Back at the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences/Norges Idrettshøgskole

By Ayla Patterson, Psychology

Today was an early morning start with breakfast by 7 and leaving for our bus by 7:55 but due to the normal craziness of travelling we didn’t end up leaving until a bit later. The walk was rainy and cold but didn’t seem to affect us much as we were all so excited for the day ahead of us. I remember calmly walking when I heard everyone yell “ bus” and everyone starting to run so naturally I followed suit. Unfortunately we were too far from the bus stop and missed it. Lucky for us, another one came within 20 mins. After finally getting into the Oslo bus terminal, we made our way on the train to the university. Even after the slightly rough start to our morning, we were all still very eager to get to go back to NIH, the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, and sit into a few of Dr. Simon Kennedy Beames's lectures and meet some Norwegian students. 

Walking from the farm to the bus stop

We ended up being a few minutes late but Simon being the easy going person he is didn’t seem to mind and we even got a round of applause from the students when we came in. Simon lectured about discrimination and equality vs. equity with the relation that material has in friluftsliv and our course theme, humans in nature. We also learned about very important concepts like microaggressions and intersectionality and how these sometimes invisible aspects can have a big impact on how and who participates in outdoor education. The conversation about these important topics were very educational and even with the slight language barrier we were able to connect with the Norwegians students and have great discussions with them. After a short break and some delicious lunch at the ‘Kantina’ we headed back to Simon’s class with a special visitor, Dr. Jørgen Weidemann Eriksen, Associate Professor of Teacher Education and Outdoor Studies. During the next hour we got to experience a lecture of a lifetime. Simon took us through his understanding of what the term friluftsliv means to him and his understanding of the concept. We discussed that friluftsliv does not have one definition but instead differs from person to person and your experience with it. We saw this being brought into conversation throughout the last half of the lecture as well where Simon and Jørgen had slightly opposing thoughts about friluftsliv. From Simon's view, a foreigner who did not grow up with friluftsliv, he had 5 critiques of it, this included the fact that it was created by a wealthy, able bodied, white man and the commercialization and competition attached to the practice. After Simon was done explaining his critiques, Jørgen, a born and raised Norwegian, was able to take over and explain his side and why he disagreed. This grew into a great conversation between the whole class and evoked some strong emotions especially from Jørgen who said he felt this innate need to defend his country's practices even though he actually did agree with some of Simon's points. This incredible lecture and discussion really allowed all of us to have a deeper understanding of friluftsliv and how culturally significant it is to the people who have practiced it their whole lives.

Dr. Simon Kennedy Beames discusses equity and friluftsliv 

After our wonderful day was done at NIH, we headed back to the heart of Oslo and spent just over an hour browsing stores and buying some snacks for back at the farm. After a peaceful and sleepy ride back to the Breivoll, we all went back to our rooms and got some much needed rest before supper. Later that night we all met up for a wonderful supper made by the chef, Andreas, who made us a wonderful moussaka with an amazing panna cotta for dessert. After lots of laughs and great conversation we all decided it was time to clean up and get ready for the night. We are now all currently hanging out in the hammock room either getting some work done, laying down and relaxing, or researching activities for our free days coming up. 

Group photo after a fantastic day at NIH

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