About

I am The Frog in the Fjord: a French lady who lived in Denmark for a bit before moving to Norway for good. My name is Lorelou Desjardins, I come from Marseille in the South of France and have been living in Oslo since 2010. I am trained as a Human Rights Jurist, and speak fluent English, French, Norwegian and Indonesian.

This blog is about all these new realities foreigners like me face when trying to adapt to a new culture, language, country and most of all to new people. In this case, trying to understand the Norwegian culture and blending in (or trying hard).

I am hoping to give non-Norwegians a glimpse of what make Norway and Norwegians so awkward and so lovable; and to give Norwegians something to laugh or to think about.

In March 2017, my book En frosk i fjorden – Kunsten å bli norsk was published by Norway’s biggest publisher Cappelen Damm. It was a bestseller in Norway and on the bestseller list in May 2017.

Since 2014, I have a column in VG, Norway’s biggest online newspaper. I also work as a freelance writer for newspapers, magazines, comic strips and books; and hold lectures on inter-cultural issues and my experience of Norwegian culture in universities, companies and corporate events. You can send me an email at hello(at)lorelou(dot)com or use my contact form Contact. On my website lorelou.com you can have access to all my published articles, interviews on radios, television shows like Lindmo, and reviews for my conferences and courses on working with Norwegians.

In Spring 2021 my new book came out, called A Frog in the Fjord – One Year in Norway. It was recently recommended by Forbes and is sold on Amazon, as well as from my own publishing house (to order it from me with a personal dedication, shop here). In April 2023 it came out in French and hopefully soon in other languages!

Bonne lecture!

© “A Frog in the Fjord” 2024. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Lorelou Desjardins and A Frog in the Fjord with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.