February in Review
Scottish politeness, German festival, Norwegian skiing
February marked the official halfway point of our year abroad! We’re learning the ways one year is both long and short — it’s pretty fast to try to make meaningful community, but it’s also too long to not make any friends. Fortunately, we’re entering a season when lots of friends and family are coming to us, which we’re really looking forward to.
We haven’t written about any kind of cultural analysis yet, dissecting how Scots are different from Americans or anything like that, partly because it seemed good to settle in and get to know the culture first. But six months here seems like enough time to make sweeping judgments about an entire country, right?
One major difference between Scottish culture and American culture is the Scots’ politeness — which to us looks a whole lot like passivity. We’re starting to understand more why Americans’ global stereotype is “loud, pushy, aggressive.” For instance, if an American needs to get by someone in a store or on a sidewalk, we clearly (but politely) say “excuse me,” and the other person knows what you want, and they move. Those words aren’t in a Scot’s vocabulary. They will literally just wait behind you until you move, saying nothing. The same thing happens on buses. They love to outdo each other in the “no, you go” game, while the American is over here thinking, “someone has to just get on the freaking bus already!” The American mindset of “I have somewhere to be and I’m going to get there,” whether for a bus trip or a business idea, is what we would call “efficiency,” a positive value, while Scots would call it “pushiness” and would maybe even consider it “rudeness.” The status quo is not something they want to disturb. At the end of they day, do Scottish people consider Americans rude and pushy? If so, they’d never tell you.
With that cultural nugget to chew on, let’s talk about our February adventures!
Sight
February’s big adventure was a cross-country skiing trip in Norway, planned by our Seattle friend Haley. She did the (planning) legwork and we all met up in Oslo, then took a beautiful train ride through snowy mountains to a little recreation area called Finse for a few days of skiing, followed by a few days in Bergen. Norway was a new country for Micah, and it was Elisabeth’s third time in the country but first time going there in winter. We got endless beautiful views of snow-covered mountains, fjords, forests, and the classic red and white Norwegian farmhouses.
It was Elisabeth’s first time ever on skis and Micah’s first time cross-country skiing, so Haley gave us a few lessons in the basics, and we were off — and by off we mean falling up a mountain into deep powder. It was a blast.
But really, it wasn’t impossible to get the hang of cross-country skiing, and we had three days in Finse to practice. We stayed in one of the Norwegian public cabins, which is an incredible government-run network of 600 structures that range from a self-service hut to a fully staffed lodge, which is what we stayed in. Think summer camp set-up but made comfortable for adults and families. We slept on bunk beds in rooms you couldn’t lock from the outside, and in the evenings after skiing families hung out in the lodge common area, playing games and reading books. We enjoyed really great food at communal meals every night, each one starting with a few moments of “welcome to the table” announcements from the lodge’s hosts followed by interesting conversation with whoever you were seated next to!
In Bergen, we loved taking in the beautiful wooden houses built haphazardly up winding, steep hillsides, and one day we went on a fjord boat tour. Providentially, this was the sunniest, nicest day in Bergen, so we had amazing views. The boat tour included a guide narrating all the sights, so we learned a lot about Bergen’s historical and cultural place in Norway.
Taste
With our one night in Oslo, we had drinks at the bar Himkok, and definitely recommend it for anyone visiting and looking for great cocktails. On the other end, we shared a fancy meal with Haley at Lysverket, which made the most of Norway’s expertise with seafood. (They also had an incredible shaved/baked apple dessert that we are already imagining ways to replicate at home.)
Sound
At the beginning of February we took a short train trip to Glasgow, sort of for Micah’s birthday but also just to explore a new place locally. Our reason for going was a Yann Tiersen concert — he’s most famous as the composer for the movie Amélie, but his other music is a wild mix of neoclassical piano and … highly politicized techno?? The first half of the concert was a lovely, moody piano set, and then the second half turned into a dance party but to songs about climate change and war. Intense but interesting, for sure!
Glasgow is also home to lots of architecture and art by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, who’s basically the lesser known Frank Lloyd Wright of Scotland. We had a fun afternoon going around the city to see houses and museum galleries filled with his conceptual architecture.
Sight Pt. 2
Another exciting part of February is that I (Micah) was able to obtain press accreditation for the Berlinale Film Festival, so I skipped a couple classes and hopped back to Berlin before heading to Norway. All of the press screenings made for a wild pace — I caught fourteen movies in about five days!
The movies I watched fell pretty evenly into great, good, and “no thanks” categories. My favorites included Everybody Digs Bill Evans, Yellow Letters (which won the festival’s top prize), Rose, and We Are All Strangers. I recommend all of those when they eventually get a wide release in the U.S.
If you’re interested, you can find all of my Berlinale reviews here.
Sight Pt. 3 (courtesy of a church in Bergen)
