In purpose to crown the end of my study I have organized the bicycle tour throughout Norway. My goal was to see Kjeragbolten, which abig rock that has fallen into a crack in the mountain and there it has been wedged into the crack. Kjeragbolten is located near Stavanger, but I was in Oslo, so I wanted to make my tour more exciting and that’s why I decided to arrange a bicycle tour. I invited my friend Lukasz who is as adventurous as I am and together we climbed Rysy (2 499 m above sea level, the highest Polish peak) last year. Wikipedia says that bicycle touring is a form of cycling where rider travel long distances and he prioritizes pleasure and endurance over utility or speed. That’s what I expected from my tour – pleasure and endurance.
However, we had a limit of time and resource such as food and money, so my tour became a real project to deal with and I was promoted to project manager. We have chosen the cheapest form of bicycle touring – self-supporting touring i.e. apart from two bicycles carrying everything we need including:
-two bike bags 35l.
-bicycle tools in case of emergency such as hex keys, pump, cone wrench, peanut butter wrench, spare tubes etc.
-clothing such as cycling shirts, helmet, shorts, jacket, sunglasses etc.
-lightweight tent and sleeping bags
-food such as Kaviar, brunost, crispy bread, pate, pølse, chocolate, energetic bars and vitamins etc.
-accessories such as map, camera, credit cards, insurance policy, lighter etc.
Bicycle touring has almost 150 years history and it’s started in 1869 when John Mayall with Charles Spencer and Rowley Turner rode on their velocipedesfrom Trafalgar Square, London to Brighton in 15 hours for 85,30 km. Since that tour many daredevils was setting off from places around the world enhancing the potential distance of the bicycle tour. John Foster Fraser, Edward Lunn and F.H. Lowe were the first who set off round the world on safety bicycles in July 1896. They rode 30 958,95 km through 17 countries in two years and two months. An interesting is story of Jaques Sirat who felt very proud riding round the world for five years – until the met an Australian who had been on the road for 27 years. Nowadays bicycle touring can be of any distance and time. One famous German Heinz Stücke who left his job as a die-maker in North Rhine-Westphalia in 1962 when he was 22. He has never been home since. By 2006 he had cycled more than 539 000 km and visited 192 countries. He pays his way by selling photographs to magazines.
My and my friend’s bicycle tour started in my Studenthouse’s cellar Oslo on 19 June 2010 at around 7 am. First we had prepare our bicycles for a long journey i.e. install two bike bags and fulfill them with all the heavy staff necessary to survive. We set off around 11 am and since that we continuously cycling for next 10 days with several stops for nature and landscapes contemplating. Each day was different not only because of places we saw and slopes we dealt with but also because of food we ate, kilometers we made and weather conditions we experienced. Places are displayed on the map, the most beautiful in my opinion was fjord near Larvik.
The coast on this fjord was covered by huge rocks and the water transparently clean and terribly cold. We were experiencing for our bivouacs such places usually close to water (fjords, lakes, rivers and sea) due to beautiful views and hygienic reasons. Twice we rent a place on the camping, because of heavy rain that wet us to the skin and deprived us from hot meal and tea. We were diversifying everyday food, but breakfasts usually were similar – crispy bread with Kaviar, brunost or paté. We always were waiting for dinner under pressure and we always ate it in the evening after setting up a bivouac. We took a disposable grill or light a bonfire and cooked a salmon, chicken or other meat. The weather conditions are difficult in Norway. During nights it was cold and during the sunny day it was rather hot, but the worst was heavy rain that we met in the mountains. More obstacles with had to cope with include bloodthirsty midges, fatigue, muscle & ass pain, sunburn on the hands, knees and ears, thirst & hunger and high exposure of the roads.
I’m not going to describe my tour in details, just have a glimpse at the movie I made.
To sum up, we rode 750 km and enjoyed Kjeragbolten. The average speed was 22 km/h, hence the maximum was around 72 km/h and the average distance per day we made was 83 km. This bicycle tour as my previous experiences just strengthened my desire for more spectacular adventures.
It took exactly 6 months since I had posted first time on this blog. I have just written my last exam and before I leave Oslo I want to say thank you and goodbye to You, my reader.
This 6 months was extremely amazing time that I will remember for the rest of my life. I met wonderful people, visited gorgeous places and experienced a fantastic time here, in Norway. For sure I will keep in touch with my friends found here and for sure I will come back sooner then I expect. Well, answering for the question if Norway is the best to live, there is no clear answer. I personally believe that the best place to live wherever I am, because my happiness depends mainly on me. In case of Norway I am sure that with respect of social life, health care system and education benefits this country is absolutely the best place to live for Norwegians, who really love their king and their country.
Furthermore, the claim of UNDP that Norway is the best country to live depends on the instrument they used – HDI index. This index has been criticized on a number of grounds, including:
-failure to include any ecological considerations (which of course not worsen Norway’s position),
-focusing exclusively on national performance and ranking, and not paying much attention to development from a global perspective,
-having inappropriate treatment of income
-lacking year-to-year comparability,
-assessing development differently in different groups of countries,
-it is redundant measure that adds little to the value of the individual measures composing it i.e. means to provide legitimacy to arbitrary weighting of a few aspects of social development,
-the scores on each of the three included in the HDI (GDP per capita, life expectancy, and education) are bounded between 0 and 1 and they are equally weighted,
-it should embrace both material and moral development, e.g. a high suicide rate would bring the index down.
