Northfielders in Oslo Witnessing 'Peace and Unity'

Days removed from an apparent one-man attack on Oslo, Norway, that resulted in the death of 76 people, Northfielder Michelle Fredrickson, who remains in Oslo, will no doubt never forget her visit.

She’ll never be able to shake the confused state that swept over Norway’s capital city that Friday afternoon when Norwegian massacre suspect Anders Behring Breivik allegedly set off a bomb in downtown Oslo and then opened fire on Utøyo island.

Fredrickson, who is in Norway as a senior administrative assistant for the North American leg of the Oslo International Summer School, said she didn’t hear the bomb detonate from her office at the University of Oslo, which is about two miles away from where the blast happened.

But it took mere moments to realize something had happened—and then instinct took over.

“I felt like a mother hen,” Fredrickson told Northfield Patch on Tuesday. “I wanted to do a headcount. … It was very nerve-wracking.”

Fredrickson is joined in Oslo by 133 North American college students, including 17 students, as well as Torild Homstad, an adjuct professor at St. Olaf and the Northfield American director of ISS, Northfielder Margaret Hayford O'Leary, a visiting professor at the ISS, and Northfielder Joey Corbin, an administrative coordinator with ISS.

There are a total of 639 students from 95 countries in the six-week program. Most of the students were on campus when the attack began, Fredrickson said, but some had gone on excursions. All St. Olaf students were OK, she said.

"Our job is care for the people who are our responsibility and see that they stay safe, complete their course work, and depart for their home countries on schedule,” Homstad told northfield.org. “We are all in shock, but we must carry on and not let this attack deter us in any way."

Once Friday became Saturday, the folks at ISS were left to wonder what was the appropriate next step.

With the choice, many of the students, staff and faculty continued business as usual, with Fredrickson and others going on an excursion hiking Jotunheimen, a nearby mountainous area.

“It was a relief to the students,” she said. “It was weird to be leaving, but I so needed to be away from the heart of it and reflect. It was good to be away.”

When the group returned the following day fresh in mind and tired in body, they were once again faced with the reality of what had happened. But instead of finding people cowering in a corner or pumping fists of anger, Fredrickson said they returned to find a city and country united.

The following day, more than 150,000 people took to the streets of Oslo carrying roses and candles.

“They were meeting this violence with words of peace and unity,” Fredrickson said. “It was really incredible, very touching. I can’t even describe it.”

People lined up for hours to sign books of condolences, an intimate moment that Fredrickson said she will not soon forget.

Northfield has long had a connection with Norway through a local chapter of the Sons of Norway and strong ties from St. Olaf.

On Monday, St. Olaf President David R. Anderson wrote a letter to the Norwegian Ambassador to the United States expressing deep sympathy for the tragedy that struck the country.

“The ties between St. Olaf and Norway are deep and personal, and we are heartsore for the people who have been injured, for those who have lost loved ones, and for this violation of Norway's peace,” Anderson wrote.

Through it all, the proverbial melting pot of the ISS has remained strong, and Fredrickson said the school, like its neighbors throughout the region, remain united.

“We’re going to get through this together.”