NEWS FLASH

This column "Nuggets from Norway," published in the LaConner Weekly News, won 2nd place in Washington State's "Best General Interest Column" category in a competition put on by the Washington "Better Newspaper Association."  It was judged by a panel from New York, and it was in competition with newspapers much larger in circulation.  Hallelujah!

This is the second year I've won second place, so I'm thinking if I start writing about the Swedes, I might come in first place next year. :)

Birthday Parties

Children’s birthday parties are a little different in Norway than they are in America.  For one thing, they don’t have the option on who to invite.  It’s customary, and mandatory, that elementary school children invite everyone in their class with the same gender as they are.  It’s okay to invite a few other friends outside their schoolmates, but it’s never ok to leave anyone out.

When my son was in 4^th grade, there was a particular boy that inevitably would punch out a few kids and leave the girls in tears.  Many dreaded attending parties just because of him, but it’s all part of the socializing that Norway emphasizes – learning to deal with difficult people. 

The party itself, if done the Norwegian way, consists of a one or two hour block of time where the children all show up precisely on time, eat pizza or hot dogs, cake and ice cream and then sit in a circle and play Spin the Bottle.  Wherever the bottlenose lands is when that guests hands over the “gift.”

The “gift” is always just an envelop with money in it.  The Norwegians are so practical that they have long ago abandoned the idea of buying or giving materialist things.  Cash is the norm.  The more you like the kid, the more you give.  The smallest paper money is 50 kroner, which is about $8.  Most kids give a hundred kroner, but good friends would give 200.  Birthday cards are rare, just cash in an envelope is all that’s expected.

It reminds me a little of the Christmas savings accounts that banks used to offer in America.  By putting away a little money each month, by the time Christmas rolls around, there’s a wad of cash to spend.  With this Norwegian system, each child gives money throughout the year to all their classmates, and then when their birthday comes around, they get it all back to spend on what they want.  It’s as impersonal as it can get.

The rest of the party might consist of watching TV or just hanging out.  There are no organized activities or other games.  It’s a rare party that involves any kind of theme or activity.

When the kids reach junior high age, they are required to invite both genders to their party, but it’s pretty much the same agenda, without the thrill of Spin the Bottle.  As each kid arrives, they just hand over the cash, shake the hand of the birthday person and say “Gratulere med dagen” which literally means “congratulations on the day” but is the phrase that’s used for “Happy birthday.”

It all seems a bit dull to me, so someone needs to introduce them to the American version of Spin the Bottle.  Or, maybe not.

Enhanced Education

There’s rarely a weekday that goes by, when I’m in Norway, that I don’t encounter a group of children out and about, going somewhere.  Outdoor field trips are a huge part of the Norwegian educational system and each year every class takes at least three or four of them.

It’s a given that in the winter the entire class will take a ski trip.  They are sent home with notes reminding the parents to send their kids to school on a particular day with their cross-country skis.  The fact that every kid in Norway owns a pair of cross-country skis says something right there.

Every kid also owns a bicycle, and there’s always a bicycle trip once or twice a year as well.  My son’s class took an all day bicycle trip in order to go fishing.  Canoe trips are also common.

Mountain trips are essential and they start in preschool when the kids are old enough to walk.  They go up in the mountains to pick blueberries or just to enjoy the view.  It’s a day trip, until they reach the 6^th grade, then sleeping overnight in cabins or tents becomes the norm.  The older they are, the longer they stay.

These outings are used as an enhanced way of learning outside the classroom.  The kids are taught to bait a hook, clean fish, make fires, and read maps.  Norwegians don’t want their traditional lifestyle to totally disappear.  They are taught which mushrooms they can eat and which they can’t.  They learn about nature while out in nature, much as the Boy Scouts of America do.  But these trips are not optional and they count towards their final grade.  A 9^th grade friend of ours was graded on how quickly he made it to the top of a particular peak. 

Difficult weather never cancels an outdoor trip because every kid in Norway also owns a pair of boots, a raincoat and rain pants.  I presume these regular encounters with nature are what instill in the Norwegians a love of the outdoors.  As adults, it’s the main way they spend their free time – outside, rain or shine.

My son’s education in Norway was quite different from his father’s.  My husband was born during World War II and in the years that followed the war, there was great emphasis put on public safety and evacuating buildings.  In those days, the fire drills were the biggest thing that got the kids out of the classroom. The teachers randomly set off smoke bombs and placed red flares in the hallways for a realistic effect to help remind the children to crawl on their hands and knees until they got out of the building.

