Reflections on writing a blog and communicating with others

This blog has become more and more important to me as the best way for me to express my thoughts and feelings and to share them with others. I have become less interested in social media generally as time goes on. I use Facebook for quick updates and have found that it has become useful as a way of staying updated on what is going on in Oslo and in New York (city and state)--movies, concerts, gatherings, museums, etc. Useful since they are my two favorite places. I used to use Twitter--no more; it became too political and too divisive. I have a profile on Instagram that I have almost never used and I will not start now. I have a profile on LinkedIn that I rarely update, nor am I on LinkedIn often. None of them appeal to me the way writing a blog does. So I'll continue to write my posts. I think the appeal for me is that I can write freely and compose my thoughts without having to consider who may like them or not. There is freedom in that. I have turned off the comments section so that I don't have to deal with (the few) internet trolls who inserted their nonsense into my life. I don't need such nonsense nor will I permit it. There is enough nonsense published daily in social media and newspapers. 

The society we lived in is hooked on smart phones--that is a given at present. I cannot go anywhere without seeing people glued to their phones. Nearly everything we do or need to do in our daily lives requires the use of a phone. It's become somewhat unnerving. I think to myself--what happens if the infrastructure that provides this service (cell phone connection) crumbles? What happens when we rely 100% on our phones? It can't be a good thing. Banks want little or nothing to do with customers anymore, likewise supermarkets that push us to scan all our items rather than go to a cashier who can check out the items for us. I object to the loss of personal contact between people. When I worked part-time as a cashier at an A&P in Tarrytown many years ago, I looked forward to my 'regulars'--the people who showed up in my line to check out numerous cans of cat food or other items and who looked forward to a short chat with me. When I served coffee at church bingo on Sunday evenings, I would talk to the bingo players who as it turned out actually shared a lot of their lives with me. It was a valuable experience. At the very least, I learned to talk to people, to share some of our lives together, and to come out of my (reserved) shell. I read articles now that describe young people as unable to really communicate with each other in person. It's become easier to text or message each other. I feel sorry for them, for missing out on a youth filled with different social and interactive experiences--some good, some bad. Living via a smart phone is not a way to live. It is a curated way to live, where you tailor your comments and communications to what you think others will want to hear. You don't want to be disliked, so you 'limit'  yourself more and more. I won't miss social media much when I decide to forego it one of these days. That day will come; I don't know when. But I will continue to write my blog, knowing that I am free to write about the things that interest me, and that may interest you, my readers. But I will never tailor my writing to please a certain segment of society. If it one day comes to that, that I am forced to do so, then I will stop writing. Until or if that happens, I enjoy the freedom that comes from writing. It is one of the few activities that is not regulated, modulated or controlled by others, thankfully. 

It's been a while--an update

It's been a while since I wrote any posts for my blog. It's not because I didn't want to, but because life threw me a curve ball that I spent the month of April dealing with. Suffice it to say that the curve ball was health-related and that I spent nearly a month in the hospital. I'm back home now and recovering from a heart operation. My doctors tell me that I will be fine, and I trust them since they're the experts. But I wanted to let you know that I'm still writing my blog and I'll be posting more soon as time goes on......

Thank you for your support, always. 

Updates on my blog--A New Yorker in Oslo and on my book--A Town and A Valley: Growing Up in Tarrytown and the Hudson Valley

Last month this blog had almost 41,000 visitors, most of them Americans. That is the highest number of visitors ever; I was overwhelmed by the sheer number of visitors. Thank you to everyone who has checked out the blog, read a few posts, and enjoyed what they've read. I've been told by several people that it's not possible to leave a comment on the individual posts; that's not true. If you'd like to leave a comment, you can. Please do, I enjoy hearing from readers. 

My book, A Town and A Valley--Growing Up in Tarrytown and the Hudson Valley, was purchased by the Warner Library in Tarrytown and can be found in the Local History section. It has also been purchased by the Historical Society in Tarrytown. For those readers who would like to know more about the area of New York State where I was born and where I grew up, the book might be of interest to you. It can be purchased on Amazon: 

A Town and A Valley: Growing Up in Tarrytown and the Hudson Valley: De Angelis, Paula Mary: 9798842022946: Amazon.com: Books

and also on Barnes & Noble: 

A Town and A Valley: Growing Up in Tarrytown and the Hudson Valley by Paula Mary De Angelis, Paperback | Barnes & Noble® (barnesandnoble.com)

My last post for this month, in line with my previous post......a good article on the Clicktime blog about motivating your team. It has some good tips, and as is often the case with this particular blog, is a well-written and common-sense article.


https://clicktime.com/blog/motivating-your-team-how-to-make-work-matter/

Navigating workplace politics--some tips

I think so many of the articles on this blog are very good. This is one of them. The tone of most of the articles is realistic, yet optimistic at the same time, and the presentations of the different themes are balanced. The writing is neither artificial nor cloying. Check out some of the other articles--well worth your time.

