Posts under "Politics"

The Norwegian King and Queen Visit the Midwest, New York

Posted by kari No Comments
Oct 11 2011

This was the royal couple a long time ago....

Kong Harold and Dronning Sonja arrive in the United States today to embark on a 12 day journey that will take them to the great midwest (read: I was born and raised and currently reside in Northfield, MN-one destination for the royal couple) and none other than the Big Apple for a ball!  Other members of the Norwegian Royal family have visited the midwest in my lifetime as well.  In fact, when I was a student at St. Olaf, Crown Prince Haakon visited in 2005, as well as his sister, Princess Märthe Louise in 2006.  Princess Astrid visited in 2008.  This is not the first time that Harald and Sonja will visit either.  The Norwegian royal family makes semi-regular visits to colleges and communities in the midwest that have strong relationships with or a history rooted in Norway.  Please find here a brief itinerary-perhaps the royals will be in your area:)

Oct. 13– The first visit on the trip is Luther College in Decorah, IA.  Luther was founded by Norwegians and is actually the oldest Norwegian Norwegian-American College in the United States.  Furthermore, this year marks Luther’s 150th anniversary.

Oct. 14–Drumroll please….St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN-my alma mater and my city.  And I will be out of town on business:(  St. Olaf was founded by Norwegians just 13 years after Luther.  St. Olaf is named after Kong Olav II Haroldsson, who ruled Norway from 1016 to 1030 and was responsible for Christianizing Norway.  Harald and Sonja will attend a Norwegian class taught my one of my old Norwegian professors.  That will be so much fun for all!

I would like to quote Jean Callister Benson (Director of Special Events at St. Olaf) on the royal visit:

“We want the King and Queen to know that this college remains dedicated to the high standards set by our Norwegian immigrant founders.  In the spirit of free inquiry and free expression, we still offer an environment that integrates teaching, scholarship and creative activity.  While we are working hard to become a diverse community, we remain true to our Norwegian heritage.”

Oct. 16–Augsburg College in Minneapolis, MN.  Founded in 1869 by Norwegians, this college was originally a seminary.  Augsburg has huge significance in that it is the only place outside of Norway that holds an official Norwegian Peace Prize Forum.

Oct. 17–Their Majesties will continue north up to Duluth, MN.  I will digress and tell a joke here:  Who founded Duluth?  Dulutherans!  Haha.

Burt Enger, a Norwegian immigrant, built a 5-story tower overlooking Lake Superior in Duluth, which Kong Harald and Dronning Sonja dedicated.  Now it is time for their visit and the rededication ceremony.

Prior to their departure to New York, the royal couple will participate in the opening of an exhibited called “Cold Call” at the St. Paul/Minneapolis airport.  The exhibit commemorates Roald Amundsen’s journey to the South Pole.  Perhaps I can see this exhibit when I return from my business trip.

Oct. 21–Last, but never least, the royals will attend a ball in New York City, where representatives from all 5 Nordic countries will be in attendance.  They include Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Prince Mary of Denmark, Tarja Halonen, President of Finland, President of Iceland Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, and King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden.  Whew!

The official name of the event is the American-Scandinavian Foundation Centennial Ball and it will be held at the Hilton New York Hotel.  This year is significant because the foundation celebrates its 100th anniversary.  The American Scandinavian Foundation promotes educational and cultural exchanges between the United States and Nordic countries in the hopes to further international cultural understandings.

If you are in an area the King and Queen will visit, you should certainly try to weasel your way in to experience it.  It’s bizarre, but fun being in the presence of royals!

Gun Politics in Norway

Posted by kari 3 Comments
Aug 3 2011

After Anders Breivik  open fired on innocent victims on the island of Utøya, many people have expressed their belief that Norway´s gun laws should be stricter.  Until guns are banned completely from the public, rules and regulations can always be stricter. We in the U.S. have had so many instances of school shootings and other violent domestic terrorist attacks involving guns, it only seems natural to assume that the first course of action in trying to prevent another Utøya like situation would be to tighten gun laws.

Having had conversations about hunting and shooting as a sport with Norwegians, I have to step out and applaud Norway for the gun laws that they currently have in place.  When I lived in Tromsø, I accepted an invite from a friend I had just met to shoot clay pigeons at a public range.  It isn´t every day a young American woman shows up at the Tromsdalen Shooting range, so I naturally had a few conversations with the local members.  They asked if I had to carry an sort of license with me.  I explained that I didn´t have to, but I did have my little orange business-card sized ´Firearms Certificate´which states that I passed the short course that I took.  They asked how involved the course was and what else is required to purchase a gun in the U.S.

These Norwegian men were surprised to hear that all I had to do was take an afternoon course in the field and a relatively short online test.  They asked, `You mean you don´t have to apply with the police to get approval to purchase a gun?´  I explained that the police have essentially nothing to do with consumers buying shotguns in the U.S.   The rules are different for different types of guns, but we all know that gun laws in the U.S. are very loose when compared to other countries.

