Discopants and Haircuts

I live here now.. To be honest, I knew nothing about Norway before I came here. My love for a beautiful woman, who connected so perfectly with me,  was more than enough to come here. Well, life has been a complete shock. The people here have often been called cold. They are not Americans who give a smile from the start. They are more reserved in the beginning. They are like a fine wine that needs time to season. But, when you do reach that point, you have lifetime friends. It took me time to realize this. Now that I think about it, I actually like the norm in Norway. Here’s a little something for Americans to think about. 

•  Health Care, regardless of what you do. 
• Income tax very near what you pay in New York State
• Pregnant? You’re in good hands. Pre natal classes, 1 year, after,  paid (80%) after birth, and the father is also included in that. 
• College for the kids? They get it for almost nothing. ( I think it is around $20 a semester. ) Correction:It costs 410 kroner, roughly $70 a semester. Also there is cheap housing for students. Thank you Rune! *** 
• Everyone is entitled to a house loan, regardless. 
• Everyone gets a paid vacation. Not just a day or two.. but many weeks. 
• Sundays. Pretty much everything is closed, minus gas stations. Nice eh? Almost everyone gets a common day off a week. 
• Norway has been #1 in quality of life, according to the UN, 5 of the last 6 years. ***
• If, for example, you are really sick and can’t come to work, including during vacation time, you are entitled to take that vacation when you are better. 
• It’s not very easy to fire you. You have rights, even if you are not in a union. 
• They speak Norwegian here. But, if you don’t, they will have not have a problem speaking English with you. 
• For every child you have you are entitled to 7 days, paid, a year, to take care of them. Doctors visits etc. 
• Every family with children receives $120, per child, per month, until the child is 18.
• Dental is free for children… til 18. 
• TV, radio  is like HBO in the US. No problems with nudity and language. Turn it off if you don’t like it. 
• High School is more like college for Norwegians. There are no hall passes. There are no guards. You are given responsibility and freedom. Be to class on time. Do your work. Period.

If you are interested in more info, the yahoo group called New_to_Oslo is a great resource for information. Pretty much any question you have can be answered there.   I LOVE THIS COUNTRY!***Please help me correct/add to this.. pantinator (at) gmail.com