From the time she moved from the USA to her home now in Stavenger, Norway, Ren has kept herself busy. Here she talks about several aspects of living in Norway, from the benefits of socialized medicine, to the work she has done and is doing, to descriptions of expat communities.	Ren Powell

October 25 2006

-Where were you born?
Anaheim, California, USA

-In which country and city are you living now?
Norway - the city of Stavanger

-Are you living alone or with your family?
With my Norwegian husband and two children

-How long have you been living in Norway?
Since Christmas Eve, 1992

-What is your age?
It’s 2006, I’m 40: What the Norwegian’s call a “round” year.

-When did you come up with the idea of living in Norway?
Moving to another country was absolutely not a part of my plan for the future. I was finished with my undergraduate degree and had been asked to stay an extra semester to direct one of my plays while I applied for graduate fellowships and worked at a photo store. That’s where I met my husband. He talked about his childhood as an amazing time of freedom and security - a radically different childhood than my own in Southern California. I guess this touched on a previously deeply buried desire to start a family. When I realized what I wanted I panicked and sent my (not yet) husband home. Three miserable months later I was on a plane to Norway. I knew I couldn’t live in NY or LA and feel comfortable starting a family, and that my life was going to change course drastically anyway: an unexpected adventure.

-Was it hard to get a visa or a working permit?
No. But things are different now. I originally came on a three-month tourist visa. And we really did want to “try it out.” By the end of the second month we discovered we’d actually started a family a bit sooner than expected. I would give birth to a Norwegian citizen, which gave me the right to live and work in the country. Which leads me to the next question:

-Was it difficult for you to get medical insurance before you went there or when you first arrived?
Norway has socialized medicine. When I feel like grumbling about 40% taxes, I often remind myself that if my first pregnancy had been in America, I would never have had the insurance or financial resources for the care that it took to bring my first-born to term. I was hospitalized for 5 months.

This aspect of the Norwegian society - the socialized medicine - is something Americans should view with an eye to self-critique. It is also a problem for Norwegians because it means that refugees from very many countries will do just about anything to get into Norway and their welfare system. That is a beautiful aspect of the Norwegian wealth - a humanitarian approach that surpasses that of the consumerist (most of the time). But it also will bring a host of political problems in the future.

-How do you make your living in Norway? Do you have any type of income generated?
I wanted to work from the day I got here. I had a string of odd jobs like reading in audiotapes for school use, etc. But writing for the Norwegian stage was out. I’ve always been a “wordsmith,” not a visual dramatist. I’d written feminist performance pieces about hygiene commercials etc.: very cultural- specific. So I began doing translations voluntarily, which led to freelance translation for money.

I also ran a Danish art gallery before I found a job teaching at a performing arts high school. I got both of these jobs through conventional routes - although they were not typical of the Norwegian job market.

Language has not been a problem, if one doesn’t take into account that I am a writer. Norwegians speak English (they begin learning it in the second grade). The problem is they overestimate their abilities and underestimate native speakers. I actually have been told on several occasions that, “Just because you are an American doesn’t mean that you write English well.” I get that. It’s the fact that they refuse to acknowledge my BA in Theater/English and Masters in Creative Writing from the UK that makes me want to cry with frustration. (Guess you sense the frustration?)

It’s quite ironic that the other comment is, “Why don’t you just write in Norwegian?”

Which brings me to the next question:

-Do you speak Norwegian and do you think it's important to speak the local language?
Of course I speak the local language and I do think it’s important. Language is a large part of culture. You know, even within the US dialect plays a large role in defining which “culture” you belong to.

I spoke well enough to teach school after only two years. However, I often taught in both languages because language reveals personality and I wanted my students to know I wasn’t as tight and stiff as my Norwegian sentences. Norwegian will never by my inner language. I am not gifted musically and I can’t hear a lovely sentence from a clunky one in Norwegian. But I speak the language socially. I even dream in it now and then.

I speak English to my husband and children. It is my “private” language. I do admit that it has been difficult that my youngest son has chosen to speak Norwegian almost exclusively. I say something, he answers in Norwegian. But I would never force him on the issue - it’s a matter of personality and I respect that.

