Hello! Our family moved to Norway in the spring of 2015. We always wanted to leave to live in another country, so when the husband received a job offer in Oslo, we did not hesitate for a long time. The move took place in two stages. First, my husband flew to Norway to apply for a work visa and find housing. I flew to Norway three months after him on a family visa.
We did not have a specific goal to move to Norway, but after the move, I remembered a funny incident. About ten years ago, I saw on television a travel program about Norway. I looked fascinated at these wooden houses with grass on the roof, at these fabulous rocky fjords. My dad, passing by, asked what was shown there so interesting. I just answered: "Dad, I want to live there." Here I live. The neighbors have grass on the roof growing)
HOUSING
An emigrant to rent a house in Norway is not an easy task. Not just because it's expensive. Not all Norwegians want to rent their homes for visitors. But if you have any local recommendations (even your employer can make such recommendations), you will find an apartment twice as fast. My husband searched for housing for three weeks, but they say here that it is fast enough.
In Oslo, a one-room apartment with a room of 12 m², far from the center and absolutely unfurnished, will cost you about 10 thousand crowns per month (about $ 1200), excluding utilities.
We rent two furnished rooms on the ground floor of a private house, 20 minutes to the center by bus, for almost 9 thousand crowns per month. (approximately $ 1095), and I think that this is a very good option.
LANGUAGE
Four months after the move, we started attending Norwegian courses. These are state courses, but they are free only for refugees and those who are married to a Norwegian citizen. For everyone else, tuition is paid.
The course program is quite intensive and, despite the fact that the training is initially conducted only in Norwegian, everything is clear and the language is given to us well. After three months of training (three days a week, three hours a day), we can already explain what we want in a store or cafe, but it’s still difficult to perceive Norwegian by ear.
PRICES
Norway is a very expensive country. If you come here as a tourist, be prepared to pay a tidy sum for your vacation.
If you live here and plan your budget in Norwegian kroner, everything is not so scary - the salaries correspond to the prices. Norway is a country of socialism, so everyone's wages are about the same.
The fact that we are used to spending quite a lot of money in the Russian Federation here may surprise at its price. For example, bread costs from NOK 30, or an hourly ticket for public transport costs the same 30 crowns. Our family of two spends about a thousand kroons a week on food, but this is taking into account the fact that we do not eat meat and replace it with fish.
FOOD
I can’t say that after moving to Norway, our eating habits have especially changed. Unless in our diet more salmon and other seafood appeared, which is not surprising, given the relatively low prices for them.
In any supermarket, in the city, you can find the same products as on the shelves of Russian supermarkets. And if something is not found there, go to Turkish or Pakistani shops. In such stores, you can find everything from coconut milk, which we bought on Samui, to chocolates Alenka and halva.
ALCOHOL
If in Russia we are used to the fact that even at three in the morning in the round-the-clock stall near the house you can find any kind of alcohol up to absinthe and Scottish scotch, then in Norway this scheme does not work.
In supermarkets, for example, you can only buy beer and cider until 20:00 on weekdays and until 18:00 on Saturday. Any strong alcohol is sold only in Vinmonopolet specialized state stores, which are open on weekdays until 18:00 and Saturday until 15:00. No alcohol is sold on Sundays. Nowhere.
HEALTH AND WEEKEND
Norwegians are very healthy people. In the evening on the streets you will always see people jogging, bicycles, roller-skating and almost never with beer and a cigarette.
The main attraction of Norway is nature. Oslo has an incredible number of parks and forests, so it is not surprising that the majority of free time Norwegians try to spend in the fresh air.
In summer, the most popular weekend entertainment is to get out on a picnic by a large company. They love barbecue here and on any sunny day, you can always see people sunbathing in the parks.
WINTER
In winter, residents of the Scandinavian capital mainly devote themselves to winter sports. Skiing, sledding, snowboarding - all this is an integral attribute of a real Norwegian. Every year, in early February, Oslo hosts a winter sports festival. Norwegians take this celebration with great pride and trepidation, and some even call it the second most important national holiday after Constitution Day, which is celebrated on May 17.
PEOPLE
People in Norway are very decent, kind, helpful, but at the same time very private. They are always polite, smiling and will never tell you anything unpleasant in your face. It is not customary here to help a girl if she goes down the stairs with a stroller or a suitcase, because this can offend her.
But I like living in Norway. I like that it is cozy and safe here. I like nature and white nights in June. I like snowy winters and not very hot summers. I like that someday we will have our own wooden house with grass on the roof here.