Eps 5: Norway culture
An average of 14 people per square kilometre makes Norway one of the most scarcely populated countries in the world.
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What makes Norway so extraordinary, however, is its beautiful and unique nature, which has shaped its life for centuries. For many Norwegians, skiing with Lise and Lotte Storlokken is a combination of personal passion and patriotic identity. Norway is home to some of the most prestigious ski resorts in the world, such as Keflavik, the largest ski resort in Norway and the second largest in Europe.
It's been an unusually warm winter that has left much of the country without snow, but Storlokken, 70, was able to walk from her home in Keflavik to the ski resort in less than an hour.
As you can imagine, the experience of Sami culture and tradition is also of great interest to tourists. As with many ancient traditions around the world, the future of the Sami people does not seem to be in danger. But there is growing concern that a changing climate threatens the region's winter conditions and deprives the next generation of Norwegians of the chance to continue the country's ski tradition.
There are no specific areas where expats are likely to experience a culture shock in Norway, but there is the possibility of witnessing an ancient way of life.
Foreigners eventually get used to the prices and often find that they have to budget differently or adopt habits such as driving to Sweden or taking the ferry to Germany or Denmark to buy cheaper goods. Norwegians, habits that you could not presume to have, come from living in Norway for several years and visiting their families in the summer and at Christmas. There is also a Norwegian social value called Janteloven, which can be hard for expats to understand.
It's nice to betray people, but if you need to show a little love for your Norwegian roots, don't hesitate to do it. Scottish and how secretly you wish to be Scottish or how much you secretly love Scotland and want to be Scottish.
The Norwegians have developed a culture that may seem confusing to outsiders at first, but sometimes we can live with it for a long time.
Many Norwegian words, including skiing and slalom, come from above, here in Norway. I was surprised that Norway's buses and trains were full of winter sports enthusiasts in summer, but in the colder months. There are even roller skis in case there is no snow left to practice, as well as snowshoeing, snowboarding and snowmobiling.
Everywhere you look there are breathtaking lakes, fjords and mountains, and almost every inhabitant seems superhuman, spending an exorbitant amount of time outdoors. Norway may not be surprising given the above facts, but it is an outsider. Although Norway has a population of just over 5 million, it has won the Guinness World Record for the largest population in the world, with 1.5 million.
It's called friluftsliv, which translates as "living outdoors" and is something Norwegians have been practising since birth. The Norwegian proverb says that they were born with skis on their feet, and the word refers to their love of skiing, snowshoeing, hiking, skiing and snowboarding. Norwegian society has set itself the goal of supporting this way of life by integrating nature into everyday life, from the children's first day of school to public transport that provides access to nature.
Norway is a winter sports nation and you can see how crazy Norwegians are when they run a race known as 5 mila in winter. Hundreds of thousands of Norwegians sit in front of the TV watching their cross-country skiing team finish clean at the World Championships and set off for their first gold medal.
No trip to northern Norway is complete without meeting a Sámi merchant by the roadside selling traditional goods. Many of them, for example, still herd reindeer, and many hunt for food and livelihood in winter.
The Norwegian government recognizes the Sami people, but the attitude of the ruling government towards them has not always been friendly. In fact, they were hostile in pre-modern times, and the School of Laws required that all children in Norway should be taught Norwegian, a policy that prevented them from learning their own language.
Norwegian history refers to the Viking Age, named after the world - the exploration of Viking ships and their plundering, discovered and traded in the Middle Ages. The beginning of this Viking period coincided with the birth of the Norwegian monarchy. About 30 kingdoms were united under Harald Fairhairwere, the first Norwegian king, and the present Norwegian territory is home to Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Greenland, Norway and Sweden.
Historians today believe that Harald ruled mainly in the coastal regions of Norway, but his territory fell into smaller administrative units, which were ruled by various nobles.