The top reasons why Norwegian ice is my biggest foe

Nothing says “spring is coming to Norway” like the melting of snow. Unfortunately that is then followed by cold nights that transform the melted snow into treacherous sheets of ice.

That might sound a bit dramatic, but bear with me. In my less-than-two years of living in Norway the ice has been my longstanding foe. The results of our battles range from embarrassing encounters to broken bones.

Don’t let the pretty view fool you. This is White Walker Hill covered in powder, when it’s blanketed

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Living in Norway: The adventure of learning Norwegian

I’ve always liked learning new things and part of me was excited to go back to school. I’m in Norwegian language courses, or as they call it “norskkurs” (NORSHK’ koosh).

My first class was in a small suburb of Oslo and I was struck by how many people from different countries were there. We had students from Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Brazil, Mexico, Turkey and two Americans. The other American was a sweet chic from Minnesota. (Hi L!)

My first day of Norwegian class.

My first day of Norwegian class.

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My life in Norway’s winter wonderland

This weekend my part of Norway was socked with snow, and it’s been like walking around in a snow globe.

We got nearly a foot of snow in about 24 hours and it was cool to see how the Norwegians took it all in stride. But hey, this is Norway, what’d I expect? When I lived in Portland, Oregon we got a dusting of snow and the city shut down.

I put a toy car on our porch so you guys can see how much it snowed.

I put a toy car on our porch so you guys can see how much

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Using #Netflix to learn Norwegian

One of the biggest challenges we have living here in Norway is learning the language and let me tell you, the struggle is real.

First, there’s 29 letters in their alphabet, the three extra are: æ, ø, and å. Also, there’s all kinds of different pronunciations, like kj makes a “shhh” sound and ki is like you’re whispering “he.” Crazy, right?

But we’re trying. We have CDs, DVDs, Norwegian classes and live with two native speakers. Another unexpected tool has been Netflix.

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