Many people ask me why I’m obsessed with Norway, and why I have latched on so hard to the idea of visiting there, learning the language, and maybe one day moving there. I figure the first blog post should explain the reason that I’m so obessed with Norway!

Norway is an absolutely beautiful country. From the fjords, to the snow, to the quaint city life, it is a gorgeous place.

Taken from flickr user Dave Hilditch Photography https://www.flickr.com/photos/22775126@N00/ CC BY-NC 2.0

Norway is a unitary constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of government, wherein the King of Norway is the head of state and the Prime Minister is the head of government. In practice however, the King does not involve himself in the politics of Norway, and all decisions are left with the elected government. So in practice, Norway is a democracy, the same as the US. Norway’s government tends to have a very socialist lean, which is something that I really enjoy. A country’s government should take care of its citizens, and Norway definitely does that, in many ways. The taxes are high, but that’s fine, as the taxes are used to provide very good services to Norwegians.

Norway is incredibly LGBT friendly, far more so than any state in the US. Nationally, sexual orientation and gender identity and expression are protected, and culturally speaking, the vast majority of the population has absolutely no problem with LGBT people.

The primary language of Norway is Norwegian, although most people between the ages of 10 and 60 speak English fluently. I have always wanted to be bilingual, so why not Norwegian!

Norway’s climate is relatively temperate, given how far north it is, due to the coastal nature of most of the country. Oslo, the country’s capital, has relatively mild, but warm summers, and nice and cold winters. The average high in July in Oslo is 22°C (72°F) and the average low in the winter is -7°C (19°F). And Norway gets plenty of snow in the winter, far more than Mississippi! Norway has an average of 53 snowy days a year, compared to Mississippi 0-1. All parts of Norway get snow in the winter, and many of the mountains have snow year round at the top. And I absolutely love snow and winter weather!

Satellite photo of Norway, Sweden, and part of Finland in the winter of 2003

There are plenty of other reasons I am obsessed with Norway, but these are all I can think of offhand. The bottom line is that Norway is an awesome country, and I am very excited to visit!