The truth about living in Norway | An American's point of view
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- Опубликовано: 1 июл 2022
- The truth about living in Norway | An American's point of view. *Norway Souvenirs: amzn.to/3y6Ct7N
American reacts to life in Norway.
A U.S. foreigner's view on living in Norway (Norwegian food, culture, lifestyle, language, first impressions, etc.) Living in Norway vs USA.
Comment below things you love about life in Norway!
*Norwegian Souvenirs: amzn.to/3y6Ct7N (affiliate links)
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I´ve been enthralled with Norway all my life and I finally got to go in my 75th year; I spent two weeks in Tromsø in March 2022, and it wasn´t long enough! I plan to go back for a three month stay and investigate how I might live there permanently. Thanks for sharing your compassionate talking points. Tusen takk !
Hi, I am so happy that you got come to my lovely country!
I hope your next visit will be in summer and maybe more to the south or west! See the fjords and the capitol! ❤️🇳🇴
I think it's difficult to get a permanent permit as a senior citizen. Depending on where you are from of course.
Thank you for this lovely journey by giving us insights and vivid descriptions of Norway. For me, as a former Filipina who lives in Bergen, for 34 years, I believe Norway is the most beautiful country and the best place to live in the world for so many reasons. I felt privileged and grateful to live and work in Norway enjoying fully the freedom and the great norwegian nature, the socio-economic conditions and the social welfare which is probably the best in the world. The people are sincere and down to earth too. My children and I are grateful and happy to live here as Norway provides security to all the people through the wonderful educational system and the work and career opportunities where one can see gender equality is more practiced than any parts of the world, as far as I am concern. So many things I am thankful about Norway. My job as nurse, the food, the fresh air, my friends and my workplace and the country in general. Norway has so many beautiful things to offer, that you cannot get other places in the world. You are lucky to be in Norway, I am🥰 and lastly but not the least, I would Thank you once again for this beautiful presentation, you have a great insight, keen observation and interest of the norwegian culture and people and Norway as nation.
you are a marvelous story-teller and a great ambassador of Norway. 😍🙏🌸🌸🌸🍃
What a lovely comment! You made my Norwegian heart smile. 😊
How someone describes somebody else, often says more about the one who describes, than whom he is describing - what a nice man :)
I dont even know how i got here, im not norwegian. Watched the whole thing. I really enjoyed listening to this man. What a great storyteller.
I'm Norwegian and i agree!
I am Norwegian and must say it makes me very happy how nicely you are speaking of my country🙂 and everything you're saying is true as well, wouldn't have told it any different myself!
When he was speaking about the scandinavian languages and denmark all i could think about was "Kamelåså"🤣
I’ve lived here for 18 years now. (Born & raised in Minnesota)
So accurate!! Especially the lutefisk!!! 😂 yuck!!!
But… I’m addicted to bacon pølse med sprøstektløk!!! 😋
Thank you for all these nice words and praise. Thank you also for reminding me, as a Norwegian, how much good there is here in this country (it is easy to forget during my plain everyday work and regular plain time at home). Just don't forget that there are some nut cases living among us, but that is probably less obvious to notice, unless a crime happens in your vincinity.
As a Norwegian, thanks for the great words. And about lutefisk, your not alone..
You can speak to people on public transportation or street, you just have to meet the same person a couple of times first. At that stage its ok to say hi. After another couple of times you can start a conversation.
I have 13 years living here and I can says what precisely was your description... Absolutely good people, I appreciated for ever their good hospitality and maybe their patience while we learn the language 😀
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THESE KIND WORDS ABOUT MY COUNTRY, Lifey!
I loved your video greatly.
And the fact that you even took the time to learn our language is amazing.
It`s seems to me that you had your moment of "The time of my life" while you were her in my country.
YOU ARE MOST WELCOME BACK ANY TIME.
ANY DAY!
ANY TIME OF YOUR CHOOSING!
And bring as many of your friends as possible with you,
They too will after this come back several times too. when they experience Norway the way you did.
I am talking about comeing back & back again over & over again.
They too will have learned our language by then, i both hope & think!
THANK YOU SO MUCH!
