Top Ten
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
As the year comes to a close and, with it, the first half of my adventure in Norway, I think it's a nice idea to recap some of the best moments so far, particularly those I haven't yet devoted to print. Here goes ...
10. That one day in Old Norse class when my adorable advisor told my (typically loathe-to-say-a-single-word) class that if we had any questions for him, we should "just shout!" And after yet another deafening silence from us mumbled, "bamalama."
9. Being passed on the sidewalk by a guy practicing his cross-country skiing in the autumn by rolling around on "ski skates." (They look like skis, but they've got a wheel on each end.)
8. My friend Alison's description of Norwegian sales clerks: "They don't want to talk to you as much as you don't want to talk to them."
7. The way that every question you ask my Iranian friend Ali about why his life has taken a particular course (e.g. Why did you move to Norway? Why did you decide to study German? Why do you think you need to be as rich as Bill Gates?) begins with the phrase, "So there was this bea-u-tiful girl, this amazink girl ... "
6. At the Antony and the Johnson's concert, when Antony explained that his musicians were all playing on borrowed instruments because "British Airways is shit."
5. One extremely crazy birthday party, where I witnessed four counts of public urination, one very disturbing car/trikk accident, and nearly got beat up by a couple of strangers -- but which was redeemed by this, the only kiss I've gotten in Norway:
4. Oh, wait, actually ... speaking of kisses, my next favorite moment may have been when Wes gave me a Thanksgiving kiss on the top of the head that resulted in him getting locked out of his room. That was pretty cute.
3. Basically any time one of the Czech girls gave me a compliment on anything ... my glasses, my sweater, my coat. *Blush* They're so beautiful!
That, and the very bizarre, I repeat very bizarre made-for-TV Czech movie I watched with them, wherein a bunch of teenagers in 60s clothing ran around trying to lose their virginity and singing cheesy American pop songs with very odd lyrical adaptations. And everything works out in the end ...
Except, no, actually in the end the Russians invade and everything goes to hell! What kind of feel-good nostalgia trip is this?!
2. That time I went to see Erlend Øye in concert, and he became my gangly, puffy-haired friend. Oh wait. That hasn't happened yet.
1. Anytime I passed for Norwegian on the street when someone asked me a random public transportation question ... anytime a Scandinavian didn't realize I wasn't Scandinavian until I told them my name ... that one time the Australians asked me for a good club recommendation because they thought I was Norwegian ... oh, and, of course, the time that Canadian kid asked me, "Have you spent a lot of time in North America?" Why yes, I have spent a lot of time in North America. Because I'm American.
10. That one day in Old Norse class when my adorable advisor told my (typically loathe-to-say-a-single-word) class that if we had any questions for him, we should "just shout!" And after yet another deafening silence from us mumbled, "bamalama."
9. Being passed on the sidewalk by a guy practicing his cross-country skiing in the autumn by rolling around on "ski skates." (They look like skis, but they've got a wheel on each end.)
8. My friend Alison's description of Norwegian sales clerks: "They don't want to talk to you as much as you don't want to talk to them."
7. The way that every question you ask my Iranian friend Ali about why his life has taken a particular course (e.g. Why did you move to Norway? Why did you decide to study German? Why do you think you need to be as rich as Bill Gates?) begins with the phrase, "So there was this bea-u-tiful girl, this amazink girl ... "
6. At the Antony and the Johnson's concert, when Antony explained that his musicians were all playing on borrowed instruments because "British Airways is shit."
5. One extremely crazy birthday party, where I witnessed four counts of public urination, one very disturbing car/trikk accident, and nearly got beat up by a couple of strangers -- but which was redeemed by this, the only kiss I've gotten in Norway:
4. Oh, wait, actually ... speaking of kisses, my next favorite moment may have been when Wes gave me a Thanksgiving kiss on the top of the head that resulted in him getting locked out of his room. That was pretty cute.
3. Basically any time one of the Czech girls gave me a compliment on anything ... my glasses, my sweater, my coat. *Blush* They're so beautiful!
That, and the very bizarre, I repeat very bizarre made-for-TV Czech movie I watched with them, wherein a bunch of teenagers in 60s clothing ran around trying to lose their virginity and singing cheesy American pop songs with very odd lyrical adaptations. And everything works out in the end ...
Except, no, actually in the end the Russians invade and everything goes to hell! What kind of feel-good nostalgia trip is this?!
2. That time I went to see Erlend Øye in concert, and he became my gangly, puffy-haired friend. Oh wait. That hasn't happened yet.
1. Anytime I passed for Norwegian on the street when someone asked me a random public transportation question ... anytime a Scandinavian didn't realize I wasn't Scandinavian until I told them my name ... that one time the Australians asked me for a good club recommendation because they thought I was Norwegian ... oh, and, of course, the time that Canadian kid asked me, "Have you spent a lot of time in North America?" Why yes, I have spent a lot of time in North America. Because I'm American.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, December 27, 2006 at 9:18 PM.
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4:14 PM
So probably not a top ten item (seeing as it has nothing to do with you being mistaken for a Norwegian) but - and this is only tangentially related, really, under the notion of remembering and reflecting upon things - still, come look at my blog and see what I found!