Posts in April 2009

Churches fly rainbow flags in Nordland

Posted by Kari
Apr
30
2009

If you have limited knowledge about Norway’s tolerance of outsiders (perhaps if you only know about Norway in history and not modern Norway), you might be surprised by Norway’s tolerance of homosexuals.  Historically, Norwegians were fairly intolerant of outsiders.  I think I have explained in one or more earlier posts that outsiders ruled Norway for much of her history.  This fact coupled with Norway’s geographic isolation led to a feeling of intolerance of people who were different. 

Another reason why it might be hard for someone to determine if Norwegians would support homosexuality is because of the stereotype that Norwegian men are strong, attractive, and relatively macho and women are simply beautiful.  In all honesty, Norwegian men are very often attractive and many of them take very good care of their bodies by exercising and eating well and Norwegian women are very pretty.  However, the macho thing I think dates back to the Viking Age and women have gained such equality that many have become extremely independent and do not necessarily “need a man” to complete the other half of them.  I think a lot of people today (at least Americans) think of Norway as if it hasn’t changed much since the Vikings.  Big brute men and pretty blond women hiking up mountains and having lots of pretty babies together.  There are plenty of metro-sexual looking Norwegian men that care a lot about fashion and personal representation, as well as female CEOs and top government officials that might care more about their jobs than their sexual orientation.  In no way do I mean to say that successful women that are treated the same as men are more likely to be homosexual, but the fact that women have gained such equality in Norway certainly means they are more able to be open about things that aren’t “traditional” historically 

This may surprise you, but Norway was actually one of the first country’s to enact homosexual anti-discrimination laws (1982).  Ten years prior (1972) was when homosexuality became legal.  Gays have been allowed to serve in the military since 1994.  And most recently, on the 1st of January this year, same-sex marriage became legal, as well as both joint and step adoption by same-sex couples, right to legally change gender, and artificial insemination for lesbian women (paid for by the state).

Even some (Christian) churches fly rainbow flags.  Now that’s liberal. 

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The new influensa virus-Det nye influsensa viruset

Posted by Kari
Apr
29
2009

The NEW influensa virus.  Det nye influensa viruset.  Not the swine flu or the pig flu.  I feel that I must do my part and inform as many people as possible that public health officials have said over and over again that humans cannot get sick from eating pork products. Keep eating pork.  If you read just the headlines, chances are you are going to think that svineinfluensa or swine-flu implies that we can get this disease from eating pork.  We know that the virus contains genetic material from pigs, birds, and humans.  But there are no known instances of humans contracting the disease from animals.  Only from humans.  Humans to humans.  It’s too bad though that most people don’t read entire articles.  Most people probably don’t even look at a newspaper at all, much less read an entire article.  Those who do read the newspaper, watch the news, or check out news on the internet, probably concentrate on the headlines.  After all, one would think that if one has limited time, the headlines should relay the most important information.  I wouldn’t say that any headline with the word or phrase “svineinfluensa” by itself informs the public of the most important part of the issue. 

If you haven’t figured it out yet, svin means something to do with pigs in Norwegian.  The word for ‘pig’ is gris.  En gris = a pig.  Grisen =the pig.  Griser =pigs.  Grisene =the pigs.  Don’t say “griss” with a short ‘i,’ but rather “greeeeeeese” as in “geese” with an r after the g.  And svin means ’swine.’  Svinekjøtt means ‘pork.’  Svinekotelett means ‘pork chop.’  Svinestek means ‘roast pork.’  As the girlfriend of a pig farmer, pork producer, hog farmer, whatever you want to call him, I must say that I used to dislike most pork products, but after I ate GOOD pork (i.e. not super charred pork chops, insane pulled pork sandwiches, etc.) I realized that you don’t have to cook it until it’s so dry that you need to drink liquid at the same time as you swallow it.  So I encourage you all to keep eating pork and once this virus has done it’s thing, eat pork a little pink.  Don’t overkill it. 

