The international network

Besides the contact with Norwegians, many of the women referred to contact with internationals. The term internationals indicate people who are first-generation immigrants but have a different nationality than the partaking women. In this paragraph, the social activities with this group will be highlighted as well as the function the international network has in the social life of the women.

54 4.3.1 Social activities and meeting grounds

A surprising aspect during these interviews was the high amount of international contact the women had. All women mentioned contacts that were neither from their home country or belonged to the majority population. Many women were predominantly in contact with internationals who had roots in countries close to their home country but were also familiar with contacts from completely different areas in the world.

As well as the majority population, internationals also seem to be met at social activities within voluntary organisations and other formal settings for example Norwegian courses. One of the women names this specifically as a reason to attend Norwegian classes. She already has an adequate Norwegian level to get by socially, but also in work situations and alike. Nonetheless, she enrolled in a Norwegian course as she finds courses and other educational institutions a good place to get to know different people. Enrolling in a course she does not necessarily need to take, also portrays the eagerness to meet new people. She tells:

“School for me is a form of social activity here. I do not need to learn, but I want to. So, it is not my free time, but nobody presses me to be there. I think through courses and through school one can find more friends in Norway. (..) It is mostly

young people, from different countries. Maybe 90%

studies in Norway.”

Picture 3: School/courses as a meeting place

Besides the courses or school-related activities, internationals are also met in different voluntary organisations. One of the women attending different organisations refers to voluntary organisations dealing with for example homework help, but also mental support and courses on stress dealing as well as just a place where they can engage in leisure activities. These organisations also pose as a meeting place for internationals as many of their services are directed at immigrants. The fact that the women are at these organisations with the same premises to these places, to learn something new and meet somebody new, might make it easier to come in contact. As one of the women explains:

55

“I was there with several youngsters from different places, but most of them were from my home country. (..) We were from four different countries.”

Another woman recalls her activities with her international friends in combination with her attending a student voluntary organisation. Before, she had experienced difficulties coming in contact with her classmates and therefore decided to join a student organisation. Through this organisation, she met other international students. The international contacts she has made there, have resulted in friendships still active today. The development of relationships that last outside of the original activity (the voluntary organisation) is something that seems to happen with international people, while this does not often occur with the majority population. Her experience is:

“They were very international and welcoming and also they were very nice” (..) All the international friends I have here, I met at this student organisation. But with this student organisation, we were meeting every week once or twice at least to do something social, meet up, just talk, so I could see them after school. I am friends with at least 6 of them still in town now. The first semester was difficult because a lot of great people were in my class from Erasmus and they left after one semester. Now I had to make new friends. But this group helped, I am still in contact with six or seven who are in town. Also, those who are not, which is very nice.”

Besides meeting in the voluntary organisations, internationals seem to be met, to a higher degree than Norwegians, in an informal setting. Where Norwegians were mostly met solely in voluntary organisations, internationals are more present in leisure activities. This became apparent during the interviews about the pictures, where pictures with leisure activities were more often associated with international acquaintances. One of these examples is of the woman who organises several meetings with internationals. These are mostly people she knows via friends, voluntary organisations, or through her husband’s work. Activities undertaken are for example house visits, trips, parties, and meetings at the city:

“Me and my husband made our national food and then we invited our friends over to eat. (..)We went to their house and then they visited us in our house.”

It is an interesting phenomenon that the women seem to be more in leisure and informal contact with the international network. The overlap in where these groups meet each other seems to be bigger. Where contact with the Norwegian network often seemed limited to one single context, the contact with the international seems to be spread over several contexts. The varied presence

56 could refer to the international network having a more similar understanding of social activities and interaction than the women have with the majority population.

4.3.2 The function of the international network

Looking at the function the international network plays, several aspects come up. As well as the contact with the Norwegian network, contact with internationals gives the women some practical benefits. However, there are also other positive elements the women describe gaining from their interaction with the international network. The positive elements are connected to the social-emotional aspect of interacting.

