Moving to Norway: Essential Questions to Ask Yourself Before Moving

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

6 Lessons learned from the Indigenous Sami protest in Norway against Fosen Windmills

Picture credit: Alf Simensen/NTB Scanpix via AP There has been a historic protest in Oslo, Norway in the past week week.  See my previous article Norway: Indigenous & Environmental Youth Occupy the Ministry of Energy over Human Rights Violation for the details. The protest went from 15 indigenous and youth activists occupying the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum on Thursday 23rd of February to over 2000 … Continue reading 6 Lessons learned from the Indigenous Sami protest in Norway against Fosen Windmills

Norway: Indigenous & Environmental Youth Occupy the Ministry of Energy over Human Rights Violation

Photo credit: Ole Berg-Rusten / NTB Youth from the indigenous Sàmi organisation NSR, as well as youth environmental activists from Natur og Ungdom have been occupying the offices of the Ministry of Energy and Oil since Thursday (23rd of February 2023). They are doing so as an act of civil disobedience to hold the Norwegian state accountable for its violation of indigenous peoples’ rights. We now … Continue reading Norway: Indigenous & Environmental Youth Occupy the Ministry of Energy over Human Rights Violation

The Whale in the Room. Why does Norway continue Killing Whales?

“A whale burger with that?” asked the lady at the restaurant. Wait, what? The picture in the menu was of a burger, with red meat that looked like beef or any other red meat. But reading the description I realised it was whale meat in that burger. I was divided between my environmental conscience and the curiosity of tasting whale meat. Whether it is with … Continue reading The Whale in the Room. Why does Norway continue Killing Whales?

Why do kids in Norway get such bad food?

My child was a bit over 1 year old, and we had our first parental meeting with the barnehage pedagogical leader, a person with high authority in a Norwegian barnehage. “You child will have great difficulties to learn to speak” she said. I was horrified. I am neither a health personnel nor an expert in child behavior, I am just a mum. She is an … Continue reading Why do kids in Norway get such bad food?

Being a Foreigner in Norway in 2021 under Corona Restrictions

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

© Alice Baguet

Is Norwegian Hard to Learn?

Despite what the internet tells you, no language can be learned in 3 days. Norwegian is no exception. 1-Learning Norwegian is easier depending on which other languages you speak fluently. If you speak English it will be a bit hard, but not too hard. I am a native French speaker and speak English as my second language. At the beginning I felt like English and … Continue reading Is Norwegian Hard to Learn?

Should Nazi-supporters be on the agenda of Norway’s biggest political week? The story of Lysglimt at Arendalsuka.

Have you heard of Arendalsuka? Arendal is a small town in the south of Norway. A friend of mine who was living there told me there are three reasons to like Arendal: June, July and August. And it is precisely in August every year that all important Norwegian journalists, politicians, companies and organisations meet in Arendal for a week of meetings, podcasts, public announcements and … Continue reading Should Nazi-supporters be on the agenda of Norway’s biggest political week? The story of Lysglimt at Arendalsuka.

Why is your Norwegian Salary much Higher in December?

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?

The Norwegian Birthday Song Officially the Hardest in the World to Learn. I mean, come on.

Last night I was at my boyfriend’s Birthday party, and when the Norwegians around me started singing “Hurra for Deg som Fyller ditt år” I thought “Oh damn, I still haven’t learned that song”. Then I fell in shame (as I usually do when this happens) and looked at other people and tried to remember the lyrics. I tried to hop and turn and stuff … Continue reading The Norwegian Birthday Song Officially the Hardest in the World to Learn. I mean, come on.