Making a home away from home

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I still remember the nervousness I felt as I boarded my flight to Oslo, Norway. The nervousness of living away from home for an entire year, away from all the things I loved; my family, friends, even my pets. All the things I had grown accustomed to would no longer be a direct part of my life. I worried about making NEW friends, creating a NEW family and (because of animal restrictions) finding a friend who had pets. That nervousness stuck with me until I finally made it to Oslo where once landed exhaustion took over completely.

Even still, that nervousness/exhaustion couldn’t quench the excitement that had been bubbling inside of me from the moment I was accepted into the University of Oslo. Long before my departure, I would spend hours visualizing my new home asking myself a million questions that couldn’t be answered( no matter how many youtube searches I did) until I was actually there.

What would my classes be like?

What it would be like living in a dorm for the first time?

How would I decorate my new living quarters?

These questions would rattle in my minds for weeks but now after being here for a little under a month I finally have the answers to my previous questions and questions that I won’t be able to answer until I leave. My classes are exciting and hard, they push me in ways I never knew possible and even though I have already had a few mini freak outs on how I will get everything completed on time; I can’t wait until next semester where I can take on even more courses. Living in a dorm is different before I lived by myself or at home but I have never lived with seven different people all from different cultures. All with there own questions, fears, and beliefs. Living in a dorm is everything and more I ever imagined and all I can say is THANK YOU GOD FOR MY OWN BATHROOM. Without it, I would not have survived. My living quarters which consist of a small bathroom and a small room with a bed, desk and a built-in is sparsely decorated save for plants and nick knacks picked up here and there, but its mine and its home.

Being here has also left me with questions, mainly; will I EVER get Norwegian down and will I actually want to leave when the time comes? I can’t say for sure but as I sit here full from an amazing dinner with my friends and Norwegian homework right next to me, I think the answer for both is a hard NO.

It’s amazing what the human brain can get used to. One moment, not even a month ago, you can be so nervous that nausea sets in and the next you can feel like this is where you were always supposed to be.