Emmigration Update #1

Norway Emigration

Well, I’m sat here in work and have been thinking for a while now that I should write down some of my thoughts about the first three months of my emigration to Norway. I really enjoyed writing the blogs on the round the world yacht race, so why not. Maybe you guys find it an interesting read.

I remember back now to packing 3 bags and 1 bike into the car with my mum and brother and heading into the airport on the first leg of the journey over here. I didn’t really feel emotional at all; I just knew it was going to be a long old day of travel, where I was to be sure to have a few beers and Bloody Marys’ to ease the pain. I remember in the airport thinking back to all the fun times I’d had with all the various people I’d met and the crazy moments I always used to find myself in, this probably being the biggest one yet. I didn’t really want a leaving do, we kind of had one out in Spain which was really nice, but time was not on my side to set a weekend for a big party for everyone and saying goodbye is always a bit awkward.

I didn’t have a job to go to, I had no money in the bank account, I just had a lead for a job which we all thought would work out and my girlfriend who would be waiting for me - and that was all that mattered. What could possible go wrong! The decision to move to Norway came about from sailing around the world in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race. I met my girlfriend Mona, during the training and we hit it off. We are the best of friends and she makes me a better person, in ways of calming me down and opening my eyes to the world and apparently I do the same to her.

After a year on the boat, going back to the UK and back into my old work, everything felt different. People were getting very stressed over the smallest of things and I just didn’t get it. It’s hard to describe, I’d just sit there watching and thinking how trivial everything was. I didn’t like being back in the UK so everything started to take shape to move to be with Mona in Norway. I would pack it all in and start again out there, but with her.

I had been to visit before but I still found the airport a funny place. I’m so used to travelling with my old job, that airports all have the same feel to them. They are mostly extremely large places with multiple terminals, people either walking too slow or too fast and the horrible crowding and herding instincts when people get excited about getting on the plane.  Kristansand on the other hand, is about as big as a UK primary school set in a little valley. You fly in on the little 2 by 2 planes, in over the sea, down the river then land on the airport. Everyone gets off the plane, walks over the tarmac into the terminal and bombards the duty free (as everything is quite expensive here, so the duty free makes sense). Then you walk into one room, collect your bag from the one carrousel, through one door and you’re outside. The distance from the main entrance in T5 to the check in counter is further than the plane to your loved one outside here.

Then it’s an hour drive from the airport to my new home in Mandal. If you imagine Manchester being similar to Kristansand, large town / city with and airport, and Preston being Mandal, in the UK you would drive an hour on a 6 lane motorway, doing 70mph. If you’re lucky there may be a few cars on the road, if you’re unlucky all 6 lanes are full of cars and you stop. Over here, it’s a 2 lane country road. The speed limit is 50mph and if there are 3 other cars in your view its rush hour.  If you stop, it’s because a logging truck has broken down, which has happened 3 times so far!

That is the amazing thing about living here in Norway. There is so much space and so little over crowding, the UK when I left just felt so claustrophobic, over here I can breath. It’s so refreshing.

So I moved into our little wooden house and started to explore. I moved in on the day of the solar eclipse. Close to our house there is a steep hill with a viewing platform on top where you can look over the whole town. I went up to watch the show, but the cloud came rolling in and we saw nothing. What I could see though was our amazing little place I now call home. As you look straight out, it’s the ocean. I used to live near the sea at my parents house, but it was more a muddy estuary so want really the same.

Here the coast is rocky with sandy beaches. The view out to see is incredible and it’s no wonder when the Germans invaded Norway they set up many gun points along the coast to watch out for the allies, you can see for miles.

There is forest off to the right and just behind is the main beach Sjøsanden, keep following the road which cuts to the forest and take a left and you’ll reach our little cabin by the sea where we can go and relax. To the left is the river which stretches in land and has become one of my favorite cycling routes. All along the river are houses with pontoons and there boats moored up. Most of the houses have large decking areas and you can see in summer that the Norwegian’s really do summer. Boats, parties, BBQs the lot. Winters are so miserable you make the most of summer. So much so in fact, people are allowed by law, to take 3 weeks consecutive holiday in the summer. People may have an odd day off here or there, then mid summer, 3 weeks off.

Straight in front is the main town. There is a marina full of boats and the old white houses line the cobbled streets. By law, all buildings in the central Mandal area must be white to preserve the look of the place. There is the old bridge which leads to the main road to Kristansand and then the new bridge with the big salmon egg. Mandal has had a lot of investment recently, a new shopping center, cinema and events complex and a new bridge – a bit like the millennium bridge in London. To add a bit of something an artist was commissioned to do something special. What they came up with was a 10ft bright orange ball that floats in the river. The river has lots of salmon and the Mandal flag has 3 salmon on it. So it all fits I guess.

Up watching the eclipse as well was an English guy, Mark,  whom I had gotten to know and his girlfriend with her friends. Mark had been an influence in my decision to come over, he had said how amazing it was and I should definitely think about it. I did and now I was there. He had to go to work and left me with the group who were all Norweigan. Even though they speak English, everyone does, it’s still awkward, I just wanted to chat freely with them, but I felt like I couldn’t so I just stayed quiet.  

Not being able to speak the language was something I was a bit nervous about. I used to work in Spain a lot and could get about the place OK. On the other hand I also worked in Germany and had experienced what it was like to not understand anything that goes on. Here it’s been kind of mixed. I have learnt a lot of basic items so I can get around a super market and on a bus OK. Ok until someone breaks protocol and asks me something different, in fast native tongue I have no idea. I smile and ask if they speak English and the whole thing would fall to pieces. But I still love to count the little wins.