Sincerely Roger
Trondheim, Over a 1000 years ago, the name of Trondheim was NIDAROS & it was Norways first Capital,
The Cathedral in Trondheim is called NIDAROSDOMEN
And it is the only church that is written in the norwegian constitution.
The King MUST go there to be blessed into the position as the King of Norway.
Norway is the ONLY Kingdom in the whole world that has a Royal family that is elected by the people.
Elected King by the people, for the people with the motto "ALT FOR NORGE". That means "EVERYTHING FOR NORWAY"
And during WW2, The King really showed that he meant it too.
yuk...lutefisk. Even Norwegians are divided on that. Glad you had a good time here
It was really fun hearing about your experience! Makes me proud to be Norwegian❤️
As a Norwegian, I enjoy striking short conversations with people, be it at the store or in the city I live in. It feels great and I very rarely get any nasty comments in return.
Wow, I enjoyed this immensely and I'm not even from Norway. I go there often though and can agree with all of your nice words. I'm from the neighbor in the east, Sweden, and should I come across a Norwegian in another part of the world It's like meeting a friend from home. I understood every word you spoke in Norwegian and I was moved by your ending remark.
lol Its a lot of ups and downs, so prepare for a lot of falling..
Its always nice to hear nice things about your own country and countrymen. :)
When it comes to work and vacation, we have a saying here in Norway.
I do not live to work, i work to live. ;)
Interesting talk about your impressions of Norway.
I am from Switzerland and have visited all 3 Scandinavian countries numerous times. I always enjoyed it a lot. Personally I found Norway and the Norwegians being the most similar to Switzerland and the Swiss, out of the three.
Probably because they are both mountain countries.
That's so sweet of you. I'm pretty sure I speak on behalf of the Norwegians that have met you that they were lucky to have you. Very open minded and wonderful Norwegian. You fit in very well. As for Norwegians being a bit reserved with people they do not know, this is offcourse true, but it does differ a lot depending on where you meet them. In the bigger citties they keep to themselves, in the smaller they chitchat more. If you meet a fellow Norwegian in another country, you get as happy as if stumbling over you grandmother unexpectedly. The frustration for English speaking people moving to Norway is that we love speaking in English, and so they never get to practice their Norwegian unless they ask to. They do indeed get dark winters in the north of Norway, but then you get to see the Northern Lights. In the summer it's sun for 24 h in the North. You get more done, but have to cover the windows. Eating lots of fish is mostly usual along the coast (especially west and north). Around Oslo it would be more meat or foreign food (pasta, tacos and so on). The biggest contrast with US (we feel) is that we are not very religious and very LGBT friendly. We are often very interested in other countries culture and politics. We are sometimes a bit sceptical to the US for this reason, but always find visiting American individuals absolutely wonderful. We are in general social democrats no matter what political parties we vote for, and always wonder why social democracy is confused with socialism in the US. But I guess that is related to the old anti-communism campaigns. Lots of hugs from Norway.
There are a lot of religious people in Norway. Known for it.
Wooow!! Your Norwegian is GOOOD!! And you describe my childhood perfectly🇳🇴🌹♥️
edit: You managed to profile us reeeeaally well🇳🇴🇳🇴🇳🇴 Our dialects differs WILDLY😂 to be able to decipher and make sense out of them as a foreigner must be hard! Our younger generations struggle with the telemark dialect themselves😂
I would add to this that it varies how reserved we are and that our level for reservation depends on area you are in; for example I am more reserved in a shopping mall downtown in a city metro than I am on hiking trip, on a mountain I'd say hello to almost anyone. Also locally around where my family have a cabin I'd say hi to people because it's a different norm there than in the city.
Yes it is true that most norwegians dont speak to strangers but i work in a grocery store. one of the store rules is that you must talk with the customers nicely so that their more likely to comeback to buy more groceries. so i talk to people a ton everytime im at work. despite being norwegian i actully love to talk and im very open, unlike most norwegians. my point is what you see isen't always as it seems.
