Essay on Norway and Sami People

Submitted By rcmckeen
Words: 605
Pages: 3

Connor McKeen
Norsk C
Co-Circular #1 For my first co-curricular I attended what I thought was going to be a conversation table, but it turned out to be a slideshow presentation of the Sami people. The Sami people are located in Norway.These people officially speak nine different dialects. They have multiple ways to say different words. For example, they have 100 different words for snow. This is because snow is very important to the Sami people. The Sami also pride themselves on their ability to create crafts. All crafts made by the Sami are virtually tools, and are made for a particular use. Crafts are also considered a connection to ancestral culture. Furthermore, crafts also have religious ties. Another interesting fact we learned about the Sami was that they listen to a music called joik. It is a modern form of expression through music in Norway. They also played an example of a song which could be compared to house music and is a different form of techno music. Politically we learned that the the Sami do not like too much immigration and a closed door policy. The presentation was a interesting introduction to the Sami people. The most interesting part is how deeply rooted the Sami people are to their ancestry and the culture of their past. The joik song they played was a funny part of the presentation and made it light hearted. On the other hand, I felt like the presenters could have engaged with the room a little more and open it up for comments more throughout the presentation itself. They could have made contrasts between how different their culture is to the one here in the U.S., and I felt like more use of videos and perhaps presenting more footage of them in Norway would have made the presentation more versatile.

Connor McKeen
Norsk C
Co-Circular #2
For my second co-curricular I attended my first conversation table. It was a really fun and interactive way of learning some more Norwegian. The dynamic of the older more experienced students leading the conversation was a positive one, and accounted for a spur of more conversation. At my table the leaders that did a good job of leading the conversation was Colten Yahn, Keegan Kelly, and Nick Goldberg. Everyone tried to challenge each other to get the correct grammar and try