Moving to Norway from the UK
Discussion
RedWhiteMonkey said:
The standard of English in Norway is generally very good but to integrate into any country you must learn the language (I speak from experience). Can you speak Norwegian or are you willing to learn?
Currently learning.Wouldn't dream of living in a different country without knowing the native language.
Good to hear.
I was on holiday in Norway in August and thought it was a wonderful place, but a holiday is not a good way of judging living somewhere. As you probably know it is quite expensive but it was very clean, friendly and felt safe. No where is really very big, even Oslo is comparatively small. Bergen is nice but you'd want to buy a good set of waterproofs if you lived there.
I was on holiday in Norway in August and thought it was a wonderful place, but a holiday is not a good way of judging living somewhere. As you probably know it is quite expensive but it was very clean, friendly and felt safe. No where is really very big, even Oslo is comparatively small. Bergen is nice but you'd want to buy a good set of waterproofs if you lived there.
Edited by RedWhiteMonkey on Wednesday 21st December 17:55
As has been said already its very, very expensive. Make sure you are paid very well or have a great pension. Think the record I paid was about 11 eleven pounds for half a pint (which happened more than once), alright if you are t-total.
Most people speak exceptional English so I don't think you will ever get stuck trying to do anything maybe only in the very remote areas.
I wouldn't say they are an outgoing bunch, in fact they like to keep themseleves to themselves a lot of the time but warm to people when you make the effort.
If you are going to Bergen buy shares in Mountain Warehouse.
Most people speak exceptional English so I don't think you will ever get stuck trying to do anything maybe only in the very remote areas.
I wouldn't say they are an outgoing bunch, in fact they like to keep themseleves to themselves a lot of the time but warm to people when you make the effort.
If you are going to Bergen buy shares in Mountain Warehouse.
It is very expensive for everything from toothpaste to beer, although property prices aren't as ridiculous as some parts of UK.
My O/H lives there and I've been working and visiting the place for a number of years.
If you're working there it's fine as their pay is much more than ours.
It's a stunningly beautiful country and whilst in winter there is very little light in summer there is little darkness.
Food is ok but nothing like as good or varied as UK.
People seem generally better educated, fewer poor, less crime and happier doing normal jobs.
Car ownership is very expensive even if you work there, limited track and motorsport stuff compared to uk.
My O/H lives there and I've been working and visiting the place for a number of years.
If you're working there it's fine as their pay is much more than ours.
It's a stunningly beautiful country and whilst in winter there is very little light in summer there is little darkness.
Food is ok but nothing like as good or varied as UK.
People seem generally better educated, fewer poor, less crime and happier doing normal jobs.
Car ownership is very expensive even if you work there, limited track and motorsport stuff compared to uk.
I lived in Norway for some years, I hated it, my grown up children live there and love it, I spent a month there this summer, (I live in Asia) I found it no more expensive to visit then the UK, petrol is the cheapest in Europe compared to income. Live as Norwegian and it is ok, entertain at home, weekend in huts, cross country ski, etc. live as a Brit, Pub, weekends in a B&B, it is expensive.
I couldn't live the Norwegian life stile, of everyone calling round the house, family close etc, I find Norwegians narrow minded if you do not have the same political views. I found the government intrusive, (e.g. they wanted to inspect my detached house for smoke alarms, I refused them entry as I considered this a matter for my insurers, local tax man hated me, because I was self employed, had yearly audits and nothing ever found).
Direct taxes today are little than UK and benefits are much better, free university grants, medical etc.
Language is not that difficult as sentence structure is as in English, subject verb order, forming plurals (r) etc.
Natinal Insurance, (Pensjonagift, ardiedgiversavgift is high, but benefits are very good).
Get the right job with the right money, and if you like the life stile it is great, as I say I didn't like the life stile, but that was a personal thing.
If you are going, buy a new car to take with you, we once got a 7 series in duty free, I bought it 4 years old, wife sold it 10 years old for more than I paid. Check but basically you can take a car in if you have owned and registered abroad for two years prior to entry.
I find travelling difficult, I hated the wait for the ferries.
A serious issue for me, when I was last there is 'bom penger' (congestion charges), these are in all the major towns, my nephew is moving house at the moment and one of the things he is looking at is the bom penger for the school run.
It is also not car friendly, my neighbors hated my caterham, why do you need a car that fast? This is a thing called jenta law! you should not try to be better or different, very difficult to live with if you are ambitious.
I couldn't live the Norwegian life stile, of everyone calling round the house, family close etc, I find Norwegians narrow minded if you do not have the same political views. I found the government intrusive, (e.g. they wanted to inspect my detached house for smoke alarms, I refused them entry as I considered this a matter for my insurers, local tax man hated me, because I was self employed, had yearly audits and nothing ever found).
