Please share your experiences Best and Worst

Hi Lilje,
still in England? I live in Bergen, Norway since three years. And I would say by now I know a little about this country and its people. You have many questions? Just ask (and I will see if you're still online, sometimes).
Cheers, Klaus.

Lilje wrote:

Hei Klaus,
Thanks for the reply.  I guess I have a lot of questions but I wanted to know....
1) What do the Norwegian people think of the English ?
2) Would it be difficult to find a job ? (Jeg laerer Norsk).
3) Coming over from England, would I find the cost of living very high in comparison ?

Lilje

Hi Lilje,
1. I don't really know, what they think about English. I would think, nothing bad. The people here have basically all good intentions, I think. They are kind, but all pretty distant. They say about themselves that they are shy. For me, it's hard to feel that, seems to me more that they don't care. But, if you ask them, they are kind and helpful.
2. In general: No. But of course, depends on what you are looking for. Really low-level jobs do not require language-skills, medium jobs, yes, then you have to know Norwegian. For high-level job again, you can go ahead wth English.
3. Living in Bergen is slightly more expensive than London. Which may sound scary, but it isn't, as the salaries are higher here. From a German perspective, I would say that life is only slightly worse, i.e. less comfortable, than in Germany.

What are you intending to do? Where do you want to move?

Cheers, Klaus.

Lilje wrote:

Hei Klaus,
Thanks for the reply.  I guess I have a lot of questions but I wanted to know....
1) What do the Norwegian people think of the English ?
2) Would it be difficult to find a job ? (Jeg laerer Norsk).
3) Coming over from England, would I find the cost of living very high in comparison ?

Lilje

Hiya,

1) That they have a strange sense of humour - not all Norwegians 'get' Mr Bean but they love Harry Potter. Don't worry - Norwegians tend to like the English.

2) Ikke hvis du snakker norsk.

3) Yes, the VAT is higher (think it's 27% here in Norway) but you can go shopping in Sweden to get EU prices. Alcohol, eating out, hairdressers etc is more expensive but then again the salaries are higher. It balances out.

I miss online shopping, Next and Sainsburys!

good luck.

"1) What do the Norwegian people think of the English ?"

We're generally well inclined towards the English - remember, premier league is a big thing in Norway as in a lot of other countries, so many norwegians tend to go to England to go see matches and so on. I'd say most of the norwegians you'll meet have probably traveled to England on holidays at some point.
However, being a norwegian myself, I'd say that norwegians tend to be harder to get in touch with than other europeans. One of the major differences I note when travelling to Great Britain or Ireland is how easy it is to get in touch with people in the pub - or anywhere else - compared to Norway. It's an entirely different culture, so if you feel like you're getting a "cold shoulder" in the pub, you're really just experiencing the "hospitable" norwegian culture. We thaw up eventually, but it might take some time. Apart from the very high cost of living, I'd say this is the worst part of Norway.