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 when we were at negative 22 grader).  So finally I was able to get outside with my valp (puppy) and trene litt (exercise a little bit).  As we all know, kroppen (the body) needs physical exercise to function optimally mentally (mentalsk), physically (fysisk) and psychologically (psykologisk).

hodet – the head                ryggen -the back                  kinner – cheeks

magen -the stomach         øre –ear                                 tenner – teeth

et bein – a leg                   øyner -eyes                          nese -nose

armen – the arm                lepper – lips                         en fot – a foot

rumpe -butt                      fingrer –fingers                    en hånd -a hand

As you can tell, there are quite a few cognates.  Magen and ryggen are probably the 2 body parts that do not resemble their English counterparts.  I feel like at this point in the year my mage is at it’s largest (you know, pack on the winter warmth), and my rygge hurts (too much lying around).  It has been so cold that all we want to do and all that is recommended by doctors is to stay inside and eat warm, hearty food.  This means lots of extra calories ingested and lots of hours watching movies.  It’s called January hibernation in Minnesota.

Today was a nice 25 grader so I was able to go outside and take my valp for a jog.  And now….beinene mine (my legs) hurt, føttene mine (my feet) are sår (sore) and hele kroppen (whole body) is trøtt (tired).

Let’s learn a little vocab to describe things related to the body.  What can most people probably benefit from more of?

sovn (sleep), trening (excercise), sunn mat (healthy food), mindre tv (less tv), sol (sun), å lese (to read).

And what could people live without?

røyking (smoking), alkohol (alcohol), datamaskinspiller (computer games), å være innendørs (to be inside), usunn mat (unhealthy food).

Everyone knows though, that it is unhealthy to try to be perfectly healthy.  It is impossible to stay sane in this world while trying to choose the healthiest option all the time.  So, as we have all heard time and time again, it is of utmost importance to find balans in life.  Everyone’s balans is going to look a little different, but it’s something we could all benefit from and something I think we can look to Norway for inspiration.

Norwegians seem to be very healthy people.  They typically smoke and drink less than most other European countries, eat well, have ample leisure time, practice gender equality, have a low mortality rate, lots of clean air, and are generally happy people.  When I applaud Norwegians for being a healthy people, I am certainly not saying that other cultures aren’t equally as healthy.  I just have more first-hand experience with them.

Now for the rest of the day I’m going to be distracted at work trying to figure out how I can find that perfect balans in my life…….