Anyway, back to me! I have lived here in sunny California my whole life, so when I tell people that I am planning to move to a country that is known for cold weather and days in the winter that are dark for 20 hour time frames, the reactions are always.......well shocked is an understatement!
To be honest, part of me gets joy in the shock factor of it all. I am in a time in my life where all of my best friends (we'll get into the girls later) are either engaged, married, or having babies, so I must admit, it is nice to have a bit of my own info to celebrate. The part about telling people my plans for the first time that I COULD live without is the inevitable reaction of "NORWAY?!?!? You will be back within a month...tops".
What exactly are people trying to tell me with this reaction? Lets examine their intentions shall we? The possible scenarios that will have me coming back to the U.S. are as follows:
1. The Norwegian and I break up....(uuugh! I hate even typing that as a possibility!)
2. The Norwegian somehow loses his job/ gets relocated. (also hate typing the losing the job thing.....if you know him you know this is clearly not even a small possibility)
3. Financial issues...
4. Visa issues
(Notice I am not including Option #5....me getting sick of the weather/ cultural differences and come home with my tail between my legs because it isn't even a possibility in my mind!)
Do my loved ones have such little faith in me that they refuse to believe that I may actually be able to compromise living in the most desirable climate in order to explore the world with the person that I love!? Or are they just implying that they do not believe that the two of us will last as a couple?
Either way....it just seems to me like a crappy thing to say to a giddy school girl-like person telling you their big news!
So the net net of it all is when I tell you about my plans, please refrain from telling me your negative thoughts! To me it is the equivalent to you announcing that you are getting married and me telling you that "It will only last a month" right to your face! Or telling you that your newborn baby girl looks like a sumo wrestler!
Please and tussen takk! :)
P.S. to kick off this blog, I figured I would include a picture of me with my Norwegian....cutie right?