Senja Part 2: Psychology Department Retreat

This has been my first full week back in Tromsø in some time, and it has been so wonderful to get into a semi-normal routine of going to yoga with friends in the morning, getting a cup of coffee, and sitting on campus all day working on my research and graduate school applications, with a few Norwegian classes sprinkled in here and there. Prior to this week, I had been on three trips in two weeks, which was amazing but exhausting. You already read a bit about my first trip to Senja with friends, but three days after that trip I turned around and went back to Senja again, this time for the faculty retreat with the Department of Psychology.

Every year, the Department of Psychology goes on faculty retreat for a few days to talk about the direction and initiatives of the department and to facilitate some department socialization. I was so grateful and excited when my advisor invited me to join and told me he’d put my name on the list, not only because I’ll sign up for any free trip, but also because it would be an opportunity to get to know others in my department.

This trip to Senja was vastly different than my roadtrip with friends. First of all, we spent almost the entire time at the hotel in sessions all day. Second of all, the department totally spoiled us by having us stay at a gorgeous hotel called Hamn i Senja, where we ate amazing 3-course meals every night.

This is the view of the hotel we stayed in from a small island directly across the way. 

This is the living room of the gorgeous apartment I shared with only one other person, although we each had our own room and bathroom (with heated floors, no less!). The living room here had an amazing view of the harbor and a small island across the way.

At the start of the retreat sessions, I was specially introduced as a visiting researcher to everyone, which was not only very kind as it made me feel included, but also a relief because I didn’t have to worry about people being wondering “who is that American girl and what is she doing here?” Since most of the sessions were in Norwegian, I sat at the back of the room and did work on my computer, and I ended up doing a ton of reading that’s useful background information for my research project.

Overall, however, the most worthwhile part of being on the retreat was definitely being able to socialize. The other faculty members and PhD students in the department are incredibly diverse, kind, brilliant, and hilarious. I met a very sweet woman who had a particular affinity for Fulbright – she was born in Norway but moved to the States as a child when her father got a Fulbright grant. Then, she moved back to Europe when her husband got a Fulbright grant, and that led to her moving back to Norway and eventually to Tromsø!

On the first evening of the retreat, the hotel opened up the “Badesjark,” an old fishing boat that was parked on land and refurbished as a hot tub. You can even rent old-fashioned swimsuits for use in the hot tub! Naturally, not wanting to miss out on anything, I decided to join in, and sat with my colleagues in a hot tub in the freezing cold drinking beers and listening to dirty jokes (which were so graciously told in English for my benefit).

I couldn’t resist an old-fashioned bathing suit selfie.

On the second and final night of the retreat, I learned about a fun Norwegian tradition called a “quiz.” When I first heard it spoken about, I thought it would be like the trivia I often go to in Atlanta (shout-out to the ever-evolving Taco Tuesday crew) – with someone presenting questions aloud and teams answering them. So I was surprised when each team was handed a literal 3-page quiz to fill out together. The quiz consisted of psychology questions, trivia about Senja, and True/False about the members of the department. Before the retreat, each person had to submit one true and one false fact to be used on the quiz. Mine were “Kari has met the Dalai Lama” and “Kari loves to play football.” When we got to this question, someone shouted out “American or European football?” I replied, “Doesn’t matter!” I think most teams got that trivia question right.

Overall, the retreat was a fantastic opportunity not only to live in luxury for a few days, but also to learn more about the way the department is run and get to know my new colleagues on a much more personal level. Several people I spoke to on the retreat talked about the importance of going outside of Tromsø together for a few days and how critical it is that the department takes this time to reflect and bond every year. From my perspective, it seems like a great practice that does a lot to promote a positive and cohesive working environment. Plus, it’s just a lot of fun.
Right now is a beautiful time of year to be traveling around northern Norway, as the fall foliage is quite stunning. This is a picture I took on the bus on the way back from Senja. Quiz question: which way is the reflection?

02 Oct This entry was published on October 2, 2014 at 9:07 pm. It’s filed under Psychology, Retreat, Senja and tagged Department of Psychology, Retreat, Senja. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.