My New Norwegian Home

Wow, it's been a while. 3 years. So the pandemic, huh? That was a real inconvenience.  In the three years of my absence from this blog, I've written a book. So there's that. It's not published yet. I've been diligently seeking publishing houses and agents to send my manuscript to - 35 since January. I've decided to write another one as well. Might as well while I'm figuring out which direction to take the novel I just completed. The second book will be similar to my blog entries about life in Norway. I've grown more cynical with age and the 11 years I've been living here, so sarcasm presents itself as a coping mechanism. It's a necessity.  So, yes, I'm still around for those of you who have followed this blog and my strange but wonderful journey managing life in Norway. If you stick around a little longer, you can expect to see a book. Although, I think it will take less than 3 years to complete this time around. Oh, and I should mention, I...

We have had many walks in the forest during lockdown. Have I really not written a new blog post since December? I had no idea it had been so long. I'm actually pretty deep into writing a book and have neglected this blog which is now weeded with spam comments. Whew! Before the lockdown began I started writing a post on Norwegian manners, which I never published because it never felt right. I want to talk about how the pandemic has effected us, but then again, talk of this has been everywhere for months and I'm tired of it. Anyways, as every human on this earth knows we're all in a lockdown of some sorts. It really does my head in to try to pick an angle on which to write about the whole ordeal and I don't even know where to begin to articulate it, so I'll pick my best angle that's more personal. Overall, my family and myself have been fine. We haven't had much change in our lives. I've had more time with kids, I've seen more of my husband,...

A blurry but still sweet picture of my eldest daughter dressed in her Lucia clothing some years ago. December 13th is Saint Lucia Day. It's celebrated widely in Scandinavia with children wearing long white shirts, tinsel and candles. Generally, the eldest girl in the barnehage (kindergarten) will be wearing a crown of candles. Not real candles, of course, but battery powered candles. Lussekatter, saffron buns with raisins, are passed out from baskets to be eaten. Delicious lussekatter.  As history has it, Saint Lucy was a girl who was a martyr. She would bring bread to persecuted Christians in Rome at night. To keep both hands free, she wore a crown of candles to light her way through the darkness. Lucy is a perfectly fitted name meaning light.

My pitiful attempt at a cartoon depicting Americans and Norwegians (generally speaking) Oh American optimism! I love it. I miss it. Where else in the world can you experience people with wide, glaring smiles, politeness, friendliness, names describing positive attributes (Hope, Faith, Patience) and the excitement of decorating for any holiday early? USA, that's where! A vast underlining aspect that Americans don't necessarily think about, yet live their lives by, is the never ending endeavor of the puritan work ethic - the mindset carried by nearly all Americans that hard work paves the way to the American dream, and not to mention, social problems creating speed bumps on the way to that difficult to attain dream. For whatever merit my own observations are worth, Americans (generally speaking) are pretty thrilled when we finally reach what we consider the American dream - a house, or well, a mortgage, a car, 2.5 children and a dog (or a cat, because you know, cats ar...

Becoming Norsk 7 years ago I left the U.S. to live out my life in Norway. I had my newlywed husband by my side, a couple of suitcases and my cat with me. I traded a life of convenience for self-sufficiency. Fast food, processed foods and restaurants for learning to cook homemade meals from scratch. My car dependency for walking much more (and sometimes walking for just the fun of it). I traded bottled water for fresh tap water. Consumerism for minimalism, and a culture of broad class divisions for flat hierarchy. Everything I had known until that point, I left and tried to figure out in my new country. Within that first year, I finished college, married, moved, began language classes, became pregnant and then held a newborn scared out of my mind thinking, "what the hell do I do with this?" It was a lot of change at once and I would not recommend anyone to voluntarily tackle so much at once. I never planned on things happening that way, they just kind of fell into pla...

Froot Loops! Who'd have thought so many Americans would be joyously celebrating Froot Loops' arrival to Norway like it's 1972? Yet here we are. Froot Loops have arrived in Norway. Our bland, unvaried  cereal aisle has become  slightly  more colorful. I say slightly because, well, the Froot Loops that have now ascended from cereal heaven to Norway are lacking some color. You know, artificial color! That good ole unhealthy stuff us Americans are so accustomed to eating. When I poured my first bowl of these Froot Loops, my first thought was  it looks like a comparison picture of how someone with colorblindness views Froot Loops.  My eldest daughter on the other hand exclaimed, "WOW! SO COLORFUL!" Same taste, just lacking some pigment. As it turns out, there are some ingredients which are allowed by the FDA, but are not allowed in foods in Europe.  Food dyes are one of those things, but if a product has certain dyes in it, they must have a warning la...

Did you know there are mitten trees in Norway? It's true. The colder and snowier the weather, the more mitten trees bloom. A mitten tree.  Instead of leaving lost mittens, gloves and hats lying in the snow to become destroyed, lost or buried in more snow, a passerby will pick up the item and place it in the nearest tree branch. I like this about Norway; it shows some tiny form of respect for other people's belongings. If a tree branch can't be found, the key is to use something visible and off the ground. For example, in the picture below. The railing to the entrance of our local grocery store was used to hang someone's lost mittens. Lost mittens. 

