Tuesday 20 November 2012

Afraid...

Last week was my sixth time flying. Well, the first time i took an airplane was on 12th August as we flew here to Norway from Kenya. I remember as the plane took off and i held tightly to my seat as we rose 10,000 meters off the ground. You see the highest i had ever been in life was maybe climbing a tall tree at the back of our upcountry home or while on top of one of the skyscrapers in our capital city. I should add that whenever i was atop these skyscrapers i never really wanted to look down as i was afraid of falling. So now you know, i fear heights: something i am old is called acrophobia.

I realized as we flew to and from Ă…lesund my fear is slowly going but at quite a slow pace i must admit. I still fear flying and being in the air. I would any day prefer to travel on land by car or train than be in the air. Every time we were in the air and the plane would shake a bit maybe because of the weather and the clouds, i would feel a bit of fear running down my spine. 

It reminded me of my fear of being in large water bodies especially given my first near-drowning encounter during my first few weeks at Hald. We were out by the ocean relaxing near the beach. My friends were taking plunges into the water from a high point. They would go up this outpost and take a dive into the ocean below. It look fun and simple and i wanted to try but from the lowest point of the outpost. Remember that i do not know how to swim and except for once or twice i have tried it and failed. So i took a plunge in to the water. I tried coming up for air to no avail. I tried shouting and no voice was coming. I only remembered not to use my nose below the water so i breathed through the mouth. Finally, after some struggle one of the pals we were with came to my rescue and I almost swore to myself never to try swimming.

I am still afraid of many things even tonight as i write. In fact this very night, all the things i fear seem to be knocking at the doorstep. I feel afraid. In a new land away from home. Trying to settle. Not knowing even why I am here. Trying to learn a new language. Feeling insignificant. Yet in the midst of all these, I feel secure. Secure in a small promise tucked away in Isaiah 41:10. I read it and my heart is at rest. And this is what my God tells me:
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.








Friday 9 November 2012

So Same, So different

Cultures are quite different. I remember the day I left Kenya for Norway as though it were yesterday. It was Sunday, 12th August 2012 at around 10 pm when we boarded the plane off to Norway on an adventure that was to last us 10 months. As we lifted off the Jomo Kenyatta International airport, It never crossed my mind even once that I had left a different culture and was headed to a new culture; I was crossing cultures. It just felt as though I had gone to sleep and woken up in the same area and, save for the food and people, nothing was very different.
Three months later and I confess that cultures are different and Kenya is not Norway and Norway is not Kenya. I admit loudly that though we have similarities in the two cultures, the differences are very pronounced and need special mention and attention. On the surface, we are very similar people with almost very similar cultures. We share common needs and even breathe the same air. When I landed here in Norway and many weeks after that, I thought, ‘hey, Norway is not so different from Kenya after all.’ What I did not know is that I was actually interacting with the objective part of the culture which is usually similar to my native culture and which is very easy to adapt to.
Patty Lane, in her book A beginner’s guide to crossing cultures, identifies two aspects of any culture, the objective and the subjective. The objective aspect lies on the surface and is easily noticeable and is very easy to adapt to. It includes such things as clothing, food, eye contact, greetings and time consciousness. The subjective part of the culture takes time to perceive and adapt to and is the most difficult bit of culture to engage. It includes values, concepts of truth, feelings, motivations, authority roles, beliefs about gender roles and assumption. The subjective part is below the surface and it takes insight, asking questions and patiently listening keenly to find it out.
The reason for all this is because I have been nursing a serious home sickness these past couple of days that has made me ask myself deeper questions on cultural differences and what they mean to me. I have found that homes sickness is a normal reaction as I have shared with friends who are on the exchange program with me. Strikingly, we have all been experiencing, in the last few days and weeks, fits of home sickness. This is an intense feeling of really missing the home environment, the people and the culture. I now understand that this could be because we are now interacting with the part of the culture that is subjective, the big iceberg that is below the surface which has the capacity to break our Titanic ship.
Missing home
Because of this, I am motivated to take time to investigate the aspects of our culture that I find different and similar to Norwegian culture in the next many months as I live here. So keep reading this column and leave me your comments as we explore cultural differences and what they mean.

Tuesday 6 November 2012

A month later...


I can't believe that the last time I wrote something here was a month ago! Could it be because my culture shock has been month long and has made me have a mental block? Or have I been so busy trying to be a strict time keeper (ever since missing the train) such that I have had no time to write? Or has the snow, which has been falling all over Trondheim, been falling on my head and made my head freeze? Or could be that the days are getting darker and my time of work has been becoming less and less now that am used to work as long as there is light in Kenya? Well could be all these together.
What to do with this snow outside my house
All in all it has been an exciting one month in Trondheim. Well, it has been an action packed month. What with a trip to the mountains, a speaking engagement, a mission week to Bergen, attending several dinners, travels in, around and out of town, seeing the kick off of seeker bible study groups, hanging out with my teammate and meeting and sharing with students! I mean life this last month has really been flying by at a fast pace.
The greatest change that I have had to cope with is the drastic weather changes. I never anticipated such kind of weather as I have experienced here. When we arrived here in Norway, it was late summer and the day began at around 5.30 am with some light outside the room. Then it was followed normally by a bright sunshine later in the day and finally a light afternoon rain perhaps once in a while and finally, the sun came back and went to rest maybe at 8 pm in the night. The sunlight would still be visible till around 10 pm in the night. I was told to enjoy such superb weather as it may be the best there could be this year.
Looking back, I wish I had heeded that advice! The days are getting darker and shorter. The sunlight is visible at around 7 am and it all but disappears by 4.30 pm in the afternoon. Now to make matters more difficult, the snow started falling two weeks ago meaning the temperatures were mostly below zero. I have never in my life experienced temperatures below 10°C let alone below zero!
In Bergen for the mission week
But best of all the friendships we have made make the Trondheim weather bearable. We have had a lovely time interacting with the students and staff and residents here. They have made home sickness bearable to by making us belong. Some have taught us how to cook while others have cooked for us and with us. They have taken time to show us around town and take us on trips and tours around town. They have invited us for dinners at their homes where lively conversations went on. Only yesterday, we went for a lovely Birthday party and tonight we are attending a special dinner in honor of our contact person Lars Olav who is leaving for Poland by the end of the year. My teammate Grace and I even have invitation to spend Christmas with the families of two of the students here. Such kind gestures have made the first month here exciting to say the least. And this is just the beginning!