Many Norwegians hunt participate in competitive sport shooting and therefore own guns.   As mandatory civil service is still in place, many Norwegian men are also active in the military.  Very few people own guns for self defense.  Semi-automatic and bolt action rifles, as well as shotguns are the most popular kinds of guns owned by most.  Automatic weapons are only legal if they are collectors items and will not be used to shoot.  It is a felony to modify a rifle into an automatic rifle.

To obtain a firearms license, one must first identify a reason for needing a gun.  Hunters must complete a 30 hour, 9 session course (includes firearm theory, firearm training, wildlife theory, and environmental protection training) and pass a written multiple choice exam. Once the exam is passed, the applicant may enroll in the hunters registry and obtain a license.  Then, the individual must bring the license to the police station and apply for a permit to purchase a gun.  The police will review the applicants background and determine if he or she are suited to own a gun.  If approved, the applicant takes the form to a gun store (keeping in mind that you cannot buy guns and ammo at KMart like we can in the U.S.) and purchase a gun.

Sports shooters do not have as many restrictions on purchasing a gun, but the course is much more involved.  The written exam is shorter, but the field requirements are greater.  A sports shooter must show regular attendance and compete at an approved gun club for 6 months.  Until this 6 month period is over, the sports shooter must use the guns provided at the gun club.

Gun storage laws are strict and police can randomly check homes for proper gun storage at any time.

There has been no evidence to my knowledge that Anders Breivik was granted any gun rights that the law doesn´t permit.  I am not saying that Norway shouldn´t tighten gun laws even futher than they already are.  However, I think it´s important to be aware of the process in place to obtain a license to purchase a gun in Norway.  While it was nice to not have to jump through hoops for me to obtain a hunting license and get a gun, I would have gladly done so knowing that it may decrease the liklihood of criminal acts, or at least make it much harder to commit them.

Oslo International Summer School

Posted by kari 3 Comments
Jul 26 2011

With a motto of “Six Weeks of Academic Achievement and International Good Will,” the students attending the ISS this year should be very proud of what they are doing.  After the horrific events of July 22 in Oslo and on Utøya, I have been feeling quite sad and troubled.  I therefore want to focus my next couple of posts on positive things coming out of Norway.  The International Summer School is one of them.

ISS is a part of the University of Oslo (UiO), which is the oldest university in Norway, founded in 1811.  There are about 30,000 students who enroll in UiO each year.  In 1947 the first English speaking program was established at ISS.  The Americans had been welcoming to Norwegian students who came to the U.S. shortly after WWII, so the Norwegians decided to invite English speaking students to the International Summer School, which was actually called “The Summer School for American Students” until 1958 when students from other countries began to attend and thus the name became “The International Summer School.”

Since 1947, 25,000 students from 150 countries have attended the 6 week long program for graduates and undergraduates.  During recent years, the number of attendees has been around 600 and they come from up to 90 nations.  For a small country relatively isolated in northwestern Europe, those numbers are impressive.

Some of the courses offered include Norwegian language, literature and culture, Scandinavian politics and international development.  Graduate students take only one course, as do students of Norwegian.  Students of all ages can apply and there are plenty of scholarships offered to offset the $3,700 it costs to attend the 6 week program.  The cost is cheaper to live off-campus, but most students choose to stay in the dormitories at the Blindern campus.

map of Blindern campus

Every year there is an International Cultural night where students have the opportunity to share their home culture with the rest of the students.  Students prepare food that is unique to their cultures, create dances, songs, skits, games, whatever they want.  I have never been a student at ISS, but when I was living in Oslo one summer after completing a semester at the University of Oslo, I attended the International Cultural Night.  It was a lot of fun.  I got to try really tasty food from all over the world and get a glimpse into all these different cultures.  There were a few people from my hometown and from my college that were students that summer, so it was fun to see them too:)

photo of International Cultural Night

The International Cultural Night is always held at Chateau Neuf, a really big building owned by the University that hosts all kinds of parties and other events.  This year, the International Cultural Night is this coming Friday.  I wish I could transport myself!  I’m sure it will be extra special after what happened in Norway on Friday.

The below picture and quote is on the front page of the ISS website.  Check it out here to view more.

“If one man can show so much hate, think of how much love we can show together.” – Labor Party camp survivor in an interview with CNN.

Tragedies in Norway

Posted by kari 2 Comments
Jul 23 2011

I have been in complete shock since yesterday morning when I heard about the tragedies in Norway.  My home away from home has experienced something few ever thought was possible.  5 years ago, when Oslo was my home, I read the newspaper every morning, the front page of which rarely contained much about Norway.  The local news in Norway is usually pretty boring and that´s because the majority of people lead very normal and safe lives.  There are many people could not point Norway out on a map or tell you what language is spoken there.  Most people who do know anything about Norway think of it as a kind of paradise.  With a little less than 5 million people, breathtaking nature, plenty of wealth to go around and a socialist democracy run by the Labor Party, Norway is a pretty sweet place to live.  Besides a few rough areas in Oslo and Bergen, it´s difficult to find an place in Norway where one would feel unsafe walking around alone.