Norway is often referred to as among the world’s wealthiest, and the best place to live, but let’s consider some demerits and problems appearing in this “pink” country. First of all, Norwegian industry and actually whole economy is dependent on oil and gas. What if oil and gas will be gone? The country income from that source is a lot higher than the national budget. The excess money Norwegians keep in Oljefundet to save money for future generations when the oil won’t last anymore. On the other hand, a lot of the jobs and services are currently related to the offshore industry, what about them?
Next point is the perfect Health Care System I have described recently. It is free for everyone, but this commonness makes problems with cutbacks. There is never-ending waiting list for non-emergent operations and some hospitals have to little capacity and are forced to place patients in the corridors. Furthermore, there is a sickness absence among Norwegian employees. Recently the rate of absence due to sickness has been very high in Norway. Almost 10% of the total work force was absent due to sickness last year.
Maybe this absence is not caused by convenient Health Care benefits, but by mentally illness. It is said that 25% of the adult population in Norway falls mentally ill every year. Norway seems to be offering libing proof that money can’t buy happiness. Maybe this horrible sickness such as depression happens due to long, dark winters or just living without a social network.
Fourth problem raised in Norway recently is integration of immigrants. This occurs not only between Norwegians and immigrants, but also between immigrants themselves. Try to image Palestinians and Israelis living together in the same street or even building. That tensions are the soil for social malaise and protests.
One Norwegian told me that the cruise tourism causes a lot of pollution in fjords and cities. He concluded that there is a lot of black smoke coming out from the chimneys and leaving a haze around the whole area as the mountains block it from getting out. Well, I haven’t seen any haze, but I saw the movie and pictures from the BP catastrophe and that makes a difference.
May 17th is the National Day of Norway and the day is referred to simply as syttende mai, meaning May Seventeenth. In the small municipality Eidsvoll, there the meeting of Norwegian patriots to draft and sign the Constitution of Norway on 17 May 1814. This constitution declared Norway to be an independent nation. This fact caused the wide celebration spontaneously among students and others from early on. However, Norway was at that time under Swedish rule and for some years Karl Johan, king of Sweden, was reluctant to allow the celebrations. After the Battle of the Square in 1829, an incident that resulted in such a commotion that Karl had to allow it. Indeed, Norway became independent nation in 1905.
A noteworthy aspect of the Norwegian Constitution Day is its very non-military nature. All over Norway, children’s parades with an abundance of flags and shouting “hip hip, hurray, hurray, hurray!” During the parade a marching band play and children sing lyrics about the celebration of the National Day, blowing whistles and shaking rattles. The parade concludes with the stationary singing of the national anthem “Ja, vi elsker dette landet” (in English “Yes, we love this country”) written by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson. This year I was an observer of the parade in Oslo and that was the longest parade I’ve ever seen. Parade was led by marching bands and children from schools and local choirs and music bands. In addition to flags, people typically wear red, white and blue ribbons. Although a long-standing tradition, it has lately become more popular for men, women, and children to wear traditional outfits, called bunad. This outfit is itching, makes people to look fat and is terribly expensive (approximately NOK 20 000). The parade took place in the morning throughout Karl Johan’s Gate and finished just in front of the Royal Palace, where king Harald V and his wife were waving to crowds.
Norway had undoubtedly one of the best welfare systems in the world, making sure that people who are sick and unable to work, or who are unemployed for whatever reason are not left out in the cold, but are given support so that they are able to live with dignity. Norwegian values are rooted as in Sweden in egalitarian ideals. At the beginning of the 20th century, they began enacting fairly radical welfare laws, culminating in the post-war years sweeping reforms that turned Norway into the progressive welfare state it is today. The welfare state is still the ideal for most Norwegian, not least because it seems to be doing quite well.
Well, sounds interesting? Let’s come back to the beginning of the process of building welfare. Norway declared its independence in 1905 when the union with Sweden was dissolved. The period from 1905 to 1914 was characterized by rapid economic expansion in Norway. The development of the merchant fleet, which begun in previous century, continued, and at the outbreak of World War I Norway’s merchant navy was the fourth largest in the world. From about beginning of the 20th century Norway’s immense resources of waterpower provided a base for great industrial expansion. By 1906 three-fourth of all developed waterpower in Norway was owned by foreign concerns. Norwegian Labour Party (DNA) pressed for legislation to protect the natural resources of the country. By reforms in 1907 and 1913 the vote was extended to women. Once consequence of industrialization and the introduction of universal suffrage was the growing influence of the DNA. A number of social reforms were enacted: a factory act, which included protection for women and children, accident insurance for seafaring men, health insurance, a 10-hour working (in 1915) and a 48 workweek (in 1919). A 40-hour workweek was introduced in 1977.
