegetables.  Every country has a cute little town area with local markets set up on the weekends or everyday.  This is the best place to get your healthy foods and it's also nice to know that you are helping the local economy prosper!  It was the perfect time to come to Norway because the strawberries were absolutely perfect as well as all of their produce.

3. Find a park or a new route through the town to take a run around.  While in Norway, there was a lake nearby that we could run to.  It was the place to be for people that lived near our dormitory. Since everyday was beautiful in Norway, Sognsvann was constantly packed.  There were hiking and running trails surrounding the lake and people swimming back and forth.  Gyms are easy to find but, when is the next time you will be able to run around a place like this again?

4. Play a pickup game of the local popular sport.  Soccer is one of the most popular sports in Scandinavia.  The World Cup happened to be going on while I was abroad so everyone was in the spirit. Their country isn't the best out of the world but, they have passion.  I know it's weird but, I had never actually tried to play soccer before.  It seemed like everyone in the international summer school program knew how to play and I felt like a 7 year old compared to them.  Turns out that it was a lot of fun and such a great workout.

5. Drinking water.  This is vital...obviously.  But you will be in different environments and climates out of your ordinary.  It can take a toll on your body but, staying hydrated is key to staying healthy. Sometimes it isn't free like we have it in the US but, instead of getting that soda that you can get back home think about your health and pick water.

The Day Norway Won My Heart

  Abby and I were supposed to wake up to catch a boat to see some museum on an island…but somehow spending the first night in Bergen led us astray from our tentative schedule.  Needless to say we did not make it in time.  However, we were feeling adventurous and determined to make the most of our entire Saturday.  I knew I wanted to find this tree called a monkey puzzle tree and hike to the top of Ulriken which is the highest mountain in Bergen.  On our way there, we ran into Alejandro who had also missed the bus and decided to come along with us.  We were in nike's and t-shirt and he was wearing jeans and crocs.  It was going to be a tough day for him but he was excited.  At first we tried to see if we could go kayaking but found out that it wasn’t open on the weekends.  Our next stop was to find the tree.  We got on a tram, got off where it was close to the pin on my maps app and started walking.  We had no idea where to go and eventually I got an irking to walk up a side street.  As soon we saw someone in the yard, I went up and asked him if he knew where the tree was.  He immediately pointed through his backyard and there it was.   I am still in shock to this day that I found a random in tree in the middle of a neighborhood in Bergen. We walked around and took a bunch of pictures and continued to the hike.   The bottom of the mountain was near the hospital so we started hiking towards the signs.  As soon as I saw a bus driver I asked where to go and he told us to wait on the 12 bus.  ~I love asking questions because I'd rather ask someone that knows instead of standing around for thirty minutes trying to figure it out myself. ~ As soon as we made it to the bus stop, the bus arrived and we hopped on.  It dropped us off at Montana which was at the bottom and we did a quick snack and bathroom run.  Then we started the trek up the mountain.  It was very rocky and kind of steep but so pretty. Before we started the hike Alejandro offered to carry my backpack, in his crocs and jeans mind you, and I was so grateful. He is such a gentleman and I could not get over how much he cared for others before himself.  At one of our break points we ran into a women who was going through cancer and about to start her first round of radiation after several rounds of chemotherapy.  She was telling us about her life but, still kicking butt and continuing on.  Abby and I couldn't get over how much of an inspiration she was to us.  It was difficult for us to make it up the mountain and we had not even gone through half of the trials and tribulations that she has.  We continued on and made it all the way to the top! There were really cute cabins and a restaurant with a bar.  There was even a little pond at the top.  Dinner time was quickly approaching and we started the way down.  As soon as we found the bus stop we sat and waited for a bus.  An older man was walking by and I asked him if he knew when the buses would be running.  Turns out he was heading the same way so we walked with him.  He told us a little about how he used to live in San Francisco and played soccer and he happened to be on his way to a soccer match.  As soon as we made it to the main road he told us to get on the bus coming so we ran to the bus stop and made it just in time.  We were worried about being late to dinner so we ran straight to the restaurant.  The bus happened to drop us off right in town.  We showed up in our sweaty and stinky clothes into this beautiful and fancy restaurant.   Apparently, we did not get the memo that we were supposed to dress up.  It was Abby's 20th birthday which is the same as celebrating a 21st in America so we sang happy birthday and went out for a night of fun.  One lesson I will take with me when traveling to a foreign country is to bring your drivers license. A passport is not the smartest thing to bring with you when you are jumping from bar to bar.  The day ended up to be the perfect day.  I learned to never be afraid to ask questions and that maybe jeans and crocs aren't the best for a hike up the tallest mountain in Bergen but determination and positivity can make anything possible.  

