I love Norway. I love whatever power (I'll leave what that is exactly up to each of your personal beliefs) shaped this beautiful country full of mountains, fjords, hills, river, lakes and waterfalls. I love the long summer days and knowing that in winter the nights are long like they should be. I love the beaches, their blend of soft waves and smooth sand so perfectly pristine it's barely possible to believe they are part of this earth. I love that you don't need to drive for hours to experience the loss of civilization; just a 20 minute drive and you're alone. I love the lack of bugs, the lack of humidity, the constantly changing weather. I love sweet, fresh smelling air. I love all the varieties of flowers. They even have fireweed here, fields of beautiful magenta, a sight I love dearly and have so missed in Maine. This place is my European Alaska.
I love Norwegians. I love the sense of trust that exists among the people here. Kids play outside alone because it's safe to do so, strangers can wander through farm fields full of sheep and cows because there's no question of whether or not they'll damage the farmland or bring harm to the livestock, where cars don't need to be locked, and if you lose your wallet somewhere there's a better than good chance that whoever finds it will return it to you. I love their charming quintessential Norwegian houses with two front doors (one that stays clean for guests and the other that only the family can see and therefore leave in chaos - an idea I'm sure mushers everywhere could get on board with) and grass roofs. I'm in awe of their toughness, something that exists in everyone at every age. I've seen toddlers excitedly scrambling up mountains like it's the easiest thing in the world, and 80 year old women with walkers walking on the street, uphill, without skipping a beat or missing a breath. They bike up hills that would kill me if I tried and an overnight ski trip in a blizzard - totally normal.
I am under no illusion that if I move here life will suddenly become perfect. It will in fact be really hard. There will be bills to pay, errands to run, an unexpected crises to overcome. Whatever job I could find it will bring in a lot less than my friends make and that will mean I might not have a super nice place to live, or a car, I might have to forgo certain food favorites, and exciting outings might be few and far between. I will have to set some type of system up back home for regular shipments of my favorites - cinnamon apple spice tea (something I think Norwegians are seriously missing out on), shampoo, granola bars that can't be found here, and all the different peanut butters I love. I'm sure I will have days where I'm frustrated with the fact that everything closes so early, or that nothing is open on Sundays. There will be times I'll be homesick for the states, that I'll miss desperately having a support system just a phone call away. There will definitely be tears, moments of deep self-doubt, and a question mark on what impact a change of this magnitude will have on my mental health and recovery from anorexia. I think though, that the magnitude of those obstacles will be lessoned somewhat, will lose some of their power, by the geography of the country itself.
I really don't think I can ever fully express the strength, the sense of wholeness - completeness, the presence of the mountains bring to me. They speak to some deep part of my spirit in a way that nothing else has. When I am not able to look up and see them spread out on the horizon there is a part of me that feels it's died. I cannot be truly me without them. Here I would have that. During this trip I read a book titled "The Almost Nearly Perfect People" by Michael Booth. It's a book that explores the cultural depths, both the highlights and pitfalls, of each of the five Nordic countries (Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Iceland). Booth talks about Norwegians deep connection to the nature around them, to the land they live on. He says that Norwegians have a great love for 'friluftsliv', the open air life. I almost dropped the book when I read that, because in the deepest heart of my dreams I crave that more than anything else.
My bags are packed and tomorrow I leave, but I know now I need to expend every effort to one day return. After all when one encounters something whose whispers beckon so strongly, a place who echoes a soul so perfectly matching their own, a land that each day sets their dreams a flight, what other choice is there...
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