With the outbreak of war in 1914, Norway, like Sweden and Denmark, issued a declaration of neutrality, but it was badly hurt by the war at sea by about half of Norwegian merchant shipping being lost. After the war the main aim during the 1920s was to guide the currency (the krone) back to its former value. Norway received only an insignificant share in improved world market conditions, and by 1927 the unemployment figures were as high as one-fifth of the workforce. The Great Depression in the early 1930s increased unemployment still further, and by 1933 at least one-third of the workforce, including many civil servants, was unemployed. Despite economic difficulties, the high rate of unemployment, and the many labour conflicts, the interwar years were a period of vigorous expansion, and the country’s industrial production was increased by 75% during the years 1913-38. With the second outbreak of hostilities in 1929, Norway again declared itself neutral. On April 9, 1940,German troops invaded the country and quickly occupied Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim and Narvik, despite being supported by Polish soldiers. Vidkun Quisling, a traitor and leader of the small Norwegian National Socialist party, proclaimed a “national government”, which aroused such strong resistance of Norwegians.
After World War II the liberation of Norway was followed by trials of collaborators, 25 Norwegians, including Quisling were sentenced to death and executed, and some 19 000 received prison sentenced. By a strict policy that gave priority to the reconstruction of productive capacity in preference to consumer goods, Norway quickly succeeded in repairing the ravages left by the war. By 1949 the merchant fleet had attained its pre-war size, and the figures for both industrial production and housing were greater than in the 1930s. Until the 1980s Norway had full or nearly full employment and swift rising standard of living.
Since the 1970s a central issue in Norway has been the exploitation of the rich natural gas and petroleum deposits in the Norwegian part of the North Sea. As the Norwegian petroleum industry grew in importance, the country became increasingly affected by fluctuations in the world petroleum market, but in the late 20th and early 21st centuries oil revenues played the dominant role in fueling a prosperous Norwegian economy and providing Norwegians with one of the world’s highest per capita incomes. The government, prudently preparing for a time when petroleum profits might not be so lucrative, began reinvesting those profits in the Government Pension Fund that I have already described in recent post. The Norwegians rejected membership of the Europan Economic Community in 1972, and of the European Union in1994,despite being urged by their governments to vote “yes”. Norway’ annual oil revenue amounts to around $40bn and more than half of its exports come from this sector. To counter inflation, there is cross-party agreement to restrict spending of oil revenue. Even as much of the rest of the world struggled in the wake of the international financial crisis that began in 2008, Norway continued to prosper, though the international holdings of the Government Pension Fund weakened. In recent decades, Norway has forged a stronger role for itself in international politics. It has mediated between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation, and from 2000 to 2009 was the chief mediator in the conflict between the Sri Lankan government and Tamil separatists.
The egalitarian values which are at the root of the welfare state also manifest themselves throughout Norwegian society in many ways e.g. in the field of gender equality. Because of this, and active government support of gender equality, women have been steadily climbing in standing over the past fifty years. Still, the goal of total equality remains a long way off: while forty percent of representatives on Parliament are female, only one in every ten company directors are women. But, on the other hand, gender equality changed the Norwegian male’s role as a father. Norway has a paternity leave quota, so that fathers can also take extended time off to be with their children. This has helped make the mixing of careers and family a lot easier. In Norway, it is more common for mothers of young children to be employed than in many Western European countries. With the large amount of young mothers in the workplace, it becomes necessary to deal with the issues of maternity leave. The government has therefore created a system meant to care for the families as they care for a new baby. Parents are allowed to choice of either taking 43 weeks off between themselves with full wage compensation, or 53 weeks off with 80% compensation. If they wish, the mother may take up to 12 weeks of their parental leave prior to the birth, so they can prepare for the baby or give themselves rest. 9 weeks of leave must be used by the mother, and 5 weeks by the father. The remaining weeks can be divided between the parents as they wish. In addition, in the case that a child must stay home sick from school when they reach school age, the state grants each parent 10 days of leave per year to spend taking care of the child.
Bergen is the kingdom’s second largest city and just after Oslo is the most important, with over 250 000 inhabitants only! Bergen is situated at the west coast of Norway where the Norwegian Sea meets the North Sea. The year of the foundation is estimated to be 1070 and it is a World Heritage Site listed by UNESCO. What is characteristic for Bergen? Rain! Almost 220 days in a year it is raining here. Once, I heard, it was raining continually from February to May. That's why in this city one set first in the world the umbrellas’ machine.
