An Enemy of the People in Oslo

I have just finished studying to become a children-and youthworker. But I am planning to take one more year of high school, and then to study again. I want to become a police because it is my dreamjob – and the police in Oslo say that they need me.

I belong to the ones who don’t like arguing but still do it sometimes, the football-interested, the ones who enjoy getting dressed, the ones who are the second oldest in the family, the ones who love the ladies, the ones who sing and want to become an artist, the ones who would like to become an actor but has never been inside the National Theatre before, the ones who can drive a car, the ones who wish for a girlfriend, the ones who are careful, the ones who are a good friend and the ones who want 11 children or more but I do not belong to the little brothers or the ones who play basketball.

I live in Oslo because it is here I arrived first. I was 15 years old at the time. We came here to get a better life, and freedom. To live a better life, as simple as that. When we flew over Oslo I saw this white layer and wondered what it was. I knew that Norway had snow, but I always thought snow was transparent – like ice-cubes. At first I thought the city seemed boring, whenever I looked outside from the flat the streets were always empty. The sound of Oslo is the sound of silence where I live.  

I have heard lots of stories about Ibsen – that he travelled the world, and that he is a historical man. And that he has got streets named after him. We did a group-work about Ibsen, but that was quite a long time ago. It’s really hard to stand alone, but it is true that the strongest one is the one who try to manage without help from anyone. When I was younger, I felt I was standing alone, I had to make it on my own. I tried going to the social benefit office to get support for rent, but they told me to get a loan. In Islam taking a loan is forbidden. So I ended up doing secondary school and working on the side. In the end it became too hard – 16 hours a day with school and work became too much so I had to leave school for a while.

Norway changed my life. Now I have a goal that I never could have dreamed about having when I was in Somalia. Now I have an education, and I want to fulfil my dream about becoming a police. When I was a kid living in Somalia, and I experienced the shooting and the war, I wondered what side I would be on when I grew up. And then I started thinking that I wanted to become a police, but I didn’t think I had a chance. 

For the performances I am travelling with the tube from Romsås to Nationaltheatret station.