When you work for NMS you usually go to Norway once every year. Sometimes to work, sometimes for vacation. Often for a bit of both. Maintaining the connection to your country and culture is also a part of it.
So far I have travelled to Norway 4 times since I moved to Thailand 2 years ago. This summer was the fourth time and my longest stay yet. I spent some time working remotely, and also I was supposed to spend some days working at a family camp – Båt og Bibel in Furutangen campsite. Unfortunately I was sick most of those days and ended up having only a few days at the camp. It was still lovely but I never got to talk about my work here in Thailand, which I feel sad about. Maybe another time. There will of course be plenty of opportunities to share my experiences and the work of the church with NMS people and others in Norway in the future.
Other than working I spent 4 weeks of my annual vacation time while I was in Norway. Going on vacation to my childhood home and my aunts house is sort if a weird thing. I feel so at home both places that it lands me feeling like I’m somewhere in between vacation mode and everyday life.
Being in Norway when I am now used to life in Thailand is also challenging in many ways. I of course love to see places I’ve missed, eat things I have not had in a while, finally pet my cat (even though she prefers my parents to me now) and so on. Especially it is so amazing seeing all of my friends and being able to join in some of the activities from my “normal life” back in 2023. It is still a strange feeling. Exactly because it does feel a bit like I’m jumping back into 2023. Like travelling to Norway somehow has moved me through not only space, but also time. It feels a bit like going back in time, when you go back to old routines after having created so many new ones. Sure, my friends’ kids have grown several inches, and their lives have changed a lot, but in a much subtler, less visible way than what happens when you completely change culture and timezone. The changes in their lives are not less substancial or less important, but for me coming back it looks so similar to my “old life”, that everything that has happened to me in Thailand feels a bit like it was a fever dream everytime I go back and sort of fall into my usual spaces in Norway.
This years trip also challenged me with some pretty heavy reverse culture shock. Many people think culture shock is a direct reaction to a specific unfamiliar cultural phenomenon. But as those of you who may have experienced it probably can attest to – it feels a lot more like a depression brought on by constantly feeling like an outsider. This set of negative emotions, frustration, sadness, feeling like you are not reaching some expected level of understanding. In my experience reverse culture shock feels even more like a struggle, than normal culture shock. Reverse culture shock happens when you go back to your “normal” culture and still get culture shock from being “our of practice” in a sense. Feeling like an outsider in the culture you are supposed to master. Are expected to master, is not easy. Luckily I have people in my life who do understand what it’s like, and others who, even if they don’t know the weird feeling of not fitting in where you once belonged, still give me room to navigate.
When I’m in Norway, I also put a lot of pressure on myself to get around to do everything and see everyone, so often I come back to Thailand feeling less relaxed than when I left. Which is not necessarily optimal for a vacation. But even if it is exhausting sometimes, I am so grateful that I get to see my friends as often as I do. Even if it never feels like it’s enough time. I know they will always be my friends. And besides, vacation is often a more stressful thing than we realizes for many people. We just always turn around at the end of it, look at the pictures of the sun and the ocean, and the good moments and we think “that was lovely” even when it may have been stressful in the moment. So I would not exchange my vacation time in Norway with something less stressful, because at the end of the trip, I’m still refueled from the interactions, sights and time spent with loved ones.
Enough of my philosophical thoughts, under here are some photos of the good times I will look back and remember from this summer. Some favourites were going to the zoo (Dyreparken) in Kristiansand twice in one week, watching Klatremus in Hakkebakkeskogen, eating good food at my favourite places, going to Gladmat, playing DnD, exercising with my mum and my brother, and loosing at boardgames with my family. Just to mention a few.
Although I love Norway and my people there, coming back to Thailand and my everyday life here is still really good. It helps me know that I am where God wants me to be, doing what I’m supposed to be doing. It’s time to get back to work.
See you next time Norway!