Direct taxes today are little than UK and benefits are much better, free university grants, medical etc.
Language is not that difficult as sentence structure is as in English, subject verb order, forming plurals (r) etc.
Natinal Insurance, (Pensjonagift, ardiedgiversavgift is high, but benefits are very good).
Get the right job with the right money, and if you like the life stile it is great, as I say I didn't like the life stile, but that was a personal thing.
If you are going, buy a new car to take with you, we once got a 7 series in duty free, I bought it 4 years old, wife sold it 10 years old for more than I paid. Check but basically you can take a car in if you have owned and registered abroad for two years prior to entry.
I find travelling difficult, I hated the wait for the ferries.
A serious issue for me, when I was last there is 'bom penger' (congestion charges), these are in all the major towns, my nephew is moving house at the moment and one of the things he is looking at is the bom penger for the school run.
It is also not car friendly, my neighbors hated my caterham, why do you need a car that fast? This is a thing called jenta law! you should not try to be better or different, very difficult to live with if you are ambitious.
Everything is much more expensive but that's relative to the higher salaries. You will struggle to find employment in any sector unless you have a specialist skills that is in demand is unless you speak the language.
Basic rate tax is 35%.
It is expensive but to be honest my quality of life here has vastly improved. They are very outours people all year round.
I'm living in Bergen so if you have any other questions feel free to get in touch.
Basic rate tax is 35%.
It is expensive but to be honest my quality of life here has vastly improved. They are very outours people all year round.
I'm living in Bergen so if you have any other questions feel free to get in touch.
Also janteloven is bulls
t and you'll struggle to find a modern Norwegian that be lives in it. Everyone loves to flash about their cabin in the mountains or their nice new shiny boat.
I speak about it with Norwegian's and they laugh, it's more of a Swedish thing.
I love living here but it's not for everyone and like any other place in the world it can get very lonely quickly if you can't speak the language.
t and you'll struggle to find a modern Norwegian that be lives in it. Everyone loves to flash about their cabin in the mountains or their nice new shiny boat.I speak about it with Norwegian's and they laugh, it's more of a Swedish thing.
I love living here but it's not for everyone and like any other place in the world it can get very lonely quickly if you can't speak the language.
Puggit said:
There's a PHer called NRS who is a Brit in Norway. I'm sure he'd be friendly.
Famous at last! 
Berw said:
I lived in Norway for some years, I hated it, my grown up children live there and love it, I spent a month there this summer, (I live in Asia) I found it no more expensive to visit then the UK, petrol is the cheapest in Europe compared to income. Live as Norwegian and it is ok, entertain at home, weekend in huts, cross country ski, etc. live as a Brit, Pub, weekends in a B&B, it is expensive.
I couldn't live the Norwegian life stile, of everyone calling round the house, family close etc, I find Norwegians narrow minded if you do not have the same political views. I found the government intrusive, (e.g. they wanted to inspect my detached house for smoke alarms, I refused them entry as I considered this a matter for my insurers, local tax man hated me, because I was self employed, had yearly audits and nothing ever found).
Direct taxes today are little than UK and benefits are much better, free university grants, medical etc.
Language is not that difficult as sentence structure is as in English, subject verb order, forming plurals (r) etc.
Natinal Insurance, (Pensjonagift, ardiedgiversavgift is high, but benefits are very good).
Get the right job with the right money, and if you like the life stile it is great, as I say I didn't like the life stile, but that was a personal thing.
If you are going, buy a new car to take with you, we once got a 7 series in duty free, I bought it 4 years old, wife sold it 10 years old for more than I paid. Check but basically you can take a car in if you have owned and registered abroad for two years prior to entry.
I find travelling difficult, I hated the wait for the ferries.
A serious issue for me, when I was last there is 'bom penger' (congestion charges), these are in all the major towns, my nephew is moving house at the moment and one of the things he is looking at is the bom penger for the school run.
It is also not car friendly, my neighbors hated my caterham, why do you need a car that fast? This is a thing called jenta law! you should not try to be better or different, very difficult to live with if you are ambitious.
This is actually quite a good summary of some of the "bad" issues while being realistic. Generally from what I have you either really like it over here if you fit into the Norwegian lifestyle, but if you want a "mini-Britain" or lots of choice then it can be quite limiting.I couldn't live the Norwegian life stile, of everyone calling round the house, family close etc, I find Norwegians narrow minded if you do not have the same political views. I found the government intrusive, (e.g. they wanted to inspect my detached house for smoke alarms, I refused them entry as I considered this a matter for my insurers, local tax man hated me, because I was self employed, had yearly audits and nothing ever found).
Direct taxes today are little than UK and benefits are much better, free university grants, medical etc.
Language is not that difficult as sentence structure is as in English, subject verb order, forming plurals (r) etc.