https://clicktime.com/blog/5-ways-to-tactfully-navigate-workplace-politics/

New ventures and new roads

It is often said that ‘truth is stranger than fiction’, and the events of the past seven months in my life can truly attest to that. I will not go into details except to say that much of what has transpired is connected to my brother’s untimely death in February. I have decided to turn reality into fiction and see where that takes me. My premise is that it is better to write it down than to hold onto the swirling and sometimes negative emotions that will only burden my heart and soul for the rest of my life. So I am embarking on yet another literary venture. My friends who know me, know what has transpired, and I am sure that they will support this endeavor rather than the (seemingly insurmountable) alternatives that will only cause more problems.

I continue to write this blog and to share my poetry and photography with you, as well as my reflections about modern workplaces and workplace behavior. For some of my readers, it may seem that I cannot decide on one focused theme for the blog. That may be so. This is not a fashion blog, or a movie blog, a science blog or even a workplace blog; it is a daily life blog. I share my life as I experience it, a New Yorker in a foreign culture. Norwegian culture (ways of looking at and doing things in personal and work arenas) remains somewhat foreign to me even after twenty-five years of living and working here. Norway has changed a lot in that time, as has the USA. Workplaces are now global arenas that have their unwritten rules based on the culture in which they do business, but are also the product of modern workplace theories that are adopted worldwide. In that vein, I had to laugh yesterday when my husband sent me an email with information about a new course offered by the university here to employees who are new to Norway and who are struggling to understand their workplaces. The course will describe what it means to work in Norway with Norwegians, and will teach attendees about ‘both the formal code of conduct and the unwritten rules of working in Norway. The Norwegian workplace culture has important elements that are not found in most other western countries, and this may cause misunderstandings and frustration’ (direct citation from the course offering). You could have taken the words right out of my mouth. I could have used this kind of course twenty-five years ago. But since there were few to no foreigners in my workplace at that time, this type of course would never have seen the light of day. I struggled along on my own, with explanations for certain aspects of Norwegian workplace culture from my husband and some caring colleagues who have remained good friends. Along the way I developed a thick skin and a sense of humor, as well as the ability to let go of irritations. Had I not, I would have become frustrated and angry and stayed that way; American and Norwegian workplace cultures are that different. It is no accident that many of the new (young) foreign employees that start working in my workplace find their way to my office after a few months. Many of them knock on my door to ask me about some procedure that they’ve heard I know a lot about, but what they really want is to chat and to release some of their frustrations about what they experience here. We talk and sometimes I offer advice, but mostly I listen. Because I’ve been there, and I survived. My office mate (a non-Norwegian) calls me his role model. I understand what he means.

Back to my blog. I’ve decided that in some future posts, I will be sharing some of the short stories that I’ve been working on, with you. It will be interesting to find out what you think and feel about them. It may be a new road for the blog, and I’ll be interested to see where it takes me.

Five year anniversary for A New Yorker in Oslo

I started writing this blog in May 2010. How fast time goes. Here it is, five years later, and I'm still writing it. I don't plan on stopping any time soon. The number of readers keeps increasing, and to all of you who read what I write, I want to say thank you. I keep writing because you are reading what I write. Here are the top ten posts as of May 2015:

Three-year anniversary

A New Yorker in Oslo is three years old this month! I'm pleased to announce this, because as I wrote when I started my blog, this is a labor of love. I don't receive any money for writing the blog. I have a dedicated core group of followers, and a number of readers who comment on posts that interest them. I take this opportunity to thank you all for your support and feedback.

I plan to continue writing the blog as long as there are things to write about. And there are, in abundance. It's just that sometimes I experience writer's block--unsure of what to write about, unable to sit down and write about this or that, overwhelmed by the state of the world, overwhelmed by my lack of faith in my abilities at times. I hate the latter--when that dark cloud of lack of faith in myself hangs over my head and prevents me from expressing what I want to express. The little voices that tell me to forget about it, to slack off, to not care. But then something always happens to make me care again. It can be as simple as that someone read and commented on a post that touched them. Made them think, made them want to write to me. I've met some interesting people through this blog--students, Sherlock Holmes fans, business folk--and I'm thrilled that you reached out to talk to me.

