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 [...]
Firstly, I’d like to say, how wonderful the UiT danseklubb performers were last night. The dancers were beginner-amateurs of Swing and have only had a handful of Swing lessons before signing up to be performers. Even though they weren’t professional dancers, the audience was none-the-wiser. Being a trained/educated stage manager, I tend to have very [...]
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 Norway, the ‘provider’ [...]
Sometimes the cold makes you do crazy things. Can you guess what I’m doing? Listen to the sound. Still can’t pick it? Have a look at the video. Who knew you could do that on a soccer field?
How Norway became a country is shrouded in mystery and folklore. The most well known tale is of Harald Hårfagre who gathered the small kingdoms of the north into a unified nation in 872AD – and of course, this story is about love.
There is an opposition in everything. At the darkest time of the year, we celebrate Christmas. And at the exact opposite end, when the midnight sun is at its highest, we celebrate Midsummer.
Pølse is THE fast food of Norway. When the grilled pølse was first introduced to Norway in the 50s it was eaten naked – without bread.
Even though the males are called bulls and the females cows, the muskoxen are more closely related to sheep than cattle. Make no mistake, though – this is not your average cuddly ba-ba-blacksheep! A grown animal can be 2,5 m long and weigh up to 400 kgs, and their long curved horns mean business.
The further ‘out of the way’ you go the more common it is to see folk cottages standing by the side of roads, along fjords or in a thicket of trees, minding their own business.
RSS