17 May, 2008
Norwegian Constitution Day, 2008
7. June 2008
Life in Norway so far
I’ve now been in Norway for about four months. So far so good. When I arrived it was wet, cold, and dark, now it’s wet, cool and light. I’ve actually found the weather to be quite agreeable, and not as miserable as I’ve been led to believe.
A rare day of sunshine in January, with an icy harbour
Norwegians take a keen interest in the weather, for they love the outdoors and positively gorge themselves on sun. When the sun is out it seems the city’s population trebles. We had the first weekend of sun a couple of weeks ago, and on the Monday the evidence was burnt on to many faces.
Ullevålseteren at Easter
Everyone is a-chatter about the coming Best Summer Ever, which is supposed to be hot and dry. It’s a stunningly beautiful country, so in a way it is a shame that there are not more days of sun for it to be enjoyed. Bergen, for example, is supposed to have on average only 60 sunny days a year. Perhaps it is just as well, because the fewer fine days drive people to make the most of it even more. Certainly coming from Brisbane I took the sun for granted. There, weather is a bit of a non-issue, and one would only really be concerned during the height of summer, whether it might be too hot that day. Now I find myself somewhat obsessing about weather.
Akershus Fortress
I’ve had a few firsts in Norway. I’ve finally fulfilled a life-long ambition to try curling, which is akin to lawn bowls, but on ice. Although infamous for it’s rotund, beer-swilling players there’s decidedly less beer involved than lawn bowls, regrettably. It’s quite a bit harder than bowls, and a lot of fun. I also travelled across my first frozen lake, which was nowhere near as exciting as I had hoped. Still to cross off my to-do list is to participate in a whale slaughter, eat a lamb’s head, hunt a moose and brew my own moonshine.
The curling battlefield
Enroute to Tjeldbergodden
Norway has a very high level of niceness about it. The people are nice. The cities are nice. The language is nice. Sometimes this general niceness can come across as blandness. But overall, the quality of life here is very high, and any complaints I can come up with are fairly trivial ones (like for example the price of booze).
Now to find some beach volleyball action in Oslo, and my life will be complete.
3. May 2008Comment [3]
FIS World Cup Nordic 2008
‘We Are Family’ sung at the FIS World Cup Nordic at Holmenkollen, Oslo. 9. March 2008
Comment [1]
Norway and Alcohol
I find Scandinavians supremely pragmatic, something that is manifested through classical minimal Scandinavian design as well as through their honed languages, such as Norwegian (distilled from Danish which is distilled from a bit of a potpourri of German and English). Sometimes at odds with this pragmatism is the deep social democratic ideology, which can sometimes result in a bit of a “nanny state”.
Take, for example, the price of alcohol in Norway. In an effort to stop the masses from being too overly festive, the government slaps an incredibly high tax on alcohol, and restricts its sale quite dramatically. For example, a bottle of Absolut vodka might retail for the equivalent of €37, €31 of which is pure tax. As such, locals resort to workarounds. People load up the car with booze in Sweden, or travel even further a field, and bring it back. People make moonshine. People buy drinks from a liquor store (a bit cheaper than buying drinks out), and get completely tanked before going out late at night. It seems that the status quo is some level of avoidance of the tax man. The very best gift a visitor to Norway can bring their Norwegian hosts is a fine alcoholic beverage.
| Country | Average price for a bottle of spirits (€) |
|---|---|
| Germany | 4.0 |
| Estonia | 5.57 |
| Denmark | 10.75 |
| Finland | 20.09 |
| Sweden | 21.54 |
| Iceland | 28.37 |
| Norway | 39.01 |
Source: Free Europe
It is worth noting that levels of consumption and alcohol-related illness in Scandinavian countries is quite a bit lower than elsewhere, so the tax rates certainly have an effect.
At TLA for example, we have a few events to take the edge of things, such as ‘‘lønningspils’‘ (pay-day drinks), a weekly wine raffle, and what appear to be monthly, generously-boozed social events. Ultimately however, it’s not worth dwelling too much on the cost of living here – ranked highest in the world last year – and just suck it up.
Abstaining from alcohol helps too.
10. February 2008Comment [3]