The Sun is back, but “King Winter” is not about to loosen his grip on Norway just yet. This February has been one of the coldest in decades, so I thought this is a good time to share some personal experience on how to deal with the cold weather when you venture outside.
Dress up!
The obvious [...]

‘I’ll be away’ is starting to be a pain.  I’m organising a festival at the moment and to make a festival happen you need people, lots of people.  However, this time of year is the ‘I’ll be away’ season.  Spain, Brazil, Thailand, Africa, Sweden and France are just some of the places my friends, family [...]

Eli is the wife of a prominent politician in Norway.  One day (in 2001) she had to drop off her husband at the royal palace in Oslo for a government dinner.  She had been to the palace grounds many times before but had never driven.  Not sure where to go, Eli headed straight for the [...]

This is always a controversial topic in Norway.  There is currently a documentary series on national TV that presents the issues of being an immigrant in Norway: Det nye landet.  Last week the documentary focused on Norwegian men and ‘import brides’.  It is commonly known amongst Norwegians that Norwegian men import brides because Norwegian women [...]

Reindeer is synonymous with Sami culture and life but the Norsemen have certainly cottoned onto the goodness of reindeer cuisine.  A dish that is an icon of Norwegian culture is finnbiff or reindeer stew.  This rustic meal is perfect for cold Winter nights and packs you with energy for the next day of playing in [...]

Today, 21st January, is soldagen (the sun day) when the sun officially returns to Tromsø (for about 2mins over the mountains).  It can be seen from the centre of town, on the top of the island and on the south shore.  If the sun can’t be seen due to clouds then the celebrations are held [...]

Everyone understands the ‘lost in translation’ concept when people of two different languages communicate. However, another dimension of this concept is Chinese-whispers. For convenience, a translator appears in the middle (usually your other half) who relays shorter, faster information for everyone’s convenience. This is the literal side of lost in translation. In [...]

The way I was taught to know when to change gears when driving a car is to feel the car.  I guess it’s about feeling the vibrations from the revs.  Aussies tend to have beastie cars so it is pretty easy to feel the engine.  If you can’t feel then you hear the change via [...]

Marengs are just meringues.  When they are toasted in Norway they are called ‘pikekyss‘ (girl kisses).  These little cuties are not actually part of the Norwegian ‘Seven Sorts’ Christmas cookies.  But that certainly doesn’t mean you can’t have them at Christmas!