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I am notorious for getting lost.  It doesn’t matter if I’ve been somewhere a
hundred times before, I can still manage to get lost.  The mode of transportation makes no
difference either.  I’ll lose my way in a
car, on foot, on 2 wheels, you name it.
Landmarks or something else that catches my eye will aid my orientation
much more than road names and turns.  I
can read a map, but if I attempt to find a place just on memory alone, I will
fail 9 times out of 10.

I have been in Chicago on a business trip since Friday and
we have gone to the same place every day-Navy Pier.  It is not too far from our hotel, but far
enough that with briefcases we take a taxi or the trolley.  I woke up early this morning to run to Navy
Pier and what do you know, I got lost.
Not totally lost, but zig-zagged around a lot and actually went 3 blocks
(and Chicago blocks aren’t small) past the hotel because I was on a street
parallel to the street the hotel is on.
Go figure.

In case you are wondering why I thought to write about this,
it reminded me of when I lived in Oslo and I would go out for a run and
intentionally get lost. That sounds a bit odd, I know, but it gave me the
opportunity to see so much more of the city than I probably would have
otherwise.  It also forced me to find my
way around.  As long as I know I am safe
and I don’t have any obligations in the near future that I have to attend, I
think it’s kind of fun getting lost in a place that you are not totally
familiar with.

I was able to find my way back to my hotel this morning and
get ready in time to meet my colleagues.
I usually don’t stop to ask someone for directions because I like to
think that I can figure it out myself.
Sometimes I can, but often I cannot.
So, then I have to ask for directions.
Here you will find a list of common questions a lost person is likely to
ask:

I hvilken retning skal jeg gå?  In which direction should I walk?

Hvor er den gaten
der?
  Where is that street there
(pointing to a map)?

Hvor er jeg?  Where am I?

Må jeg gå enda
videre å nå Karl Johans Gate
?  Do I
need  to go much further to reach Karl
Johans Gate?

Hvor er sykehuset?  Where is the hospital?

Er jeg I nærheten av
skolen?
  Am I in the vicinity of the
school?

Hvor kan jeg finne
kinesisk mat?
  Where can I find
Chinese food?

Har jeg  gått for langt?  Have I gone too far?

Hvor mye lengre må
jeg kjøre før jeg er der?
  How much
longer must I drive before I am there?

Kan du fortelle meg
hvordan jeg kan gå fra der til der?

Can you tell me how I can walk from there to there?

 

 

When one learns a new language, I think that shortly after grasping numbers and days of the week, one should learn vocabulary that pertains to nødstilfeller (emergencies).  Even if you find yourself traveling in a country with a high percentage of people who can speak English, when a nødstillfelle occurs natural instincts are the first to kick in-and this typically includes speaking your first language.  Therefore, I think it´s important to know at least basic phrases you might hear or be asked or told in a nødstilfelle.

Let´s start with a few words and simple phrases:

Hjelp-help

En krise-a crisis

I vannet-in the water

Overbord-overboard

Nødutgang-emergency exit

Sikkerhet-safety

fare-danger

å drukne-to drown

Skadet-injured

Død-dead

Blod-blood

selvmord-suicide

en ulykke-an accident

å nødlande-to emergency land

luftambulanse-air ambulance

Ring politiet!-call the police!

Vi må til sykehuset.-  We need to go to the hospital.

Han har blitt skutt.  Vi må stoppe blodet.  He has been shot.  We need to stop the bleeding.

De må komme ut av vannet ellers skal de få hypotermi.  They have to get out of the water or they will get hypothermia.

I have been present for 2 nødstilfeller in Norway.  The first was when I a student at the University of Oslo and lived with a handful of other students in a flat.  One of my roommates was suspected of committing selvmord, so I had to call politiet (the police).  I will spare you of all of the drama that ensued before I called and while I was waiting.  Unfortunately, the response time was not good at all. After about a half an hour, 2 police officers showed up.  My roommate had fortunately not committed selvmord, but rather was in his room the entire time this all played out.

The second time that I was present for a very serious nødstilfelle was on a hunting trip hours away from civilization.  The hike was about 4 hours in the mountains.  One of the hunters in the group swallowed a chunk of meat or potato and it got stuck in his airway.  When we discovered he was still very uncomfortable even after receiving the Heimlich maneuver and was turning purple and explaining that his leg was numb, we called the luftambulanse.  It took over a half an hour for them to arrive on the scene, however, it is certainly more excusable than 2 police officers in Oslo.

It was scary, but also pretty cool to watch a helicopter land in the middle of the mountains at the little hunter cabin we were staying at.  Noway has powerful air and marine ambulance divisions due to the topography of the country.

See the luftambulanse website here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After Anders Breivik  open fired on innocent victims on the island of Utøya, many people have expressed their belief that Norway´s gun laws should be stricter.  Until guns are banned completely from the public, rules and regulations can always be stricter. We in the U.S. have had so many instances of school shootings and other violent domestic terrorist attacks involving guns, it only seems natural to assume that the first course of action in trying to prevent another Utøya like situation would be to tighten gun laws.

Having had conversations about hunting and shooting as a sport with Norwegians, I have to step out and applaud Norway for the gun laws that they currently have in place.  When I lived in Tromsø, I accepted an invite from a friend I had just met to shoot clay pigeons at a public range.  It isn´t every day a young American woman shows up at the Tromsdalen Shooting range, so I naturally had a few conversations with the local members.  They asked if I had to carry an sort of license with me.  I explained that I didn´t have to, but I did have my little orange business-card sized ´Firearms Certificate´which states that I passed the short course that I took.  They asked how involved the course was and what else is required to purchase a gun in the U.S.

