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…
Who wants ‘hval’? Posted by kari on Jan 30, 2009
For those of you who don’t know what hval is, it is whale. Norway is one of the few countries in the world that still practices whaling. Prior to the mid 20th century, many nations practised whaling as it was an important source of income and employment. Norway has supported whaling since the beginning of its…
Norske kroner Posted by kari on Jan 29, 2009
Today I’m going to give alle dere (all of you) a lesson on Norwegian currency aka. norske kroner (Norwegian crowns). Norwegian currency, like most, consists of both paper bills and coin. There are a few things I’ve always appreciated about Norwegian currency. I think it’s brilliant that the bills are different sizes and not only are the coins different…
Brown cheese Posted by kari on Jan 24, 2009
Gjetost or Gudbrandsdalost are the two most common names for this delicious Norwegian cheese. You might also see it spelled geitost or if you are in Sweden it would be mesost and in Denmark myseost. Ost means cheese, geit or gjet means goat and Gudbrandsdalost means cheese from the Gudbrandsdal valley (dal is valley). Many…
Vidkun Quisling-‘the Hitler of Norway’ Posted by kari on Jan 23, 2009
Vidkun Quisling is undoubtedly the only Norwegian individual (and among but a small number of individuals regardless of geographic origin) for whom a noun has been created. The name “Quisling” is synonymous with “traitor.” I’m sure many people have heard somebody referred to as this, but I would be willing to bet most people don’t know…