I've worked in a Norwegian environment for half a year now *time flies!*, I still have this feeling of an outsider-looking-in. I have really nice and welcoming colleagues but I can't help it when my subconsciousness compares now with the pre-Norway days. It is an understatement that language plays a huge part in this but hearing the statement and experiencing it first-hand... it's just a test of will... Gotta want to learn and improve my Norsk, gotta hang in there in the meantime, gotta just keep trying to get to know people in the office... It feels like the days when I'm letting my short hair grow longer, the in-between-hair-phase, you know you got to keep going because the end-result is worth it.
I'm still struggling with tenses, grammar and pronunciation.. if you put me in a roomful of Norwegians chattering away, I most probably won't be able to catch more than a few phrases here and there. So here's to all the newcomers, who feels like a fish out of the water, you are not alone! :)
Slapp av, ikke tenk for mye, kose dere og ha en fin helg!
Chilling-out,
ABE