One of my favorite parts has been the opportunity to meet so many new people. Whether I'm at work, frisbee or just the grocery store, I've been surrounded by people whose backgrounds are very different than mine. It's been a lot of fun to learn about other languages, food, and cultures. That being said, I've obviously learned the most about Norwegian culture.
In some ways, I was surprised by how similar Norway is to New England. There are a lot of beautiful forests and mountains that people explore in their freetime. Daily life is dominated by the weather, and people tend to stay very cozy during the cold winters. Kids spend a lot of time outside playing in parks and playgrounds. There are some awesome playgrounds in Norway! In other ways, Norway is pretty different from back home. Norwegians tend to be quieter than Americans. I'd often wave or smile at people on the street and they'd look at me funny. People prefer to keep to themselves in public. It's also been very fun to enjoy different Norwegian traditions throughout the year, such as Christmas and Easter traditions and traditions based around the midnight sun/polar night. Norway has their national day (similar to our Fourth of July) on the 17th of May, and I'm looking forward to experiencing that.
I'm going to miss Norway a lot when I go home to Boston. I've had a lot of great adventures and made a lot of great friends. We're lucky to live in a time where it's so easy to stay in touch with people, even if they live all the way across the ocean.
If you're interested in traveling somewhere new when you grow up, there are a lot of awesome opportunities to do so.