I have visited Bergen with my beloved fiancé in May and it strikes me more than Oslo. First of all, Bergen is full of history and tradition of an international city with charming and small town atmosphere. Heritages such as Bryggen (Norwegian for the Wharf) or Bergen Fish Market and the possibility of trip to the fjords attract tourist, especially from Spain. I don’t know why, but I met many Spaniards there and there are many Spanish clerks in souvenirs shops. Furthermore, in Bergen nature blends with culture and city life is thrilling – every evening parties in the seaport lasting till morning. In May, there was light even at midnight, so the climate is specific, as it would be evening all the time. During the day, it is worth to see Bryggen, which is also displayed in the top of my blog, it is a series of Hanseatic commercial buildings lining the eastern side of the fjord.Bryggen was built thanks to the merchants from the Hanseatic League, who arrived here around 1360 and developed the town into an import ant trading centre. These warehouses were filled with foods such as fish from Norway and wheat from Europe (including Poland). Apart from Bryggen, I also recommend to do unusual shopping in the Torget i Bergen (Fishmarket In Bergen), where you can fresh seafood and seafish every morning. Furthermore, numerous wooden houses all-around the city from the 18th century and many amazing museums are the must-sees. Amongst many of the museums, the Old Bergen Museum is a place with more than 40 wooden buildings constructed in the style of the architecture of Bergen from the 18th and 19th century. Moreover, in this museum a beautiful guide will tell you interesting stories about the past inhabitants of these colourful houses. The latest attraction, we visited, is the Bergen Science Centre Vilvite. Vilvite is a centre of science and technology for tourists, where you can embark on a journey with almost 100 different instruments, perform experiments, to feel the force of gravity while riding in a large circle, to make a rig for oil, to stand behind the stairs of the ship or submarine or see yourself jumping very slowly as below.
As I mentioned in the title of this post, Bergen is truly a gateway to fjords. From here you can choose amongst many tours offers a unique experience both for those who have time only for short visit, and those who want to know precisely the region. We have chosen a short 4-hours trip to the closest fjord by MS White Lady and the views were breathtaking. If you want to see more spectacular landscapes from Norway I personally recommend a journey from Bergen to Oslo by train. In various rankings railway lines from Oslo to Bergen are considered the most beautiful and exciting route in the world. The American journalist-explorer Gary Warner writing for a newspaper The Chicago Tribune put in on his list of favourites rail routes. I have added as well! As a tittle-tattle I can tell you that it is possible to see snow on this route even in May, because its highest point is in the Finse peak 1222 meters above sea level. The whole journey takes approximately 7 hours, but it is absolutely pleasure to deal with it.
In Norway the education system is divided into four parts:
(1) Elementary school (Barneskole, age 6-13)
(2) Lower secondary school (Ungdomsskole, age 13-16)
(3) Upper secondary school (Videregående skole, age 16-19)
(4) Higher education
First two parts are obligatory in Norway, so if upper secondary school is optional, but usually chooses by students due to recent changes to society – few jobs available for the age group. What is interesting in Norwegian education system is the lower age limit to start your school – 6 age and from this time basic English is introduced. Upper secondary school gives you a chance to apply for general studies (studiespesialisering) or a vocational studies (yrkesfag) path. Typical courses in this studies are Norwegian, mathematics, natural sciences, English, IT and social studies as well as the languages German, French and Spanish. In vocational studies there are more maths and physics. Students graduating general studies are called Russ in Norwegian. Most of them choose to celebrate with lots of parties and festivities, which, impractically, take place a few weeks before the final examinations of the final year. I blame them for making noise during the nights when it is a typical sleeping time for me! Anyway, they enjoy a lot of parties which socially accepted.
Higher education is broadly divided into:
(1) Universities, which concentrate on theoretical subjects (arts, humanities, natural science). Supplies bachelor (3 yrs), master (5 yrs) and PhD (8 yrs) titles. Universities also run a number of professional studies, including law, medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and psychology, but these are generally separate departments that have little to do with the rest of the university institution.
(2) University colleges (høyskole), which supply a wide range of educational choices, including university bachelor degrees, engineering degrees and professional vocations like teacher and nurse. The grade system is the same as it is for universities.
(3) Private schools, which tend to specialize in popular subjects with limited capacity in public schools, such as business management, marketing or fine arts. Private schools do not loom large on the horizon, although the fraction of students attending private schools is 10% in higher education, compared to 4% in secondary and 1.5% in primary education.
My school, BI Norwegian School of Management is the private university college and it was established in 1943 as a merchant school. Nowadays, it is the largest business school in Norway and the second largest in all of Europe (around 20 000 students). BI has a wide range of international activities both in Norway and abroad, this year around 300 foreign students are participating exchange studies. The School`s aim is to contribute to value creation and the growth of entrepreneurship by conducting high-quality research and offering educational programs of high quality and relevance. I can truly accept that they provide a high quality programs, especially in financial economics, which is a field I study here. I have taken a least five courses here, which is by most my colleagues here regarded as too much. However, I really appreciate the time spend with my professional teachers and good students on Multivariate Statistics and Econometrics, Applied Valuation, Multinational Financial Management, Investments and Advanced Corporate Finance. These courses give me a brilliant insight into financial economics, which is a bit different discipline from management and quantitative methods and IT systems I used to study in Poland. Fabulous teachers of these courses with their natural ability of efficient teaching encourage me to turn my career in financial direction and develop my skills through international certificates.
The things I like the most in Norwegian business studies:
(1) Professional teachers. I know I’m talking about this all the time, but this is truth. Most of the teachers in BI are foreigners with professional and academic background. Some of them are graduates from Harvard Business School.
