Materialbox

An Enemy of the People in Oslo

by Rimini Protokoll

Home

previous
enno

Recommend website

I BURN EITHER ON FULL FLAME OR NOT AT ALL

Name: Tore Bakker
Age: 63
District: Bydel Bjerke
Nationality: Norwegian
I live in a house together with my wife.

I am a PE-teacher, and I also teach math and sciences for 9th and 10th graders. 

I belong to those who take action, the active, the dedicated, the teachers and the collectivists, but I do not belong to the egoists, the slackers, the fundamentalists, the extremists or the arrogant.

I was born here, at Årvoll. My wife inherited this property, where actually her father had a small cottage. He grew up in this cottage. We tore down the old cottage and built the house in the 70’s. But we are currently looking for other places to live, we are thinking we might want to live in a flat in the years to come. But we’ll remain in Oslo. Either here or Oppsal or Grefsen. The most important thing is to remain close to the forest. That is most important to us. I think we’ll be running up the hills around here with our walkers or skies. 

I have some Norwegian-lessons in my teaching-background. I am very fond of Ibsen’s dramas in general, also An Enemy of the People. All of Ibsen’s works are interesting, they all rise important questions, ethical and timeless questions that we also can ask today. I am concerned with the collective, to work in herds. If our communities work, they also work for each of us, that is how we take care of the ones that struggle the most. I believe in equality, society is best served with equal people. This prevents conflicts; I think conflicts in the world are more or less provoked by inequalities. As a teacher, I am also very concerned with this. Today, our schools are some of the only places that represent a counter-culture to the egocentric mass culture we live in today. Regarding the saying “the strongest is the one standing most alone”: You should always stand your ground and be able to count on yourself. But this should not be at the cost of  others. If someone dare to stand their ground, backed by only their ethics or moral and with their conscience clear, it is good. So this is pretty two-sided.

An important process and turningpoint for me arose when I took a head-principals' course back in 86. Before the course I had spent some time thinking I wanted to become a principal, but during the course I found out that I am not suited to sit behind a desk. I like teaching, and I thrive among my students.

For the performances I will just go straight down for five minutes to the subway, and then go directly to Nationaltheatret.