Wooooooooowwww This guy knows Norway very well. And his Norwegian is good. I don't know who he is, but I really hope he gets his own travelling show, and comes back to Norway. Elsker denne fyren😀
Excelent content, a story teller i could listen to for days, makes me proud of being a Nowegian 😀
You are to kind sir! That was realy nice to hear so many beautiful words about us norwegians and Norway. It was spot on, we are kinda like hobbits hehe🤣
That closing remark made me as a Norwegian cry
I'm dreaming of moving to your great country ❤️, but I'm afraid that it would be difficult to make friends there 🤔!
Ski Queen is actually made by Tine, the largest dairy (and brunost) company in Norway. So despite the awkward name, it should be the real deal.
I’m fortune enough to have grown up in Norway majority of my life. Absolutely love this country and pay taxes happily 👏🏽💛
Awesome that you actually named the town as "Tronhjem".
Thank you for your on point about Norway.
As a norwegian I'm very thankful I'm living here. Cost is high (high taxes), but our health care system is one of the best in the world.
Genarations home was more normal in the past, but some still do that. But non of my friends have that arrangement as I know of.
Must of us speak english, albeit maybe a bit broken, so if you can't be understood, switching to english is fine.
And regarding travel silent, be want to rest whenever in a hectic everyday, and maybe daydream a bit before arriving work or on our way home.
We do have supermarkets, but most is food related,
And it's much much more expensive to shop at petrol stations or kiosks.
Much cheaper in the Rema 1000, Kiwi, Bunnpris chains. There is also some cheap stores as Europris and dollar store.
And if you deside to drive yourself, make note that any fine is costly here, so stay legal.
Regarding food, I'm very selective and I can't stand lutefisk or kompe-komle (poteto ball). Not keen on mutton or fish in general either. I do like trout, but only one way, steamed with egg and melted butter.
And we do like Taco, most have taco on Fridays on regular basis, but maybe not the way you know Taco meals.
And yes we do have 4 weeks of paid vacation.
Regular good summer days is in the 70s, some years for week, some years for only days.
But it can get hotter, just had a 86F day.
And if you want to live a place without dangerous animals, this is the place.
We do have wolfs, bears and Elk, but those is mostly avoiding people.
As a norwegian I understand every word you speak in norwegian. Sure it might not be perfect, but who cares? All of us would understand it. You certainly managed to make a lot of observations about us norwegians that are true. Even before I saw any foreigner react to how we act in public, I used to joke around about it to friend some others. If you sit in a bus/train with many free seats I would say only a crazy person would choose to pick the seat right besides you. But we are not unfriendly, as you realized. We are a bit reserved against strrangers yes, but if anyone needs helps we are usually happy to help. You said you had tasted "pinnekjøtt" and "lutefisk" for christmas. Did you get the change to taste what we call "ribbe"?. Translated it would be ribs, but it is not like spareribs. - Would you visit Norway again if you got the chance?
ribbe in English is porkbelly
Thank you for showing us a piece of your life. You are always welcome back here.
And good journeys wherever you go. =)
I've lived in Norway a long time and really struggle with the spoken language even despite numerous courses. Really impressed you learned so fast. You've motivated me a lot to get back into it.
I don't think the regular Norwegian chocolate in supermarkets is anything special, but I live in a small town with a local chocolate factory and the quality is much better (even though it is very expensive ). I love the Norwegian ice-cream though! Agree on the bread from Baker Hansen and Åpent Bakeri... and yes I've never owned a car in Norway.
as a norwegian i have to say i love your point of wiew, and i didnt realise how different we are as scandinavians from the the rest of the world or just the us in this case. It makes me proud that to enjoyed your time here so much, but you need to try lutefisk one more time ;)
Lutefisk is edible but definitely not Chef's secret dish. The consistency is gelatinous but together with peas, beetroot/rødbet, mashed potatoes and accompanied by an ice-cold bottle of Akkevit tolerable. One has to keep in mind that this is the ancient old way of turning dried cod (tørket skrei) into a decent meal that even old people were able to chew and digest. And therefore it's quite OK. Personally, I've always enjoyed eating it. Hilsen fra tyskland.
