Night time and a long walk
Last night was extremely nice. I finished working at 23.30, and went straight fromt here to my best friends place. We just chilled for ages. I got to read his manuscript for their music video, made some comments, and we discussed movies for a while.
There is one thing, my dear reader, which I have to comment on. It's the view that all nordics are rich and therefore must lead happy, succesful, carefree lives. NOT TRUE!
We were discussing some of our friends. I'm going to make four examples, straight from real life. No.1 has an awkward relationship with his parents, and to be honest, they don't take too good care of him or his four younger siblings. His dad drinks a lot, and his mom works all the time, so she's not at home a lot. No.2, brilliant guy, was bullied almost to insanity in school, and had NO friends AT ALL... it's actually true. He was very lonely, and still has trouble with his self-confidence, although he hides it very well. No.3 didn't meet his dad before he was 14. His mom disappears from time to time, and he once had to take a huge loan, to go pick her up in another country. His siblings live in different places, and he lives at his grandmother's place, his mom living there from time to time as well. No.4 ...let's say life gave him a beating, and he's having a hard time getting back on his feet. His dad lives somewhere far away, and his mom lives in another country, unable to take care of him. He has lived in different places as he grew up. With a foster-family for some time, then with his aunt, and currently with the father of two of his siblings. He is quite far into drugs, making most of us, his friends, worried about him. A couple of days ago, he was piss-drunk, and wanted to go visit some friend in another village. He stole a car, and crashed it at high speed into a fence. He wasn't hurt seriously, but he's in a lot of trouble, and owes a lot of money to the owner of the car etc.
Did I manage to shake your view of the nordic culture? Did I manage to shock you at all? These things exist wherever you go in the world, not just in places with economical troubles. If you ever think we're just spoiled brats again... I don't know what to do to you.
I'm just sick of all the crap. We always hear about the poor countries, about famine, about abuse in those countries... it never ends, and those things are serious too. No doubt. But we live in the Nordic college, and I doubt most people there even know, that in Norway, at least one out of ten women are beaten by their husband, or that the highest suicidal rates in the world, come from the nordic countries. Are these things not worth exploring and knowing more about? Shouldn't we know these things too?
Meh.. I am not in a bad mood or anything, just felt like lifting my heart a bit, and share some things that I worry about. But apart from those, more sinister parts of our conversation, we also talked a lot about memories, and nice things. We walked, in the rain, to the beach, and we talked about all the things we remember from that place. The first time we talked, the first time he walked me home, and he told me about once when he had a fight with his girlfriend, and he found her down there, sitting on a rock. It was comfortable and safe, walking with him, and I didn't get home until six in the morning.
I am in a good mood now, but I really want people to remember that life isn't easy. Not even in the Nordic countries...
There is one thing, my dear reader, which I have to comment on. It's the view that all nordics are rich and therefore must lead happy, succesful, carefree lives. NOT TRUE!
We were discussing some of our friends. I'm going to make four examples, straight from real life. No.1 has an awkward relationship with his parents, and to be honest, they don't take too good care of him or his four younger siblings. His dad drinks a lot, and his mom works all the time, so she's not at home a lot. No.2, brilliant guy, was bullied almost to insanity in school, and had NO friends AT ALL... it's actually true. He was very lonely, and still has trouble with his self-confidence, although he hides it very well. No.3 didn't meet his dad before he was 14. His mom disappears from time to time, and he once had to take a huge loan, to go pick her up in another country. His siblings live in different places, and he lives at his grandmother's place, his mom living there from time to time as well. No.4 ...let's say life gave him a beating, and he's having a hard time getting back on his feet. His dad lives somewhere far away, and his mom lives in another country, unable to take care of him. He has lived in different places as he grew up. With a foster-family for some time, then with his aunt, and currently with the father of two of his siblings. He is quite far into drugs, making most of us, his friends, worried about him. A couple of days ago, he was piss-drunk, and wanted to go visit some friend in another village. He stole a car, and crashed it at high speed into a fence. He wasn't hurt seriously, but he's in a lot of trouble, and owes a lot of money to the owner of the car etc.
Did I manage to shake your view of the nordic culture? Did I manage to shock you at all? These things exist wherever you go in the world, not just in places with economical troubles. If you ever think we're just spoiled brats again... I don't know what to do to you.
I'm just sick of all the crap. We always hear about the poor countries, about famine, about abuse in those countries... it never ends, and those things are serious too. No doubt. But we live in the Nordic college, and I doubt most people there even know, that in Norway, at least one out of ten women are beaten by their husband, or that the highest suicidal rates in the world, come from the nordic countries. Are these things not worth exploring and knowing more about? Shouldn't we know these things too?
Meh.. I am not in a bad mood or anything, just felt like lifting my heart a bit, and share some things that I worry about. But apart from those, more sinister parts of our conversation, we also talked a lot about memories, and nice things. We walked, in the rain, to the beach, and we talked about all the things we remember from that place. The first time we talked, the first time he walked me home, and he told me about once when he had a fight with his girlfriend, and he found her down there, sitting on a rock. It was comfortable and safe, walking with him, and I didn't get home until six in the morning.
I am in a good mood now, but I really want people to remember that life isn't easy. Not even in the Nordic countries...
posted by Gerbrith at 4:46 PM
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