Anyone living in Norway in the summer of 2011 remembers the events of July 22, ten years ago. It was my first summer working for the University of Oslo’s International Summer School and I was living at Blindern Studenterhjem. By this time in July, students were comfortable going around the city themselves and had met some of their new life-long friends. Here is some of what I remember from that time.
It was a dark, cloudy day. I remember thinking I heard thunder at around 3:30, later I learned the chilling reality, it was a bombing of the government building in downtown Oslo. We were glued to the news trying to find out details. Within a few hours we learned about the terror on Ut?ya, with the shooting of so many young, politically engaged youth. We were in the dark, not knowing what happened and feeling afraid that something else was yet to come. As part of the administration, I remember thinking about logistics. How do we check in with all of our students?
That evening we met at Blindern Studenterhjem in the lounge and Einar Vannebo, the director, spoke to gathered students. He informed the group about what we knew and what was still unknown. Students were asked to sign in and check in with their roommates. Friends and family were messaging and calling from around the world to check in and many students posted on Facebook their status to give.
The next day I went to Jotunheimen for a hiking excursion with a group of students. I remember feeling relieved to be leaving the Oslo area. The bus was completely silent as we all grappled with how something like this could happen in Norway. My daughter had been visiting and I was glad that I knew she was safe in Sweden with relatives. We still did not have the details of everything that had happened when we left Oslo. The hike was a perfect therapy. It was intense with a variety of weather including lightning, rain, and sunshine. I was physically and mentally exhausted. On the bus ride home, we were once again quiet and contemplative.
The Monday following, was an impromptu rose march with speeches by prime minister, Jens Stoltenberg, and Crown Prince Haakon. The message from Jens Stoltenberg was that “we will answer hatred with love”. The rose march was a gathering of about 150,000 people in the Oslo center where spontaneous singing would burst out. Everyone had roses. I have never seen so many roses before or after. The city was covered with them and floating in the bay.
Students that experienced Oslo in 2011, had a very different perspective than students before or after. I personally felt a deeper connection with Norway than ever before. To grieve with others in communion. The loss of life, security and peace left everyone forever changed. The response by Norwegians with the roses, speeches, and gatherings was so impactful and showed me a new way to respond to violence and hate. Norway demonstrated how to come together in love in a time of despair, focusing on a healing nation, not on that one individual that took so much away.
In the years since, the ISS has taken time to recognize the significance of July 22, 2011 and marked it with a time of silence and teaching new students about that history. The brutality the world witnessed in Norway on July 22 from one man filled with hate goes to show the continued relevance of the ISS. Our mission continues to be one to strengthen international friendship and dialogue and to foster a deeper understanding of each other. Making the world a little smaller by making our ISS family a little bigger.