Expectations

Years ago when my husband and I were on our honeymoon, traveling around in a motorhome for two years, we suggested to Cousin Odd (pronounced Ode), Kory’s favorite Norwegian relative, that he should fly to America and join us so we could show him around our country a little.  He and his wife, Turid, thought spending Christmas in Florida would be a hoot, so we planned our travels around their desires and we headed to Miami just before the holidays. 

When we called Odd in Norway to find out their exact travel plans so we’d know when to pick them up at the airport, we were in shock to learn they weren’t flying in to Miami after all, because all those tickets were sold out.  They researched it a little and had to go with Plan B, so they bought tickets to fly into New Orleans, instead.  Odd said New Orleans didn’t look like it was too far away from Miami on the map. 

Norwegians have a little problem with perspective, and none of the ones we’ve hosted in our home over the years, can ever comprehend just how big America actually is. 

It took us two full days of driving the motorhome out of southern Florida and up to New Orleans in order to pick them up, and then two more days of driving back down to Miami and the Florida Keys in order for them to have Christmas in their desired location.  They had no idea such a small space on a map would mean so much time on the road. 

We’ve had many Norwegians visitors over the years and some ask if we can take them to Disneyland for the day, or maybe North Dakota to have lunch with their other relatives, like it was just down the road.

Just this week we sent off our third set of visitors from Norway this year.  I was confronted again with the problem of perspective and the inevitable disappointments Norwegians have when they visit America for the first time. 

They all think the distances between places are too great and we spend way too much time in our cars.  Our latest guests thought the hour long drive to Seattle was a bit much.  When we asked what they wanted to see while here, we knew we were in trouble.  They hadn’t fully understood that maps of America and Norway use different scales.  It was difficult to meet their expectations because all they wanted to do was to go to a Dolly Parton concert and for us to show them around New York City.