(2) Something I call ‘Harvardian style’ of education. This means that final grade is basing not only on final or midterm exam, but also on participation in classes and what is the most time-consuming and provides the most fun – team working on cases. I’m not talking about simple and individual cases that I would solve in one or two evenings as it usually happened in my home university. First time, I experienced a real team working here and spent not hours but days together with other exchange students solving these, not really difficult, but time – consuming cases. I’d like say thank you especially for people working with me during this semester – Aminata Vanessa vel Lease, Bernadka, Carine, Citlali, Larisa and Aly, Franck, Gaspare, Michel, Marius from Germany and Marius from Ivory Coast, Sebastien, Mateusz and also for all people I met in the library during this hot period. You are very helpful and the work with you is a pleasure. Moving back on to the ‘Harvardian style’, the participation in classes is grading not for ‘airtime’, but for active attendance in discussions, which may develop your communication skills. Teachers have a habit to ‘cold call’ someone from the class and ask him some question, so every time I supposed to come prepared to the classes.
(3) Relationships between teachers and students. These are really informal and there is nothing bad or untactful if I say ‘Hallo Ulf!’, he responds me ‘Hallo Lukasz!’. Teachers are really open and always help whenever I ask about something and they treat me on the same level with Norwegian students and with themselves.
(4) Responsibility for all your activities. Every step you do in this school is depends on you, I mean I feel more responsible for my decision. The rules are clear here, so if I don’t participate in the course I may fail it. If I fail the course I will have to retake it in the next semester after fee payment. If I am late on classes I may not get inside and I will lose my presence during the course. People in Norwegian administration are very polite and helpful but restrictive, which is exactly opposite to Polish administration. So, I learnt a responsibility for my decisions easily.
The things I dislike the most in Norwegian business studies:
(1) Too much latitude among Norwegian students. In my opinion they are not serious during the classes, because they usually eat or chew snus, wear caps and place their legs wherever they want! When they have a presentation they keep their hands in the pockets and don’t restrict the rules of an excellent presentation. This was a bit shocking to me at the beginning, but later I just react with smiling, because I know that I have grown in different society and environment. Moreover, teachers never complain.
(2) Cost, cost, cost. Starting with xerocopies through cases and in books finishing. Yes, in Norway students buy books, which are very expensive (between 400 and 1000NOK). In library there are usually only three the same books including one you can borrow only for one day, ridiculous! Cases more often come from Harvard Business School, so in purpose to download them or just get an access, we are obliged to pay in dollars. At the beginning I was in even bigger shock, but finally we found an idea to share costs among team workers.
(3) Too much formalism. I’m considering mainly exams. Exams are conducted in different places located randomly in Oslo City, which is really inconvenient for exchange students, who don’t know Oslo at all. During the exam I am not allowed to use any other calculator than Texas calculator approved by BI. By the way, this calculator costs 500NOK, good luck! Finally, there aren’t retake exams, so if you fail or miss any exam, you will have to retake the whole course in the next semester, which obviously costs money.
At the end I want to mention about more differences between Polish and Norwegian education. In Norway it is quite popular to take a Master degree after gaining some working experience, so some students on my Master level are much older than me. In Poland it is not very popular and common, maybe because Bolonian system (distinction between Bachelor and Master level) is recent there. Grading system is absolutely different form system I know. In Norway we have grades from F (fail) through E, D, C (pass on average), B to A (excellent). There are often less courses during the semester, recommended is to take five of them, because in each course there is a hard workout. The classes last 3 hours each, which is enough to get bored ;)
To begin with, the city was founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway. The medieval town was located below the Ekeberg hills and the most likely interpretations of the name Oslo would be either ‘the meadow beneath the ridge’ or ‘the meadow of the gods’. Håkon V was the first king to reside in the city permanently between 1299 and 1319 and he started the construction of the Akerhus Fortress. Then the population of Oslo was about 3000 inhabitants. One, ca easily be confused by capital’s different names through the years. Oslo was shattered several times by fires and after a dramatic fire in 1624, the Danish King Christian IV (because of Danish-Norway Union) decided to rebuild town and named it Christiania. But the town got growth after 1814. In this year as a consequence of the Napoleonic Wars, Denmark had to cede the territory of Norway to the Swedish King Karl Johan. In this year Norway got its own constitution on 17 May and Christiania got its official status as the capital of Norway. King Karl Johan initiated the building of the Royal Palace and the Parliament building as well as the University, National Theatre and the Stock Exchange. The industrial era started along the river Akerselva around 1850. Christiana overtook Bergen and became the most popular city and in 1878 it was renamed Kristiana. In the years between 1850 and 1900 the population of Kristiania increased from about 30 000 to 230 000 mainly due to an influx of workers from rural areas. At the beginning of XXth century the rural municipality was merged and city enlarged. Oslo, the original name, was re-established in 1925 and the population from this time was doubled up to 590 000 in 2010. Nowadays, Oslo as a capital of Norway is its cultural, scientific, economic and governmental centre as well as is a hub of Norwegian trade, banking, industry and shipping. The Oslo metropolitan area’s share of national GDP is 25%. What is not good for exchange students is the fact that in 2009 Oslo gained its status as the world’s most expensive city (sic!). Thus it has one of the highest regional GDP’s in Europe. Oslo contains an important maritime port with nearly 980 companies and 8500 workforces. Furthermore, some of the largest shipping companies, shipbrokers and insurance brokers are based in the city of Oslo. In employment sector, the service industry is dominant in Oslo accounting for more than 59% of jobs. Other employment areas include hotels and catering, trade, banking and insurance. The historical city has gone through big character changes as a result of fires and redevelopment. Most of the original town is lost in spite of some buildings built by Karl Johan and the more than 700-year-old Akerhus Fortress remains an important cultural monument. Here the memories of World War II also come out strongly. Many Norwegian patriot were executed here and after the war Vidkun Quisling – infamous traitor – was executed by firing squad. The term ‘quisling’ has become a synonym in many European languages for traitor. After war the period of construction of modernist concrete and glass low-rises was started. Now these buildings are regarded as embarrassing eyesores.
