Since I moved to Norway, foreign friends have come and gone. Students, people with short contracts, people who can’t stand the cold and the rain. People who meet someone and want to try other countries, travellers. But it is really in the past 2-3 years that I’ve noticed a pattern of people leaving despite a well established life here. Foreigners with good jobs, often with … Continue reading Is it still worth it to live and work in Norway?
Norway has it all, doesn’t? Happiest people on Earth, a yearly Nobel Peace prize to hand out, a low unemployment rate, high gender equality, paid parental leave, red cabins in the woods facing the fjord, clean water and air. My goodness, what are we doing still here, we should all move to Norway! Calm down. There is no perfect place. There are great reasons to … Continue reading Moving to Norway: Essential Questions to Ask Yourself Before Moving
There are around 800,000 foreigners living in Norway, according to the Norwegian Statistics Bureau (2020 numbers). That makes up to almost 15% of Norway’s population. There are wonderful perks at living in Norway for a foreigner, from universal healthcare to great parental benefits, not to mention higher salaries than in many other countries. However when the corona crisis hit many of us realised one thing: … Continue reading Being a Foreigner in Norway in 2021 under Corona Restrictions
You are stuck home, feel like this is going to be a long 14 days, maybe even longer. Cheer up, here is a list of positive outcomes that will and might come out of this quarantine. Positive things have come out of the worst crisis. Think of World War 2 which gave women more economic independence because all the men were at war. The Corona … Continue reading Cheer up! The 10 Positive Sides of the Coronavirus Quarantine
Norway seems like the new Eldorado to find a job. Unless…? Looking for a job in Norway seems like a pretty easy and attractive solution for foreigners. Unemployment rate is low, at 3,8% in 2019 and average salary is high, as seen on this graph from 2018. Obviously it depends on your field, with finance being the oil sector with an average of 6,000 Euros … Continue reading 7 Obstacles to Finding a Job in Norway
“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
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?
This article was written in Norwegian for NRK Ytring on the 05.05.2018 under the title Inneklemt-fest, and later adapted for this blog. May is a widely expected month for many Norwegians, because of something called inneklemte dager. Now this is a bit of a strange word to translate to English. “Klem” is a word used in different words. It can mean “hug”, and I really wondered … Continue reading Why do Norwegians love inneklemte days so much
When the #MeToo movement took off I really wondered what would happen in Norway. As I wrote several years ago, it can be a true joy to be a woman in Norway. It seemed to me like politicians, radio and television people as well as other people in power would be less likely to use that power in order to harass people sexually in this … Continue reading What do #MeToo Scandals look like in Norway, World Gender Equality Champion?
“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
