The Healthiest Days of My Life

The International Student’s Festival in Trondheim is a gathering of youth from around the globe. There, they sit in lectures of formidable professionals and peacemakers. They also sit down and discuss timely issues such as migration, the refugee crisis, and education. Despite having 500 delegate slots available, to think of the world as its market, one can say the selection process is competitive. Gladly, I was waitlisted and eventually, invited to participate in my first international event; on my own, in a new continent, miles and lots of money, away from home.

Living in Norway did not only open my eyes wider with regard to the things happening in the world. Moreover, it opened my eyes with how healthy I lived in Norway and how healthy I could be when I get home. In addition, health could not just be about food and exercise. I like to think that, there is more to health than self-governance, but good governance in the sense that people are responsible for each other. My stay in Norway was the healthiest I have been in my life for four things; and these would be rest, diet, exercise, and environment.

One rest, I had to set aside a number of things to attend the event; one of those is school work. In truth, there are a lot of stressors in academic requirements. I was told by family and friends to relax and enjoy my stay away. Our schedules for the festival varied – there were some days that were loaded and other days that allowed my new found friends and I to explore. Despite having workshops, we were never given homework. When we were tasked to make a presentation, they allotted time for it. Without worries of cramming an assignment or studying for a quiz, my sleep in Norway was great. There, I always woke up peace of mind and eager to start the day.

On food, it is commendable that the organizers were able to prepare meals fit for a widely diverse group. For every lunch and dinner, they prepared vegetarian meals. Lunches were usually vegetable and bean sandwiches. For lunches, we have had vegetarian lasagna, salad, fish cakes, and other food I cannot name, but involved meat substitutes. My usual meals here in the Philippines are quite different. I would always succumb to processed, fried, and oily meat. I never had salad as a staple food until then. I cannot tell whether eating that healthy affected my performance. However, I could say that it was the first time that I felt like I was eating the way I should.

On exercise, I rarely walked the streets back home. I was always “hatid-sundo”. How I got around for the festival though was very different. Trondheim, the host city for the festival, was designed in a way that residential buildings and business establishments were just outside the door. Wherever I needed to go, I walked. Rain or snow, slushy or iced streets, I walked. The steepest slope I came across there was when we had a snow day and went skiing and sledding. Thinking of it, Norwegians have lovely landscapes that they know how to plan around. Beautiful architecture was worth walking in the cold. Though it was tiring to walk kilometers and hills, it hardly felt like exercise but more of nature and city walks to take in the aesthetics of the town.

Lastly, I want to add in the idea that environment adds to how healthy people could be. In Norway, people don’t drive smoke-belching cars. Instead, they drive Tesla electric cars. To add, Trondheim respects nature in the sense that there are trees, fjords, and mountains not polluted nor exploited. People did not opt for convenience in the sense of going cheap and throwing trash at the nearest alley. They all lived in discipline and respect for the people around them. It was as if they were accountable for each other.

I used to get down at the idea the Philippines would never see peace and order. Citizens rally against the leaders they vote for, and leaders would bring other leaders down. Of course, this is the macro level of governance. Before being able to be governed, people have to self-govern first. Self-govern in the sense of caring for one’s self in terms of rest, diet, and exercise, because we cannot take care of others if we cannot care for ourselves first.

04/25/2019 

Physical Education