What Norway is "Like"

Upon returning to the country, I've been asked a couple of times what Norway was "like."  It strikes me both now how common this question it is at the same time it strikes me how impossible it is to answer.  I thought maybe I could start with using the United States as an example, but I know that the world is far more complex and people far too diverse to wrap in a cute little package.  That being said, here are some snapshots of what we encountered, lens of color that overlap and at least give an impression of Norway.  

Andy had a conversation with a young man (younger than us but out of high school) on our plane flight to Tromsø.  At one point, the man said that he was happy to pay a little more in taxes if that meant someone else could get the healthcare he or she needed.  I agree most emphatically.

Another conversation on that vein mentioned confusion regarding why our country had such difficulties figuring out healthcare.  When Andy revealed that I had been on a medication that cost 28K a pop (needed every eight weeks, then every six), his response was pure astonishment--this kind of money spent on individual healthcare is absurd to Scandinavians.  Our healthcare costs in this country are NOT normal.

In interactions with people in restaurants, we always tried to order or at least start these conversations in Norwegian.  Once or twice, we were even mistaken as locals, so we much have sounded at least passable or what Norwegian sounds like with a weird head-cold.  When we later were asked where we were from, that we were Americans that had bothered to learn at least some of the language garnered a confused "but you speak Norwegian?" more than once.  All were very pleasant about switching to English when our Norwegian ran out and were otherwise encouraging in our attempt (though still recognizing sometimes that it was just faster if they switched to English for us, particularly when giving instructions in a busy place).

While this did not happen over the course of our trip, it is not a rude question in Norway to ask someone what they make.  In fact, this information is openly available.  What this transparency means is that the gender wage gap is non-existent (could never get away with it) and going up for your next promotion has you ready with evidence on maybe what your new salary should be.  Certainly makes me question why culturally we think this is a rude question--was this a tactic devised to keep wages low, out of ignorance?

People did not start conversations with strangers; no idle chit-chat at the bus stop with people you didn't already know.  However, if you asked someone for help, they would go out of their way to be friendly and helpful.

In Norway, you can climb every mountain and ford every stream, without getting permission to cross over into someone's land.  Here's the catch, though:  if you break yourself or die, no, you don't get to sue them.  The choice was yours to make and so are the repercussions.

There is a saying in Norwegian that translates to "There is no such thing as bad weather; only bad clothing."  This one is two-fold.  Firstly, you know the weather is the weather and you should plan accordingly for different possibilities (personal culpability again).  Secondly, there is no reason not to go outside and experience the natural beauty that Norway has to offer.

Seeing La Cenerentola at the Olso Opera House was such a treat.  Andy insisted that we buy a program for 50 kroner (about $7), and I passed him the cash.  We flipped through the pages and found all kinds of pictures and articles about the production, different events going on at the theater, the cast...and not thirty pages of advertisements.  They FUND THEIR ARTS and don't have to get sponsors for each performance.

Particularly the further north we went, we found more doors left unlocked.  For example, we walked right into the narthex of a Methodist church in Tromsø (talk about "open hearts, open doors") even though no one was there.  All of the office doors were locked, sure, but you could warm up a bit and pick up a tract.  

...so the tint is on the side of rosy, but those colors are still a part of that overall picture.  We are more than willing to go back and refine that image as much as necessary.