I held my lid down

for so long

that the pressure almost

gave up

~

so I let it go

to get some fresh air

As you might have heard, someone killed several people here in Norway last night. There are not many details known to me at this point. You can read now in the newspaper that he has a Danish passport and converted to Islam a few years ago. There are also pictures in the newspaper of him, and he looks like the average Scandinavian. I guess nothing can stand in your way if you want to convert to Islam, but why you want to kill random people in the place you live seems out of place for a newly converted person.  I know that there are some crazy passages in the Koran, and we all know that these have been used to justify all kinds of atrocities. But in Holland, I knew many Muslims, and they were definitely not supporters of a fundamentalist interpretation of the Koran. None were very strict, they were treating religion for the most like the Christians do in Holland, as a tradition where you follow some of the rules out of habit. The older people were sometimes stricter but always friendly. We have had some problems in Holland with radicalization but not as bad in some other counties.

Here In Norway, I am not sure what is going on. I lived for many years in the north, where you don’t meet many people anyway. They have a system here that refugees are spread out over the whole country. I think they do that for several reasons; one reason is that they want to prevent that people cling together; by spreading people over the whole country, they are encouraged to interact with the Norwegians. I thought it was always kind of fun to see people from Somalia in the tiny village where I lived, one-meter snow outside and cold as hell. I never got the chance to talk about their experiences; the most I have spoken with refugees was during Norwegian lessons; we both talked three words Norwegian, which doesn’t make it easy to start a deep conversation I can tell you.   

Here in Trondheim, you can see all kinds of people on the street. Now the Corona restrictions are more or less gone; I hope to find a way to come in contact with these refugees. I am curious what their stories are. I don’t know if I want to talk to the guy that took five innocent lives yesterday. If he did it in the name of Allah, he is crazy, just like any other person that kills in the name of their religion. If he has some kind of mental disorder, then it is a tragedy, and he needs help and kept away from society till he is better again.

The little poem I wrote above has nothing to do with this story, just with the picture. I also live a thousand kilometers away from where the incident was.