Comments on: The Downsides of Living in Norway

By: Per Morten Hansen

Per Morten Hansen — Sun, 13 Oct 2024 13:45:36 +0000

I’m Norwegian and ashamed of what my country has become. Not only it’s politic is based on double-moral and hypocrisy, corruption is on such a scale it passes Russia in size…
Trains are not on schedule, no highway to drive all the way to Kirkenes, gasoline is outrageously expensive, Ukrainians get everything for free while average tax payers has to PAY FOR EVERYTHING.
Racism here is…beyond anything you can imagine.
If your car breaks down at -30°C in a blizzard: no one stops to help you.
Kindergarden and hospices are big business.
Food is all processed.

Norwegians are so f@cking naive, it’s pathetic.
They believe in some sort of “viking supremacy”…

I’m so fed up here, me, my wife and our 5 children are actually moving to Russia. (We’ve been there several times on holiday and we LOVE it!!).

F@ck Norway. Faen ta Norge.
Good luck to you all!

By: Øyvind

Øyvind — Tue, 23 Jan 2024 13:04:24 +0000

In reply to May. This is true about nearly every country in the world. Student visas are easy to get, but unless you have other ties to a country, getting a permanent visa or residency is in most countries very difficult. I had the exact same experience when i was living abroad. As mentioned in this article, finding jobs isn't necessarily easy even with a degree, as the competition is very high. A degree by itself is no guarantee for a job here.

By: Øyvind

Øyvind — Tue, 23 Jan 2024 13:00:13 +0000

I’ve seen and heard lots of foreign reports of their experience living in Norway and often I find misconceptions or just plain inaccuracies..
.. But not yours. This was all spot on and this really is written by someone who have a genuine interest in learning and accounting for the differences in culture and society.
I’ve never heard the quote you posted: “In Norway, everything you need is cheap and everything you want is expensive. In the US, everything you need is expensive and everything you want is cheap” but this is spot on, and seems to be very good explanation to the misconception many in the US have about Norway.

By: May

May — Wed, 13 Sep 2023 13:06:04 +0000

Been in Norway for 4+ years, studied here, and not one interview.

Such a closed society, it makes me sick. So many international students come, pay for their education, leave a lot of money in the educational system and then have to leave because their study permit expires, and they do not get any job offers.

By: rama ananth

rama ananth — Sat, 13 May 2023 19:58:53 +0000

BTW I have 2 very good friends living in Norway for many years now. They seem to love that country. Each to his own, I wish you and all other foreigners who have chosen to settle there, the very best!

By: rama ananth

rama ananth — Sat, 13 May 2023 19:54:41 +0000

I used to be fascinated with Norway, but as I learned more about that country, especially their various rules about bringing up children and their vague way of handling such cases (where there are lots of scams going on), I have started to lose my interest in that country. And also you have pointed to so many downsides, that it is not worth even visiting that country. It is always better to settle down in any of the countless, beautiful and friendly countries if one wants to than in a cold, unfriendly and also very costly country.

By: William Knutson

William Knutson — Thu, 30 Mar 2023 16:36:14 +0000

Hi Dave, I appreciate the information. I’m in the Midwest of the USA and my ancestors come from the Numedal Valley 60 miles west of Oslo. I’d like to visit Norway and do a motorcycle trip through the country
There’s very little information
about riding motorcycles in Norway. Is this not common? Is the weather too cold? Few people seem to have motorcycles in Norway..

By: David

David — Sat, 18 Mar 2023 01:18:03 +0000

In reply to Ida. Presumably you mean Polish people in Norway rather than generally. Maybe because Norwegians are hard-wired to distrust and be unfriendly to foriegners. Your comment sums it up. The Polish are here to work, earn money and go back to Poland. If I wanted a job done, I'd employ a Pole because they do a good job at a sensible price and don't have that Scandinavian misplaced sense of superiority. Poles may get drops of Norwegian social welfare but Norwegians get rivers of the stuff. Besides, if you were not Norwegian and had the choice of speaking either Norwegian or English, you'd choose English. It's the second language of the majority of Norwegians and Poles.

By: Lee

Lee — Wed, 17 Aug 2022 02:36:35 +0000

Dave,
It is 2022 now. I live in the Bay Area, and I am wondering, did you return home?

By: Erik Hovdahl

Erik Hovdahl — Thu, 13 Jan 2022 22:36:34 +0000

In reply to Chad Caldwell. Chad Caldwell. Nope, wrong, the cap is nok 2.300,- I know, live here...