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Why the hell would anyone live in Norway?
by , 12 July 2009 at 1:34 am (9620 Views)
Let's face it Norway is damn cold, it's bloody expensive and the gambling laws by European standards are draconian, so why am I moving back there in December.
The short answer is that Norway, if you put aside the expense and weather, is simply the very best place on planet earth to live in, in my humble opinion.
Now my family and I lived in Norway throughout 2006, my youngest son was born there and so we do have some limited experience of the Nordic way of life and it is based on that personal experience and memories that we have decided to return.
The education system we found to be second to none, now naturally I have no idea what the education system is like in say Mozambique, Chile, Thailand or almost 98% of countries throughout the world, my comparisons are against the UK, Spain and Malta.
Anywhere compared to the UK where body armour, an Uzi and a mini militia are required will come out looking good I agree, but Spain and in particular Malta do have excellent systems with good teachers and high standards, but even they pale in comparison to Norway.
Norway is a very rich country and can pump fortunes in to their education facilities and from what we have seen they have, almost everyone speaks fluent English and if you were to ask our children to choose where they were happiest in school they choose Norway without hesitation.
The second most important criteria for us is Medical facilities and in this area they excel, our youngest was born there as I stated above and he was the first of my many children where mummy enjoyed her whole stay in a private room, not paid for, just standard.
We have a need as a family to utilize hospital facilities more often than most and every time we have done, it involves private rooms, double beds for parents, balconies, babies welcomed to stay, cooking facilities, TV, Free Internet, Free Telephone, the works.
Now we don't pay for all this, it is apparently standard and when one considers that Norway is a non EU country and yet we as English citizens and EU members and still get it all free we find that very refreshing.
In fact we pay €2400 a month for a particular medicine in the EU, we are only allowed this particular medicine free in the UK, it is one of those on a list that exempts EU countries from providing to other EU residents because of its expense, but not in Norway, In Norway they hand it out free to EU residents, bloody strange but very welcomed.
And of course the level of care we have found to be of the highest standard and considering how often we have the need to utilize these services we do have some experience and comparisons to base that opinion on.
So in terms of Medical and education facilities and standards, Norway just reigns supreme.
There is a down side, it gets cold, so cold that probably only a few people on this planet can understand, people that live in Siberia, Alaska and so on, I mean come on minus 30 on occasions, that should be damn illegal.
But as long as you respect the weather, dress right and take the necessary steps to keep the property warm at all times and so forth it is only a minor pain in the ass.
That said I am a smoker and so having to stand outside for a cigarette takes some doing, always check how many fingers you have when you come back inside, you just never know.
Talking of smoking, it costs approx $12 for a packet of cigarettes in Norway, same price for a pint of beer, a burger in a pub costs about $15, even at the local supermarket it costs an arm and a leg to feed the family, cheap it aint.
In 2006 I went to the pub to watch England V Sweden in the world cup, that one night out cost me $300, though it did include a night in a hostel as I could not drink otherwise due to driving, but even so, $300 for one night out and I did not even get drunk, just watched a god damn footy game that we did not even win!
Suffice to stay all future games were watched at home.
But when everything is weighed up, the people, the facilities, the beauty of the country, safety and security it far outweighs the weather and cost of living and anyway we will save money from get go on medical requirements which offsets the cost of ,living and we simply love the snow.
So the decision has been made, December we move and we cannot wait, we love Malta but Norway is the place we miss the most, its our Youngest's land of birth and we just see it as home and the time has now come for us to go home and to settle once and for all.
Then I can start writing that book I always wanted to do, but thats a whole other story.
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