The variety in Oslo's architectural cityscape does however provide for some striking and often hauntingly beautiful sights. While most of the forests and lakes surrounding Oslo are in private hands, there is great public support for not developing those areas. Parts of Oslo suffer from congestion, yet it is one of the few European capitals where people live with the wilderness literally in their back yard, or with access to a suburban train line that allows the city's many hikers and cross-country skiers to simply step off the train and start walking or skiing. Vigelandsparken is one of Norway's most visited attractions with more than 1 million visitors every year. The unique sculpture park is the life work of the sculptor Gustav Vigeland (1869-1943) with more than 200 sculptures in bronze, granite and cast iron. Vigeland was also responsible for the design and architectural outline of the park. A monumental artistic creation with a human message that is well worth seeing. Oslo has a large number of parks and green areas within the city core, as well as outside it. This is the biggest and most reputed park in Norway. Bygdøy is a huge and green area, famous also as "Museum Peninsula" of Oslo. The beautiful location, surrounded by the sea, makes it the most expensive Norwegian district next to Aker Brygge – a long commercial centre along the seaside. Oslo has a modern Oprahouse - Norway's biggest culture and stage institution. Oslo's new Opera House opened on 12 April 2008 and is now the home of the Norwegian Opera and Ballet. The spectacular building has a fabulous location by the seaside and was designed by renowned Norwegian architecture firm Snøhetta. I watched a German play – ‘Ariadne auf Naxos’ and I realized that it was the last time went to see a random play. It was so boooring that I have almost fallen asleep! Especially when they sang in German and all my attention was focused on reading the English subtitles.
A glimpse of Oslo’s attractions you can watch in the short movie below. My favourite places are BI Campus, Domus Athletica Swimming pool, Aker Brygge and Karl Johan Gate where I’m spending the most of my time. Many of my friends as well as my lovely fiance expoited the opportunity and visited me in Oslo, for all of them thank you very much! We spent a gorgeous time together here.
The reasons for people relocating over country borders are many and complex. It could be due to necessity as a result of escaping war, persecution and disasters. It can also be because there is a desire to find work or get an education. A large number of relocations are family related. Many seek to reunite with family members that have already left to find work or take up education, or who have fled. There are also those who marry abroad and seek to immigrate. There are 459 000 immigrants (approx. 9.4 per cent) and 93 000 (approx. 2 per cent) Norwegian-born persons with immigrant parents living in Norway. Together these two groups represent 11.4 per cent of Norway’s population. Immigrants and Norwegian-born persons with immigrant parents are represented in all Norwegian municipalities. Oslo has the largest proportion with 27 per cent, or 160 500 people. Almost half of all the immigrants come from Asia, Africa or Latin-America. 2 in 10 immigrants have lived in Norway for more than 20 years, and 4 in 10 have lived here for 4 years or less.The history of immigration to Norway started after oil resources discovery in 1969 and may be divided for following phases:
(1) Initially in the 1960s was only about 50 000 immigrants – mostly people from European and other Nordic countries.
(2) First wave of labour migrants arrived from Pakistan and they were significant that they caused the introduction of the so-called “immigration freeze” in 1975.
(3) Thereafter, family immigration increased considerably. Since 1970s, family immigration has been mostly Thai, Philippine and Russian women that migrate to Norway to marry Norwegian men.
(4) In the mid 1970s, refugees were accepted from developing countries, such as Vietnam and Chile initially.
(5) In the mid 1980s, there was an increase in the number of asylum-seekers from countries such as Iran and Sri Lanka.
(6) Due to favourable lending and scholarship schemes, there has been a degree of immigration for education purposes since 1980, including countries in Asia and Africa.
(7) In the 1990s, war refugees from the Balkans were the predominant immigrant group accepted in Norway – a large number of which have already returned to Kosovo.
(8) Since the end of the 1990s, asylum seekers from countries such as Iraq, Somalia and Afghanistan arrived.
