Archive for January, 2009
Who wants ‘hval’? Posted by kari on Jan 30, 2009
For those of you who don’t know what hval is, it is whale. Norway is one of the few countries in the world that still practices whaling. Prior to the mid 20th century, many nations practised whaling as it was an important source of income and employment. Norway has supported whaling since the beginning of its…
Norske kroner Posted by kari on Jan 29, 2009
Today I’m going to give alle dere (all of you) a lesson on Norwegian currency aka. norske kroner (Norwegian crowns). Norwegian currency, like most, consists of both paper bills and coin. There are a few things I’ve always appreciated about Norwegian currency. I think it’s brilliant that the bills are different sizes and not only are the coins different…
Brown cheese Posted by kari on Jan 24, 2009
Gjetost or Gudbrandsdalost are the two most common names for this delicious Norwegian cheese. You might also see it spelled geitost or if you are in Sweden it would be mesost and in Denmark myseost. Ost means cheese, geit or gjet means goat and Gudbrandsdalost means cheese from the Gudbrandsdal valley (dal is valley). Many…
Vidkun Quisling-‘the Hitler of Norway’ Posted by kari on Jan 23, 2009
Vidkun Quisling is undoubtedly the only Norwegian individual (and among but a small number of individuals regardless of geographic origin) for whom a noun has been created. The name “Quisling” is synonymous with “traitor.” I’m sure many people have heard somebody referred to as this, but I would be willing to bet most people don’t know…
Head, shoulders, knees and toes! Posted by kari on Jan 19, 2009
Hodet, skuldrer, kne og tå! Let’s talk about the kropp (body) in this post. My kropp has not felt great lately. We just came out of an arctic spell…I think we endured 86 hours straight of subzero temperaturer. Today is the first relatively nice day (no less than a 45 degree temperatur increase from a week ago…
Modal verbs Posted by kari on Jan 18, 2009
Modale verb (modal verbs) are essential to understand, learn, and use norsk. There are 5 modale verb i norsk: kan, vil, skal, må, bør (can, want, will, must, and should). For eksempel: Jeg kan kaste ballen mot veggen (I can throw the ball against the wall). Hun vil gå på ski i dag (She wants…
Det fantastiske norske offentlig transportsystemet. Posted by kari on Jan 9, 2009
The fantastic Norwegian public transportation system. We don’t need researchers to tell us that Europeans are healthier than Americans. We can walk down a busy street and see the drastic physical difference between the majority of Europeans and the majority of Americans. Norwegians are not an acception to this rule. I remember when I first arrived…