pomp and mildly awkward circumstances

My first big organized social event, took place this morning. I was jammed into a square filled with a wild mix of Norwegian and international students. Coded by color and number, I was funneled into a group of “kids” though two were for sure over the age of 35. We stood in an awkward circle while waiting for the last few kids to show up. And we waited in silence. I’m not talking a few whispers or smiles or eye contact. I’m talking silence. And then our designated “buddies” let us know 1. That the kids in this group were all media studies students, and 2. We all could speak English.

In our oblong circle, we went around and said our names and any word that began with the same letter. But before we could say that we had to say all the previous names and the associated word. Fortunately for me I was the fourth one to go (in a group of 15) but I was also the first of the non-Norwegians so I had to admit that I couldn’t pronounce two of the first three names. Oops. So I was Alix – Apple. Next to me was Mischa – Miami. And next to him Siegmund – Swimming. In the bunch there were four Norwegians, a kid from Ethiopia who is pretty much my new best friend, a guy from Latvia, a girl from Poland, a guy from Germany, and this annoying dude from Wisconsin who continued to compare Oslo to Duluth pretty much the whole day. After the name game we were rounded up and instructed to line up in rows of five so we could proceed into the square.

Here is where the pomp comes in: we proceeded into the square that’s like five hundred years old, to the sounds of the Norwegian orchestra playing something ridiculously dramatic. My pack was fortunate enough to be lined up right on the front row. For the next half hour or so I listened to several speeches in Norwegian, a few apologies in English for the fact that they were speaking in Norwegian, and a warm welcome in Norwegian.

And then it began. You know that song that is played to denote any climactic or ominous moment in movies involving cathoicism or satan? Well the orchestra played that song and a pack of singers sang the creepy Latin verses. Only they were in Norwegian. So I couldn’t understand them. As the song hit its crescendo I got to thinking. I’ve been duped. This orchestra is either announcing my descent into hell with Virgil as my guide, or the arrival of the Weegie monster, a reptilian creature first discovered in the North Sea by Leif Erikson. The creature is rumored to be in the care of each success royal family and it eats people. SO this orchestra is thanking me for my sacrficie and warning me…Oh my god the Weegie swoops in and takes out hundreds of students with its tail, breathing fire into the pack and snatching up Romanian, Cameroonian, and Norwegian students alike. Run for your lives!!!!!

Okay. So the orchestra wound up, another guy gave a speech, and I had the pleasure of watching a sign language interpreter stand by like Buster Keaton mocking the crap out of who I can only assume to be the president of the university.

The same sign language chick signed the national anthem, which has to be the most dramatic and folklore infused anthem. Ever. Tears were shed, pretty sure a Weegie was slain. And then we ate lunch, toured the campus, I think I’m the only kid who talked to everyone in the group which is good, because no one noticed the repetition of my north pole joke.

The media studies building is new and pretty and I can almost pronounce the name of it.