What do you see when you're in Norway? I pondered this question tonight as I took a walk to the Three Swords Monument. The answer, "It depends on who you are and how you view the world around you".
As a mom I see the baby strollers - everywhere. I've never seen so many men and women taking their children for a walk. It is truly amazing. If you ask why you'll hear that the law allow women to take a year off, paid, after giving birth and the men also take time off to spend with their children. Of course as an Alaskan, I have to ask myself "Are there really that many strollers or are there so few in Alaska?"
If you're my son you see an amazing number of beautiful Norwegian women. Beauty at any age and any size! Is it hard to be beautiful when you have a sun-streaked blond hair, amazing cheek bones, golden tanned skin and are 6-foot tall with thighs the size of my calves? I'm not sure but, in summary, WOW!
As my son, you'd also notice the array of vehicles on the roads that include motorcycles, cars, trucks and the occasional 4-wheeler and tractor. We've seen more high-end than low-end cars traveling around. You'd also notice the large number of fairly packed-full city buses moving in every direction.
As an American we can't help but see signs of us everywhere. Most of the American fast food you'd ever want to eat is yours for a slightly higher price (well, maybe two to three times the price at home). That said, it's clear you aren't in Kansas anymore. The majority of food in the stores don't look like U.S. foods and the majority of stores here are not in the U.S. Personally, I like that. Every country doesn't need to, and shouldn't, look like the U.S. It's all about being unique.
Have I talked about the bicyclists yet? It's somewhat disturbing that almost every biker in Norway looks like he or she is in the Tour de France. So I'm following them on the highway, about to be irritated that they are moving so slowly, when I realize that they are traveling at the speed limit! There are some serious bicyclists here. They are fun to watch and inspiring to say the least.
The list of what you see is incomplete if I don't mention the tunnels. In the U.S. we're very likely to move a hill if we want to travel through the area. In Norway, they appear to think nothing of blowing through a hill and creating a tunnel. Some of the longest tunnels in the world are here in Norway. As a geologist I'll admit that I love them. I've never seen so many rock outcroppings from the inside! I love the integration of nature with modern transportation systems. One question though, "How do they afford them?" So many tunnels with so few people to pay for them...
There's a lot more to see in Norway - the people's sense of community, blue water, plants everywhere, and occasionally bright blue sky - it's a country that is worth visiting, if only because it is so difficult to explain.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Saturday, July 30, 2011
"What have I done?"
Well, the decision was made, the house is packed and I'm sitting in temporary housing in Stavanger, Norway. "What have I done?" This question won't be answered for another 2 to 4 years. I mean, who really knows what will happen as a result of this move?
After a short visit with my parents, my son and I got on a 747 and headed east - way east. I can tell I've become a little spoiled. Service in first class was slow - they forgot to cook my dinner but didn't let me know. They served all of the other passengers but me. I felt like I was picked last for the baseball team in gym class. Well, not really but a little like that. You get the idea. My spoiled attitude not withstanding, we had a good flight over to Amsterdam, ran through the airport as usual and made it to Stavanger as planned.
This is my son's first time visiting Norway so, of course, I watched his face to see what he thought as we collected the baggage, found our rental car and traveled to our apartment - all under the watchful eye of our young classically beautiful female Norwegian relocation expert. Over the last few years my son has adopted a somewhat typical young male approach of not visibly or verbally reacting to any situation (except to correct my driving or point out one of my ill thought-out decisions). He did, however, agree that our guide is a beautiful woman.
After some hours here I think he reached the same conclusion that my hubby and I reached during our house hunting trip. Stavanger isn't a dream location but it's a great place and has a ton of interesting attractions to see and, yes, it is close to the rest of Europe for easy traveling. It should be a great place to live for several years.
My son will be here for a month before returning home for college. It is likely that his final opinion of Stavanger will be based on his ability to drive a vehicle through the area and explore unencumbered by one or more parental units. Hmm.... I hope to set up a "play date" with some of my coworkers kids so he can go out with people his own age and have fun.
After getting settled in our modern Scandinavian furnished apartment we went across the street to the local grocery store and embarked on our first food shopping exercise. Here's what we bought for $200 US.
Does this seem like a good deal? I usual judge if I get a good value based on the number of grocery bags I get for the money. This equaled four bags. Is this good? Hard to tell.
After we got home we unpacked the food - driving the need to decide our recycling philosophy - which is expected and required - paper, plastic, food waste and residual waste (that's the stuff that isn't paper, plastic or food). Is a candy wrapper paper or plastic? Hopefully we'll get it straight and won't be socially ostracized for improperly mixing wastes!