Gender Equality in Norway

While there are so different aspects of studying abroad, the most important part is the studying.  After looking at the list of courses, I chose to take Gender Equality.  It seemed like it was going to be the most interesting to me compared to literature, politics, art, and government.  As it turned out, this class and I had a love-hate relationship throughout the semester.  On the first day, I thought I was going to love it because the class was based on discussion from our readings and there were such extreme differences of cultures in the classroom.  Unfortunately, during the second week of school I had a breakdown because I realized that the mixed graduate/undergraduate class was going to be more of a challenge than I thought.  We were assigned to read about 100 pages a week and after reading some of the articles and not understanding, I didn't think this was the class for me.  I had never taken a theoretical and discussion based class before and it made me nervous to share my opinions about gender equality in front of people that I knew were not as fortunate as me.  After some mom inspiration, I decided to push through and give it a real shot.  I learned how to analyze the articles and relate it back to my culture to share with my class. Our professor also gave us a chart that helped us pick out what the argument was, the background of the data, and the conclusion that the author came to.  As we dissected each topic in class, I started to enjoy it a little more.

Norway is known as one of the most gender equal countries in the world.  There are still some areas of improvement but, because of gender equality policies and mainstreaming, women and men are seen as equals.  After being in the midst of such an equal society this summer Norway started to seem like an utopia.  Policies are in place so that men and women have the same representation in political elections, on the boards of the major corporations and in the most common job advertisements.  Women and men are both given time off to help raise their families together and studies have shown that in doing so it creates longevity and happiness in the relationship.  However, there are segregated neighborhoods throughout the country that are of non-traditional Norwegian families.  These families settled in Norway to get away from war, political persecution, or to seek a better life.  Without being in their homeland, they still stay true to their original cultures.  For example, Muslims found home to Grünerløkka.  Walking through the area, I could tell that they don't believe in the policies that Norway has installed. Men go out and work and women take care of the children and they don't share roles.  Norway needs to find a way to favor both traditional and non-traditional Norwegian cultures.   

In my own experience, I was talking to my friend Espen about something that happened in high school and he made an example of a sexist comment.  I didn't think anything of it but, he replied with "see any woman in Norway would have been mad that I just said that".  Women there are very strong and they fight for what they believe in.  They are the reason that Norway has been so successful in the fight for gender equality because they don't give up.  In the end, I am so thankful for sticking it out and seeing the class till the end.  I now see in so many ways how the USA can improve and how countries like Macedonia and Sri Lanka can initialize a movement.  In my future career, I hope to work in sports and we all know that it is a male dominated field.  I do think there will be challenging times when my gender does play role but, based on my experience in this class I will stand up for what I believe in because I know that my sex should never be a reason to hold me back.

Chocolate, Choklad, Sjokolade

"Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get".   Just like Forrest Gump, I was able to try my own box of chocolates this summer.  When thinking of mouth watering chocolate most people think of Godiva in Belgium or Swedish milk chocolate.  Personally, they are a little over rated because after this summer I was able to taste "Et lite stykke Norge" (A small piece of Norway). The sjokolade in Norway is to die for.  Every time I was in a gas station or convenience store there was no denying the extra calories that I was about to inhale.  You could choose between bars, rolls, or even the sweet perfection around your ice cream.  I usually went for the rolls because they were small pieces that you could just pop in and go on about your day.  They also had a hazelnut flavor and a bar that tasted just like a Kit Kat but the chocolate around the crunch was about ten times more gratifying. Everyone in Norway is obsessed with chocolate.  As the saying goes, "Money can't buy happiness but, it can buy chocolate and that's the same thing".  If it isn't because of their welfare state, perfect weather, or beautiful people then, I think their secret to a happy livelihood is within the depths of the Freia Factory in Oslo, Norway. 