Takk for mange fine ord :) Og hva du sier om oss, stemmer veldig. Vi har stille-konkuranse på offentlig transport og heis. Men få en nordmann på promillen, så er vi ute av fryseren, og klar for å snakke om hva som helst.
Thanks for posting this. Really insightful on what living there would be like. Have been once, and will definitely go back - was reading "The Nordic Theory Of Everything" while there (written by a woman from Finland who moved to NYC), and it was also insightful. I thoroughly appreciated the Norwegian ethic of doing things for the benefit of a better society. It really caught me as something we should all live by - it's not dependence, but interdependence. Really appreciated hearing your views and comparisons! (My biggest challenge was the language, it will take some work :)
I agree on everything. But there is one more thing, Norway is not for everyone.
As a young architect, I got a job in Berlin right after university, so I moved to Germany.
A few months later company offered me to go to Norway and get involved in National Museum Project in Oslo.
I spent 4 years in Norway, which almost drove me crazy.
Lack of sun, not so big varsity in food choices, a wind that blows 24/7, grey and black facades on buildings (luckily there are some yellow and red wooden houses), green and cold sea, rain, etc.
People are reserved and not spontaneous at all. If you want to go for a coffee with someone, you need to plan that one month in advance.
It is tough to live there if you are "sommerfugl i vinterland". I didn't have inspiration for anything, my projects were suffering because of that.
Now I live between Barcelona-Nice-Milano, and sometimes London. I feel alive again.
Think twice if you want to move to Norway. It is not easy, especially if you are a "mediterranean" person.
made my day watching this. I´m glad you had such a good time in Norway.
Awh! You nearly made me shed a tear, old man! Reminding me of the good things there are when I feel swamped by life, as anyone can be. I'm wishing everyone a wonderful day, week, month, year, whatever, and that things will get better, and for all of you to have as good of a time as this man seems to have had while visiting Norway, whether you decide to take a trip here or not!
The thing about fish, if you are in east side area of Norway (Oslo, Drammen....) most people consider beef and meat. In the north of Norway they eat more fish.
I went skiing with a bunch of Nordmen and a car full of booze. When I woke up after the surgery I decided to never do that again. It was fun though. I'm from Denmark, but i lived in both Sweden and Norway, and Norge is the best place on earth as far as I know. Hands down. Had it not been for the cost of living there, and for the fact that my children and grandchildren live in Danmark, I think I would very seriously consider moving to Norge. I really, truly love Norway, and have been vacationing there on/off for 30 years. From south to north, Norway is gorgeous!
Amazing video & great storytelling!
Lots of good points here. :) I can also add that men also use the bunad. It is always a male and female bunad from each district. About the owning of house/apartments, it is around 77 percent that own their own. Transportation is really good in urban areas, but in smaller places you must own a car to get around.
Thank you that was very touching! After living in America my whole life it's hard to believe that such wonderful people exist as you described! If only we could be more like the Norwegians. You are wonderful expat Ambassador for Norway. I'm sold! You forgot to mention how clean their houses are! Really, thank you for such a three-dimensional assessment of such an exemplary country.!
Thank you for your kind words sir.
I just got back from a week in Oslo. I found everyone to be very friendly towards me, especially at night. Our group picked up a different local each night, and had an absolute blast with them. What messed me up the most was there being daylight at 11:00 PM.
We welcome you back anytime!
I’m Norwegian and living in a foreign country, when my children where young I was told to get them into a Swedish school, but being with them one there I realized that all animals were called something different from Norwegian, so I got them out. It’s didn’t make any sense
It was delightful listening to him and I think his observations was pretty much spot on. Best regards from Norway
Norway has to be the best country in the world in which to live. High standard of living, great social services, Some of the most dramatic and beautiful scenery on the planet. Lively cities with great nightlife. Warm and friendly people. Great place to be. 🇳🇴👍
Jeg hørte med en gang at du var fra Utah. Tusen takk for fine ord og velkommen tilbake.
The ending was good!! Hell, all of it was. But as a one from Norway, it sould be. People never get us before they live here for some time. As you said we need some warming. Then your in!
To be honest. Not all Norwegians are that fond of lutefisk 😅
I am one of them.
