Learn from the inside

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime." - Mark Twain

Whenever I travel, I try to not just observe but become integrated in the culture around me. I imagine what life would be like if I had been born there, and I try to adopt the local cultural norms. I call this "learning from the inside." 

As a rule of thumb, I say "yes" to everything I'm offered - local food, weekend excursions, participating in traditions, even meeting friends' parents. I learn more if I have an open attitude. 

My housemates and I at dinner

That said, last night was quite the cultural experience. I told you before that one of my housemates is an expert in wine, so he put on a wine tasting for all of us. He taught us how to properly evaluate the color, smell, and taste of the wine (yes, there is a right and a wrong way to do it!) and introduced us to several different bottles. I have never thought so deeply about wine in my life!

After that, some of the girls from my house went out for dinner. It was fun to get dressed up and go to a fancy restaurant - ok, not an entirely new experience for me, but it was a good chance to get to know my housemates better. I was feeling a bit self-conscious as the only person at the table who couldn't understand Norwegian, but they all insisted on speaking English so that I could be included. It was a really kind gesture on their part.

The nice thing about European restaurants is that the portions are actually reasonable. You can feasibly finish your meal, in contrast to the U.S., where I always have to take half of my food home. I even ordered dessert! 

After dinner, we met up with some of the guys from the house, and it struck me that there's a really positive group dynamic. Everyone trusts and respects each other. I'm blessed to live in with such a great group of people.