More Like Marcel, Please
Jul. 25th, 2011 03:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
deirdreThe Norway massacre has hit the household hard. Rick's father was born in Norway, and we visited the country all-too-briefly in 2008.
Even though we were literally there for just a short day -- something like 10-4 -- we saw the smallest fringe of multiculturalism. As we were headed back to the docks, a bunch of brown school kids were chatting in a mix of Norwegian and Arabic. One of them smiled at us and asked, "Where are you from?"
I was so tempted to ask the same, but I resisted. After all, they probably had lived in Norway most of their lives.
Norway's current economic boom is related to recently-discovered oil reserves, thus bringing in people from other cultures who've worked on oilfields. It's different than some other countries and their sources of immigration; Norway's typically been a poor (and cold!) country, so it hasn't exactly been an immigration hot spot.
Anyhow, back to current events....
Marcel Gleffe risked life and limb to help rescue about thirty kids. He says he feels absolutely terrible that he didn't save more people. Sadly, that's the image that may stick with him, even though it's not his fault at all. Another article here.
Even though we were literally there for just a short day -- something like 10-4 -- we saw the smallest fringe of multiculturalism. As we were headed back to the docks, a bunch of brown school kids were chatting in a mix of Norwegian and Arabic. One of them smiled at us and asked, "Where are you from?"
I was so tempted to ask the same, but I resisted. After all, they probably had lived in Norway most of their lives.
Norway's current economic boom is related to recently-discovered oil reserves, thus bringing in people from other cultures who've worked on oilfields. It's different than some other countries and their sources of immigration; Norway's typically been a poor (and cold!) country, so it hasn't exactly been an immigration hot spot.
Anyhow, back to current events....
Marcel Gleffe risked life and limb to help rescue about thirty kids. He says he feels absolutely terrible that he didn't save more people. Sadly, that's the image that may stick with him, even though it's not his fault at all. Another article here.