Good thing about Life in Norway: Holidays in Sweden…
We went to Sweden a lot for holidays when I was a kid. Almost every year, in fact. A few years we went to Denmark instead. That was good too.
I know this doesn’t sound like it’s a benefit of being Norwegian, but believe me there is a logic here. Sweden – or at least Värmland – is a good place to spend your childhood summers. It’s familiar because it’s a lot like Norway, on the other hand it’s sufficiently different to be exciting – and it is, after all, a different country. They speak a language you can understand – and they understand you – very reassuring when you’re off exploring in case you get lost and need to ask for help. In addition, most Norwegians have been reared on Swedish tv-series based on Astrid Lindgren’s books, and they all have an atmosphere of summer, holidays and fun. This, combined with all those long summer days of doing nothing, makes it very weird nowadays when I have to deal with Swedes at work, as I unconsciously associate Swedish with holidays and dealing with it in a work-context is all wrong.
I was raised on Astrid Lindgren – books and tv – too! Well, not raised on it exactly, but I read quite a few of her books and saw a couple of the tv series they made. I remember scary crows (not to me confused with scare crows) in one, and eating so many pastries I got utterly sick while watching another.
I think I’ve found a good use of my local library – while their English section is microscopic, I’ll be sure to find plenty of Lindgren translations in the children’s section!
I just have to finish (re)reading Harry Potter, first, and since I started last week with the first book, and only have about an hour each day to read, that’ll take a while.