"hyttefra"

In a couple of years I may have my own word in the Norwegian dictionary! I started using the expression "hyttefra" before Easter break... colleagues were talking about heading up to their cabin early before vacation actually started, to catch some better weather. I agreed, but I said instead of working "hjemmefra" (from home) I would have to work "hyttefra" (from the cabin) since I still had some work to do. With growing availability of internet access from cabins, I wrote the Norwegian dictionary and suggested this word. They have noted it, and if people start using the phrase, they will put it in the dictionary!

Please don't stop the music

Some of you may have heard the song by pop singer Rihanna "Please don't stop the music" on the radio these days. The title of the song is my request to the radio stations here. There is clearly great respect for punctuality. If it is 3:59 and you are singing along to your favorite song, just as you get to the refrain and you are ready to give it all you've got, the music stops! Because it is now 4:00 and the next program starts. Maybe a news report, or an abrupt shift to jazz on the same station that was just playing easy listening tunes.

Hot dogs

They are everywhere! This was a big surprise to me. This is a very healthy country. I am always surprised by how active people are. It is truly ingrained in the culture. And the healthy eating! I could not buy a soda or a sweet in our cafeteria now matter how hard I tried! But... hot dogs... they find their way into almost any occasion. They dress themselves up in lomper (a floppy floury potato tortilla) as night food for weddings, they cover themselves in ketchup and mustard for any given outdoor gathering, they bathe themselves in thermoses of hot water and accompany long cross-country ski journeys and hikes, and they soak themselves in toppings at gas stations nationwide.

School

There is a hot debate going on in Norway. Norwegian schools have been in decline over the past decade. Students here perform poorly on standardized tests which positions Norway behind all other Scandinavian countries and below the global average. Why? I am still learning about the topic, but some reasons I have heard are that children are encouraged to be children and are not really pushed to learn until about third grade. Before that, all that is taught is just taught and if they do poorly, well... they will get it next year or the year after. Parents are less likely to challenge children at home, because if they become too advanced, their boredom at school will lead to negative consequences. Some parents pay for private schooling, often International schools, however in a socialist society, this seems to be frowned upon.

Stop signs answer

Most people have only actually seen three or so themselves, but when they guess, they presume there are maybe between 50-100 in the whole country. In other words... not much.

Stop signs

How many stop signs are there in Norway? Answer in next entry...

Oops

Good thing we have friends or colleagues who can double check us sometimes. I was preparing a note to a client the other day where I described some work we had to do with templates (called "maler"). So I referred to it as a "malerjobben" which I thought meant a templates job. My colleague politely held back her laughter and pointed out that a "malerjobben" is actually a painting job, like painting a house! Because "maler" is also a verb form of "to paint." And today I said I was looking forward to seeing the figures, referring to some business numbers related to our sales. Apparently "figuren" does not mean "figure" as I hoped. It means more like someone's body shape. So my colleagues got a good laugh about me looking forward to seeing the sales team's figures! I had to laugh at myself.

DIY

A lot of people are "do-it-yourself"ers. Opting to roll back their sleeves and delve into all kinds of projects around the house on their own, without the assistance of costly professionals. Many Norwegians adopt this philosophy whole-heartedly. Could you imagine chopping down your own trees? That means... climbing up them with a saw and branch by branch taking them down? Or never accepting a store's offer to deliver something to your house, but rather hitching a trailer to your car each and every time you need to transport something that does not fit in your car?

Starbucks

There is not a single Starbucks coffee shop in Norway. However... the coffee has sneakily made its way to Norway in the form of delightful bags of the coffee-brewers ground and whole bean French roast and Columbian coffees. I discovered a bag on a shelf of a little deli three weeks ago, and our house has never smelled better in the morning!

Easter = Marzipan?

As soon as the end of February came, the shelves of all the stores here filled quickly with Easter candy! Not the Cadbury creme eggs and jelly beans as one expects in America, but rather all types of marzipan. Marzipan eggs, marzipan logs with pastel sprinkles, marzipan figures covered in chocolate... marzipan, marzipan, marzipan. Although... I did find a special boutique that sells Cadbury creme eggs! I might make my own Easter basket to be safe. Marzipan is nice in small doses, but I am not Norwegian enough to devour a basketfull yet.

Animals

We hear lots of animal sounds these days from our little lamb... monkey "eee eee" sheep "baa" horse "neee" cow "muh" kitty kat "mow" duck "quack" snake "ssss" pig "some version of oink oink" owl "hoo hoo" chicken "bak bak bak"