As for "Brunost", there are many kinds of it, but the two main variants are:
1. Gudbrandsdalsost (Gudbrand Valley Cheese) - This is the sharper variant made with goat's milk. There are a few seasonal variants of this
2. Fløtemysost (Cream-Whey Cheese) - The milder, and more caramel-like variant made with regular milk. Plentiful selection of variants available.
Brunost is also highly flammable, due to its high fat and sugar content. Back in 2013, there was a tunnel fire where a trailer loaded with flour and brunost caught on fire, and it burned for around 72 hours.
Thank you very much for your kind words about Norway and Norwegians, sir. I really enjoy listening to you.
It´s been way to long, since I´ve visited Norway, I´ll probably go next summer:) Visiting my Nordic brothers and sisters.
Takk for en fantastisk beskrivelse av landet jeg bor i (Norwegian). Lots of kind words, thanks alot!
Lots of praise for my Neighbor (I'm a Swede and 1/4 Norwegian). And rightfully so! Been to Austria a couple of times and I just love the landscape but Norway have it also and even more because of the coast. I have no clue how lutfisk (lutefisknin Norwegian) as I'm allergic to fish. But here in Sweden (also live at the coast about 180 km from Norway) most younger people dislike it I guess.. and for older people its traditional (it was a good way to preserve fish without having a freezer)... Swedes understanding Danish... Yeah if the Dane does he's best and the Swede does hes best to understand it usually works... Easier for Swedes to understand Norwegian usually... As you said :-)
its not that its rude to talk to stranger but we Norwegians are jist very shy 😅
True
Takk for at du delte din opplevelse av å bo i Norge, og hvordan du har lært nordmenn å kjenne😊
Det var morsomt, hyggelig og interesant å se på.
(Jeg skriver til deg på norsk, da du liker å lese norsk. Selv er jeg ironisk nok helt motsatt, jeg foretrekker å lese, snakke og lytte på engelsk, tankene mine er også mest på engelsk. Selv om jeg er vaskekte norbagga som svensker ville kalt meg hehe).
Jeg håper du har det bra der du er, og ønsker seg hjertelig velkommen tilbake til Norge.
😊
Thank you very much for a nice story. No matter where I travel, it's good to come home to Norway.
Thank you so much for your kind words :-) We try to do our best.
Thanks for the kind words about Norway. Your Norwegian is great!
South of Oslo (Østfold, Sarpsborg) has close to never rainy days.
Hei! Her ble jeg plutselig sittende engasjert! Hyggelig å høre deg snakke om mitt kjære hjemland! :) Velkommen tilbake!
I think generally we do not mind being bothered, but hate bothering others. I'd never think of a neighbour or anyone else as rude for bothering me, but I might consider myself rude if I bothered them.
I fully agree on your report except of the bread part. How come? I served a three year TDY in Bodø and I am German. There is no way Norwegian bread can compete with German bread. But the rest of your experiences are exactly the same I had over the years. A wonderful Country filled up with extremely beautiful nature and the locals were warmhearted and caring people. Incredibly expensive thou but worthwhile.
Thank you very much for this video, as a Norwegian, living here day in and day out, it's easy to forget how lucky we actually are. :) And by the way, lutefisk is delicious!! ;)
You are doing great sir. Born in Norway talking norwegian my whole life sometime trying to speak english i often got in some strange mishaps. No worry knowing if we all really want to understand eachother we all can got a fine good experience meeting foreners. By the way pardon my rather bad english being born and bred in norway. Guess you understand my message.
What a beautiful tribute to my country!
The reason why norwegian chocolate is so good is beacause the milk quality is really good.
Thank you for saying all you did, No wonder you got friends over here in Norway :) Just next time you are over... try Julebrus :)
So funny when you used the English word in Norwegian tone. 😃
As a Norwegian from Bergen, this video was so nice!
Thanks for your good words about our people and country. We welcome you all to visit us. Have a nice day sir.
Hi from Norway. Great vid. Spot on
@3:45 this is true, but as a Norwegian, its weird how true this actually is but if you go mountain hiking or cross country skiing, suddenly everyone say hello to each other xD
I love the video. Just wanted to say that men also wear Bunads, or at least that's what the sweaters you were referring to are called.
