What I Learned From Living in Norway for One Year

From the warm Portugal to lots of darkness, little small talk, and a cosy balance between work and life in Norway

Hard to believe that a whole year has passed since I embarked on this journey.

For work reasons, I said yes to leave one of the warmest (and breeziest) European countries in Portugal, and move to… Well, Norway. And although I’ve only been here for about 15 months, there are definitely a few of things I picked up on about living in the land of trolls, endless nights and leverpostei.

Personal Space

This is definitely the most important thing I’ve had to learn about Norwegian culture. Norwegians are big fans of personal space - not only their own but in their respect for others. Find yourself slightly close to someone, and you will see them getting nervous and probably just leave. Which in a way makes sense because although Norway is a big country, the actual number of people living here is the opposite. There’s space for everyone and with that comes safe personal space. Even if you visit Oslo, the capital city, I can guarantee you will never find yourself feeling overwhelmed in the middle of a big crowd.

The most Norwegian situation you could be in is at a bus stop. It’s common sense over here that if there are other people at the stop, you need to be at least 1 meter away — and yes, even if it’s raining. And don’t even think about sitting next to someone on the bus.

Practical Conversations (and the Norwegian hand)

Now, this is something that not only been new to me coming from a more a Mediterranean social climate, but also come to respect about Scandinavia’s culture. If you consider yourself as someone that doesn’t like small talk, trust me when I say that Norwegians take it to a whole new level. In a work environment, you will never hear conversations about weekend plans or even a trivial topic. Most of the time, the only conversation that may occur starts and ends with the weather. Small talk simply isn’t a thing. However, from my perspective, this is not about being unfriendly or cold, it’s all about being practical.

Norwegians will talk to you, but only about of necessity — within reason. In fact, they go so far out of their way not to engage in small talk or interact with someone, that there’s a thing called “the Norwegian hand”. A Norwegian would rather go above and beyond to try to get that milk package on the shelf, using their Norwegian hand, than to ask you to simply move. Granted, here the practical aspect argument falls a bit short, but for them, awkward hand movements are better than actual social interaction.

The freaking mmm-mmm

Although Norwegians aren’t exactly talkative people, making weird noises during a conversation seems to be their thing. Usually, when someone is talking we tend to nod and maybe throw a “yes, yes” in the mix to keep the conversation going and show that we are interested in what the other person is saying. Now, instead of doing any of these, Norwegians just throw sounds — weird sounds in fact — to show that they are hearing what you are saying and have nothing to add. They will throw a noise that sounds like they are gasping for air, which can freak someone out if they are hearing it for the first time. Well, it still freaks me out a bit if I’m being honest.

Now combine this with the love for personal space and hate for small talk, and you have the perfect recipe for some anti-social people. In Norway, you can’t exactly start a conversation with a stranger… Unless of course, you have some…

Alcohol

After 15 months in Norway, I’ve come to accept that any type of activity is required to be accompanied by alcohol. This was one of the first things I was told about when I arrived… along with how expensive alcoholic drinks are in this country. Most of the time, if you want to have a tipsy night, you need to get alcohol and indulge in some pre-drinking before heading out into the Norwegian nightlife - it is expensive. And the alcohol purchasing part isn’t that simple. If you want to buy something other than beer, you need to go to the government-controlled stores (Vinmonopolet) where rules… rule.

Norway has a lot of rules when it comes to alcohol, from age (sometimes 25yrs and up) and buying day restrictions (forget Sundays), to alcohol percentage in drinks available at a certain bar. Also, the majority of bars tend to close relatively early. Buying and drinking alcohol is challenging to say the least. And with all these restrictions, most Norwegians just skip the pint and go straight to the vodka bottle.

After all the pre-drinking and heavy drinking, let’s just say that Norwegians tend to get aggressively social and friendly when going out — it’s like night and day to my experience in the “normal” parts of the life. One minute you see everyone leaving their offices elegantly dressed and properly mannered, then a couple hours later, they are tumbling around the dance floor barely coherent.

Work and Life Balance

This is one of the only things I knew before moving to Norway. Scandinavian people are great at a great work-life balance. And it checks out. Their personal lives always come first above anything else (yet they also manage their work with dedication). Even if it’s a stressful day at work, full of tasks and crazy deadlines, when the clock strikes, everyone is packing their stuff and heading home. Norwegians follow this religiously, and in my experience they will place few obstacles between your work and a need to take care of a loved one, take sick leave or just even enjoy some vacation time.

With this perfect work-life balance, people in Norway end up with a lot of free time for hobbies. But for some masochistic reason, they all collectively decided they like to do physical outdoor activities in their free time. It’s a thing. Biking, hiking, skiing, cross-country skiing (it’s different somehow) or just go to the gym, everyone in Norway is doing something outdoors. They somehow even manage to keep this active and healthy lifestyle during the dreadful winters. I personally never did much hiking before I moved to Norway. I was dying every single time I went for a hike, but have come to enjoy the experience and natural beauty of the country.

Darkness, my new friend

My first winter here was definitely an experience. It was the first time I felt what consistent -14°C /6.8°F weather was like, and let me tell you something: well, it was something. I was quickly informed that there’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes - which basically translates to “invest in some good jacket and gloves and stop complaining about being cold”. Fortunately, all homes and indoor spaces around Norways are very well equipped and comfortable enough to deal with wintery cold weather.

Norway is also one of those countries that, once winter starts to approach, the nights became longer. And I do mean longer. At some point, I swear that I only had 2 hours of light in a day — not even sun, just light. I live in the south part of the country, I can’t even imagine what happens when you go north.

Unfortunately, the cold and lack of light impacted me more that I would like to admit. I felt depressed and unmotivated, which adding to the fact that I was away from my family and friends in this new country certainly didn’t help. Maybe I just needed a little of that fish oil. After a while, though, my attitude has changed and I’ve learned to adjust and learn from all of this, whether it’s the excessive exercising, the long nights or just the awkward Norwegian hand. Norway has a lot to offer, and it has a very distinct culture that I’m still learning from.

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Submission by Filipa Amado