My most important purchase here is a hair dryer (bought today). You can't bring a U.S. hair dryer to Europe without a 100% probability of frying, at the very least, the internals of the hairdryer. I wasn't very excited about buying a $45 hairdryer that costs $20 at home, until I found the $75 hairdryer that costs $20 at home. I am super excited about the $45 hairdryer!
So a few words about the time change between Stavanger and my home in Alaska - it couldn't be worse. Talking to the family requires some planning so I get to sleep but there's no way to plan around the phone calls at 3 a.m. from businesses and other individuals I need to talk with. I can't just ignore those calls even though I really really want to pretend like they don't exist. While my life in Norway is beginning, my life in Alaska is ongoing and will continue with or without my presence. My life in Alaska requires input and the timing is damn inconvenient!
Finally, I am extremely proud of myself. My driving here is just fine (although my son may claim differently). I'm doing the roundabouts like I'm a pro! Nice. We did a drive to my office with no problems so commuting should be a breeze right? : )
So, I guess I'll have to wait a few years to be able to answer my question but until then, as my son reminded me yesterday, (when we were talking about what beer to buy) we are here to learn and do things differently. It will be quite an adventure into the unknown.
One of my coworkers recently told me "When it comes to change that you have some control over, it is all about the attitude that makes it good or bad." Hopefully, as our journey progresses, this quote will remain in my thoughts and drive my attitude.
After a short visit with my parents, my son and I got on a 747 and headed east - way east. I can tell I've become a little spoiled. Service in first class was slow - they forgot to cook my dinner but didn't let me know. They served all of the other passengers but me. I felt like I was picked last for the baseball team in gym class. Well, not really but a little like that. You get the idea. My spoiled attitude not withstanding, we had a good flight over to Amsterdam, ran through the airport as usual and made it to Stavanger as planned.
This is my son's first time visiting Norway so, of course, I watched his face to see what he thought as we collected the baggage, found our rental car and traveled to our apartment - all under the watchful eye of our young classically beautiful female Norwegian relocation expert. Over the last few years my son has adopted a somewhat typical young male approach of not visibly or verbally reacting to any situation (except to correct my driving or point out one of my ill thought-out decisions). He did, however, agree that our guide is a beautiful woman.
After some hours here I think he reached the same conclusion that my hubby and I reached during our house hunting trip. Stavanger isn't a dream location but it's a great place and has a ton of interesting attractions to see and, yes, it is close to the rest of Europe for easy traveling. It should be a great place to live for several years.
My son will be here for a month before returning home for college. It is likely that his final opinion of Stavanger will be based on his ability to drive a vehicle through the area and explore unencumbered by one or more parental units. Hmm.... I hope to set up a "play date" with some of my coworkers kids so he can go out with people his own age and have fun.
After getting settled in our modern Scandinavian furnished apartment we went across the street to the local grocery store and embarked on our first food shopping exercise. Here's what we bought for $200 US.
- Cream 1 pint
- Chicken 4 breasts
- Beer - 2 six-packs of the local stuff
- 1/2 kg of lunch meat
- Jarlsburg cheese
- Sweet goats cheese
- 20 eggs
- potato salad
- jam
- peanut butter
- 2 liters of soda
- crackers 200 grams
- loaf of bread
- french bread
- brownie mix
- 500 grams of macaroni
- 3 bananas
- 6 peaches
- 2 tomatoes
- 2 avocados
Does this seem like a good deal? I usual judge if I get a good value based on the number of grocery bags I get for the money. This equaled four bags. Is this good? Hard to tell.
After we got home we unpacked the food - driving the need to decide our recycling philosophy - which is expected and required - paper, plastic, food waste and residual waste (that's the stuff that isn't paper, plastic or food). Is a candy wrapper paper or plastic? Hopefully we'll get it straight and won't be socially ostracized for improperly mixing wastes!
My most important purchase here is a hair dryer (bought today). You can't bring a U.S. hair dryer to Europe without a 100% probability of frying, at the very least, the internals of the hairdryer. I wasn't very excited about buying a $45 hairdryer that costs $20 at home, until I found the $75 hairdryer that costs $20 at home. I am super excited about the $45 hairdryer!
So a few words about the time change between Stavanger and my home in Alaska - it couldn't be worse. Talking to the family requires some planning so I get to sleep but there's no way to plan around the phone calls at 3 a.m. from businesses and other individuals I need to talk with. I can't just ignore those calls even though I really really want to pretend like they don't exist. While my life in Norway is beginning, my life in Alaska is ongoing and will continue with or without my presence. My life in Alaska requires input and the timing is damn inconvenient!
