May 16, 2025

There was a lot I needed to learn about Norway.

I’ve concluded that Norway is a country of leftovers. Not the kind you keep in your frig. I mean the bigger kind. Norway is a country built on leftovers. Not in a bleak way, not like we have nothing, so we need to survive on bark and melted snow kind of way, but quietly clean, beautifully restrained, and deeply sustainable sort of way.

Leftovers get a bad reputation. The word suggests something inferior, something sad and slightly weltered that should be stuck in the back of the refrigerator. But in Norway they represent the best of sufficiency turning scarcity into something special. Very special.

Bruoff the cheese that wasn’t even supposed to be has become a national treasure. It is the flavor of thrift, of care, of not wasting what others discard. It is the taste that you don’t need more to be content. You just need to make the most of what you already have.

It is Var Frue Kirke the church that is open not just on Sundays but all the time. It is the leftover time where people meet over a cup of tea or coffee or to seek shelter. Where no one is ever refused help or assistance regardless of their denomination or no denomination at all. It is not just the proper utilization of a building but the proper utilization of a person’s faith and a demonstration of what true caring should look like.

It is a country where the Nidaros Cathedral, the national cathedral of Norway and the Jewish Musuem are located right next to each other. Not just sharing a city block, but sharing a commitment that everyone can, has the right to, and ultimately want to contribute once the barriers of prejudice and bias are removed. Like a good leftover, it is the mix of ingredients that we savor that makes for the sweetest taste.

It is Friluftsliv the underlying principle that life has to do with engagement with others, not just in an obligatory way but in a truly meaningful way. It means that you lean in with kindness and that politeness is baked into the tone, not bolted on at the end.

The beauty of the country itself is a left over. The Norwegian fjords weren’t created. They were left over. They were carved, grinded down stone until all that was left was sheer cliffs and amazing blue waters.

And finally, Norway is a country where learning to adjust and accommodate is not an acquired skill, it is a national identity. You don’t ask if the cup is half empty or half full. You are happy you have a cup.

Norwegians seemed to have learned that the secret to life is that you can’t avoid the darkness, but you must learn how to live with it. That type of philosophy teaches you how to adapt more easily, to temper your expectations to understand that things are never as bad as you may think they were going to be at first.

Even after the darkest storm there is always something left to hold on to.

Even if that something is just a slice of cheese.

Thanks for traveling with us.