Nordic American Voices Nordic Heritage Museum
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Nordic American Voices Nordic Heritage Museum Interview of Asbjorn (Ozzie) Nordheim September 19, 2015 Seattle, Washington Interviewer: Brandon Benson Brandon Benson: [0:07] This is an interview for the Nordic American Voices oral history project. Today is the 19th of September, 2015, and I’ll be interviewing Ozzie Nordheim. We are at the Nordic Heritage Museum in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood. My name is Brandon Benson. Ozzie, would you give me your name, and where you were born, and when? Asbjorn (Ozzie) Nordheim: [0:29] My name is Asbjorn O. Nordheim. In Norway, it is said that way. Here in the United States, I go by Ozzie Nordheim. I was born on the 6th of January, 1936. Brandon: [0:52] And you were born in Norway? Ozzie: [0:54] In Hallingdal, Norway. Brandon: [0:56] Very good. Ozzie: [0:58] In a little town called Aal, A-A-L. Brandon: [1:06] Did you know your grandparents? Ozzie: [1:11] No. They passed away. I am the youngest of seven. Brandon: [1:18] And your parents- did your mother work outside the home? Ozzie: [1:22] No. My mother, she worked at home. They had a post office, and they also had a small restaurant right in the home. My father, he also had a fox farm, but when he drowned in 1938, that fox farm was still managed by mother, but she had to hire somebody to take care of it for her. But she kept it going for quite a number of years. And obviously she had a job, as a telephone operator in the small valley. That was sufficient income to raise the family. Brandon: [2:26] So, your father’s death- how did that happen? Ozzie: [2:30] That happened on a Sunday morning. The fox farm was on the other side of the river from where we lived. He had to either go across a big bridge, which was a very safe bridge, a little further up the road from where the fox farm was, but he had a small suspension bridge, straight across from where we lived. My mother supposedly said to my father, “You should go on the big bridge today, because the river has gotten really high.” It had rained a lot, and the snow was melting. So, he said, “Oh, that’s no problem.” This is what my mother told me later on. Nordic American Voices Page 1 of 8 [3:38] He said, “It’s no problem. I am just going to run across.” He had two pails, buckets of fox meat in each hand. And he went down to the bridge, and he just started running across the suspension bridge. As soon as he got halfway, supposedly, the bridge got down in the water, which was running very high, and the whole thing just collapsed and swirled around. And of course, he disappeared. They found him about 1 km down from the accident from this bridge. Obviously he was dead. That was the way my father died. Brandon: [4:37] So, essentially, you didn’t have a father growing up. Ozzie: [4:41] No. I never knew him. I never remembered him. Brandon: [4:45] What was it like living in that part of the world? What were the winters like? Ozzie: [4:51] It is very severe winters where I come from. It is 800 meters above sea level, and the snow is on the ground up there for about six to eight months out of the year. So, obviously skiing is the favorite sport for everybody. When I started school, I had to ski in order to get to school quite often. The road, which was a one-lane road, was quite often so blown-in that cars or bicycles couldn’t get through. So an obvious thing for me was to use skis. Brandon: [5:37] So you and your brothers and sisters skied a lot. Ozzie: [5:42] Yeah. Brandon: [5:43] And you stayed in that part of the country until you were a young adult? Ozzie: [5:49] Well, I stayed home until I was fourteen years old. Then I decided to go to school, and I had to live away from home. I had to live down in a place called Nesbyen, where the school after grade school was run. That was a very good school. It was actually very hard to get in there. You had to go for an examination for about a week in the fall. Then they figured out if you were qualified enough to go to this school. This is the old-time way. That’s the way it was in those days. And I was lucky enough to get in. [6:43] I went to the school… In order to brag, I was the second-highest graduate when I graduated from that school. Of course, from there, I went to gymnasium in Eidsvoll, which is considered one of the better places to go to school in those days. From there, I went to the University of Oslo for one semester. But then I ran into somebody who had been in the United States on a scholarship. I was in a big ski tournament for students in Norway, and I did quite well there. I got fourth. [7:34] And he said, “Are you interested…” This guy took me aside and said, “Are you interested in going to the United States? You probably know how to do all the ski disciplines.” I said, “Yeah, tell me more about it.” He told me that he had a connection with a small college in the United States, and they were looking for skiers who could ski for them. I said, “Well, I could be interested.” It wasn’t more than two or three weeks later I got the letter, and they offered me a scholarship to come there, and that’s the way I came to the United States. Brandon: [8:23] What did you study? Nordic American Voices Page 2 of 8 Ozzie: [8:25] I studied economics. That is what I wanted to study, because my cousin had studied economics, and he ended up getting the Nobel Prize in economics. Of course, he was quite a bit older than I was. He was the oldest son of my uncle, who was much older than my mother. So there is quite a difference in age. But he got the Nobel Prize in 1979, I believe, in economics. So, that is kind of the claim to fame in the family. Brandon: [9:12] That’s good. What was it like studying in the United States? Did you continue your skiing? Ozzie: [9:21] Yes, I did continue to ski, because I had a scholarship for skiing. The classes were quite easy for me, but otherwise, being amongst the people in general, I hated, because quite often people were talking and laughing, and I didn’t understand what they were talking about, quite often. I knew how to speak English, but that was school-type English. I was quite often quite embarrassed, because I didn’t understand some of the jokes which were told. I just pretended like I could understand so they wouldn’t think I was stupid. [10:07] But really, I did not understand English very well, just talking. But in class, I had no problems. As a matter of fact, the first big test I had in economics, I got an A-plus, which was pretty much unheard of. The professor was standing there watching, and I held the paper up, and I said, “What does this grade mean?” And somebody who saw it yelled out, “A-plus? That’s ridiculous!” [Laughter] Everybody laughed. The professor was standing up there taking it all in, and he was having a good laugh, too. Because he thought that I had answered the questions just perfect. And I had studied like crazy. I was afraid I wouldn’t do too well, but I did quite well, evidently. Brandon: [11:01] It sounds like you had some good preparation from your schooling in Norway. Ozzie: [11:04] That’s true. I was lucky to have done pretty well in Norway, and also have gone to Eidsvoll Gymnas, which was considered one of the better schools in all of the country. My biggest problem was the English language, actually. If I had had enough money to go home for Christmas the first year, I probably would have left the country. But I didn’t feel I could justify that, so I stayed. Then after I got more and more used to things, I loved it. [11:50] Then I got an offer to go to the University of Denver. The coach at the University of Denver noticed me in one of the big ski tournaments in Nevada. He came over and said, “Would you like to come to Denver?” I said, “Most likely.” He sent me a letter and offered me a full scholarship, everything paid for. And that was it. I went there and got my degree in economics after two years. [12:29] I had traveled all over in the United State. Because of being on the ski scholarship, you get to travel everywhere. We were all the way to the East Coast and as far north as Canada. I saw a lot of the country. When I saw Seattle and Portland, I decided that Seattle would be my choice if I could get a job there. So I moved to Seattle, and started looking for a job, and I interviewed at several.