Finally, I am extremely proud of myself. My driving here is just fine (although my son may claim differently). I'm doing the roundabouts like I'm a pro! Nice. We did a drive to my office with no problems so commuting should be a breeze right? : )
So, I guess I'll have to wait a few years to be able to answer my question but until then, as my son reminded me yesterday, (when we were talking about what beer to buy) we are here to learn and do things differently. It will be quite an adventure into the unknown.
One of my coworkers recently told me "When it comes to change that you have some control over, it is all about the attitude that makes it good or bad." Hopefully, as our journey progresses, this quote will remain in my thoughts and drive my attitude.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Coming home
I woke up early this morning after my late night arrival. It wasn't surprising, I slept about 20 hours since leaving Stavanger. I've always tried to stay wake on trips home from Europe but this time I gave into the strong need to sleep and loved every minute of it.
Shockingly the house was pretty clean when I got home. Leaving two young adults (two of our children) alone in the house for 10 days one could expect to find "party central" when arriving home. Very proud of the kids that instead I found a nice clean home. Are they growing up? Maybe. Are they are little wiser? Definitely.
I got up and went shopping - no food in the house. Not the usual shopping trip but a shopping trip that seemed to be focused on what I will miss when the move is complete. I don't want to wallow in sadness but it is probably healthy to recognize what will be missed when we are in Norway.
When we were in Stavanger the hubby and I realized that the U.S. is an amazing place. We have more, more than most, more food, more clothes, more stuff, simply more of everything. One example is that the grocery stores are fairly small in Norway. Our real estate agent said that large grocery stores have only recently come into the area.
This morning I walked into the large "you can find everything" grocery store and loved it! I love that there is an entire aisle for potato chips and another for frozen vegetables. Do I need that much? No. But I love that they are waiting in the store for me just in case I feel the need to have 50 different types of potato chips. I can have them! I love that I can get instant gratification when I walk into the store.
The U.S. is a huge consumer. It is our global role. The world makes stuff and we buy it. We may be in debt but we fuel the world economy and we seem to be pretty good at doing that. We have so much of so many things it is amazing.
The hubby and I have the realization that given we have such easy access to so much it is amazing that American's aren't fatter than we are. I mean, we must have much more discipline and self control than we are credited with having. An example, a McDonald's burger is $16 US in Norway. We can get a burger for $1 each in the U.S. So basically we could eat 16 burgers for the same cost as a Norwegian eating one. So, if my logic is good, we could be 16 times the size of the average Norwegian. Yeah, I may have a problem with logic but you get the idea.
I am going to miss the huge grocery stores and wholesale box stores and the opportunity to buy large quantities of food and junk that I can live without but that I don't have to live without. I may become a more responsible member of the global community but I will certainly not be fulfilling my role as an American in the world economy. I'm sure that my lack of contribution will have minimal impact on the global economy but we'll have to wait and see the outcome. If the world economy takes a dive a few months after our move you and I will all know why....
Shockingly the house was pretty clean when I got home. Leaving two young adults (two of our children) alone in the house for 10 days one could expect to find "party central" when arriving home. Very proud of the kids that instead I found a nice clean home. Are they growing up? Maybe. Are they are little wiser? Definitely.
I got up and went shopping - no food in the house. Not the usual shopping trip but a shopping trip that seemed to be focused on what I will miss when the move is complete. I don't want to wallow in sadness but it is probably healthy to recognize what will be missed when we are in Norway.
When we were in Stavanger the hubby and I realized that the U.S. is an amazing place. We have more, more than most, more food, more clothes, more stuff, simply more of everything. One example is that the grocery stores are fairly small in Norway. Our real estate agent said that large grocery stores have only recently come into the area.
This morning I walked into the large "you can find everything" grocery store and loved it! I love that there is an entire aisle for potato chips and another for frozen vegetables. Do I need that much? No. But I love that they are waiting in the store for me just in case I feel the need to have 50 different types of potato chips. I can have them! I love that I can get instant gratification when I walk into the store.
The U.S. is a huge consumer. It is our global role. The world makes stuff and we buy it. We may be in debt but we fuel the world economy and we seem to be pretty good at doing that. We have so much of so many things it is amazing.
