I've
been paying a lot
of attention to
the Occupy Wall Street
demonstrations. I
think the best coverage has
been by
Democracy Now!,
which is a
well-
rounded news source in general
but they have
really been great on this movement. I
was asked in class,
as the only American,
how I felt and
thought about it. I
am very happy
that people are
finally voicing the frustrations that have
been building up, and
also it's
finally about systemic change rather than just
one or
two smaller problems. I
heard from another German friend of mine
that there was going to be a
similar protest
in Oslo
today in solidarity with the U.S. and
other demonstrations around the world.
The demonstration was small, just over a hundred
people, man
of whom voiced their concerns and
many planned to camp
in the park
in front of the parliament building. I
watched the news story
about it and I and
my German friend Theresa were caught on camera in a blink-and-
you-
missed it clip.
You can see it here between the time 2.48 and 3.54 and I
appear on the left of the screen for a second at 3.32
next to
Theresa in the red
jacket.
We really didn't do
much besides practice our Norwegian
listening skills,
try to
chant along, and
pick up some fliers. I
think that there were fewer people at
this demonstration than in most
countries because Norway is
richer and better at
distributing wealth than other countries,
so most
people are
generally happy. Even
with the small
numbers it made the news. I
liked the Robin Hood costumes people wore, and
remembered that I
had said to
someone recently that we need a
modern Robin Hood in this financial crisis.
Some others clearly had the same
idea!
Aside from all
that,
it's fall
in Norway and
quickly now becoming winter.
This semester is
going to
get crazy
busy with three term
papers due at almost
the same time,
the Latin
Dance class,
getting involved with the International Food Festival
planning committee, Norwegian
class, and
laughing at
my roommate JB's
antics. Like calling
aces in the card deck "
asses". And pretending to be a
monkey during a pop
song that said "
Ooh ooh ooh"
in it.
Good times. I
went to Oslo last weekend
too,
another beautiful fall
day.
On the same
day I
passed this amusing store sign,
which usually doesn't
happen in Norway
because they have
such good English.
They seemed to have a lot
of Norwegian
sweaters in the window,
but I don't
think they have
many tractors in there. I
could be
wrong though!
The wheat harvest is
in, and
the grass for
hay has
been cut a final time
it seems,
since it has
now begun to
frost over
in the morning. I
should take a
picture of that but it's
so much a part
of my daily surroundings that I haven't
thought of it until now. I've
started wearing my winter jacket,
which seems a bit
early but I
guess this isn't Minnesota
anymore. I'm
getting better at Norwegian I
think,
but it seems to be
moving slower than Japanese
because I'm
hanging out with the French and
the Germans and
the other internationals more
than the Norwegians
lately.
The most Norwegian I
speak is
when I
teach the other international students,
but I
wish I
had someone to
correct me. I
think it's just a matter
of time, like for
many things in this world.
The big trees with all the leaves on them are attractive. Most of our trees are further along on the path to leaflessness.
ReplyDeleteThe occupy wall street demonstrations have spread to the Midwest. There was even a small group in Duluth last weekend on a very windy day, with signs and a lot of music and energy. I understand the sentiment of the movement, but it still seems a little unfocussed.