Natinal Insurance, (Pensjonagift, ardiedgiversavgift is high, but benefits are very good).
Get the right job with the right money, and if you like the life stile it is great, as I say I didn't like the life stile, but that was a personal thing.
If you are going, buy a new car to take with you, we once got a 7 series in duty free, I bought it 4 years old, wife sold it 10 years old for more than I paid. Check but basically you can take a car in if you have owned and registered abroad for two years prior to entry.
I find travelling difficult, I hated the wait for the ferries.
A serious issue for me, when I was last there is 'bom penger' (congestion charges), these are in all the major towns, my nephew is moving house at the moment and one of the things he is looking at is the bom penger for the school run.
It is also not car friendly, my neighbors hated my caterham, why do you need a car that fast? This is a thing called jenta law! you should not try to be better or different, very difficult to live with if you are ambitious.
I generally really enjoy it over here. Depending where you want/ will move then it will make a difference on your lifestyle and what to expect. Here are some more general points though:
Cars (purchase and services/repairs), alcohol, meat and eating out are expensive even compared to the higher wages you will get in Norway. However most other stuff is relatively similar when you take into consideration the salary difference you should have. The choice of food in the supermarket has been improving a lot compared to how it used to be. Some of the driving roads are amazing in parts of Norway, although speed limits are low.
People are much more satisfied with life than the UK - Norwegians feel they are not thankful enough, but compared to Brits there is a huge difference and it makes life a lot happier since there is less complaining to "relate" to each other. It takes time to get to know Norwegians - they will be polite when you first meet, but they very much have strong friendships built around a smaller number of friends and family than in the UK - so it can be lonely for a while. However once you get into a friendship they are much stronger than you'd often get in the UK. If they don't like you they won't bother to spend time with you, rather than pretend to be friends and say stuff to others you can get in the UK.
Life does revolve a lot around outdoor life (cross-country skiing in winter, hill walking in summer, staying in cabins in the mountains at weekends - and in some places around boats). A lot of the rest of the time is at home watching tv etc or spending time with friends and family. There's not as much cultural stuff, although that also varies a lot depending if you live in a big city or not.
In regards to salary; if you are on a lower wage you'll benefit from being in Norway as they pay much better for lower salaries. If you're on a high wage you'll probably be worse off due to higher taxes and depending on the job it will have a lower salary than you can get elsewhere. However you will be treated as a person at work in my experience - so it's not expected that you need to go home when the boss leaves etc. If anything people will think you are strange for working late! If you need to go into town to get something/ pick up kids early etc then it's not a problem. If it's a sunny Friday often the office is half empty at 2pm (normal work day is 8-4) as people will just work the hours back when it's rubbish weather.
Weather varies a lot depending where you are - it's a very long country. Somewhere like Stavanger is like Scotland. Bergen is just constant rain. Oslo is a lot drier but can get cold (-20C or so I think). Further north you get more snow - where I live you'll be able to ski for around 6 months of the year. However being on the coast it's quite mild. Inland further north can get down to -40C or so - but I'd doubt you'd end up there as almost no one lives there.
Any other questions? If it helps you can also send a PM,
I've worked with many Norwegians offshore, and basically found most of them are arrogant pricks, who see themselves as some sort of master race and better than the rest of we scum on their ship...
However, I've also know one or two who are are pretty good guys. But regardless, they all love to brag/complain about the 50% income tax they pay on everything they earn.
I've been to Norway many times for short visits usually, and spent three months in Alesund in a ship yard some 15 years ago. It is a nice clean, tidy country to visit, but I notice Oslo seems to be suffering from the 'penniless immigrants in the streets ' syndrome.....
However, I've also know one or two who are are pretty good guys. But regardless, they all love to brag/complain about the 50% income tax they pay on everything they earn.
I've been to Norway many times for short visits usually, and spent three months in Alesund in a ship yard some 15 years ago. It is a nice clean, tidy country to visit, but I notice Oslo seems to be suffering from the 'penniless immigrants in the streets ' syndrome.....
jinkster said:
How much is it for a cabin out here? Something not too huge.
Not very cheap! The cheapest with a quick check is around £80 000 for a small apartment that is around 35km from Voss.http://m.finn.no/realestate/leisuresale/ad.html?fi...
Then you have something like this for a 4 bedroom place (around £700 000).
http://m.finn.no/realestate/leisuresale/ad.html?fi...
There's actually very little for sale in Voss itself (normally it would be passed onto the children rather than sold) - there's more available in Myrkdalen. It seems to be generally around £150-350 000 for apartments.
http://m.finn.no/realestate/leisuresale/search.htm...
However Voss would be a popular place in Norway due to the skiing and it being close to Bergen (so you can easily travel there for a weekend from the city). Cabins in more remote places/ less popular places can be a lot cheaper - say £40 000.
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