4th of July, Norwegian Style

This weekend we had a chance to celebrate. Not only was it American Independence Day, and the patriotic Norwegians take the opportunity to be patriotic for us as well, but Saturday was the last day of the heat wave. This last week it was around 90 Fahrenheit everyday for 10 days straight. It was also humid, and almost nothing here is air conditioned. The reason for this is that there are usually only a couple really hot days each summer and if there are more they come in short bursts followed quickly by rain and cool, so the Norwegians delight in the warm weather and take the opportunity to go outside to the beach and the parks. I agree with this mentality, but this last week there was just too much heat to know what to do with it. I was told that they hadn't had such a long heat wave since 1982. It was great, but by Saturday we were all excited for it to be cooler the next day.

So what did we do to celebrate Independence Day here? Go to a car show, of course. One of the suburbs of Oslo decks itself out in the red, white, and blue and pump American music through the streets. This suburb is also home to one of the larger parking lots at the Norwegian Trade Fair Center, so there were hundreds of American cars on display. We have made friends with a group of the street rodders here and have gone camping with them once already, so we spent the day hanging out with them. I have to say, it was the time I felt most at home since we left the states. I haven't really missed home and I don't feel much different here as I'm used to things and speak the language, but there are obviously differences. However, on Saturday the temperature was that perfect "it's really hot but it's okay because it's 4th of July and it should be," the speakers were pumping out American classic rock and country, and there were American cars everywhere. If the people around me hadn't been speaking Norwegian, I wouldn't have known we weren't at home, except I maybe would have thought we were in the South...

Which brings me to another topic, one I haven't been sure how to address. Culturally one of the biggest differences here from the states is that the notion of political correctness is very different here, in fact it's nonexistent. I won't go into details, but I have been in the presence of very well-educated and perfectly normal people here when they say things for which you could be a)beaten or b)arrested for saying back in the states, and in public, within earshot of the target of the comment, no less. It is uncomfortable to say the least, and we've found ourselves speechless and trying to figure out how to best continue the conversation without appearing awkward many a time. I've tried to put it in perspective that this is not America, a country where everyone except the Native Americans were once immigrants and so most people at some level understand that we are all different and have different cultures and backgrounds, or at least keep any comments to the contrary to themselves when in mixed company. I realize not all of the US is like this, but it has come a long way. Norway, on the other hand, has been a homogeneous population for a very long time and just started receiving large numbers of immigrants in the last 20 years. Also, many of the immigrants here are refugees from Africa and many of the women wear hijab, if not full burqa. As in many European countries, there is a resentment that the foreigners come to live off the system and take Norwegians' money, or that they do shabby work. Now not every Norwegian thinks and acts this way and the young people are definitely more open-minded, but it has been interesting to see how it all works out. We have now resided in many different parts of the city with different populations in each and to see the reactions of people when you tell them where you are staying has been quite interesting. I hope that didn't sound too negative as the people have been on the whole quite lovely. Anyways, I will leave you now with some pictures taken during the heat wave. Happy 4th everyone!

This is the view from the Summer house in Drøbak, 40 mins outside Oslo, where we got to go swimming in the ocean and escape the city heat for a day.

A view of the islands in the Oslofjord and people sunbathing on a very hot day.

The military museum, where we went one day to escape the heat. Very interesting chronicle of Norway's history and the military aspect of it.