You might wonder which posts are the most popular, after three years online. You'd be surprised. I know I was. But it's fun to see what interests readers the most. Here is a listing of the top 10 posts of all time (those which are the most-read):

Amsterdam coffee shops, head shops, sex shop and o... Sep 2, 2011, 2 comments
Recognizing passive-aggressive behavior in workpla... Dec 7, 2011, 10 comments
Dark Shadows and Collinwood mansion Sep 17, 2010
Ridley Scott's Prometheus Jun 1, 2012
A love poem by Ezra Pound in honor of Valentine's ... Feb 13, 2011
The Nighthawk Diner Jun 25, 2010, 3 comments
Berlin's East Side Gallery Jul 5, 2012
Christmas crèche in St.Olav's church Jan 9, 2011, 2 comments
Photos of Tarrytown Lakes and Hudson River Valley ... Jun 19, 2011, 2 comments
“There are no answers, only choices” Apr 30, 2011, 1 comment

A little milestone

Today is the day that my blog reached a little milestone--15,000 page views! Thank you to all of you who read the blog, to those who comment, to those who have written to me personally--I appreciate each and every one of you, your interest and your input. As long as there are topics to write about, I will continue to blog, because I really enjoy writing A New Yorker in Oslo.

Brain food

I thought I would write a short post today about a blog I love reading and getting updates from via Twitter: The Scholarly Kitchen. It was established by the Society for Scholarly Publishing; I’ll let their written statement about their mission (found on the blogsite) tell their story for me.

--The mission of the Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP) is "[t]o advance scholarly publishing and communication, and the professional development of its members through education, collaboration, and networking." SSP established The Scholarly Kitchen blog in February 2008 to keep SSP members and interested parties aware of new developments in publishing.
......................................
The Scholarly Kitchen is a moderated and independent blog. Opinions on The Scholarly Kitchen are those of the authors. They are not necessarily those held by the Society for Scholarly Publishing nor by their respective employers.—

I recently joined the Society for Scholarly Publishing because I was so impressed with their blog. The posts are clever and intelligently-written—reading them is like eating a gourmet meal—apropos their being a scholarly kitchen. You enjoy the meal and know you’ll come back for more. There is a panel of authors, whose professions vary from CEO/publisher of a medical journal to senior editor to associate dean to consultant—a broad spectrum of professionals who know what they’re talking about.

You won’t regret dining here: http://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/

#1--American Embassy Town Hall Meeting in Oslo

This is my first blog ever as an expatriate living in Oslo Norway. I have lived here for twenty years and decided tonight, after attending a Town Hall meeting at the beautiful Hotel Bristol arranged by the American Embassy, to start writing a blog about my experiences living here in Norway. I think I have some ‘street credibility’—twenty years in one place will give you that.

Well, what is the definition of an expatriate? It simply means someone who has left his or her own country and moved to another, and lived there for a while. It doesn’t mean that I have given up my American citizenship. I would never do that. Norway does not allow dual-citizenship, so if I became a Norwegian citizen I would have to renounce my American citizenship. Not likely. The USA allows multiple citizenships. I’ve got to wonder why Norway doesn’t.

Well, tonight the American Embassy officials did something they have never done in the twenty years I’ve lived here. They actually invited American citizens to a town hall meeting to present themselves, what they do, and how they can be of service to us. It was a good meeting, inspired no doubt by the openness of Obama’s White House. Most of my meetings with the embassy up to this point have left me with a cold feeling. It’s not that the embassy workers have been rude; it’s just that they’ve never been friendly. I can only remember one time in all my years here where the American Embassy sponsored a cocktail party to welcome the American company BioRad to Norway. Both Norwegians and Americans were invited to that party. It was held at the ambassador’s personal residence and was a very nice affair. But tonight was different. The feeling in the air was different. It was a good feeling, a friendly feeling. People were laughing and talking together and having a good time.

It was good to be together with Americans again. I have to say I just miss hearing English at times. My language—and the sense of humor that is uniquely American—that combination of self-deprecation, sarcasm, joking, lightness that just makes one feel right at home. It puts you at ease and that’s a good thing. Americans are friendly people. No matter what you may think about the superficiality of that friendliness, it helps strangers break the ice and gets them over that initial wall of social awkwardness.

Some of the attendees got up and asked questions at the end of the meeting. Some of them had comments about their negative experiences in Norway. I had to laugh. One fellow got up and told us about how Norway wouldn’t accept his law degree from a top school in the USA. I remember how my Master’s degree in cell biology from New York University was downgraded almost upon my arrival here in this country. My education had to be evaluated by a formal committee which concluded that a Master’s degree from anywhere in the USA was simply not equivalent to the Norwegian version of a Master’s degree—called a cand.scient. That was in 1990. How odd that twenty years later, the country is only interested in offering Master’s degrees and PhD degrees. No more cand.scient or dr.philos. or dr.scient or dr. med. In a country of 4.5 million people, it boggles my mind that there have been so many degrees offered. The rest of the world simply could not begin to understand how complicated the educational system here really was. Thank God it is becoming more streamlined.

I could write a book about my experiences here after twenty years. Perhaps I will one day. Right now, I am going to write a blog and I hope that you enjoy reading it.