Archive for 'Culture'
seter Posted by kari on Aug 16, 2009
place of mountain pasture. In other words, a traditional seter is a simple wooden cottage in the mountains with a barn where Norwegian bonder (farmers) bring their livestock herds (cattle, goats, and sheep) to be milked after a day of grazing in the mountain pastures. Historically, young women (ei seterjente = a dairymaid) brought the animals to the seter and remained there…
begravelser Posted by kari on Aug 3, 2009
funerals. I know that this is a depressing topic, but I have spent the last week mourning the death of a very close friend and thus got to thinking it is a topic worth learning about in terms of language and traditions for people learning a new language. Begravelser in Scandinavian history were similar to…
Snus Posted by kari on Jul 30, 2009
Forskere friskmelder snusen. Researchers report that snus is healthy. The word friskmelder does not have an exact translation in English, but I suppose I wouldn’t say researchers think snus is ‘healthy’, but rather not unhealthy, not dangerous. For those of you who don’t know what snus is, it is a smokeless form of tobacco, also…
1000. henrettelse Posted by kari on Jul 25, 2009
1000th execution. In the U.S. that is since it became legal å henrette (to execute) prisoners in 1977. Wow. That is 1000 in 32 years. Seems like a lot to me. I still don’t know what I think is the best method for punishing serial killers and rapists. Who am I to know if they…
Little grills Posted by kari on Jul 22, 2009
There is an article in Aftenposten online today titled “Engansgrillens dødare” (The engangsgrills killers)- about a group of 5 Norwegian firemen and 1 Norwegian firewoman (brannfolk-brann meaning fire) who are testing small, portable, multiple use grills that will hopefully discontinue the use of engangsgrills-the small disposable grills that you can purchase at a grocery store…
Hva er klokka? Posted by kari on Jul 16, 2009
What time is it? Klokka er…. It is… I can’t believe I haven’t written a post on TIME (tid) yet! The way Norwegians express time is much different than the way Americans do. We simply say for example “It is five thirty” meaning it is thirty minutes past 5 o’clock. Or “it is quarter to seven” meaning…
Nudism in Norway Posted by kari on Jul 2, 2009
This is not a nude beach, but was one of the only pictures I have of a beach in Norway. What motivated me to write a post about nudism in Norway? I was flipping through my pictures from my time living in Oslo and I came across a few pictures I took at a beach near…