I will have a lot to say about my recent move to Norway and I think it´s good information to share with you all since you are clearly interesting in Norway and life in Norway, as well as other things related to Norway.  If you have ever thought about moving to Norway, hopefully my posts will help you to navigate your way through such an adventure.  There are a lot of things that I didn´t even think of until I was in the midst of it.

Such as…….how do I get my belongings there?  Can I send them Fed Ex of UPS or do I use regular mail?  How much can I take with me on the plane?  There were numerous calls to both of the airlines I used, as well as calls and visits to the Post Office with exact dimensions of the boxes I planned to send.  I ended up sending 2-18 square inch esker (boxes) weighing about 60 lbs. each.  It cost me about $375 priority mail, which should take 6-10 days, but always takes more.  I have now found out that one of my esker has arrived here in Tromsø (hopefully I´ll be able to get it tomorrow) and the other is still in toll (customs) in Oslo.  I´m trying to think if there was something in it that is sketchy?  Nope, there isn´t.  If you do it perfectly by the book, you´re actually supposed to itemize EACH item in the eske. There were probably 100 items in each eske, including klær (clothes), sko (shoes), elektronikker (electronics), veggepynt (wall decorations), etc.  I think it´s a little unnecessary to write every item down, and that´s what the P.O. told me too.  Long story short, $375 was the least I could have paid.  My bike in a box was too big to be sent in the mail and at the last minute I decided not to take it on på flyet (the plane).

Why didn´t I take it på flyet?  Because I had a huge ryggsekk (backpack) to check, a carry-on, and my hund (dog) with her HUGE kasse (crate) that was pretty much a mareritt (nightmare) to lug around.  Also not fun to check her in and have fremmede menn (strange men) carry her to her place på flyet.  Hun bjeffer nesten aldri (She almost never barks), but she barked for probably 10 minutes straight and everyone in the room was staring at me.  She was in her kasse for 15 hours straight from the time Icelandair checked her in Minneapolis until she was able to get out of her kasse when I reached my friend´s leilighet in Oslo.  We had a 3-hour layover in Reykjavik so the trip got a little long.  In the end, everything was fine.  She just has a huge sore on her nese (nose) from trying to get out of her kasse.

It actually didn´t cost that much to take her.  I paid about $100 to take her from Minneapolis to Oslo and another $75 to take her up to Tromsø from Oslo.  Not so bad.  It wasn´t exactly cheap to get her ready to come overseas, however.  I spent a lot at the vet to get her a microchip and a rabies titer and vet certificate and such.  Actually, I have to be at the vet with her here in a little over an hour to get checked out (you have to do this within 7 days of arrival), so I best be on my way!!