Visitors

“The Norwegians are coming!  The Norwegians are coming!”  These are the words of my sister-in-law, spoken with the same panic as the Americans announcing the British were about to invade our country over two hundred years ago.  She’s new to the family, so she’s yet to understand this is a frequent occurrence in our lives.

We just recently hosted a young Norwegian couple, the son of my husband’s cousin and his new wife.  After Rasmus completed college, they moved in with Karina’s mother in order to save money for a year so they could travel the world for four months before settling back into their otherwise cushy Norwegian lives.  Norwegians like to travel, and with the strength of their currency, everywhere they go is cheaper than where they live, so their money goes a long way. 

It’s always fun for me to see what impresses Norwegians most about America. Our long straight roads, large freeways and cheap prices are their greatest joy.  One family we hosted a few years back went home with 27 pairs of new shoes in their luggage. Our latest guests bemoaned the fact they didn’t have room for extra bottles of shampoo in their backpack, as it was a small fraction of what they pay for it back home.  They did manage to at least buy a dozen pair of designer underwear, however, and they were thrilled with the price they paid.

Several Norwegians we’ve hosted over the years have similar desires upon their first visit to America.  The Space Needle is always a must, but most Norwegian visitors want to experience the things they see in the movies.  Sometimes it’s possible to validate those images, but on the whole, I find it sad that the world thinks our lives are like those they see in the media.  But then, we Americans are often misguided as well, so I can’t fault the Norwegian’s innocence in believing we all live a certain way.

A request we’ve had several times from Norwegians is for them to visit a “black church.”  This always strikes me as an odd desire, especially coming from people who rarely go to church themselves, but there’s something about the scenes they see in the movies that make them curious. 

Fortunately for our guests, we were traveling around the state in our motorhome with them so we found just what they were looking for.  From the greetings they received at the door, to the “Supremes” style of songs sung by the worship team and the passionate sermon given by the pastor, they were not the least bit disappointed. 

They later posted on Facebook, “It was just like you see on TV!”  I guess that was their goal – to feel like they were part of something truly American that validated the images they have in their heads.  A real taste of “reality TV.”