The Biggest Lessons Norway has Taught Me

Moving from southern England to the Nordics meant a change of culture for me. I made the mistake initially of thinking that because I was within my home of Europe that Norwegian and British culture would be pretty much the same, but they are most certainly not! Norway was a long way culturally from my home of Dorset in south-west west England. The weather was totally different for a start. I was used to warm winters, palm trees and early spring with an abundance of flowers. Norway was rugged, harsh at times and brutally cold in the winter. And then there were the cultural differences.

Resilience

That famous Finnish sisu also exists in the Nordics. You cannot easily forget the way the Vikings approached life. They needed a level of resilience that was a level above those of their adversaries. This grit and toughness still shows in everything that people do here in the Nordics. They get through the difficult parts of life with a quiet perseverance and determination that is forged through generations. It would be hard to have this rub off onto you and it's something that I have learnt to welcome in my own life. We don't need to fall apart at the first sign of difficulty.

How to cope with cold weather

There is no escaping cold weather in the Nordics. My first few winters were the hardest I have ever experienced, but once I took some time to notice how the people around me were coping I learnt to cope myself. In fact even beyond that I learnt to enjoy winter in all it's cold beauty. Strangely, having a harsh winter makes you appreciate the spring and summer so much more.

Not to complain

We British are famous for our stiff upper lips, or the idea of putting up with even the worst things and not complaining. But the reality of it is as a nation we simply love to complain! I think we might be world champions at complaining. Not the Norwegians. They put up with a huge amount and rarely make a fuss. At times I found this incredibly frustrating. On one occasion I said to my (Norwegian) mother-in-law "why do Norwegians put up with these things? Why not complain, or have a protest?" and she simple said "because we are Norwegian and we don't do that". Simple.

To see the positives in life

My life and the life of my family over the past year has not been easy. There have been deaths, serious illness and unexpected diagnoses that individually would have been challenging to navigate. But all together have really tested our strength and positivity. However we can either complain and moan and be sad about it or take a deep breath and face life with some positivity. Either way the problem or the situation will still be there - we can be have the problem and be sad or have the problem and choose joy. We always choose joy and this is probably the biggest lesson I have learnt. Regardless what life might throw at us we look for something positive in it.

Lessons from a Nordic life will follow me wherever I go in the world. It doesn't matter if my time there is short or long, they bring a level of calm into my life and raise my level of happiness daily. I hope that you too can embrace the simple joys of a Nordic life and share what it feels like to know that you have some skills to bring calm and quiet into your life when all around us can be hectic and unpredictable. Hilsen fra Fiona