(9) Nowadays the main immigration wave is due to labour reasons and mainly comes from new EU members such Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Baltic countries. The structure of immigrants in Norway nowadays looks like this:Unfortunately, this statistics doesn’t mention about immigrants, who live illegally in Norway. These numbers would be much more bigger than presented above. In April 2008, the Government presented a new report to the Storting on Labour Migration (Report no. 18 to the Storting (2007 – 2008) (AID 2007, Labour Migration). The basis of the report is that in light of the demographic development, Norway among others has a need for immigration in order to cover future labour needs. It provides a thorough review of this need and takes its basis in the fact that it can mainly be covered in Norway. Mobilisation of unused domestic capacity is central together with continued immigration from the EEA area, but some immigration from countries outside the EU/EEA area may be necessary. The criticism aimed at Norway is that the increase in the number of unskilled workers to the country since 1990 is small, and that the share of foreign students from developing countries is small. Norway is commended for giving students good economic conditions and for covering large amounts of refugees’ expenses. But I believe that unskilled workers in any country is therefore not a positive thing, neither for society nor for immigrants. In my opinion it is vital to prevent increased migration leading to social dumping and the development of a new and ethnic-based lower class in Norway. Really, with a huge respect to all nations I realized that in Oslo there are too many poor migrants without any job or occupation and that is bad situation. They just live, perhaps in families houses, they don’t know Norwegian and have problems to communicate in English and they hope for a better life here. Or I’m wrong, because I realized this only from my observations. But I reckon that the immigration of unskilled labour must therefore be regulated according to the situation in the labour market. Unfortunately, there are too many generous incentives for staying unemployed offered by the Norwegian welfare state and therefore it even increases poverty in this country instead. On the other hand the poverty in countries, where immigrants come from decreases due to this policy, which is one positive aspect.
Since January, when I posted about a bunch of strange and weird things about Norway, I’ve discovered more stuff like this:
(1) To begin with, social life. It is very common and socially approved that families are breaking apart, people divorce and remarry. Many live together while not married, they are called samboere (i.e. concubines). Samboere is legally equivalent to marriage. It is next prove for individualistic society: only you cont, not the group (family, friends).
(2) Studies. Much different from my school and I will develop this topic in the following posts. Good thing is, that teachers generally treat me as if I were on the same ‘level’ with them. Norwegian students seldom have and even show an awful lot of respect for their teachers. Every time when the course is finished the teacher receives a ovation. That is beautiful thing which is lacking in my country.
(3) Attitude towards foreigners. I mentioned that they are polite. It was just a first delusion. Never expect them to talk to you first, expect a lot of prejudice and ignorance about you, your country and your culture instead. That sad truth, but I have to write about it, because I experienced and witnessed many cases of Norwegian’s ignorance towards foreigners. They are ok with you when you speak Norwegian, even English is sometimes not enough. English revealed that you are temporarily in Norway and they feel like you are stealing their education or workplace. They are some exceptions towards low-qualified workers, which are necessary in this country and share respect. Generally, Norwegians are rather closed society and don’t want to anybody to intervene in their culture. They are several levels of closeness in a friendship. It might take a while before you get deep friendship with Norwegian. I recommend to be sensitive as to how much time both of you want to spend together. Remember, Norwegian men very rarely shake hands, unless they are gays. Interesting situation I experienced is when Norwegian woman looks straight in my eyes and talks to me without wanting anything else than a chat. That’s nice and unexpected. In Norway a woman can do everything that a man can do, going out alone, talking to strangers, having male friends in addition to her husband. Some woman will be insulted if you open the door for them, check it out!
(4) Politeness and manners. First of all, remember about directness, the polite form De (i.e. You) isn’t polite anymore. The prime minister is referred to as ‘Jens’. Say ‘yes’ if you want to come and ‘no, I’m sorry, I’ve got other plans’ if you don’t. Never say ‘yes’ and then not show up. Anyway, you are not required to refuse the first time to be polite. Most things in Norway similarly as in Germany begin exactly at the time given. Don’t be more than ten minutes late to a party. If you are late on classes, you will kiss a handle of the door (the Polish proverb!). What a irony when the bus and metro drivers are always late in this country, for f…’s sake!
(5) Sports. Norwegians have a craving for, which I like very much! When you are in Norway try to experience skiing, ice skating, cycling, running to Bergen or just throwing snowball. If it is so cold you have to move a lot, I’m not talking about your fingers and toes, I’m talking about whole body. I use swimming pool and gym very often and I appreciate this time. When I decided to rent skis for cross-country, it was too late and there were no more skis to rent. That’s a pity!
(6) Dress code. Imagine jeans and t-shirts in work. In Norway is possible, except jobs which require uniforms or suits. On the other hand, you should be more formal at parties. That’s ridiculous, totally different than in my country. Once, I felt really bad when I went to a party with jeans and my favourite polo t-shirt.
(7) Savoir vivre. Sometimes I really believe that Norwegians have a barbarian Vikings as their ancestors. For example famuous Norwegian Reach, which means just grab what you want on the table. They often serve alcohol in a Norwegian home – and definitely at a party – but it is okay to refuse. Alcohol is very expensive here, so they don’t be angry in case of refusal. Never expect that Norwegian buy you a beer in the pub, it’s expensive even to him. Otherwise you can expect that someone will steal you a beer if you don’t protect it.
