Globe Corner Blogs

Olaus Magnus' Scandinavia 1539

The other day I was wasting a lot of time playing on Facebook and I got sucked into one of those stupid-yet-addictive quizzes that are popping up everywhere. They have one for everything imaginable and I saw that one of my friends had completed the “What is your true inner nationality” quiz. Naturally I had to take the quiz as well. Turns out my true inner nationality is “Swedish.” Hummm… never thought I was particularly Swedish. Even though I am proud of my Norwegian-German from Russia via Ukraine roots, I think that my inner-nationality is American. However, I have been told I have the soul of a Romanian by a Romanian, that I must be Croatian because I like red wine with fish, that I look really Bosnian, and that I was Icelandic by a sober Icelander. I would like to think that my inner nationality might be a New Zealander (I like the accent) or Canadian (I would like to live in Vancouver), but I never considered Swedish. It never crossed my mind.

Continue Reading »

Montenegro Has A Fjord!--photo by Lisa

I am constantly asked why I am trying to speak Croatian/Bosnian/Serbian. Most people assume that I have some relative that came from the area and I am trying to reconnect with my heritage. There is always some confusion when I explain that my grandparents were from Norway and being Norwegian and having black hair are not mutually exclusive properties. Most of the my fellow students have Croatian or Bosnian background and I must admit sometimes I get a bit jealous when they reminisce about growing up with the foods, playing Tamburi (folk music), visiting various cousins in the area, and all the colorful swear words that they learned from some uncle.

Then I always begin to feel a bit guilty about neglecting my “homeland.” I am a bad Norwegian.

I speak a total of ten Norwegian words and none of them are swear words. I have never met any of my cousins, nor have I visited the small, isolated village where Grandpa was born. I hate lutefisk and I have never successfully made krumkake.
Continue Reading »