I didn’t come here as a tourist, I came here to live and it would be ridiculous to expect the people here to speak English with me - even though most can. It becomes a power-issue. One humbles oneself when speaking a language he or she doesn’t master. Refusing to do that, forces the other person to humble themselves. It’s really a simple fact that too many Americans I’ve met here don’t understand. They tell themselves that Norwegians know English...so many times I’ve heard this behavior described as arrogance. I really think it’s just thoughtlessness and ignorance. Insecurity in many cases. But I believe if you make a fool of yourself now and then, people like you much better.

-Do you miss home and family sometimes?
At first (and even still) what I miss the most is food. I think that I am in a unique situation; I have no real family in America and never lived in one place for very long. I have no “home” to long for in a concrete sense. This concept of “America” is something I’ve struggled with. I thought that after my grandfather died it would be easy to give up my citizenship (I can’t have dual citizenship in Norway), but it hasn’t been.

I lived here 8 years before returning to America the first time. When we landed at the airport in Florida it was the smell of air conditioner coolant that made me cry unexpectedly. It is the details, the tiny things of ever day - the things too small to remember that I miss.

It’s also the easy flow of language. I miss clever conversations (I know that’s a terribly unflattering thing to say about myself, but there you have it).

When 9/11 came, a neighbor woman came over with flowers. But at work the next day everyone was telling me how they felt about it. No one even asked me what I felt. One colleague actually wrote me a gleeful (yes, gleeful) email saying it was good America finally “got theirs.”

From America, my friends wrote me saying things like, “You don’t know how Americans feel now.”

That year was the hardest for me here: the sense of absolutely not belonging anywhere anymore. I guess that’s still difficult.

-Do you have other plans for the future?
I don’t teach anymore. I wrote full time for a year, but then wanted a job with “grown-up” companionship. I now work part-time for the International Cities of Refuge Network (www.icorn.org). It is a unique opportunity that grew out of my work with PEN. The best job I can imagine. I do travel quite a bit now with PEN and with ICORN. Growing up in trailer parks in Southern California and working full-time to put myself through college, I never dreamed that I’d have the life I have now.

I thought I wanted to teach at a university in America someday. But, honestly, I can’t see that happening. Most days I’m fine with that. Goals change.

-What about housing, have you bought, or are you renting a home? How much do you pay for it?
We have a mortgage. Things tend to be smaller here - bedrooms that look like walk-in closets (even by trailer park measurements). But we are a five-minute walk from a lake and golf course and a five-minute walk to the sea and downtown. It’s humble. We could have a fancier house, but it’s how you choose to prioritize your money, right? We travel a lot and like our cozy little wooden duplex with a picket fence.

-What is the cost of living in Norway?
If I’m not mistaken, it’s the highest in the world? 40% goes to taxes and eating at a restaurant is something most Norwegians do very rarely (though that’s changing).

I don’t complain. As I mentioned earlier, I’d still be paying medical bills if I’d been living in America.

-What do you think about the Norwegians?
Oh gosh, I’ve been here so long, if I start I’ll write a book. If anyone still has the stomach for more from me on this, there is a sassy little essay on my blog, Sidestepping Real, that’s called The Weirdest Thing About Norwegians. There’s a link in the right-hand column under Favorite Posts.

-What are the positive and negative aspects of living in Norway?

Think Americana 1950s:

The safety, security and freedom of childhood vs. the WASP assumption that WASP cultural experience and values are the norm.

The fact that there are very few urban poor in Norway vs. the fact that there are very many urban poor minorities in Oslo now.

The fact that Norwegians are kind and naïve vs. the fact that Norwegians are proud of themselves, and naïve.

-Do you have any tips for our readers about living in Norway?
Read my blog? I do write a lot about the challenges.

I also should point out that there is an expatriate community here in town. They have a Yahoo group. I don’t recognize their experiences, though. Many of these people come from a different socio-economic background in America and are here with the oil companies temporarily. There is also a group of military families. Both groups send their children to the International School instead of Norwegian schools and they are not integrated in the society. They live here in an American enclave. Covered wagons circled around.

I can’t tell anyone what that’s like. I can tell you the woes and frustrations about having your kids go to a Norwegian school, though...

-Do you have any favorite Web sites or blogs about Norway?
I’ve plugged my blog twice already...
Sidestepping Real

If you want to read some Norwegian blogs, or blogs that people consciously register as Norwegian in a database, see Globe of Blogs.