Happiness Has No End

Since arriving in Norway I have been living in the present and not thinking too far into the future. I am loving what I am doing so much, that to start thinking about it ending at some point is very daunting and saddening....but for the first time today, the realization that an "end" of sorts will come, started creeping into my thoughts. Now obviously it is only the beginning of November, and this so called "end" is not for a while...and even then, its not like my friendships will end, or that my experiences and memories will end, or that I cant come back at some point in the future...but this chapter of my life, this semester abroad, will come to an end when I return to the States at the end of December, and I cannot ignore that fact. (*note: I want to stress that its not necessarily a bad thing, going home...I have a lot to return to, with loads of friends, family, activites, etc that I cannot wait to start up with again...its just that until now, I had not really thought much about that re-transition. So maybe this is my way of starting to think about that...)


What is it, you might ask, that will end? Well, I am not exactly sure.

Part of the uncertainty is that when I return to Minneapolis, I will be transitioning into a setting that I have not been a part of....when I return, I will be living with a few of my best friends in an awesome house in the Como neighborhood of Minneapolis. It is something that I have been looking forward to since last spring and cannot wait, but at the same time it makes me a bit nervous...they have been living and hanging out in this house for a semester now and presumably have settled in quite nicely. They have a routine, a system, a way of life that I have not been a part of...and how I am introduced to and received by it and them is a bit unknown. What will it be like? Will I be able to fit in with the living system that they have had in place for 5 months? Will I be encroaching on their routine? Will we be able to relate in the same way now that we have been living in different cultures and environments? Obviously they are some of my best friends and we wouldnt have decided to live together if there wasnt a strong connection that transcended simple lifestyle differences of who cooks when and who cleans where. And of course we are good friends and so living and hanging out together isnt a problem. But I think it would be incredibly naive and selfish of me to assume that they havent changed during this past semester, especially since I have changed and experienced so much...thus, figuring out and adapting to that change will be important. Do I think it will be fine...yes. Am I excited to return to hanging out with the boys of 1078 16th Ave SE...of course. Am I a bit uncertain about how quickly we will readjust to each others company...yeah a little.



I think the other part of my uncertainty, is that I dont know how I will react to life not in Oslo. My time in Norway has been nothing short of enjoyable. One of the things that I have most enjoyed (and hope to continue when I get home) is the tradition, or practice of cooking and eating meals together with friends. While living here in Norway, I have fallen into a small group of friends that you could call "family". We hang out together, we travel together, we drink tea (among othe beverages) together, and we eat together...even though we dont live together. We have created this system of sorts where we take turns cooking meals. It is a way to share both the financial and time consuming burden of cooking a meal, while a the same time bringing us together on a regular basis. My favorite moments in Norway have been sitting around a kitchen sharing someone's version of tikka masala, or chili, or falafal, or tacos, or frozen pizza, or whatever. And in those moments it is not the food that I am necessarily enjoying (allthough every meal has been thoroughly enjoyable), it is the joking around, the laughter, and the friendship that I cherish. It is in these moments that I am truly happy...happy in a way that I dont think I realized was possible before...so as I move forward in these last two months of my norsk eventyr, it is crucial that I enjoy my remaining time here, while at the same time learn to find true happiness wherever I am...because the reality is that it is not the city of Oslo or the country of Norway that makes me truly happy, it is the people I am with and the friends that I have. And while I have dear friends here in Oslo, I have the exact same thing at home in Minneapolis as well, and there is no reason I cannot combine my experiences from both and learn from both to achieve a happiness that does not end...