Some of the women mention that they like speaking with internationals as this gives them the opportunity to practice their language skills. As one of them states:

“It is good for my development, for my Norwegian development.”

Other women mention that they have acquired practical help from other internationals. These internationals can give them tips about which places they can visit or to for example join a Norwegian course. One of the women experienced that another international helped her find a good Norwegian language course:

“There was somebody who tipped me. Someone who gave me a recommendation for it (red:

Norwegian course). It was a girl from another country, whom I met maybe a year ago. She said she had done it herself and was very satisfied and had good experiences with exactly this Norwegian course. And it was a bit cheaper too. Normally it costs a lot of money.”

It seems like the international network can play an important guiding role for immigrant women. As the members of the international network also have gone through a similar process as the women have. They might be able to help the women with the more practical sides of integrating into a new society and all the elements this contains. Where the Norwegian network might be able to give them the facts about where to go and what to do, the international network can also provide information based on their own experiences with the society, systems, and institutions.

Besides the practical benefits, the women also seem to gain emotional benefits out of their interaction with the international network. Especially one of the women was very adamant about the benefits of an international network related to more social and emotional aspects. She described among others that she found it easier to communicate with internationals as she has experienced that if she is the only international interacting with a Norwegian crowd, the

57 language will often shift to Norwegian. It is to assume that she finds it easier to communicate in English, which also makes her feel more comfortable and increases the enjoyment she gets out of the conversations. Moreover, she feels that the presence of other internationals increases the feeling of inclusion, when other Norwegians are present, it is more likely that they are included in the conversation. She said:

“So yeah when it is a few other internationals I always find it more easy to talk and communicate and have fun cause even at work if I just the one international, the always start to speak in Norwegian” (..) If it is just me and another person, who, it does not have to be that they do not know Norwegian but they are just as international as I am, then I just feel more comfortable. Then they also make an effort to, for both of us, to include both of us.”

Language could play an important role in why it feels more easy or comfortable to speak with other internationals. Even if the communication language would be Norwegian, this will not be the first language of either party, the pressure to speak properly might be less. Possibly it also gives an arena for recognition as both parties might speak Norwegian in a different way than the majority would, think accents, word use, grammar mistakes, or dialects. If the conversation language is English, there is still a chance that this is not the native tongue of either conversation participants, as well as that some women might feel more comfortable in expressing themselves in English rather than Norwegian. Here it might also play a role that English will not be the first language of the majority population either, which creates a more equal starting point.

Besides finding it easier to communicate with the international network, the previously mentioned woman also experiences a more in-depth connection with internationals. As described before, interaction with Norwegians is often described as more superficial, whereas here interaction with internationals is experienced as more substantial. The following quote shows that the woman experiences a more in-depth connection with the international network regarding the conversations she has than she normally would have with the majority population.

Her experience is:

“If it is international the conversations can go from wherever to whenever. Starting from alcohol to drugs to cycling and biking, deep thoughts what you think about your culture and what your experiences were, and you get to know a lot and then it is very closed off when it is mostly the Norwegians.”

The fact that the women have a more shared background with most internationals might also contribute to the feeling of a more substantial relationship. Both parties are in a new country,

58 with a different society and culture. Even if they are not from the same place, a part of their experiences will be the same. This might be specifically the case when the persons come from the same geographical region, where cultures, values, and norms are more alike. As one of the women describes:

“Also, I have a few friends from X, if I am not meeting people from my home country, I am meeting them. The language is different, but the mindset is almost the same, so they can relate to some of my thoughts or problems and that helps.”

Lastly, the international people and the women share one obvious characteristic; they all do not belong to the majority population, they share an outsider position. This shared characteristic might establish a bonding factor, especially as most women describe difficulties socializing with the majority population. This shared position could lead to a more equal relationship as there is a more similar starting position and more shared experiences. Nonetheless, it is important to realize that every immigrant has different experiences considering where they migrated from and with which intend.