This is an assumption many non-Norwegians make, especially from North America. Here is a list of points that might make people believe Norway is a communist country: Norway has free education including higher education. University students even get a scholarship and a loan (from Lånekassen) on top of university being free. Norway can be seen as a “nanny state”, where many policies might seem to be interfering … Continue reading Is Norway a Communist Country?
To buy a cat in its bag (å kjøpe katta i sekken) does not mean you bought yet another cat to your home. What are you? A cat lady? No it means that you wanted to buy one thing but were lured into buying something else. If you “let the cat out of the bag” (slippe katta ut av sekken) is a more modern version, … Continue reading 20 Funniest Norwegian Expressions
La Norvège, ses maisons de rondins rouges, ses paysages à couper le souffle parsemés de rennes pâturants patiemment, et ses fjords…remplis de déchets toxiques. Voilà la réalité à laquelle nous nous sommes réveillés Jeudi 14 février en Norvège, alors que le gouvernement de coalition entre les Conservateurs, les Libéraux, l’Extrême droite et les Chrétiens-démocrates a donné son feu vert au groupe minier Nussir d’ouvrir une … Continue reading Un fjord rempli de déchets toxiques. La Norvège donne son feu vert pour le pire désastre environnemental de son histoire
Snow is accumulating and temperatures are sinking. So I’d say winter is here for good. And although you might cheer yourself up every morning by counting the days to Spring, you still need to get warm until that comes along. Time for a little Nordic course on how to keep warm whatever the temperature. Learn from the best! Choose the right fabric Forget about cotton … Continue reading 10 Norwegian Tips to Keep Warm in the Winter
There are many reasons one decides to do a yoga and meditation retreat: you might feel like your stress level has been too high for too long and cannot cope anymore. You might be a regular yoga practitioner and want to be in a quiet place with more classes every day and the time to do only that. You might be in the midst of … Continue reading 7 Reasons to go on a Yoga Retreat at Casa Bhakti in Andalusia, Spain.
“How can I find a job in Norway as a foreigner, without a network, without speaking Norwegian and without knowing any companies here?” is the million dollar question foreigners ask when dreaming of moving to Norway, or integrate here after having found a partner and wanting to settle down. Sometimes they are a bit luckier and have one of those elements: maybe a small network … Continue reading “How to find a job in Norway” Book Review
«Vi er en ribbe-familie» is one of the strange sentences one can hear just before Christmas time in Norway (We are a “ribbe”-family). It is the end of a conversation when asking a family what they eat for Christmas (easy, it’s usually either ribbe or pinnekjøtt or sometimes lutefisk). Suddenly Norwegians are more sure of what they will eat for Christmas, in which house, and … Continue reading How Norwegians’ Love for Traditions is Driving Me Crazy
Several years ago when trying to learn about Norwegian culture and customs, I came across the work of Egil Aslak Aursund Haugerup. Yes I know his name is very long, and to this day I can barely say it, but the man has a few funny observations up his sleeve. He works for NRK, but also writes book about the Norwegian social codes. It is … Continue reading Norway’s rules about everything- Interview of the authors of “Norske standarder”.
You probably just realised that your salary seems higher in December. Some say the tax authorities only tax half of your salary in December and none of it in July. Well sadly none of this is true. No tax authorities, not even in Norway, ever gave one and a half month of tax free salary to a whole country. The Nanny state How does it … Continue reading Why is your Norwegian Salary much Higher in December?
If you live in Norway you might have noticed a lot of headlines about a guy called Knut Arild Hareide, the head of KrF aka The Christian Democrats Party. (If you are lacking behind in terms of Norwegian political parties read this: Norwegian Politics for Dummies and Clueless Foreigners.) This is Knut Arild Hareide: You might have also noticed from the media and angry Facebook … Continue reading Is Norway about to Make Abortion Illegal? Understanding Norway’s Hottest Political Debate