Thank you for your kind words about us living in Norway
Thanks for these kinds words to my people my good man, loved every second.
You are very educated about Norway, you must have lived here for a long time. Very spot on information, can't say there was many noteable inaccuracies.
Tusen takk for å very nice video. Love from the northern part of Norway. Im a SAMI.
In Norway we have 5 weeks paid vacation. And about weather, Norway is very diverse. Because of the ocean, fjords and the mountain ridge dividing the country, we have a very diverse climate. Along the coast in the south we have little snow, more normal east of Lindesnes. Midnight sun and dark season is north of the arctic circle, it's different in the south. Alongside the border to Sweden it's often cold winters with lots of snow, and warm summers. Beef is not in shortage, and we don't only eat fish. Our specialty is salmon, dried cod and lamb. And game :) A lot of younger people don't like lutefisk, just as smalahove (sheep's head) is a western Norway delicacy. Men also have bunad, and knitted sweaters are for everyone and only used in the cold weather. But 17 mai might be quite cool in different areas, so it's appropriate then. About people being reserved, that's true. But it depends on how you approach them. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed your stay in Norway
80% of this applies to all of nordic countries. You go almost anywhere in the region you can get the same foods (usually fish in some form) and culturally very similar.
i got family in usa and canada so thank you for the kind words to norwegians :)
Great video!😊❤️
Loved watching this.
Just wanted to mention that most of the hydroelectric engineers had their education from Germany.
Norwegians are very athletic, they enjoy the outdoors 👍
Not bothering people in public is the best thing about the nordic
I can't blame you, Lutefisk is something i've never gotten used to in my 29 years in norway :)
thank u for the kind words🙂
Rainy season, do you mean rainy winter, rainy spring, rainy autumn or rainy summer?
It's different kind of people in Norway
Try the Norwegians in Bergen . they are from the very beginning warm an welcoming curiosity to strangers from the West.
This is not the case with those from the eastern part of Norway, as he describe.
Awww, this melts my norwegian heart :)
Hi! As a norwegian... Thank you for your kind words! ❤
Fun part, not all norwegians like lutefisk, or smalahoved... (yuck!)
I grew up in Finnmark, my mother is Sami (Karasjok), and my father is from a small island not far from North Cape, where I also was born. (Near Havøysund)
Got the best from both cultures, the food; reindeer and meat from my mothers side, and fish and whalemeat from my fathers side.
And you do have something similar to Kvikk Lunsj, Kit Kat. 😊 You do not need to miss it! 😁😁😁
I can't stand lutefisk either! I don't understand how my mom loves it so much rak fish ,either and smalahove, I am Norwegian, but I just can't either. I so understand you and I m sorry you were served that .Lol . Hopefully you got something else instead:)
You're so likable and interesting to listen to. Thank you for saying so much nice.
Would've loved to see footage or pictures from your norweigian adventure along with the story.
men also wear bunad and for the most part only the older generation like lutefisk xD its not very nice , im sure its mostly to do with the texture , the way i explain it is that its jello with fishflavour
Wow!! they mention Norway, as a Norwegian i just have to comment on this
There is a smart and american way. American is to be warm and opened at the outside, pretend to be so sweet and loving at the end shorts fired. In Norway you do not sell out to strangers, your Kind to them but reserved and this is the proper way. You do not want to be friends with everyone. In America most important is that other people say about you positive. In a normal country like Norway we do not give a shit what other people think about us.
I think it's probably contingent on what region of the country you visit ,in Oslo or Bergen there's more outside influences culturally .
I moved to Bergen from the states when I was about 7,it has a lot of German and continental influences historically being kind of a trade enclave for the latter for hundreds of years.
As a kid I went to buekorps which is an almost prussian military esque drummer corps for children and teenagers where they also carry ceremonial swords and crossbows and walk in formation.
Sometimes the various corps formations have parties and go fight other corps formations in other parts of the city and it gets very wild and sometimes hairy.
Since the 70s and 80s there has been an influx of other cultures as well,making for an interesting amalgamation in the cities where they mostly coalesce.