By Yilin
“We must go beyond textbooks, go out into the bypaths and untrodden depths of the wilderness and travel and explore and tell the world the glories of our journey.”
— John Hope Franklin
This morning, we had a very very early start at 5:45 a.m. to head to the airport, leaving the beautiful city of Tromsø for Oslo. After waiting around in the airport, sleeping on the airplane, and getting our luggage, we arrived at the Oslo airport on a cloudy day at 11:30 a.m.
On the bus ride, we learned about some history of rivalry between Norway and Sweden from our guide Nikolai. Norway had written its own constitution after the Napoleonic Wars, forged its national identity in 1800s, and declared independence from Sweden in 1905. Did you know that the Main Street in Oslo is named after a Swedish king? It’s because Norway and Sweden used to share a king, as their monarchies were related to each other.
After checking into the hotel, we went to the Oslo Street Food Court and had a delicious lunch. Then, we walked around the city with Nikolai for around half an hour. We visited a memorial and learned about the story behind the terrorist attack on an Oslo government building on July 22, 2011. It was fueled from resentment towards immigrants and resulted in 69 deaths, many of whom were still children. There were roses in remembrance of the young victims and shattered glass on the ground to represent the broken glass from the attacked buildings.
We ended the city walk at the Norway Parliament and learned more about the constitutional monarchy system in Norway and how the king serves as a unifying symbol in politics. Then, we were given free time to explore more shops and food in Oslo by ourselves.
Lastly, we had a traditional Norwegian dinner in the oldest wooden building in the city. This Farewell Dinner ended with a heartwarming speech from Amari to our guide Nikolai, and lots of tears from everyone. After arriving at the hotel, we had our last meeting where we reflected upon this trip and cried a bit more.
With that and some late night games, this marks the end of our time in Norway.