Norway is certainly not a place one would expect car bombs and mass shootings to occur.  Norway lost a piece of her innocence yesterday.  In what appears to be a solo mission, a 32 native Norwegian man named Anders Behring Breivik, set off a car bomb in Oslo killing 7 people and injuring more.  The bomb went off in the government quarter.  It blew all of the windows out of several buildings.  Surely a target, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg was unharmed.  As if this wasn´t enough of a tragedy, Breivik set out for Utøya, a small island about 60 miles away where young children attend a Labor Party camp every year.

Breivik, who was dressed in police attire, flashed a fake badge to the guards and said he was sent to the island on a routine security check after what happened in Oslo.  He was taken in a boat to the island and proceeded to the central building where the campers were meeting to discuss what had happened in the capital.  Children from 14-19 years old were sobbing and sharing their disbelief about the tragedy in Oslo.  Breivik announced that he´d like all of the campers to gather so he could talk to them.  He entered the building and open fired his machine gun at the campers.  Hundreds of panicked kids ran out of the building to seek refuge in bushes, behind trees, and many attempted to swim to safety.  As of now, the number of death toll is at 82.  Breivik shot down 82 innocent children on an island with nowhere to go.  I don´t believe a more cowardly act is possible.

Breivik´s motives are not completely known at this point, but it is clear, based on the stories that have come out about himself and his political views, that he was targeting the Labor party.  He is an extremist who hates and fears Islam and obviously does not agree with the Labor Party´s immigration policies.  I will not attempt to explain Breivik´s mind in this post, as I will never understand it.

I simply wanted to get the word out to those who may not have heard and offer my condolences through a broader medium to all of those in Norway who are grieving for a loss because of the recent tragedies.  This tells me that no person or place is immune to the anger and violence that humans can reveal.


June 7 in Norwegian History

Posted by kari No Comments
Jun 9 2011

There were no major historical events that happened this past Tuesday, June 7.  It is, however, a very important day in Norwegian history.  At least 3 huge events (that I´m aware of) occurred on this day.

In 1905, it was on June 7 that the Union with Sweden officially dissolved.  This Union (Unionen mellom Norge og Sverige-the Union between Norway and Sverige) had existed since 1814 when King Frederick VI of Denmark decided to cede Norway to Sweden due to consequences of the Napoleonic War and more specifically in an effort to avoid the occupation of Jutland.  You may remember that it was in 1814 that the Constitution was signed in Norway, making her officially independent.  The terms of the Union were that the Swedish Cabinet was in control of foreign policy decisions.  The only Norwegian who was allowed to be present for these matters of discussion was the Prime Minister.  The Swedish Parliament could influence foreign policy, but not the Norwegian Parliament.

The flag of Sweden 1844-1905

After 91 years of Norway primarily making decisions for herself and acting as an independent country, developing very quickly, it was finally agreed by an overwhelming majority vote of 368,392 to 184 that Norway would be fully independent.  June 7 is not a public holiday, but many Norwegians recognize this day as an important day in their country´s history.  As you know, Norwegians love to say they are better than the Swedes and vise versa.

Norwegians also celebrate June 7 because not only was it this day in 1940 that the Norwegian King fled Norway for exile in London, but also the same day 5 years later that he returned to Norway after this 5-year exile.  On April 9, 1940, the Germans invaded Norway for several reasons: to ensure control of the waters of the North Atlantic, to control iron ore coming from Swedish mines through the Norwegian city of Narvik, and to further reinforce the propaganda of Germanic empire.  Norway was completely unprepared for the massive attacks they endured during the German invasion on April 9.

On June 7, 1940, King Haakon, the Crown Prince, and the government fled Norway through Tromsø to England where an exile government was established to aid the resistance efforts against German occupation. Radio broadcasting from the Norwegian government in London gave the Norwegian people hope that Norway would one day be independent again.

After 5 long years of German occupation, the King and his government were given a warm welcome back to Norway on June 7, 1945.  King Haakon traveled all over Norway to see the damage the attacks and the occupation had had on his country and to determine the best methods of reconstruction.  On his 75th birthday, he was surprised with a gift of a model yacht if the British ship the Philante.  The Norwegian people had raised enough funds to purchase the yacht for him.  It was under refurbishment until the following summer.  What an awesome gift!  King Haakon put many miles on this vessel, which he christened with the name the Norge.  His final voyage on this ship was in 1955 to Møre in Romsdal in the western part of Norway.

YouTube Preview Image

June 7 is a very important day in Norwegian history!

 

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