Just a little more trivia for you involving the word ‘pig’ or gris.  A piggybank is called en sparegris which derives from the verb “å spare” (to spare) and gris (pig).  A pig sty is en grisebinge.  Pigtail (in terms of hairstyles) is hestehale (which literally means ‘horse-tail’) and pigtails means musefletter (muse means ‘mouse’ and fletter means ‘braids.’  For some reason in Norwegian ‘pigtails’ involve the words ‘mouse’ and ‘braids.’  I wonder where that comes from. 

Vask hendene og bli hjemme hvis du er syk.  Wash your hands and stay home if you are sick.  But keep eating pork!

Check out aftenposten.no and see if you can understand any of the headlines or the stories!

 
Posted under Food, Norway and the world 0 Comments | Post a Comment

Vikings-the beginning of international relations in Scandinavia

Posted by Kari
Apr
26
2009

In response to a comment on a recent post about Norway’s involvment in the Sri Lankan conflict, I would like to address Norway’s relationship with the rest of the world through the lens of history.  As most of you already know, the Vikings were a seafaring people who traveled great distances to loot, trade and colonize.  The Vikings conquered parts of the British Isles, Iceland, and even Canada.  They also reached as far as Russia, the Middle East, Constantinople, and North Africa.  These are surprisingly far distances to travel by sea for people from lands far in the north.  Quite impressive.  They couldn’t have done it without their sophistocated ships-the longships and the knarrs.  The longships were designed for speed and agility for use in warfare and exploration, while the knarr was primarily used to carry cargo.

There are two stereotypes about the Vikings that I would like to dispel.  The pictorial images of Vikings that we see are usually incorrect representations.  Most pictures of Vikings you see have horned helmets, right?  Well, historians have come to a consensus that perhaps Scandinavians wore helmets with horns for ritual purposes, but the helmets they wore in battle did not have horns.  As is sometimes true about historical documentation, those who write the stories are not always those who were involved.  Imagine one-on-one combat Viking-style with huge horns attached to your helmet.  This seems like it would be cumbersome.  And it would have been.  The helmets that Vikings wore were conical and made of hard leather and wood for reinforcement.  Chieftan Vikings wore helmets made of iron with a chain and a mask. 

The second stereotype about the Vikings that is untrue is a matter of hygiene.  Images of Vikings typically present them as dirty savages.  However, the discovery of personal grooming tools proves that the Vikings were concerned with their cleanliness.  Combs, tweezers, razors, and ear-cleaning tools have been discovered.  The Vikings also made soap, which they used to clean and bleach their hair.  Vikings in Britain actually are thought to have paid excessive attention to their personal hygiene as they bathed once per week.  In fact, lørdag, the word for ‘Saturday’ in Norwegian, comes from the word ‘washing day’ in old Norse (in modern day Icelandic, which comes from Old Norse, laugardagur, is still the word for Saturday).

Now that you know a little more about the Vikings, you can tell the next Minnesotan you see who is cheering for the Vikings to take off the horns.  And if the person wants to talk shop about the Vikings, you can tell him/her that the nature of the seafaring nation is probably one of the reasons why Norway is so involved internationally to this day even though it is geographically isolated from mainland Europe.

 
Posted under Culture, Geography, History, Norway and the world 1 Comment | Post a Comment

Sri Lankan conflict hits Norwegian newspapers, not US

Posted by Kari
Apr
22
2009

Upon perusing the Norwegian newspaper “Aftenposten” online, I came across a headline (with 4 or 5 subheadlines) and a large picture telling recent news of the conflict in Sri Lanka.  For those of you who are unaware, the Sri Lankan government has been in conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (AKA the Tamil Tigers) since the early 1980s.  �Norway has a long-standing friendly relationship with Sri Lanka and has for years been involved in peace efforts to resolve the conflict.  Just to give you an idea of how seriously awful the conflict is, 70,000 people have been reported killed in the war since 1983.  There have been times throughout the conflict at which progress seemed to be so near, but like many other civil wars and international wars, the peace that seemed so close can be shattered in an instant if an action or a statement  provokes continued violence. 

