navy beans

My roommate Andre - who is also in the Peace Program - has been in the Norwegian military for eight years. Needless to say he has some extremely interesting stories to tell, and I've learned a lot about peace and conflict just from listening to him talk. But his connection to the military doesn't just benefit me and my classmates academically, it also benefits us socially. I found this out last weekend when he told me, Hanne, Marjaana, and Danaca that we could go to a Navy party on a boat in the Tromso Harbor if we wanted.

"A Navy Party?"
"Yeah, a Navy Party."
"On a boat in the harbor?"
"Yeah. In the harbor."

He promised us that the sailors would treat us like royalty (which they did) and that it would be a great "cultural experience" (which it was). The party was in honor of two sailors who were going up in rank, and we were allowed to join in because...well...we were girls.

A Navy Party - as I discovered by using my keen anthropological/ethnographic participant observation skills - includes (but is not limited to) drinking beer in a tiny room on a Navy boat in the harbor, singing Norwegian pop and rock songs really loudly, playing a game that involves cramming ones body through a small porthole, and occassionally dancing on the table. (No, I didn't play the game. Yes, I did dance on a table.)

We had a great time - got to take pictures of ourselves sitting at the control panel and standing on the deck, and we are all-the-more culturally sensitive because of the whole experience. I'll let you know what military adventure Andre has in store for us next, but I sure hope it involves driving a tank.

Until next time...