My not-so-ordinary Norwegian experience
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If you love reality television then you know the suspenseful moment on “The Bachelor” when Ben is about to give out the final rose. Or on “Survivor” when host Jeff Probst lingers on the last vote before he turns the card and says, “The next person voted off of Survivor is …”
That climactic moment is what makes reality television. Viewers are on the edge of their seat waiting to see if their favorite contestant is safe or sent home.
As you can tell, I enjoy reality TV shows, however reality television is … confusing.
I know this because I was on one. Not one widely recognized in the United States, but it is the most popular reality show in Norway.
“Alt for Norge” selects 12 Norwegian-Americans, who have never been to Norway, to experience and compete in activities that are stereotypical to the Viking traditions and Norwegian way. For example, eating sheep testicles and reindeer heart at a sit down dinner or winning a crowd over with our best vocal rendition of a national classic. Uffda! The winner reunites with their Norwegian relatives they have never met.
In March of 2014, the end of my senior year of college, I was selected to be one of the 12 contestants for Season Five of “Alt for Norge.” Although I did not win — eh — I made it to the finale and was eliminated on a language contest. What I learned is that the emotions I experienced during the suspenseful moments of filming were real and the relationships with other contestants/crew members were genuine, as well. However, there are aspects that were unreal: the reality of time, money, and our ability to compete with mother nature.
If it is time for me to go to the bathroom, that didn’t mean it was time for the production crew to stop filming. If it took 40 minutes to reach the top of the mountain, we were transported by van most of the way, and told to sprint back and forth to simulate sweating. Basically the phrase “time is money” is the truth about reality TV. What viewers see is only an hour of edited weeklong filming. Many of my favorite moments were edited out or not even filmed, like when all of us had a night off in Oslo and fed our egos by referring to ourselves as celebrities while talking our way into night clubs for free. Thankfully this was not filmed. It was fun to pretend but unreal, for sure.
In reality, my post college bank account would have financed a trip to Norway fueled on Raman noodles and boarding at cheap hostels. Monster, the production company, allowed me the opportunity to play in a glamorous treehouse overlooking a forest close to Hamar, fish for salmon while trolling around the island of Lovund, and sail through the southern islands near Kragero while filming a “reality” version of the typical Norwegian summer vacation. Like, what? Is this real life? All of these moments cost money, of which I did not have. The week before I left college, I recall my ATM receipt showing just enough money to buy a bon voyage beer with my college friends.
Little did I know, I would be hovering in a helicopter the very next week and dropped off on the tallest mountain in Norway. Here we go. Episode one: Americans versus Nordic mother nature, my own title. The first night we trekked on skis to our overnight teepees which were prepared ahead of time, along with our elk stew and burning wood stove. The experience was authenticated when we were given reindeer pelts as sleeping mats. During the night a blizzard blew the teepee over and knocked our heating source down. If the production crew had not swooped in to save us, we would have become human popsicles in a few hours. At that moment, all of us were questioning whether we would survive the first week. I laugh when I watch the episodes with other mother nature moments and I know we were helpless, but editing empowered us to look like we had true Viking gusto. Thanks, editing team.
As I look back, my memories of this experience are so complex. I mean there are so many more aspects to reality TV shows that I never thought about until I was on one. The hardest part for me was leaving this incredible adventure to come back to “my reality,” which was that I had just graduated college and had no job. It was the polar opposite of being a “celebrity” in Norway.
I also found it very hard to watch myself on TV. I know this sounds petty, but I started to hate the sound of my voice and the way I laughed. It is kind of an out-of-body experience.
One thing I know is that my emotions were real. I cried when I stood on the ground of my Skalland family farm near Eggedahl. I cried as each of my new friends lost out on the chance to meet their Norwegian family and were sent home. I mean seriously, we cried so many times that my sister and her friends created a “take a shot every time someone sheds a tear” drinking game that they had to quit before the episode was over. My friendships with the contestants and crew were also real and long lasting. I talk to them everyday.
When I returned from “Alt For Norge,” I wrote this:
“As a 22-year-old college guy, I never really expected the ‘Alt For Norge’ adventure to change me. To be honest, I initially signed up because I was looking for an adventure in a different country. What I didn’t know was how attached I would become to the thought of meeting my Norwegian family.
“Each week I became more and more invested and fought harder to make it to the end of the show. I began to appreciate my heritage and the work it took for them to make it to where my family is today. The intense emotion of standing on my family farm that I originated from was unexpected. It was an unbelievable experience. What I got from ‘Alt for Norge’ was much more than an adventure. I learned that everyone in this world comes from generations of success, failure, hardships, love and a lot of hard working people. What I learned is that it is my turn to leave a legacy and mark in my family history, so that in a hundred years when a 22-year-old college kid is looking down his family lineage, he will see my name and be proud of his last name and the things I accomplished. I am a proud Norwegian-American, and I am proud of my ancestors for paving a path for me.”
Two years later, with a job and little bit of money, I still stand by what I said.
Now I just need to make it onto “Survivor” or “Amazing Race” to get my next reality show fix.