International Connections

The International Summer School at the University of Oslo brought together students, young and old, from 87+ countries.  During a state of global crisis, there were young adults from Syria and Israel studying under one roof.  They were both able to stand on the stage on the night of our international cultural evening and not think about what was going on back at home. There was an entire group of students sponsored by the Rotary Club who were from the Baltic States.  They each came from countries that were once part of Croatia but due to war they grew up with different cultures and languages. When they all met for the first time they found out that they could understand each of their languages.  It was like listening to a different dialect or accent to them.  Students who were once citizens at war against each other were forming long-lasting friendships.

It was such a unique experience to find try and something in common with Punky from the country of Georgia and my home state of Georgia.  I am so grateful to have met such a true gentleman, Alejandro, from the country of Costa Rica.  In the beginning of the trip, it was comforting to find and meet people from the United States but, even after talking to them I learned that our states may as well be different countries.  Life in California is completely opposite to life in Georgia.  Yes there were some similarities but, there were so many more eye-opening differences.

Having spent the summer with all of these people makes me want to hold on to that summer of a lifetime so much more.  Abby, Alex, and I are fortunate to all live in the same state and we are constantly staying in touch. This weekend we were fortunate enough to all get together with Sophia. She is from Alaska and had never been to the South before.  We got her some sweet tea, threw her into a UGA football game, and introduced her to the Southern way of life. I am hoping to one day go and visit her and the friends I made from California, Chicago, Minnesota, etc.  There was a reason I met these wonderful people this summer and I think it's vital that I keep them in my life.  They won't just be a memory in my past but, friends I can count on in my future.

Staying Connected Thousands of Miles Away

One of the hardest things about studying abroad is leaving your friends and family behind.  I knew it was going to be difficult to stay in contact and that I would be missing out on some pretty important things.  When I first arrived to Norway I was only staying in contact with my family through wifi. The dorms didn't have it but the study room near the dining hall did.  The room was jam-packed with people downloading new apps to stay connected to family back home.  What I didn't realize was how well social media and apps were actually going to benefit me.


Some of my life-savers were:

Snapchat: There were so many different events that I wanted to share with my friends back home. Norway is so close to the Northern Hemisphere that during the Summer the country goes through something called the Midnight Sun.  In the middle of the season, it is daylight for 24 hours and then it slowly starts to get darker as the days go on.  There were multiple nights when I was walking outside around 11 o'clock and it still looked like it could be lunch time.  I just couldn't believe it and it felt like summer could last forever.

Facebook:  I knew I had to share with my family and friends all of the exciting adventures I was going on.  It also helped to ease Mom's mind on the fact that I was alive and breathing still.  When we started meeting people in our classes and around campus the best way to connect with them was through Facebook.  Now my Facebook newsfeed is full of languages I have never seen or heard before but, it is so neat because I started a friendship that will hopefully last a lifetime with people all over the world.

Facetime:  During the Summer, my best friend was planning her wedding.  She had multiple showers and dress fittings throughout the entire time I was in Norway.  When she went in for last fitting, my mom facetimed me and I was able to finally see what her dress looked like.  She look absolutely gorgeous and I started balling of course.  I am so thankful for apps like Facetime that allowed me to be there from thousands of miles away during one of the most important moments of my best friends life.

iMessage: This is probably one of the best things that Apple created.  If you are in wifi then, you can text another iPhone user and iMessage each other without using data.  The data plans were too expensive and I knew that I would at least have Facebook to stay connected if I really needed to. With iMessage I was able to regularly update my family and send pictures to my friends from back home.  I was still included in all of our group messages and it was fun to know how everyone's summer was going.

Tinder: I didn't realize tinder was in Europe... It is actually HUGE there.  All of the American guys were downloading it to see what the Norwegian girls were like and so I thought, "hey why not".  It was interesting to see how the guys communicated with women.  Tinder made it easy to see what the dating world in Nordic states was like.  In person the men are more preserved while on tinder they were not afraid to speak their mind!  Some of my friends were not afraid to meet up with people they had met on the app and they started friendships that maybe would have never happened in the first place.


While social media kept me close to my loved ones for the entire six weeks that I was gone; it was liberating to not be so connected to everything all of the time.  Taking a step back and distancing yourself from the internet helps you to just be.  I have come back now and know that my phone is not so vital.  Being away from it all helped me to strengthen my communication skills with people one on one.  If I am alone, I don't need to be constantly looking down at my phone.  Looking up and seeing the world around you is so gratifying.