my life in
far far away
NORWAY
Canadian Jay St. John is getting used to living abroad as her husband, due to his job, changes the
place of living regularly. After spending some time in Africa, Scandinavia has become their new home.
My husband and I were living a comfortable life
in Canada when his company offered him an international assignment. We knew it was an opportunity of
his lifetime and thus embarked on our first expatriation
in Gabon on the West coast of Africa. Despite the
numerous difficulties living in a developing nation for
2 years, we were not ready to move home so we graciously accepted a second expatriation to Norway.
We’ve been living in Stavanger for 14 months. My
husband continues to work for his international company and I’m a trailing spouse who spends my time
planning future travel as well as settling us into life in
Norway.
We were bewildered by the locals’ ability to speak
English. We had heard that English was widely spoken
here but we didn’t expect that it would be so easy to
get by without speaking Norwegian. It certainly makes
it easier for us but it also allows us to be lazy in the
language-learning department.
We find Canada and Norway to be quite similar
in many aspects. Our government and social systems
are similar along with Northern climates and rural lifestyles, which made our transition here pretty easy.
We found the transition to Norway, particularly after living in Gabon, Africa, quite easy. I’d say our main
obstacle has been creating a strong social network.
We made friends quite quickly in Gabon and we became very close, as we really needed support there.
While we’ve made a few friends here in Stavanger, our
social lives are much quieter in Norway.
At this point, our friends are mainly other expats
although the choice isn’t entirely conscious. While we
find Norwegians to be friendly, they seem to stick to
themselves and their immediate, close-knit friends and
family. We also haven’t done a great job of putting
ourselves out there to make contact and establish
lasting friendships.
Traditional Norwegian food is quite simple in taste.
There are foods like lefse (similar to a crèpe) or komle
(a potato ball with a meaty center) that I grew up
eating as a child in the Canadian prairies and still really enjoy. My husband is a big fan of the abundance
of smoked salmon. We both could do without the
salted fish and the Norwegian brown cheese.
Norway is one of the most expensive countries in
the world and it consistently finds itself in the top 10
most expensive locations for expats. We find everything at least double, if not triple or quadruple the
cost we’d find in Canada.
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