Back to the article that Aftenposten printed in their online newspaper, (which you can view at the following web address: http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/uriks/article3037692.ece), I find it very interesting that it is one of the larger headlines on the main site for the newspaper.  I have not seen much of anything in the newspaper that I read every morning, the Star Tribune (Minneapolis paper), or on websites that I have checked such as CNN, ABC, or even BBC (which you would think might be more likely to report something global…).  The headline for the article in Aftenposten reads literally “Desperate situation for refugees in Sri Lanka” (‘Desperat situasjon for flyktningene på Sri Lanka).  50,000 civilians have fled the Tamil-area for safety.  As mentioned earlier, Norway has long been involved in peace-making efforts in Sri Lanka and as you can see, the Norwegian media does a good job of informing the public about recent events regarding the conflict.  It is actually quite amazing that we can receive any information at all since the area controlled by the Tamil Tigers is off-limits to international aid organizations and the press alike.  The refugees that sucessfully escape the dangerous area are describing the situation as becoming more and more desperate.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sure had good things to say about Norway on April 6 of this year when she met with Norwegian foreign minister Jonas Gahr Stoere at the State Department.  Senator Clinton praised Norway for the country’s untiring efforts to negotiate peace in Sri Lanka and in so many other areas of the world.  She said, ‘Few countries have contributed to the cause of global peace and resolving conflicts around the world than Norway has.’ 

Unfortunately, shortly after the nice comments from Senator Clinton about Norway’s positive role in the situation, on April 12, the Sri Lankan embassy i Oslo was attacked.  The Norwegian government has condemned the act and will compensate the Sri Lankan government for the damages, in addition to completing a thorough investigation into the attack. 

If any of you have a particular global conflict or issue in which Norway plays a role and you would like to know a bit more about it, please note this in your comments so that I can address it.

 

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Posted under Geography, Norway and the world, Politics 5 Comments | Post a Comment

Mandatory military service

Posted by Kari
Apr
18
2009

Norway is a small and peaceful country and therefore you don’t hear about the Norwegian military very often.  I assure you that Norway’s military history is quite interesting.  As I may have mentioned before in previous blogs, I love history and am particularly interested in wars.  I would like to share some basic information with you about the Norwegian military.

Norwegian men between the ages of 18 and 44 are obliged to serve 18 months i militæret (in the military).  If a parent gives consent, a boy can enter into the military at age 17 and in wartime, men up to age 55 can serve.  Although a man has a large window of years within which he can serve, most do so before their late 20s.  Draft time for those who participate in the home guard is 6 months.  Those who serve in the army, the navy, or the airforce serve 12 months.  The remaining months are intended to be spent in annual exercises. 

Most people do not serve the remaining months due to lack of funding for the military.  And actually, many Norwegian men do not serve in the military at all, or defer their service for a period of time.  Deferral from military service is granted for stays abroad and studies.  Exemption from military service can be granted for medical reasons or for pacifism.  In the case of pacifism, those who apply for exemption are then required to serve 12 months of non-military service.  Civilian service usually entails work in the health sector or other non-profit, service-related organization.

Does Norway allow women into the armed forces?  Yes.  Since 1977, women have legally been able to serve in the military alongside men.  Since 1985, women have been able to serve in almost all capacities in the military except for para-rangers and marine commandos (no woman has met the entry requirements yet).  However, Norway was the first country to assign women to serve on submarines (1995). 

Although a lot of men resent those who obtain exemption from service, many Norwegians consider serving in the military to be of great value, both for themselves and of course for their country.  Employers often show favor to individuals who have completed their military obligation. 

The following is a brief list of terms that would be beneficial to know if you find yourself in a conversation about the military:

militær - military           forsvaret - defense                å forsvare - to defend

�en krig - a war            et slag\en kamp - a battle   en våpen - a weapon

en hær - an army           å tjene i hæren - to serve in the army    flåten - the navy

 
Posted under History, Norway and the world 1 Comment | Post a Comment