Moments Worth Billions

I started at Pasvik folk high school about 8 months ago. I had just finished my high school education in Windhoek, Namibia and my plan was to study law at the University of Namibia. Well, things changed and by the end of August 2019, I was in northern Norway living a life I had never even dreamed of.

My friends and I would joke around and say that the only time we might go abroad is when we turn 25 or something, we thought it was almost impossible for a kid from Katutura to study abroad straight after high school, aside from if they really aced their grades which was something we didn't. We got good grades, one of the best, but weren't the smartest kids at school.

Most of my life I wondered about if life would always be the way it was and what I could do to make a difference for myself and those around me. I tried, as I said before, to get the best grades that I could and I was very well behaved because I knew that good behaviour did take you places sometimes. I would not like to give the impression that I was the perfect student, daughter, sister, friend or cousin, no, that would be a big lie.

I tried to do things that would make people happy, things that warmed people's hearts because it brought some sort of joy to me. There were, however, times that I disappointed those around me, got too wild, lied and partied a bit too hard, but that's not what this is about. I wanted to mention that so that I could paint a clearer picture for my readers about what type of a person I am.

Anyway, when I learned that my study visa had been approved for Norway, my heart skipped a beat, I think it did and I cried a lot. My mom did too, it was the best news we had ever received and we knew that our lives would be different in many ways, if not better than what we had known.

I had a very intimate party with my close friends and family, my parents gave speeches that made me cry and that will always be in my heart. I hung with my friends one last time and got gifts from most of them, I was so happy.

I will get carried away when I talk about that so let me get straight to the point...

My time at Pasvik folk high school was really amazing, I had such a good time and I know that it will always be stuck with me, it is here that I learned to speak Norwegian (which I am still learning) , met one of the best people in the world and made the best memories. It was so sad that the school year was suddenly cut short due to the Corona virus and I understand that it is the best thing to do for everyone but it doesn't make it less sad.

When I compare the Queen that got here a few months ago to who I am now, there's a crazy big difference and sometimes change is good. Life at Pasvik Folk High School(PFHS) taught me so much, things that I know I would never know if I was a law student back home. It taught me that life is more than just studying hard, getting a job and earning money, although that is of course part of the plan.

PFHS allowed me to bond with people all over the world, in the beginning we were really just strangers to one another but within a few weeks the activities and the atmosphere at the school itself brought us closer. My fear of not making friends or not getting by had been long forgotten a few weeks into the school year, but alas there would be days that I would have meltdowns and luckily I had friends that comforted me and told me that I was not alone.

Think of a place where there are dozens of personalities from all over the world. You get to meet each of these people at some point during the day and you hear what their thoughts are about real life issues, you learn about their culture and hear some of the strangest things that you never even thought about, it's like getting the best of both worlds, just that in this case, it can be a little intimidating and here's why.

You come across some people that are shy, others that are very confident, some that are really good listeners, some that are good at doing stuff e.g knitting and you find others that just have a way of making people laugh and keep conversations afloat. Abit too much right?

Well, there I was, a normal girl from Katutura, blending in with students from most of Norway, the US, Japan, Russia, Germany , Iceland etc. Believe me, I was scared, I was scared that what I knew or what I had to say would weigh nothing. I was so scared that people would think I knew nothing at all and that they would not be interested in being friends with me. It was a horrible time for me but I knew that I couldn't just sit in my room and sob about it, I had to get out and face my fears.

Few months fast-forward, I was still the girl that was a bit insecure about what I had to contribute and I held back a lot, which I regret but eventually I realised that it couldn't go on like this, no. That I had to get up and be real, for real now.

I spoke with almost everyone and I learned Norwegian as much as I could, I'm not one for crowds really so whenever we had gatherings and had to speak Norwegian, I would be a nervous wreck and just embarrass myself, silly me.

I'm getting carried away again...

My school year was fantastisk! I went on trips with my class and once with the whole school where we had a week out in the woods. On the trips I got to know most of my classmates more and that was amazing. Sometimes we did not see eye to eye about some things but we'd solve stuff smoothly so that was no big deal.

I had a lot of 'firsts' in Norway, believe me. The first time I saw snow was when I was on holiday in Tromso with my friend aunt Iselin. We were staying at her boyfriend's house and decided to go hiking up a mountain on this particular day. I remember feeling an intense cold rush within my body as we neared the snow, this was it! I was actually going to touch/play with snow. It wasn't a lot yet, but it was snow. Something that I had only seen in movies all my life, it was the moment of truth!

How could I forget the first time I saw the northern lights? I had to sit down in the snow because my knees felt so weak, my whole body trembled. It was magneficent, I wish I could find a better word, but that works too. I cried abit, it was overwhelming, I knew then what a blessing it was to be alive. My teacher happened to walk past and saw me sitting so he helped me up, I know he mentioned the first time I saw the northern lights in his word of the day.

I took swimming and had a pretty hard time learning to do that, patience isn't one of my strongest traits so that was really hard. I learned some stuff but I still have to learn how to swim. I had to get used to eating with a knife and a fork which is something I never did and I'm glad it sort of just sunk in, it wasn't a struggle.

We had movie nights at my dorm sometimes, we had activity Fridays and each dorm had to plan something and entertain the other dorm.Life at the school was basically teaching us to be social without needing a confidence boost from alcohol which worked all the way!

My friends and I sometimes went out on 'free-weekends' and would just have a good time, chill and drinks. That was relaxing.

To wrap it up, the time at this folk high school has been the best time of my life. The memories will live on and on, my gran-grand-grand kids will hear about every single detail, that's my plan. It has been too precious and thats why it was so heartbreaking to say goodbye to everyone and everything.

I know that I will keep in touch with my friends for as long as I can and that hey, one day I can land in Paris and be like, "Hey, Dorian. I'm in town, let's get a drink". Or I might find myself in Chicago one day then I can just give Aiken a call and say, "I wanna try Chicago style pizza, what spot do you recommend?".

Word is, I will never be alone in Scandinavia, ever. I can stop by in Denmark and hit my Danes up and I know that they always down for a good time. Norway is basically home away from home and maybe I will find myself in Sweden someday but then Wilma will definitely be my person over there. Russia and Japan, man, I got my boys there!

So, in conclusion, I would like to say, tusen hjertelig takk alle sammen for et fantastisk år, jeg er veldig glad i dere og jeg håper vi aldri glemme hverandre!

P.S To all the amazing folks at Pasvik FHS!

hearts, Queen.

#friends #memories #blogging