Peace, Love, and Lutefisk: Adventures i Norge

It has been an interesting transition back to the United States of America. There are of course numerous minor things to get used to again- language, landscape, and culture- but the biggest epiphany has been with friends. I had an opportunity to travel to Minneapolis last weekend and see my best friends from college. It was an unusual experience. I was so excited to see all of them, but it felt weird to essentially step back into an old world. They have new lives, but in many ways it seems the same as college days. They live together, have the same personalities, the same quirks, and are the same fun, good people. I wonder if I am the reason that it seems like the old college days since they have lives in the moment that I don’t share with them. Essentially we all have our own pattern of living and when we get back together we revert back to our old way of living because that is a pattern that we share.

It was also a difficult weekend to realize that timing is enough to bring down some relationships. It is frustrating to know that there are amazing people that I can’t get to know, can’t spend time with, and can’t support simply because I am in a different time zone, in a different country, and in a different life. It seems to be the price of exploration or maybe just the logical effect of growing up. Fortunately, beneath all of these slightly depressing realizations is the fact that they are my friends. We will always have a shared history. I have spent formative years with them, and they know me. Even if I grow, they know at some level the roots of that growth. I have a lot of fun with them and am at peace knowing that I will always be able to randomly show up and be a part of their lives, regardless of how unfair it is to expect that. Whether making lunch, playing Smash Brothers, drinking wine, or helping to shave their backs, I have a lot of random experiences to share with my friends. And in that, I’m thankful.

“No Surprises” - Radiohead

A heart that's full up like a landfill,
a job that slowly kills you,
bruises that won't heal.
You look so tired-unhappy,
bring down the government,
they don't, they don't speak for us.
I'll take a quiet life,
a handshake of carbon monoxide,

with no alarms and no surprises,
no alarms and no surprises,
no alarms and no surprises,
Silent silence.

This is my final fit,
my final bellyache,

with no alarms and no surprises,
no alarms and no surprises,
no alarms and no surprises please.

Such a pretty house
and such a pretty garden.

No alarms and no surprises,
no alarms and no surprises,
no alarms and no surprises, please.