(8) Norwegian sarcasm. Norwegians often say the exact opposite of what they mean, you have to listen to the intonation to get true meaning. That’s annoying, I would never know how it is, because usually I’m sarcastic.
(9) Special social skills. It’s good to say ‘ja’ while inhaling air instead of simple ‘yes’. I was forced to learn saying ‘mhm’ at the right places.
Finally, I must say that both me and my country have already changed with respect to my exchange programme.
In order to safeguard and build financial wealth for future generations Stortinget (Norwegian Parliament) resolved the National Insurance Act (Folketrygdloven) in 1967, which established National Insurance Scheme Fund (Folketrygdfondet). This fund has been supporting governmental savings for financing national insurance pension expenditures since establishment and follows until nowadays. Meanwhile, in 1990 Stortinget adopted the Act relating to the Government Petroleum Fund (Oljefondet), which gathers income generated by Norwegian petroleum sector and its main purpose was to counter the effect of the forthcoming decline in income and smooth out the disrupting effects of highly fluctuating oil prices. The petroleum income comes from taxes of companies related to petroleum sector as well as payment for license to explore, State’s Direct Financial Interest (About SDFI)and dividends from partly state-owned and the biggest offshore oil and gas company in the world - Statoil (About Statoil). In January 2006 both funds were combined and one Government Pension Fund of Norway has been existing since that year. This is sovereign wealth fund (About SWF), which means that it is a state-owned investment fund composed of financial assets such as stocks, bonds, real estate and other financial instruments funded by forex assets. The Government Pension Fund comprises two separate funds right now:
- The Government Pension Fund - Global (Statens pensjonsfond utland - SPU, formerly Petroleum Fund) - The Government Pension Fund – Norway (Statens pensjonsfond Norge – SPN, formerly The National Insurance Scheme Fund)
The unified purpose of The Government Pension Fund is to facilitate government savings to meet the rapid rise in public pension expenditures in the coming years and to support a long – term management of petroleum revenues. From this moment the total income of new Fund consist of not only petroleum activities but also of the return on the Fund’s investments. The investments decisions are made by Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), which is a part of the Norwegian Central Bank on behalf of regulations laid down by the Ministry of Finance. NBIM manages the Fund partly internally and partly by engaging external managers and whole responsibility is taken by Ministry of Finance. Every morning goatee-bearded chief executive Yngve Slyngstad (About Yngve Slyngstad) heads to his office at the top floor of Norwegian Central Bank and checks how his Fund is doing. It’s doing very well! In 2009 the Fund had a record return of 25,6% and is the largest Fund in Europe (1,78% of listed European companies) and second in the world (1% of the world’s shares) just after the largest pension fund in the USA (California Public Employees’ Retirement System – CaIPERS). In 31 December 2009 the total value of the Fund was NOK 2.640 trillion ($457 billion), which is enough to cover 25 times polish budget deficit for 2010.
Why does it look so good?
First of all, petroleum sector income – Norway is third exporter of oil and gas (after Saudi Arabia and Russia) in the world. Second, active management. This means long-term investments (30-year horizon), stressed markets, risk-return trade-off as well as economies of scale, targeted strategies and high quality Norwegian organisation. Within active management they use three main strategies: ensure efficient market exposure, create value through fundamental analysis and management of systematic risk. In 2009 equities made up 62.4% of the Fund’s total investments and fixed income instruments constituted 37.6%. This 62.4% is a high level of exposure to the highly volatile and therefore risky non-Norwegian stock and money market, because they don’t want to overheat their domestic economy. Since 2009 they have presented also in Poland (one of the 46 developed and emerging equity market), which makes me feel better, because I support their policy carried out among companies they own stakes (more than 8 300 companies):
- Equal treatment of shareholders - Shareholders influence and board accountability - Well-functioning, legitimate and efficient markets
And what sounds paradoxically for a fund based on oil and gas revenues they care about green issues such as climate change, water management and even children’s rights. Although their activism is limited to encourage better social and environmental standards at companies by publication of number of documents explaining how companies should manage, their ideas is honorable in my opinion. Another issue, which makes me feel better is the Fund’s ethical stance. Since 2006 they haven't invested in companies involved child labour, violation of human rights, the production of tobacco, nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. In year mentioned above they kicked out nearly 30 companies, which met these criteria e.g. US retail giant Wal-Mart, because of its labour policies. The last question I would ask is why they need so much money for almost 4,9 million Norwegians? Whether government should use some part of the petroleum revenues for e.g. the state budget instead of the funds for the future? They speculate this would increase inflation, so they should discuss what degree of these revenues they may use for government spending. In 2009 the government used 5% of GDP from Oljefondet to boost the economy by the state’s national budget. In February 2010 CPI in Norway was about 2,959% and it was increase from about 2,544% last year. For more performance of the Government Pension Fund – Global see this report.
However, we had a limit of time and resource such as food and money, so my tour became a real project to deal with and I was promoted to project manager. We have chosen the cheapest form of bicycle touring – self-supporting touring i.e. apart from two bicycles carrying everything we need including:
The weather conditions are difficult in 