Separate dyne!  On beds a dyne (duvet) is used and you purchase covers in many prints and different types of fabrics. These are a pain in the butt to put over the duvet, but we manage. Many people have a duvet for summer months and a duvet for winter months. Oh, and the most common thing is for each person to have their own duvet. Moving to Norway as a newlywed, I wanted to have one duvet that we shared on our bed thinking it would be extra cozy and we'd cuddle more. Newlyweds are hilariously idealistic though! This lasted only a few months before we surrendered with white flags in the war zone that was our sleeping quarters. Turns out, I'm quite territorial over the duvet. I hear a lot of women are like this. I freeze easier than my husband so I was often less comfortable than I wanted to be and he's a night owl who goes to bed later than I do which means every time he lifted the duvet, a gush of cold air would follow him waking me. We gave up with our idealism o...

What's more interesting to watch on TV than 12 hours of burning wood? Paint dry maybe? Though don't let NRK know or else we may have slow TV watching paint dry. Anyways, for those like my husband who has nothing but pure Norwegian background, meaning his ancestors had to deal with the cold before heaters and electricity, they had no choice but to turn to wood for building a fire in order to stay warm in the cold and frosty Norway. It's almost hard to understand back then, why did people stay and live in Norway before the time of electricity? Why not move to a warmer place? So Norwegian history, I suppose, has a lot to owe to fire wood. Without it, Norwegians probably wouldn't be here today. In a tribute to firewood, 12 hours of burning wood was shown on air. Awesome. Not only that, but Stephen Colbert laughed at how "almost 20% of the population was tuned in."  National Firewood Night  (cue the Norwegian pride on making it in to American news). Or...

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...

I've finally begun reading a book that has been in my reading list for a few years now; Norwegian By Night by Derek B. Miller. The author is actually an American man from Boston living in Oslo. Although it's a thriller, the expatriation of the main character is relatable. Sheldon Horowitz, a Marine, relocates to Oslo with his granddaughter, an American married to a Norwegian man. One particular quote, or paragraph rather, stood out to me, "Lars, being Lars, was overjoyed and encouraging and optimistic about her ability to adapt and join the pod. Norwegians, true to their nature, prefer to spawn in their own waters. Consequently Oslo is peopled by Norwegians married to a shadow population of displaced souls who all carry the look of tourists being led like children through the House of Wax." According to Wikipedia  16.8% of Norway's population is made up of immigrants. Granted this number also includes children born to immigrants regardless of being born in Norwa...

5 years ago I got on a plane headed to Norway with the remaining of my belongings I didn't sell, give away or donate all stuffed in a suitcase and my cat - oh and my newly wedded husband of course. As we landed the weather was a deceptive 90 F degrees. That was our one day of summer that year or at least that's what it felt like. I've now lived in Norway half a decade.  So much has happened and so much has changed in the past 5 years. I got married. I moved. I started language classes. I had my first child still not knowing the language in the country I lived in. I finished my language classes, though I'm still learning and my language skills are not anywhere near where I'd like them to be. I landed a job that I love! I have managed to visit 13 countries. I've met new people and have some of the best friends I could ask for. My husband and I bought our first house. I have recently begun my independent studies for the Bergenstest. I'm expecting my 2nd child...

A few years ago I was asked to write about my experience in Norway. Although at the time I was still new to Norway and not quite as integrated as I am now, rereading my experience from a few years ago gave me a good laugh as it's from a newcomer's perspective. It's doubtful I would write the same experience now after living in Norway nearly 5 years, though I would keep the same openness and warmth. Here is the book - My Life Abroad: A Selection of Expat Stories . Though there is a link to Amazon, I'm not asking anyone to purchase it. (And a short disclaimer: I am removing all affiliate links from my blog and I will not write blog posts of any kind promoting anyone's business. I write about life in Norway because it's what I like to do and I simply do it for free, not for personal gain. I cannot possibly take pride in something I'm not happy doing.)  My story is number 16 in the book! I just love the illustration of the pregnant woman scratching her hea...

It's a bit late in the year for the pumpkin craze, but better late than never. Americans generally love pumpkin. Norwegians are a bit skeptical. It is possible to find Libby's pumpkin puree here, but unless you're wanting to purchase an imported can for 65 kroner at your local Meny you may be out of luck. However, this year, I decided to make my own pumpkin puree and it worked out just fine. In fact, I made 4 or more times as much pumpkin puree for only 50 kroner. I don't like blogs that tell a story when all I want is the darn recipe so I will keep this short and simple. Here's what you do: 1) Grab a pumpkin. 2) Slice it in half. Vertically, not horizontally. 3) Get an ice cream scoop or a large spoon. 4) Gut the pumpkin. 5) Place both halves of the pumpkin skin up in the oven at 220 degrees (Celsius) for 45 minutes. 6) The skin of the pumpkin should be brown and a bubbly. 7) Peel off the skin and throw it away. It's very easy to peel off after bakin...