The hubby and I have the realization that given we have such easy access to so much it is amazing that American's aren't fatter than we are. I mean, we must have much more discipline and self control than we are credited with having. An example, a McDonald's burger is $16 US in Norway. We can get a burger for $1 each in the U.S. So basically we could eat 16 burgers for the same cost as a Norwegian eating one. So, if my logic is good, we could be 16 times the size of the average Norwegian. Yeah, I may have a problem with logic but you get the idea.
I am going to miss the huge grocery stores and wholesale box stores and the opportunity to buy large quantities of food and junk that I can live without but that I don't have to live without. I may become a more responsible member of the global community but I will certainly not be fulfilling my role as an American in the world economy. I'm sure that my lack of contribution will have minimal impact on the global economy but we'll have to wait and see the outcome. If the world economy takes a dive a few months after our move you and I will all know why....
Potato chip heaven!
Yes, I'll miss life in the U.S. but there are some things that are going to be amazing!
See: http://www.stavanger-web.com/touristinfo/swords_in_rock.htm
Friday, June 10, 2011
Headed Home
We're headed home after a busy week! It was good to get this exposure to Stavanger. I'm glad to say that the hubby likes the area and is excited! I was wondering if he would say "NO WAY!!" but so far so good!
Before leaving Stavanger we stopped and saw an additional house. It was nice but way to big for us and didn't have that homey feel we want. We asked the real estate agent to put an offer on the house located near the downtown area. We're excited about the location and the house!
By the time we arrived in Amsterdam the agent called to let us know the owner agreed to let us have the house! Excellent!!
About two seconds later I felt a feeling of "What have we done?". A little panic.... It's okay, I'm fine. Deep breath. I'm good.
Now that we have a home we can start to focus on the rest of this process - moving, job demands, job for hubby...and all the other parts of what makes up a life.
This was a big week for us and confirms that we're ready for a change. This will be a good adventure for us!
Before leaving Stavanger we stopped and saw an additional house. It was nice but way to big for us and didn't have that homey feel we want. We asked the real estate agent to put an offer on the house located near the downtown area. We're excited about the location and the house!
By the time we arrived in Amsterdam the agent called to let us know the owner agreed to let us have the house! Excellent!!
About two seconds later I felt a feeling of "What have we done?". A little panic.... It's okay, I'm fine. Deep breath. I'm good.
Now that we have a home we can start to focus on the rest of this process - moving, job demands, job for hubby...and all the other parts of what makes up a life.
This was a big week for us and confirms that we're ready for a change. This will be a good adventure for us!
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Making progress (maybe)
Before I give the rundown on today's activities here are a few learnings
1. There are no answering machines in Norway unless you work for a U.S. based company (may be an overstatement but I don't think so).
2. Service groups (lets say at hotels) do not feel the need to answer the phone. You will call back if it's important.
3. Norwegians keep the toilet brush in the bathrooms in hotels and restaurants and other offices. If necessary one should clean after use...yes, you are expected to clean up after yourself. Always.
4. If you don't pay your car taxes the police will cut your license plate in half.
5. If you get caught drinking and driving they will take 10% of your household's gross income. Yes, they have my attention. We should try this in the U.S.
6. Norway is known for fish but their pastries are pretty good.
7. You can leave your wallet in a restaurant and it will be there when you go back to get it. Everything will still be as you left it.
That's it for learnings...for now...
I went to our office this morning. Although the word is that your average Norwegian isn't that friendly, I must disagree. The folks at the office are extremely friendly and helpful. Enough said. It was a great opportunity to talk with the folks I'll be working with and get to know them. Coming back in six weeks will be a lot more comfortable now that we've had this time.
After a few hours of chat time at the office, the hubby and I restarted our house hunting adventure. There was an amazing house on a fiord overlooking the main shipping lanes and port. The inside was modern and sleek. It had an interesting building in the back yard - let's call it a pool house, although there was no pool. It was modern with two glass doors and furnished with a wood stove, TV and leather sofa & chairs. If I were to judge by the odor, I'd say it was used as a smoking shack - man cave combo. The back yard was beautifully landscaped and had multi-level decks. Truly unique. Unfortunately there is an occupied apartment and the house was located too far out of town for us.
After the fiord house we saw what could only be described as the polar-opposite house. Bad inside, bad outside - "Why are we seeing this place?".
The third house was located in the "rich" section of town. The owner is eager to rent it to a company expat so he's offering it at a cut rate. We couldn't see the inside today but may tomorrow. It's a huge house - more than we need but we're into seeing it. It's close to town - an easy walk to the city center and all of the fun.
The most suitable house for us is the one we saw yesterday. Not the biggest, not the newest or most modern but it seems to fit our life style and preferences. It is the closest to the city core. It's only a few minutes walk and is surrounded by a number of parks.
