On returning to places of ones childhood

What it feels like after being away for 20+ years

Aug 9

All wrappers and packaging in Norway must be properly labeled so it’s easy to recycle in the right place.

I’m writing this from a hotel lobby in Stavanger. I wanted to write something to you last week when we just landed in Oslo but it was all rather overwhelming so I gave myself a publishing break, but I’m back to say hi and that we’ve been in Norway for a week and have seen so much! But back to the subject of Oslo, my hometown…

Some things have changed a lot.

Yet, other things haven’t changed at all.

And other things again have changed in that “this is what 20 years of change looks like” kinda way.

Much change

Downtown Oslo has changed a lot.

A brand new commercial/institutional district called Bjørvika has emerged along the harbour just south of the central station. This used to be a nomansland. Now there’s the new library, new opera house, and new office buildings called barcode situated here.
Aker Brygge, a more established part of the harbour, has seen change such as new expensive condos, the new Astrup Fearnley contemporary art museum, new National Museum, and become an even more prestigious neighbourhood than before
Public transit tickets are totally different. No more getting paper tickets time stamped, you now get these paper cards you load and then tap to activate. Not sure how it fully works yet! The guy selling me tickets looked at me strangely as I asked how this system worked. He must have thought: is this a joke? If you speak Oslo dialect, how are you not familiar with this?
Nearly no noise from cars in the downtown area. I heard they had permanently restricted cars in the downtown area. But also, a significant amount of cars are now electric vehicles which run much quieter than their gasoline counterpart.
- Norway’s goal is for all new cars sold to be EV at some point. As of 2020, 74.7% of all new cars sold were EV, so they’re getting close!
- Also, 98% of all electricity generated in the country is renewable. All in all, that is a lot of sustainability goals aligned!
EV chargers everywhere. You’ll find them in most gas stations, in random walls, nooks, and parking spots.
Those electric scooters are everywhere. They’ve really embraced the electric scooter revolution.

20-year change

My old neighbourhood has changed only insofar that 20 years had passed since last time I was here.

Trees and shrubs are larger. One particular stretch through an elderly home complex had several mature cherry trees removed, and replanted. There’s an iconic maple tree along the home stretch to the apartment which looked quite a bit larger than I last remember it.
The grounds of my old school have been improved with new sports fields, but is otherwise unchanged.
The parking lot of the neighbourhood mall has been restriped
An old shortcut stair was redone, but managed to look quite overgrown when we passed through
I mustered the courage to ring the bell of an old neighbour in our apartment block. It was terrifying to not know what would happen (is she still there? In what condition?), but I am so glad I did, because I spent a wonderful hour talking to someone who remembers meeting me as a 4-year old. She is now 92 years old, was a teacher and voracious reader. Sadly, 20 years of change have taken a toll on her eye sight and mobility. I cried a bit after leaving her apartment, not knowing if I’d ever see her again.

No change

For all the 20-year changes that I saw in my old neighbourhood, there was very little structural change. In other words, no new development. It is a neighbourhood frozen in its demographic state, or “stable” as some would say.
The attention to detail that Scandinavian design is well known for. I feel myself fall into a familiar expectation and pace of things. Yes, heated bathroom floors should be the norm. Yes, I love the prompts for sustainable behaviour everywhere. Yes, the recycling and waste stations literally everywhere, plus proper messaging on packaging and other waste to help people recycle properly. Coordination at this scale should be the norm.
Subway still takes people to amazing recreational areas and hikes outside of the city. No car needed. It’s coordinated, convenient and civilized, see point above.
The water quality. It tastes amazing and my hair loves it.

All in all, my general verdict is that the place has remained the same, or gotten better. That’s super!

Thanks for reading, see you next week xo

—F

Some more pictures for flavour…