Author: froginthefjord

I am The Frog in the Fjord: a French lady who lived in Denmark for a bit before moving to Norway for good (or for now, who knows!). 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 makes Norway and Norwegians so awkward and so loveable; and to give Norwegians something to laugh or to think about. Bonne lecture!
Blog of Norway

Simone Veil, den mektigste franske feministen siden Simone de Beauvoir, døde forrige fredag.

Husk: Simone Weil (1909-1943) var en fransk filosof – en mange forveksler med Simone Veil (1927-2017). En annen Simone (de Beauvoir) var også filosof.  De hadde samme fornavn – Simone – et vanlig navn å gi franske jentebarn født i første del av det 20. århundre.  Hun jeg skriver om heter Simone Veil, og hun var politiker. Forrige fredag, 30. juni, lyttet jeg til et program … Continue reading Simone Veil, den mektigste franske feministen siden Simone de Beauvoir, døde forrige fredag.

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Culture & People

More Weird Things Norwegians Do

Three years ago I wrote a blog post entitled “Weird Things Norwegians Do“, where I described 15 strange things I had noticed here. Now that I have been here a little longer, a few things have been added to the list. As before, “weird” does not necessarily mean “negative”. Some of these awkwardness should be adopted elsewhere in this world (but not the grilldress, hopefully). … Continue reading More Weird Things Norwegians Do

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Language, Politics

Why did Anders Behring Breivik officially change his name to “Idiot”?

Every now and then, the Norwegian mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik comes up with new ideas to get the press talk about him. Last year he filed a complaint, claiming that he was being tortured by the Norwegian authorities in jail. Now he is changing his name to something quite unexpected.  For those who need a little reminder, Breivik is the guy who made a … Continue reading Why did Anders Behring Breivik officially change his name to “Idiot”?

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Politics

5 Reasons Marine Le Pen can win the French election against Macron.

Tonight the results of the French Presidential election were made public: Emmanuel Macron, the head of the center-right party En March!, and Marine Le Pen, head of the National Front (far-right and nationalist) are both qualified for the second round with respectively over 23% and 21% of the votes. Many voters including myself are relieved to see that a candidate as moderate as Macron will be … Continue reading 5 Reasons Marine Le Pen can win the French election against Macron.

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Language

5 reasons to read A Frog in the Fjord’s book! And read the first 27 pages for free.

After exactly 4 years of blogging, my first book has been published and is out in the Norwegian bookstores and online since the beginning of April. This is what the cover looks like: 5 reasons to read it, whether you are a Norwegian or a foreigner If you are a Norwegian: Learn about your own culture seen from another perspective, understand how hard it is for … Continue reading 5 reasons to read A Frog in the Fjord’s book! And read the first 27 pages for free.

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Politics

Is France’s Next President a female Trump after all?

  French people are confusing. They drink wine at lunch and don’t think they are alcoholics. They each lots of fat cheese and stay slim. And their political life is full of mistresses and other surprises. One of the things foreign journalists do not seem to understand about French politics is that nobody can predict what is going to happen. Remember the French presidential election … Continue reading Is France’s Next President a female Trump after all?

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Love

Infidelity in Norway: Why Norwegians Might Cheat Just as Much as the French.

Every time I ask Norwegians whether there is infidelity in Norway, their answer is always “Much less than in France”. One could believe that, as the image of French people is savy guys and girls going around having affaires on their lunch pauses. And of course the French politicians from which we accept just about anything. The funeral of the French President Francois Mitterand is still vivid … Continue reading Infidelity in Norway: Why Norwegians Might Cheat Just as Much as the French.

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Culture & People

The Endless Norwegian Search for Perfection and Conformity

A few weeks ago, as the darkest of the winter was creeping in, I decided to start indoor group training in my gym (one of the ways to survive winter depression). I would rather run outside in the forest, where no silly music invades my personal space, alongside people looking at themselves in the mirror while tensing their muscles. Pytt, pytt. I signed up for a basic … Continue reading The Endless Norwegian Search for Perfection and Conformity

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Work

5 Reasons You Should Never Write a Book

“You are so lucky to be writing a book. It’s always been a dream of mine” is something I have been hearing a lot lately. Well, grasshopper. Go ahead, write one. Writing a book has nothing to do with luck, it is just discipline. Getting it published however is luck. Coming to that later. However I cannot dismiss all of those who actually want to … Continue reading 5 Reasons You Should Never Write a Book

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Culture & People

Norwegian skiers are never guilty. Whatever they do.

The media madness surrounding Johaug’s positive doping results reminds me of the lessons I learned during the Sotchi Winter Olympic games in February 2014. I had never been interested in cross country skiing on television, but during those games I understood the seriousness of this sport to Norwegians. I had not been in Norway for that long when the games started, and was not aware of the high sensitiveness … Continue reading Norwegian skiers are never guilty. Whatever they do.

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