We'll make decisions by 10 am tomorrow and we leave at noon. We may know if we get the house we select by the time we arrive in Amsterdam. It would be great to get over this hurtle but in reality we could live in temporary housing if we're not successful but, let's not go there if we don't need to do so.
Twelve more hours to go....
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
A mostly paper day...
Interesting day....
We started off meeting with the Human Resource rep to review routine rules that apply to working and living in Norway. Traffic signs...way different.
I achieved a big step, I'm now the proud holder of a Norway corporate badge - no going back now!
The company will apply for my work permit but we'll need to handle the hubby's work permit ourselves. We want him to get the permit as soon as possible so we went down to the police station this afternoon to submit his paperwork. We knew it would be tough to get all the way through the process in the short time we had so we treated it like a dry run. We didn't get it done today. On Friday morning we'll try again. We leave Norway at noon and the police office opens at 9 am so there's some excitement in this effort. Can we get it done in time? Will they reject us and force a two month delay?
The way this process works is that we apply and it takes anywhere from 2 to 4 months to get the work permit. Why is this important? When you get your work permit they give you a residents number (think Social Security number). Without the all important number you can't have a credit card, a bank account, a job, a drivers license or any other significant position that allows you to "live". So...hubby needs the number. They will give him a permit on the basis of "family reunification". Since I will have a number he gets one too. Nice family focused country. They love the families being together. Not all countries do - one country is known to have said there is no reason why the workers could not go without their spouse for a year.
We'll attempt the permit again on Friday morning. Our goal will be for them to accept his application. We'll let you know how it goes. Keep your fingers crossed!!
After our trial run we called a real estate agent and saw one house in the downtown area. It was soooo great to see a house that we felt a connection with. It could be better but it's probably 90% where we want to be.
We seem to be recreating our Anchorage home here in Stavanger. The house we found is similar in many ways to our sweet house in Anchorage. There are four houses we want to see tomorrow. Two of the houses are scheduled for us to see.
Some of the real estate agents don't want to talk to us. They only want to work with the company representative. They say the client is the company rep. not us. There's something not quite right about that approach. But who are we to argue with local custom?
After our day of paper and process we walked around the city. Very nice ending to the day!
We started off meeting with the Human Resource rep to review routine rules that apply to working and living in Norway. Traffic signs...way different.
I achieved a big step, I'm now the proud holder of a Norway corporate badge - no going back now!
The company will apply for my work permit but we'll need to handle the hubby's work permit ourselves. We want him to get the permit as soon as possible so we went down to the police station this afternoon to submit his paperwork. We knew it would be tough to get all the way through the process in the short time we had so we treated it like a dry run. We didn't get it done today. On Friday morning we'll try again. We leave Norway at noon and the police office opens at 9 am so there's some excitement in this effort. Can we get it done in time? Will they reject us and force a two month delay?
The way this process works is that we apply and it takes anywhere from 2 to 4 months to get the work permit. Why is this important? When you get your work permit they give you a residents number (think Social Security number). Without the all important number you can't have a credit card, a bank account, a job, a drivers license or any other significant position that allows you to "live". So...hubby needs the number. They will give him a permit on the basis of "family reunification". Since I will have a number he gets one too. Nice family focused country. They love the families being together. Not all countries do - one country is known to have said there is no reason why the workers could not go without their spouse for a year.
We'll attempt the permit again on Friday morning. Our goal will be for them to accept his application. We'll let you know how it goes. Keep your fingers crossed!!
After our trial run we called a real estate agent and saw one house in the downtown area. It was soooo great to see a house that we felt a connection with. It could be better but it's probably 90% where we want to be.
We seem to be recreating our Anchorage home here in Stavanger. The house we found is similar in many ways to our sweet house in Anchorage. There are four houses we want to see tomorrow. Two of the houses are scheduled for us to see.
Some of the real estate agents don't want to talk to us. They only want to work with the company representative. They say the client is the company rep. not us. There's something not quite right about that approach. But who are we to argue with local custom?
After our day of paper and process we walked around the city. Very nice ending to the day!
Big tower in the center of old town
All of a sudden there's a huge cruise ship in town!
Old town has turned into a shopping district
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Life in Stavanger
I realize I need to share what we've learned about life in Stavanger. One area worth seeing is the party district near the docks. It's a series of small buildings with good food, lots of booze, tons of people and good music - by good I mean danceable!
The Mexican place we ate at on our first day here is located in this area. Very lively place to visit!
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