These Norwegian men were surprised to hear that all I had to do was take an afternoon course in the field and a relatively short online test.  They asked, `You mean you don´t have to apply with the police to get approval to purchase a gun?´  I explained that the police have essentially nothing to do with consumers buying shotguns in the U.S.   The rules are different for different types of guns, but we all know that gun laws in the U.S. are very loose when compared to other countries.

Many Norwegians hunt participate in competitive sport shooting and therefore own guns.   As mandatory civil service is still in place, many Norwegian men are also active in the military.  Very few people own guns for self defense.  Semi-automatic and bolt action rifles, as well as shotguns are the most popular kinds of guns owned by most.  Automatic weapons are only legal if they are collectors items and will not be used to shoot.  It is a felony to modify a rifle into an automatic rifle.

To obtain a firearms license, one must first identify a reason for needing a gun.  Hunters must complete a 30 hour, 9 session course (includes firearm theory, firearm training, wildlife theory, and environmental protection training) and pass a written multiple choice exam. Once the exam is passed, the applicant may enroll in the hunters registry and obtain a license.  Then, the individual must bring the license to the police station and apply for a permit to purchase a gun.  The police will review the applicants background and determine if he or she are suited to own a gun.  If approved, the applicant takes the form to a gun store (keeping in mind that you cannot buy guns and ammo at KMart like we can in the U.S.) and purchase a gun.

Sports shooters do not have as many restrictions on purchasing a gun, but the course is much more involved.  The written exam is shorter, but the field requirements are greater.  A sports shooter must show regular attendance and compete at an approved gun club for 6 months.  Until this 6 month period is over, the sports shooter must use the guns provided at the gun club.

Gun storage laws are strict and police can randomly check homes for proper gun storage at any time.

There has been no evidence to my knowledge that Anders Breivik was granted any gun rights that the law doesn´t permit.  I am not saying that Norway shouldn´t tighten gun laws even futher than they already are.  However, I think it´s important to be aware of the process in place to obtain a license to purchase a gun in Norway.  While it was nice to not have to jump through hoops for me to obtain a hunting license and get a gun, I would have gladly done so knowing that it may decrease the liklihood of criminal acts, or at least make it much harder to commit them.

As I think about all of the strange weather occurrences that I have experienced growing up in Minnesota, I realize that in my time living in Norway, I really didn´t experience any severe weather.  The winter of 2006 was certainly very cold in Oslo when I was there, but I do not remember any bad snowstorms during the winter, nor do I remember severe weather during the spring or summer.  The only months that I have spent only partially in Norway or not at all are October, November, and December.

landslide

At first glance, it may not seem like Norway experiences a high degree of natural disasters.  However, if you consider the size of the country and all of the various forms of severe weather, to me it seems like Norway puts up with quite a bit!  Norway is approximately the same size as MN, which is one of the most extreme climates in the world as far as temperature ranges and different types of weather.  While in MN we deal with extreme cold and heat, major snowstorms, hail, thunderstorms and lightning, but we are fortunate not to have to worry about what coastal communities or mountain communities constantly monitor-hurricanes, tsunamis, volcanoes, avalanches, and landslides.

landslide

I checked out some Norwegian news today and found a pretty big consequence of a natural disaster.  A landslide occurred yesterday in the central part of the country (between Ål and Hol to be exact) which produced enough damage to make Bergensbanen (the train tracks from Bergen to Oslo) impassable in this area.  A Jernbaneverket (State Railway) employee told NRK that the line will not be open until at least Monday.

Oil rig in North Sea

Besides landslides, rockslides, and earthslides, Norway experiences flooding, ice jams, strong winds, snowstorms, avalanches, storm surges at sea, permafrost, the occasional earthquake and tsunami.  Norway consists of mountains, rolling hills, and bodies of water surrounding the country.  The mountains that frame the fjords create the high potential for avalanches and landslides, which can result in small tsunamis.

The west coast of Norway experiences severe weather because the weather comes in off of the rough waters of the Atlantic and the North Sea.  Strong winds and torrential rain can produce extremely high and powerful waves that can do serious damage on the coast and of course in the water.

My dad just got back from an adventure on the Christian Radich, a massive Norwegian tall ship.  He was on the leg of the journey that sailed from Oslo to Waterford, Ireland.  Even with over a week on the water in one of the most dangerous seas in the world, the group managed to avoid severe weather.  Woo hoo!

YouTube Preview ImageYouTube Preview ImageYouTube Preview ImageYouTube Preview ImageYouTube Preview ImageThe Hellbillies are my favorite Norwegian country music.  In fact, they are my favorite country music band (which isn’t exactly too big of a feat because country is probably my least favorite musical genre…).  I first heard them as a sophomore in college thanks to my good friend who was half Norwegian.  His family comes from northern Norway and as far as I can tell, country music is more popular the farther north one goes in Norway.  The Hellbillies’ lyrics are sung in a dialect from Hallingdal, Norway, a region in the middle of the country.

The group formed in 1990 and consists of  8 members:

  • Aslag Haugen – Lead vocals, guitar, writing the music on most of the tracks.
  • Arne Henry Sandum – Electric bass-guitar
  • Lars Haavard Haugen – Lead guitar, resonator guitar, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, pedal steel etc.
  • Bjørn Gunnar Sando – Drums
  • Arne Moslåtten – Acoustic guitar, flute, lyricist

Keyboards/Piano/Organ at concerts:

  • Lasse Hafreager
  • Trond Nagell Dahl
  • Lars Christian Nærum

I absolutely love Aslag’s voice.  It is so strong and distinctive.  The song (above) is called ”Den Redde” and “Leitte etter Lykka” from their new album.

Some of my other favorite songs that Hellbillies sing are:

“Den finaste eg veit”

and “Ei Krassfaren Steinbu”

What  do you think?  Enjoy!

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