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Inversion Posted by kari on Feb 17, 2009
In Norwegian, sentence structure is fairly painless. Normally, the parts of speech follow the same pattern as they do in English. Subject, verb, object. Han går til butikken (he goes to the store. Jeg spiser frokost når jeg våkner (I eat breakfast when I wake up). Notice that the til (to) and når (when) fall after the…
Å uttale norske vokaler Posted by kari on Feb 15, 2009
To pronounce Norwegian vowels. If all that people know about det norske språket (the Norwegian language) is the way that it sounds, they usually assume that it is a really difficult language to learn. I must tell you that I strongly disagree. Norwegian pronunciation usually proves to be the most difficult part of the language for…
Traditional Norwegian Cuisine- part 1 Posted by kari on Feb 12, 2009
Tradisjonell norsk mat. Bland and fairly simple, but delicious. Until the last half of the 20th century, Norway was a very poor country. Its people had to make do with what they had-namely meat, fish, and potatoes. Potatoes would actually be the main dish of a meal, with meat or fish and sauce added as condiments. Of course, as…
Janteloven Posted by kari on Feb 9, 2009
Don’t think you are better than us or that you are special. This statement is the basis of an old Scandinavian concept that has been engrained in Scandinavian societies since before WWII. The author Aksel Sandemose, a Danish/Norwegian novelist created the concept of Janteloven in his book En flygtning krydser sit spor (A Refugee Crosses…
Vigelandsparken Posted by kari on Feb 6, 2009
Vigelandsparken is part of Frognerparken, a large open park in the northwest corner of Oslo. Vigelandspark spans 80 acres with 212 bronze and granite sculptures designed by Gustav Vigeland between the beginning of the 20th century and 1944, when the giant monolith was finished. The park is one of the first sites I saw when…
Bokhandleren i Kabul Posted by kari on Feb 3, 2009
Perhaps some of you have heard about the book Bokhandleren i Kabul (The Bookseller from Kabul) written by Åsne Seierstad in 2003. Seierstad traveled to Afghanistan two weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks and lived with an Afghani family for three months. The head of the household, Shah Muhammad Rais, was a bookseller with many wives. Bigamy…
The dark side of Norway Posted by kari on Feb 2, 2009
Most of what the average person hears about Norway is positive in nature. Norway is the land of the midnattsol (midnight sun), fjorder og fjell (fjords and mountains), havet (the sea), a country of magnificent beauty. Norway is also very well known for taking care of its people with excellent health and social welfare programs. Life…