Comments on: 7 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Move to Norway

By: Berit

Berit — Sun, 05 Oct 2025 07:39:49 +0000

Well, if I would consider moving to a country, I would like to know how the social life works. How open people would be towards a foreiger, how easily you could make friends.
None of this is ever mentioned. I got the feeling Norwegians are more on the reserved side,

I’d much prefer France with it’s excellent fresh food and jovial society.

By: Berit

Berit — Sun, 05 Oct 2025 07:26:35 +0000

In reply to Jay. The comment section is hilarious

By: KG

KG — Sun, 06 Jul 2025 15:56:33 +0000

I have met some wonderful people from Norway and it seems like a good place to retire. However, I have also met several 2nd generation immigrant Norwegians with ancestry from eg Poland or India who have serious attitude problems, lack humility and generally have been abusive to those they consider ‘foreign’. Maybe I was unfortunate to meet those exceptions or maybe this is a trend that’s likely to worsen? Either way, I won’t be going back there through choice!

By: Jay

Jay — Tue, 26 Dec 2023 06:38:03 +0000

In reply to Glenn Martin. How about loving the Black Metal band called Lutefisk?

By: Katherine

Katherine — Sun, 02 Jul 2023 14:42:19 +0000

In reply to Simee. Simee, I think you are so lucky that your son is so close to you that he wants you to live with him and his partner! I would move in a heartbeat! Especially to such a beautiful country as Norway. All the details can be worked out. Main thing is that you're with your family. P.S. Have you moved there yet?

By: Jesper

Jesper — Mon, 01 May 2023 19:55:03 +0000

Yeah, you are right about moving to Norway, Danmark is a better choice 😃🇩🇰

By: James Bussey

James Bussey — Fri, 21 Apr 2023 13:39:28 +0000

I have visited Norway many times, but the main thing I would move there for is the Friluftsliv – it’s the best set up country in the world for outdoor activities. Tied into that are the reliable transport links around the country, and good mobile phone and internet coverage most places I have been so far – including in the mountains.
Points against:
i. The choice of food in supermarkets is pretty limited, though with immigration from Africa and the Middle East, we are starting to see immigrant -run groceries selling healthier foodstuffs. Swedish supermarkets are better in that respect.
ii. The immense Sovereign Wealth Fund isn’t doing the country that much good: it’s becoming full of foreign guest workers doing the jobs Norwegians used to do: even things like building stone footpaths (Nepalese built) and cabins in the mountains (Latvians for one example – Aftenposten investigated one company regarding underpayment of their workers last year). There’s no manufacturing industry either, and the country seems to be losing its classless appearance, becoming the usual western two tier society: those doing sh1t jobs/those doing some sort of computer based office work – but at least they have a living, rather than a minimum wage there.
iii. The hypocrisy regarding the natural environment: despite professing their love of nature, Norway is quite an environmentally degraded country once one gets one’s eye in and sees the signs – Norwegians hunt and fish anything that runs or swims to near- or full extinction, and plough roads and build cabins all over the place. 90% of Norwegian lakes and watercourses have some form of hydro-power scheme inflicted upon them. Lovely national anthem, tho.’
iv. The continuing treatment of Sami people as second-class citizens: see the recent protest in Merch 2023 against the Fosen Wind Farm in Trøndelag at the energy ministry in Oslo for an update (Greta pitched up at that one for a couple of days).
v. Norwegian is an easy language to learn for us speakers of Germanic based languages, but although easy to read, and with a simple grammar which makes it staightforward to write, it is one which takes a while to understand when spoken to you. By the time I get my ear in on a visit, it’s time to come home again. The Swedes speak more clearly, nearer the way Germans speak their language: It’s the Norwegians who sound like the Swedish Chef (the real Swedish chef at Grövelsjön Fjällstation was a pretty good cook tho,’ unlike his felty counterpart).
vi. Historical persecution of the indigenous Troll population, as depicted I’m the 2011 documentary ‘Trolljakten.’ In last year’s feature film ‘Troll,’ one character blames the Christianisation of Norway during the later Viking era. It’s more likely to be the fault of humans depriving other species of their habitat than what religion they are practising at the time.
If you can speak Norwegian, you can pretty much speak it in Denmark or Sweden without altering much, apart from a few words.
So, some pretty major faults there, but no worse or much different to anywhere else these days: people are alright wherever one goes in the world; we just don’t always get it together as nations for the good of all.

By: James Bussey

James Bussey — Fri, 21 Apr 2023 13:04:44 +0000

I have visited Norway many times, but the main thing I would move there for is the Friluftsliv – it’s the best set up country in the world for outdoor activities. Tied into that are the reliable transport links around the country, and good mobile phone and internet coverage most places I have been so far – including in the mountains.
Points against:
i. The choice of food in supermarkets is pretty limited, though with immigration from Africa and the Middle East, we are starting to see immigrant -run groceries selling healthier foodstuffs. Swedish supermarkets are better in that respect.
ii. The immense Sovereign Wealth Fund isn’t doing the country that much good: it’s becoming full of foreign guest workers doing the jobs Norwegians used to do: even things like building stone footpaths (Nepalese built) and cabins in the mountains (Latvians for one example – Aftenposten investigated one company regarding underpayment of their workers last year). There’s no manufacturing industry either, and the country seems to be losing its classless appearance, becoming the usual western two tier society: those doing sh1t jobs/those doing some sort of computer based office work – but at least they have a living, rather than a minimum wage there.
iii. The hypocrisy regarding the natural environment: despite professing their love of nature, Norway is quite an environmentally degraded country once one gets one’s eye in and sees the signs – Norwegians hunt and fish anything that runs or swims to near- or full extinction, and plough roads and build cabins all over the place. 90% of Norwegian lakes and watercourses have some form of hydro-power scheme inflicted upon them. Lovely national anthem, tho.’
iv. The continuing treatment of Sami people as second-class citizens: see the recent protest in Merch 2023 against the Fosen Wind Farm in Trøndelag at the energy ministry in Oslo for an update (Greta pitched up at that one for a couple of days).
iv. Norwegian is an easy language to learn for us speakers of Germanic based languages, but although easy to read, and with a simple grammar which makes it staightforward to write, it is one which takes a while to understand when spoken to you. By the time I get my ear in on a visit, it’s time to come home again. The Swedes speak more clearly, nearer the way Germans speak their language: It’s the Norwegians who sound like the Swedish Chef (the real Swedish chef at Grövelsjön Fjällstation was a pretty good cook tho,’ unlike his felty counterpart).
If you can speak Norwegian, you can pretty much speak it in Denmark or Sweden without altering much, apart from a few words.
So, some pretty major faults there, but no worse or much different to anywhere else these days: people are alright wherever one goes in the world; we just don’t always get it together as nations for the good of all.

By: Pat Keane

Pat Keane — Fri, 28 Oct 2022 17:57:30 +0000

Good article, I have been living here 12 years and can identify with much of what you have written. The one thing I certainly do not agree with is that “norwegian beer is delicious”.
Norwegian beer is sharp tasting with almost no head. Its really terrible.

By: Jonathan Lamarr Edwards

Jonathan Lamarr Edwards — Fri, 28 Oct 2022 13:58:38 +0000

I’m an accomplished jazz musician with a bachelor’s degree in jazz performance and a master’s degree in ethnomusicology. I also did two semesters of graduate study at Oslo University. Is there a place for me in Norway?