The first time I got on a bus, asked where I needed to go, paid the fare, said thank you and sat down, was like winning the World Cup. Going into a supermarket and asking if they had any peppers, which are paprika over here, and them pointing in the direction was like kissing a girl for the first time. Saying to the payroll woman at work “have a nice day” and her smiling so big that I had said something correct is something I will never forget. All amazing wins.

On the other hand though, sadly, sitting at the lunch table whilst 7 other people chat away and laugh and you have no idea what is going on is horrible. You then end up going for lunch on your own, which sucks even more, especially when you kick your chair and the whole canteen looks around at you sitting on your own.

Also when you have a party and you end up just staring at the floor or the ceiling, trying to look interested but all you really want to do is go home, get really hammered or check up on the news as it’s really really boring and you feel like a real outsider. No one said the move was going to be easy and as an English person we are cursed. You really don’t know how talented all these other nations are to speak two languages and how arrogant we are to just speak English.

I get down a lot about it. I want to understand, but it’s really easy to forget you need to speak it. Most TV is English or American. Mona and I speak English and everyone does speak English, they are taught it from 4 years old, so one to one speaking is awkward but easy. It’s only really when you get into a group when it sucks. So I learn and I try and soon I’ll have some money to get lessons, but until then I just need to keep going.

As you may have guessed from one of the comments before I ended up getting a job. In Norway at the moment, almost everyone is loosing their jobs, the oil industry is on the down turn and that is having a big effect. For some reason, mainly the help of Mona’s Brother, I got a job as a Service Engineer for a Crane company called MacGregor. They make cranes to fit to vessels that support the oil industry. Now I used to be a fancy test driver, the dirtiest I got was throwing some sand bags in the car. Now I don a boiler suit and hard hat and get flown around the world to fix these huge cranes, some capable of lifting 400 tonnes.

I remember one of my first jobs I needed to re-fit a large electrical device. This in my mind was a job for a fully qualified electrician; however it fell on me to do. I didn’t really understand why I needed to be an engineer to do this job, until I realized that this happens all the time. There are no instructions most of the time, you just need to figure it out and get on with it. It was also on this job that I found peace with the work.

In my old role I was always a bit stressed, I used my brain all the time and was always exhausted. There, sat in a crane at 40+ degrees in New Orleans, all I had to do was take out some wires, put a new piece of kit in and re-wire it. It was so nice just to have a simple task to do. This has also been the theme of working in Norway. Everyone is super relaxed. There is no dress code at work, and when you think about it, it is kind of dumb. The Norwegian people are very humble, one-up-man-ship does not exist. In the UK I had to wear a shirt and smart trousers to work. It was a status thing. You had to look smart as you were working in an office.

However most of the time I was in a car or in a workshop, wearing a shirt and trousers was completely the wrong items to wear. Over here I’m a service engineer. I can wear shorts to work if I want. You dress as your title is. My boss dresses a little smarter in a polo shirt and jeans, with trainers and sometimes a baseball cap. His boss wears mostly jeans, smart shoes and a tight gym top. His boss then wears shirt and trousers and the director wears the suit. It makes the whole work thing a lot more relaxing.

The food in the canteen is subsidized so I pay around £2 for an all you can eat salad buffet with fresh fish, meats, cheese etc. Coffee, tea, soft drinks are all free. The office is next to a marina and the views out to the ocean are amazing.  I can store hours in a time bank so when there is no work to do, you don’t have to come into work and try and look busy. You just take hours and have time off until they call you and need you to do the next job.

The Norwegian’s are totally relaxed about work, until it comes to doing work, where then everything is done correct and precise and to the best it can be. It’s a culture that is to be admired. If these people see a piece of trash in the street will pick it up and put it in the bin. Yes at times you get on the bus and a bunch of 40 year old get on absolutely hammered, but they are not going to fight or throw up. They just tell jokes and giggle and say sorry. It’s a real eye opener. The whole place is clean and tidy. Everyone is friendly, everyone has a sense of humor and everyone has pride in what they do, but in a humble way. I love it.

Some things are crazy to get your head around like the recycling system, which I still don’t get. Overtaking is a sin, using your horn on your car is illegal unless there is danger. The fact that you need to give way to the right street always unless there is a yellow diamond, so you could be happily trucking down a street, forget, then from nowhere someone pulls into your “main road” and it’s their right of way! It’s crazy!

One thing I think all people in the UK should adopt, which isn’t just a Norway thing is 2 single duvets on a double bed. It’s a revelation. So yes you want to snuggle with your partner at night, but then you want to be on your own space. No duvet hogging etc. 2 single duvets on a double bed, it’s the future!

But the one thing I never get tired off is the views and the scenery. When I first moved over I explored everywhere on my bike. You would ride around a corner and suddenly the landscape would open up into the most amazing views. I was lucky enough to take a day with a friend on his motorbike. He showed me the sites and again, just jaw droppingly beautiful scenery.

I chose my commute to work to take the coast road. It may be 10 mins longer, but every morning I drive on a road that blows your mind. It really makes you see how lucky you are to live in this amazing place. The coast spreads out along the road, the red and white sea cabins for people to use in the summer and the rocky mountains spreading in land. You then get to work, get bummed out by working, then jump in the car and drive back down the road and drop your jaw again.

So I’ve settled in quite nicely. I need to learn the language and that, over paying off all the bills I have acquired is the number one priority. We have been building and making modifications to our little house and cabin getting them ready for the summer. Mona and I have got a cat together and it’s really starting to feel like home. As always, I want everything to be done now. I want all my debts paid off, to be able to speak fluent, have a good social circle and a nice house with an ocean view, but the one thing sailing has taught me. You just have to go with the flow, it will happen, just when the weather decides it to.