The Third Gender Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Aug 1, 2012
No, this isn’t about LGTB people in Norway, but about an aspect of Norwegian grammar that ocassionally creates confusion, even among Norwegians: the feminine gender. Norwegian comes in thousands of dialect shades, so in order to write it, two orthographies or “written languages” have evolved: nynorsk (which will be the topic of a future blog…
Going on holiday Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Jul 25, 2012
Norwegians rarely stay at home during the whole sommerferie (summer holiday), as most people can afford to go somewhere more exciting. A favorite destination is hytta (the cabin). Many families keep a cabin or cottage på fjellet (in the mountains, literally ’on the mountain’) or ved fjorden (at the fjord). These cottages can be everything…
Children of the Rainbow Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Jul 22, 2012
One year ago, on July 22, 2011, Norway experienced its darkest day since WWII. Right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik bombed and brutally gunned 77 innocent civilians to death, in Oslo and on the Oslo Fjord island of Utøya. Children and teenagers fell victims to Breivik’s bullets, and the whole deed was so unbelievably atrocious and…
A Visit to Stavanger Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Jul 12, 2012
Do you remember Kari’s text about Stavanger [staVANGer], Norway’s 4th largest city? (After Oslo, Bergen and Trondheim – sorry about the niggling, Kari!) Being the one Norwegian city I’ve visited the most, and the place where I’m currently writing, I thought I might have something to add… As Kari wrote, Stavanger is the capital of…
Up, up, up the peak! Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Jun 30, 2012
While å løpe (to run, running) is popular in many countries, Norwegians have recently taken the classic sport with them in a brand new direction: uphill. I had a chat with Per Inge Fjellheim from Sauda (the West Norwegian town where I spent parts of my childhood). He’s one of the ildsjeler [ILLshehler] (enthusiasts, literally…
Greetings Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Jun 20, 2012
Hei! is the universal greeting in Norway. It is pronounced with a rising tone, as if you’re really enthusiastic about something! (I guess there’s a reason why the Swedes always make jokes about Norwegians being hyper! 🙂 ) In most of the country, it sounds like it’s halfway between the English greetings hi! and hey!…
Talking about the weather Posted by Bjørn A. Bojesen on Jun 8, 2012
Været (the weather) is a frequent topic in Norway; after all, there’s a lot of it! Stretching more than 2600 km (1616 miles), from the North Sea east of Scotland, across the Polar Circle to the Barents Sea, Norway is bound to have a good deal of climatic variation. You’d better check værmeldinga (the weather…