Norway

[beck3]

Does anybody live there? Any advice before we move there too?

[Elasticwoman]

My cousin used to live there but moved to Iceland. Booze and baby equipment v v expensive. But maternity leave/pay good, so long as you have lived there long enough (about a year I think).

[welliemum]

If someone offers you "geitost", run away FAST.

[Migrationdiary]

I grew up in Norway (Fredrikstad) - and I lived in Bergen for two years - what do you want to know?

[beck3]

We are moving to Stavanger in january and it would be helpful to know what to bring out with us eg marmite? etc..Is clothing as expensive as the food or should we stock up on that too?
Any trips you could recommend?
I feel very in the dark at the moment so any advice of any kind would be great.
Thanks

[BritTex]

I lived in Norway twice, (Bergen and Trondheim). I was 7 and 13. I remember everything being v v expensive. No decent bacon and sausage, Marmite etc so yes stock up before you go. (my mother had to roll her own cigarettes as they were sooo expensive). on the plus side however it is a Beautiful country so travel as much as you can. do you have any DC?

[beck3]

Yes, a DS(9),a DD(8)and a baby boy (7 months) so the move is going to be pretty full on!
We did a recci at half term and found our house, enrolled at schools etc....
The supermarket costs were around 3 times the cost of food over here and if you asked for tea you were given a herbal so will be stocking up on PG tips as well as other things.
The scenery, though, was amazing.
Are there any places you could reccommend us visiting?

[beck3]

Are there any MNers living in Norway? If so I would love to hear from you.

[FairyOnTopOfTheChristmasTree]

I don't live there now but I lived in Stavanger as a child as my Dad was posted there for 5 years, with work. I went to the British school and loved it. I'm sure things have probably changed a bit but you will undoubtedly meet lots of other expats through your DCs school(s) and Norwegians are generally very friendly and loads of them speak very good English. I loved Norway as a child, and I'm sure you and your DCs will too.

[FairyOnTopOfTheChristmasTree]

BTW, the things i remember us bringing from England were marmite, weetabix, stock cubes, bovril and tea bags!

[HairyIrene]

oh exciting only visited for an holiday once..everything felt tres expensive..

iirc kama is from norway olso

[tribpot]

I have a friend who lives in Stavanger, he's a childfree guy so not the best for some tips but I'm sure he'll be happy to help out - let me know if you want me to put you in touch.

[beck3]

Thanks for your replies. My children will be going to the british school so good to hear you enjoyed it.
I am busy stock piling as many kinds of foods that I think will either be hugely expensive, not available or hard to find. Today was a cadbury panic, hence buying industrial sized cartons of hot chocolate and as many family sized bars as I could carry!!
I just feel quite daunted by the whole unheaval as I've never lived in another country before and LOVE where I live at the moment.
All advice and moral support very appriciated!

[MrsJohnCuSackFullOfPresents]

oooooh my friend lived near Stavanger (in Egersund), but again, she was child free so maybe not so useful. she did do some teaching though. we visited, it was lovely

can put you in touch if you like?

she did say it was difficult in winter as fresh fruit and veg were soooooooo expensive

[MrsJohnCuSackFullOfPresents]

or I could just ask her and post the answers here actually
will do that

[QuintessentialShadowOfSnowball]

You can buy all these things in Norway now, including the Cadbury.

I am Norwegian. I am from Tromsoe, been to Stavanger only once though, as a child, and liked it a lot.

What you will miss the most is probably all the convenience food that is part of the reason why most English supermarkets are so big. A shop does not have to be big, if people mostly cook from scratch!

As for tea, I havent seen PG tips, but there is plenty of Twinnings, even more on display there than here. But people often go to the Tea Shop and buy their tea in lose weight.

[beck3]

The thing I desperately need to find out is are there any good take away delivery services in Stavanger? We are flying in Sunday evening with 3 hungry children, 2 frazzled parents and will need feeding fast on arrival?
Can anyone help?

[BrownSuga]

Take reusable shopping bags with you, they charge for plastic at the supermarkets. And yes, everything is very expensive. Take what you think you'll need now, then I guess on any home trips, buy up then. I didn't buy anything there apart from weekly food/booze.

I lived in Mosjoen for 6mths, just south of arctic circle. It's worth a trip to say you've been and a certificate. We did a Hurtigruten from Bergen to Kirkenes. Was good, but if you do it, take entertainment with you. Beautiful scenery, recommend doing it in summer as the nicest places we passed in the dark.

[tribpot]

This is based on the Sweden experience but I'd say "Sunday night" and "hungry" was a bad combination. Let me check with my friend, though.

[beck3]

Thanks Brownsuga. How were the northern lights? Thats a sight I desperately want to see when we go.
BTW whats a hurtigruten?

[beck3]

Thanks tripot. I think I'll pack some pasta and pesto just in case!

[BrownSuga]

the Hurtigruten is the postal ships that go up and down the coast. I was there wrong time of year for northern lights, but friends who stayed for the whole job saw them, the pics are amazing.

[BrownSuga]

Agree, everything was closed in town on a Sunday, which was our only day off!

[QuintessentialShadowOfSnowball]

You may find that many restaurants are closed on sundays, but should be able to find simple hot dogs etc on Shell gas stations, they sell basic groceries much like gas stations here. Dont bank on finding much in terms of food delivery. But Peppes pizza have a website to order through, and you can see the phone number and a menu (in norwegian) on peppes pizza website

[Tickle]

hi Beck - we live on a small island in Denmark, moved here nearly (aagh!) 4 yrs ago. DK q similar to NO in many ways, tho don't know about cost of living.

Love it here. Re food; we order many things on the net, and get it delivered. Also if you search on the net there are companies that stock British food abroad (there are 2 in DK for example). But I get my mum to send lapsang souchong and dairy milk Agree with Quintessential that cooking from scratch is a major difference between brits and scandinavians.

We are planning to drive up and ski in Norway with our 4 kids dd (9), ds (7), dd (3) and ds (2) sometime at Easter. Not sure where we're going yet though - (mild hijack!)anyone got any recommendations?

[hidingbehindthesofa]

hi there,
bit of a hijack...but,
we are going to norway to ski in geilo on dec 30th?
excited but don't know anything about norway..is there anything we should definately definately try/not miss out while there?
thanks