Going to Café Riis

So a couple of days ago, some of my friends and I went to a Café called Café Riis here in Moss, and it was so cozy. I had never been there before, so I didn’t quite know the way, but it turns out that it was just above the library!

When my friend and I went it was really windy out, so windy that I had to force the door to close. But we still made our way across the bridge to meet up with my other chums. It was super cozy inside and the people working there were really nice.

Now, because my friend (Vilde) and I are going to the American College of Norway, it is kind of a given that we speak English to each other. So whilst contemplating what we were going to get, we were talking in English and the guy in the line before us turns around to ask us where we’re from. We said that we were from Norway, but he had a hard time believing that none of us was American or had American parents. So when he learned that I had never been to America, and that I had learned English by watching TV, he said “I’ll pretend to believe you” then he smiled and wished us a good night before he went to his seat. He was super nice and it turns out that he was from Washington but now lives in Moss, so it was cool to meet someone that spoke English and that were willing to strike up a conversation with us (with Norwegians not being too fond of talking to strangers unless they’ve had a drink).

After ordering our drinks (Ice tea for Vilde, hot chocolate for me- yum) we went and sat with our friends and chatted about school, work, panopticism and the fashion industry. It was really interesting because we are all so different and we are all going to study very different things, so Ra (one of my friends) would say a lot of interesting things about chemistry and biology that I had never known before.

We were going to leave around 10 pm, and as Ra and Mika got dressed, Vilde looked at some pictures and I heard someone speaking English and it really sounded like they were from the UK, so I said to Vilde that I thought they might be Irish. Vilde being Vilde, she went over and asked them (whereas I went and ‘hid’ with my other friends because I hadn’t meant for her to ask, it was merely and observation that I wanted to share with her). It was funny because one of them said “I’m from England, now I’m offended” in a jokey way, so she asked the other one and it turns out that he was from Scotland. By the time she had striked up a conversation with them I had come back to her because I was curious. Turns out that they too were living in Moss and the Scottish actually knew where our school was because he had taken a Norwegian course there! They offered us a seat, but as we were about to leave, we had to decline. But it was really nice talking to them, even if it was only for five minutes.

I’m really happy I went there. And talking to people I didn’t know was less terrifying than I thought it would be(probably because Vilde was with me and she is very talkative. Also, I wouldn’t have been speaking English had it not been for her being there, so thanks Vilde). It kind of opened my eyes and made me realize that maybe talking to people I don’t know is not as hard or scary as I think it is.