Convo No. 10
23 y/o
Nationality: I usually say Norwegian-American because that's the easiest...
Lives in Norway (as for now)
Travelled countries: 43 and counting! I haven’t been to South America, my mum was there recently as the first one from our family so now the game is on! I want to see more of West and Northern Africa, and still making my way to Eastern Europe. Dream destination where I’m still to go: Japan, and Namibia!
How would you describe yourself?
I’d say a slightly nerdy, third culture kid. I like to travel but even more living in cool countries. Very good at being the new kid because that's been my reality over and over. I’m just as much about exploring museums as finding Instagram worthy moments, a little bit of everything I guess. I feel who I am always changes and adapts to the places I’m in. And I’m such a foodie, I’ll eat everything but snakes, bugs and chicken feet…
Burano, Italy
You say you define your nationality in the ‘easiest’ way. What’s your relationship with your nationality?
I find it easier to define my nationality by my passport countries, even though I’ve lived in Asia and Africa more than in Norway, and I’ve never lived in America. My dad is the American one, but lives in Norway because he loves wilderness and hates Trump. My mum is born and raised in Norway but had a very international upbringing. Her dad was a pilot so they moved around alot seeing different cultures. She later went to France to be an au pair, and then went to work for The Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI). Through that job she’s been abroad for the last 12 years (only counting her latest stint abroad).
Tell me about the countries you’ve lived in growing up?
I was born in Turkey. My family was actually living in Syria at the time but the hospitals weren’t that great so my mum was flown to Turkey instead. Back then Syria was more peaceful than what it is now. I don’t have any negative memories from there. I wish I could remember more of it because I feel I'll never be able to go back and experience it the way it was again. Then in was in Norway for kindergarten for a short period, which meant I picked up on a bit of Norwegian. We didn’t really speak Norwegian at home but my mum read Norwegian books to us and made sure we learned certain words. After that we went to Seoul in South-Korea, from which I got this ridiculous love for Korean cuisine. Then it was back to Norway for about 3 years, a little bit tougher this time as kids are just less mean in kindergarten. Then in 2006 we moved to Uganda for four years, and then to the Philippines before I moved to attend university in the UK.
Palawan sunset, Philippines
Nairobi National Park, Kenya
What does that make your connection to Norway?
It’s strange coming back to Norway as I didn’t grow up here, and don’t speak the language perfectly, so I still feel like a foreigner here. Sometimes I just pretend to be a tourist instead, not having to think about the language. That also means I feel a lot more at home with people from mixed backgrounds. The one thing I’ve got going for me is that I look Norwegian, so you could say I’m lucky in that sense, that I’m spared for some of the judgement. Now that I'm back in Oslo I’ve had the chance to open my eyes to the diversity it offers, which makes me more positive about staying here longer. There’s definitely culture adjustments. There are just some things that are expected in Norwegian culture that doesn’t occur to me.
Oslo Love
I still come across the occasional you’re not fully Norwegian-comment (‘du er ikke helt norsk’), which just adds to my identity crisis. I hear this also from people who aren’t Norwegian themselves. There is this idea that you can’t have more than one country being your home. My way of being Norwegian is just different. For example Freia (Norwegian chocolate and sweets brand), ‘makrell i tomat’ (mackerel in tomato sauce), peeling shrimps and putting it on toast with mayo and lemon, those are all so typical Norwegian and those are all things I love. I think that itself makes me Norwegian. When I’m in China and get excited about a care pack filled with Norwegian goods, or Norwegian traditions, skiing and all that, that’s all a part of me. That’s why it bothers me when people call me ‘not a Norwegian’ or try to deny me that part of my identity. I don’t feel I’m less Norwegian just because I’ve experienced other cultures and countries, it’s just that I have a lot of experiences in addition to that of being Norwegian.
What would you say your multicultural upbringing has taught you?
I’ve learnt to be very tolerant of different cultures so its more natural for me to accept rather than be afraid or scared of other cultures. The opposite is definitely a very harmful mentality. What you find with international school is that they’re big on community service, so you get to see a lot of things first hand. In Uganda, when we lived there (at the time of Kony’s regime) it was still branded a hardship country. We didn’t see the war but we saw a lot of the poverty and some of the riots during the elections. With my upbringing I got to see all these random things that not everyone else does.
