My New Norwegian Home

Diapers in Norway are cheap. They're about four times cheaper in Norway than in the United States. To give you an idea, I pay around 20 kroner for a pack of size 2 Pampers diapers - about $2.50 USD. I can also buy a large box of Pampers for around 60 kroner - $6.85. When I travel abroad (even to Denmark or Sweden) with my youngest daughter I bring extra packages of diapers so I don't have to spend any extra. Cheap diapers ensure new parents can afford them and babies have healthier skin on their little bottoms. Not only are diapers cheaper in Norway in comparison to the United States, but all throughout Europe. Which leads to diaper smuggling. Yes, that's right, diaper smuggling. Diaper smuggling is actually a thing. People actually come over to Norway to buy diapers and smuggle them back to their home country to sell and make a profit. Yes, it's illegal to not declare goods over 5000 Norwegian kroner and yes, people get caught crossing the boarder and fined for diap...

I survived another November in Norway. November is by far my least favorite month here. It's grey, dark, wet, cold, all things uncomfortable. At this time I'm beginning to feel stir crazy. I feel like a fish swimming around and around a fishbowl. You get the point, November is not my friend! By December the Christmas lights are out combating the darkness, I'm in the Christmas spirit and only listen to Christmas songs. Don't anyone dare change my P7 Klem radio station in the car because we are FALALALALAing the entire drive! I love Christmas in Norway! We're up north so the environment is already Christmas-y, the Norwegians are set on making everything koselig (cozy)  like their lives depend on it, there is  julemarked (Christmas market) on the weekends, we bake cookies all month long and partake in Christmas activities.  I love Christmas more so now than when I was a kid. Partially because I now have my own children and seeing how fun it is for them makes it fun...

For the past couple of years I've consciously decided to be more eco-friendly. This occupies a lot of my thoughts as a  consumer. Why is there so much plastic?  Why is there so much unnecessary packaging? What products can I buy that have made the least carbon footprint? Is this biodegradable?  I reuse things, recycle what I can and reduce my consumption which in turn reduces trash. I buy things used when I can. This is something I'm striving to be better at which is why when Holdbart came to Skien I was interested. Holdbart is a store which sells food that is soon going out of date at a discounted price. The discounted prices interest the consumer and it ensures outdated or nearly outdated food will be sold. Considering 1/3 of the food we purchase is wasted, Holdbart is a great idea. If I had the energy and the time I'd create a blog dedicated to recipes from lost cost foods from Holdbard finds. But here I am, with no energy and no time so this idea is up for grabs, y...

I occasionally have people send me messages asking how they can move to Norway or how to find jobs when moving to Norway. Most of them are optimists and wish to land a job upon, or before moving. I once did this too when I was preparing for the move. I would find blogs about Norway, contact the writer and ask questions. Though maybe I wasn't as optimistic as some who have contacted me, I did have my concerns about the job market. More specifically, my chances of finding a job being a recently transplanted American having weak Norwegian speaking skills. The answers I received were worse than I feared. It's difficult to find a job here, it takes time, learn the language very well. At the time of moving here I was a recent college graduate with every sense of hope that I would find a job hopefully in a related field to what I studied and pay down on my student loans. Fortunately for me my student loans aren't as much as they could be. I received scholarships and grants mostl...

My car (unplugged) at an electric charging station. The electric car is growing in popularity in Norway. It's not at all uncommon to see parking spaces designated for electric cars and charging stations.  Here we have more electric cars  per capita  than anywhere else in the world. The electric vehicle has grown so much in popularity in fact that  half of all car sales  in 2017 were electric or hybrid cars. I'm also among the population who own an electric car and I'm satisfied with the purchase. It's affordable and cheap to drive, I can get 157 km (97.5 miles) in one charge in the summer and 107 km (66.5 miles) in the winter, I'm lowering my carbon footprint by driving an electric car rather than one that is powered by petrol, and my favorite feature - the battery is located on the underside of the car which means the seats are placed higher. As a petite person, this is an advantage because I can actually see over the steering wheel and dash board. B...

Earlier in the winter. And here we are just a few days ago.  I don't know about y'all, but I'm pretty sick of winter. I know, I know, not much sympathy for this transplanted American in Norway who coincidentally hates snow. I chose to move here to this winter wonderland after all. Our first snowfall was in November, but it melted for a bit, snowed again, melted, snowed again and again and again. At this point we have mountains of snow with no spring in sight. Only these mountains of snow are now caked in exhaust pollution. To top everything off it has also been a pretty horrible winter with lots of sickness to boot. So I'm fed up with winter. It has been a bit of a special winter as there is usually not nearly this much snow. Or so I'm told.  I was remarkably okay with the beginning of winter and kept chanting to myself my new control-freak mantra, "If you can't change it, embrace it." I was out in the snow building snowmen, sledding, h...

Before I moved to Norway I remember sitting down with my grannie and talking to her about my upcoming move. She gave me advice on marriage, in-laws, children, living away from family and one little bit of cultural advice that she could relate to. She told me at one point in her life she was a neighbor to a German lady and felt like her own cleaning skills were never up to par to her's. She told me if the Norwegians are anything like the Germans I would probably feel the same. She was correct. My cleaning skills are not up to the Norwegians and I'm not sure they ever will be. I feel like I'm better at tidying up, taking pride in my home and de-cluttering now than I was before moving to Norway, though I'm unsure if it's age, caring more, or adjusting to the culture. Your typical home here in Norway is with white walls, succulents or orchids, and candles. Oh, and it's free of clutter and clean enough to make you wonder how the home owner has time to do anything e...