I’m sure climbing up a mountain beats crawling out of a building any day.  

Old Days

One of the funniest things I’ve ever heard, is the phrase, “I remember when tacos came to Norway.”  It was said by Karl, a Norwegian in his 30s, who was reminiscing about days gone by. 

As a kid, just twenty-five years ago, the childhood he experienced is much different than the one of today.  In the past twenty years alone, Norway has seen exponential changes in every aspect of life.

The break from traditional foods and embracing foods from another culture has been a huge shift.  People older than Karl still remember the days when pizza was introduced to Norway.  Even though they liked it, many still insisted on it being served with a bowl of potatoes on the side, as it just wasn’t a square meal to them, unless potatoes were included. 

Television has had the biggest impact on Norwegian culture in the last few decades.  Prior to that, there was only one channel on TV for most of Karl’s childhood with only a few hours of programming each evening.  The entire country watched the exact same thing, because that’s all there was. 

After the news, there was a prescribed theme for each day of the week.  Mondays it was movie night, Tuesday was Finnish TV theatre which Karl described as a ‘dreary nightmare usually involving some drunkard that beats up his wife, drinks himself stupid then commits suicide.”  Thursdays was a bright spot with a nature program following the news and Fridays always included a detective show, usually produced in Germany.

For the generation including those 30 and 40 year olds today, Saturdays were a very big day, as that night, an entire hour of television programming was just for children. Families never dared go anywhere on Saturday because it was such a special treat for the kids.  Parents loaded them up with candies and pop and set them in front of the television for one hour of babysitting bliss.  This then spawned the tradition of eating massive amounts of candy on Saturday, which continues to this day. 

To walk anywhere near the bulk candy section in a grocery store on a Saturday today, is to see a frenzy of unmeasured proportions.  Children stuff their sacks full of all kinds of goodies without a care in the world of the cavities that may follow because, fortunately for their parents, dental work for all children in Norway is free, but the TV isn’t.

Even in the early days of television, each home with a TV had to, and still has to, pay a “broadcasting fee” to the government each year.  This tax is why the early days of television never included commercials.  Today, however, the TV is full of commercials - many for taco sauce and frozen pizzas.

Open Line

We sought permission this year for our son to temporarily attend Junior High in Norway.  We spoke directly to the principal to explain that Kaleb is otherwise homeschooled but wanted to be back with his old classmates for the few months we were there. 

Not ever having met Kaleb before, the principal said he had enough “trouble makers” and he “didn’t need to import any problems from America.”  He gave Kaleb a three-day trial period, looked him right in the eye and said if there was any funny business from him he would “kick (his) ass right out of school.”  He had been talking Norwegian the whole time, then switched over to English for that last little warning, just to be sure Kaleb understood.

Later, when I retold that story to friends, everyone was shocked.  The idea is that school is supposed to be fun, and to use such scare tactics didn’t seem to go over too well with people we know.  One friend said, “You need to write that to the newspaper.”  I didn’t fully understand what she meant until I asked around and found out about a column on the back page of every newspaper called, “Åpen linje” (Open Line.)  This is how the Norwegians rant and rave about things they don’t like.  It’s kind of like our “Letters to the Editor” but it’s got a broader scope and it’s not edited, since it’s totally “free speech.”  The subject matters brought up may continue for months, with others writing their opinions about the issues. 

Several different approaches were suggested to this encounter with the principal, but all felt he must be “exposed” for his behavior through this newspaper column.  Their reaction to it reminded me of tattling on a sibling when I was a kid.  Some thought his name should be used, others felt it best to keep him anonymous.  Some suggested we write up the event as a rant, and others felt we should put it in the form of a question, wondering if this is the way our children should be spoken to at school.  I thought the reaction to what he said was far more interesting than the words he used to make his point.

This “Open Line” column is yet another way the Norwegian culture keeps people conforming to the norm.  For surely, if a person knows that any inappropriate or outlandish behavior could be written up and printed in the newspaper, it would make one think twice about what they do.   

It reminds me of the “People of Wal-Mart” website where folks post photos of the most absurd looking customers. I check that website periodically just to make sure I’m not in there.  I guess I better do the same in Norway.