Skyscraper city Guangzhou
You’ve now just come back from a Masters programme in China! How was it, and why China?
Lancaster University (where I completed my bachelor’s) offered a master’s in International Innovation and Design where parts of it is spent in China. I took it because I love to travel. My dad’s always been telling me to learn Chinese, being the language of the future and all that. And the Chinese language is actually very interesting! As I want an international career it’s really helpful. Finding someone who talks even a bit of decent English can be difficult in China, so then you’re just forced to try-out the bit of mandarin that you know. I got to eat a lot of good food, also because it’s cheaper to buy out than to make it yourself. Chinese new years was very cool, I really didn’t expect what hit me. Because of our visas, me and everyone I was there with, were stuck without a chance to leave the country within the 6 months we were there, meaning I couldn’t go to Japan for example, or couldn’t go home for Christmas with the family. But all in all it was really worthwhile!
Guilin, China
What’s the plan after this?
I’m applying for jobs here in Norway. The ideal job is probably within a big global firm, allowing for travel. I’m particularly interested in companies that are trying to play a more active role in society, social sustainability initiatives and so on. I feel it would be a waste if I didn’t somehow go into an area where my background can be of use. Oslo turns out to be a lot dynamic than what I first thought. I’m looking at Norwegian companies with a more global outlook where knowing the language is handy more than it is a necessity. It’s really important to me to improve my relationship with Norway, because I can’t always come here and feel bad about it. I want this to be a place I can come back to and have it feel like home. Being here is still relatively new to me, so I’m still meeting new people, seeing new places etc. And I’m fully determined to catch next year’s ski season, but before that I have to figure out which skies I want!
In terms of the future with all we see going on around us, how do you look at our generation and the time to come? Where would you put yourself on the optimist-pessimist scale?
I think I’d be very close to the middle but more on the optimist side. More and more people are travelling the world, trying to be more tolerant, and to discover and experience its different cultures. To be open minded towards other people is one of the most important lessons. As for Trump, it's very hard for me to believe that someone like him can be elected as president on the back of all the things he's trying to do. I’m trying to be optimistic as more people are traveling, and we have for example Instagram helping to spread important social messages. I’m probably more optimistic than most also because of my background in design, which as an industry considers the value of people’s different backgrounds in order to understand what it is they really need or want. It’s all about cross cultural sensitivity and communication. In the long run companies are most likely just trying to make money (as everyone else) but it’s still a trigger for positive thought.
Nobel Peace Center, Oslo
We need to celebrate diversity rather than trying to pigeon-hole everybody. Everlane and Aerie (article on their men's campaign) are doing non-retouched underwear campaigns for example. It’s a bit slow, I feel this should have happened 30 years ago, but now it’s here. Another thing is in Norway as elsewhere there are more right wing opinions emerging, so it’s hard to be sure of where it’s going, it’s tricky.
What do you dream of?
The one thing I know for sure is that I want to do something that allows me to travel and experience cultures, to be in a place for a few years and then move on. I want to have an international career, and live very similar to how my life has been so far you could say.
Favourites:
Country/city: My favourite trip was to Madagascar, a good ol’ time sort of feeling. I really like Lisbon! It’s one of those places I keep going back to. A genuinely beautiful place where you get the feeling you really get to experience the culture. I loved it! Then I really like a lot of places in Asia too, and in Kenya (Mombasa by the beach!). Kenya for example has had a bit of trouble the last years so it’s easier for me to like places where I feel safe and where I know people.
Shanghai is also beautiful, a lot of the locals speak English so you get to interact a lot more. We were there for a week and made so many friends, they were so open to get to know you.
Podcast(s): Ted Talks Daily, really great to listen to on the go. S-town, another favourite, more story-based and ridiculously addicting. Serial is also really good. When I’m feeling designy I like to listen to 99% Invisible (Milk Cartoon Kids and Pagodas and Dragon Gates are personal episode favs) and IDEO Futures. They’re both about design and cool things that are going on. I listen to a lot of crime too; True crime garage (two dudes in their garage talking about crime and rating beer) and Sword and Scale (slightly more disturbing)
