Being Norwegian has gotten a whole new meaning these last few days. The eyes of an entire world has been on this tiny, seemingly peaceful country that I call home. Now however it’s not just about calling this my home, it’s about feeling so completely at home.
Tragedy struck on Friday July 22, 2011. First a bomb exploded in downtown Oslo, and already people were talking about one of the darkest days in Norwegian history. The worst was yet to come. The details of this horrible tragedy have been spread to the entire world, so there’s no need for me to repeat the details.
Shortly after the explosions in Oslo there was a massive media coverage going on. My plans for the evening was to have dinner followed by a nap to recharge after not sleeping enough the night before. During dinner the news of the explosion came through the radio, and minutes later I was glued to the TV like most of Norway’s population. I remember thinking “Wait, this could just be a gas explosion or something, why are they making the worst case scenario assumptions this early?”. I’m only assuming I was hoping to be right, the speculations and assumptions were flowing around through the general media coverage, and through social media. In the back of most minds were thoughts directed towards the type of terror we’ve seen all over the world since 9/11. Minutes later there were reports on twitter about immigrants being harassed in Oslo – people were acting out already, only based on assumptions. 3 days later people across all cultures and religions are hugging each other, smiling to each other, accepting each other.
The nation was already in despair when news of shooting at Utøya started spreading. What now? My immediate thought was that this was some sort of reaction to the attack in Oslo – someone gone mad as a result of hearing the news. Nowhere in my mind was there room for there to be a completely different link between the two places. I was franticly zapping between the two major TV channels to find answers. It was an endless stream of speculation and no real news for the first few minutes. The rest of the night is mostly as blur as it suddenly dawned on all of us that this was indeed one of the darkest days in Norwegian history. Darker than we had ever imagined. In a shocked stage, at a point where the news coverage had come to a stall due to a lower frequency of news reports, I decided to try to get some sleep. Around 2AM I browsed the online newspapers and refreshed my twitter feed one more time. Nothing new since 2 minutes ago. The number of casualties at Utøya were said to be around 10. A horrible number in itself, but the rumors on twitter was five times that. I braced myself thinking 50 was a worst case scenario to be met with waking up the next morning.
As if Friday night hadn’t shocked us, all of Norway went into a quiet shocked stage Saturday morning. The number was raised to “at least 80″. Going into my nearest town on Saturday was a surreal experience. At a time of day when finding a place to park is usually hard, it was all so very quiet. The few that had decided to go out were going about their shopping as quietly as possible. The few words that were shared were all about one thing. Rarely can you look at several people and know what they are all thinking. In the short line to pay for our groceries that day were people that all had the same thing on their mind. You rarely see strangers interact with each other in Norway – this was not the case on Saturday July 23rd.
What followed was days of more interaction between strangers. Stories of people reaching out to complete strangers, such as the young muslim woman who was approached by someone wanting to give her a hug at the enormous gathering in Oslo on Monday night. People holding hands – people crying together. All over this tiny beautiful country of ours have people gathered in the streets to be together, to walk together, to raise a single beautiful rose toward the sky together. If that doesn’t warm a Norwegian heart – nothing will. In one man’s head his operation was successful. Looking at the big picture it’s pretty obvious it was a big failure.
The number of casualties from the two attacks on Friday are still uncertain but for now placed below the number that shocked us Saturday morning. The heartbreaking stories from Utøya, resembling scenes from a horror movie, are starting to surface – numbing us even more. When the camera equipment will be packed down, the journalists will leave the affected areas and the affected people, and the spotlight will fade – I sincerely hope that we will not forget, and that our support will continue to help those most affected by this horrible tragedy.
I have to admit I have no idea what has happened around the world since Friday. I catch small glimpses online from time to time, but my mind is completely unable to process anything else right now. The media coverage is partly to blame, but even when I drag myself away from it for a few hours it’s impossible to keep my mind focused. Bad things happen, tragedies happen, but it’s impossible to not get completely caught up in it when it’s this close.
“We are so few in this country, each fallen is a brother and friend” – Nordahl Grieg.
Today I’m proud to call Norway my home. I’m proud of the people I share my Norwegian citizenship with. During the circumstances one would think that we would all feel unsafe and filled with fear. I’ve never felt as safe in this country of mine as I do now – and it’s all because of how we all stand together and offer what we can to the people around us. Today we all feel loved. That’s a safety that armed police in the streets can never replace.
Now you all know how we get through those cold winters. We carry an enormous source of heat in our hearts.
