ha det (goodbye)
“You get a strange feeling when you’re about to leave a place.
Like you’ll not only miss the people that you love
but you’ll miss the person you are now at this time in this place,
because you’ll never be this way again” – Azar Nafisi
Almost five months ago, we arrived on this Southern Norwegian Island. We received a warm welcome, in the freezing cold of the Norwegian winter. All was well in the world then. So much has changed.
Our three months here became four. Four months become five. We chose to stay on.
As always, we have mixed feelings about leaving. We’ve become used to so much on this peninsula. It would be easy to stay longer. We’ve made new friends and reconnected with a firm friend from our Zambia days.
So what’s been different, this time round?
We’ve learned that when it comes to relocations, some things are the same, whether you move somewhere for three months or three years. You still have to jump through official hoops, pay the bills, organise a SIM, (another one), do the laundry, work out bus schedules and get groceries.
Even when you’re living in holiday accommodation, because your stay was supposed to be temporary, it is not a holiday. You still make the effort to learn at least a little of the language, and learn as much as you can about the local culture
You adjust. Again.
This time there’s no shipping. We arrived with three cases and will leave with four. Easy.
Then there are the goodbyes. That’s never easy. I’ll revert to my quick “ciao ciao”, “we will meet” and follow up later, with more meaningful messages.
These months will remain unforgettable for many reasons. Apart from the experiences shared and places visited, this time has been punctuated by the Coronavirus. We will always remember being in quarantine, after travelling back into the country. Thankfully lockdown measures only lasted for eight weeks. In that time PKP worked from ‘home’. We stayed on the island, took long walks, got groceries and ate Kvikk Lunsj bars by the river. Since restrictions were lifted, we’ve been able to see more of beautiful Agder county.
As always, your local friends are your support network. You are there for each other with words of encouragement, through stress, sickness and bereavement. People are always the greatest highlight in a place and we know that we will see friends from our time in Norway again.
And you still create a list of ‘things to do before we leave’.
This week we say “ha det” to Hisøy.
And our thoughts turn to travel.
Are you moving on at this time?
© Maggie M /Mother City City