This article is one in a series of interviews with expats in Stavanger. Its purpose is to share with everyone what your fellow expats are doing and also to help advertise the businesses/services/events that these expats are involved in. If you would like to or know of a business/enterprise to be interviewed, feel free to contact us!
Interview with Nina Berglund, Norway Expat since 1989 and owner of Views & News from Norway.
Where are you from?
I was born and reared in the San Francisco Bay Area, and California will always be “home” for me. I left San Francisco at the age of 18, however, to attend university in Chicago (Northwestern) and then I worked on various newspapers in the US (Dubuque, Tucson, Washington DC, Honolulu…) so I moved around a bit. I did return to California for a few years as an adult, when I worked for the Oakland Tribune. It was wonderful to be back home again, and be able to have dinner with my beloved parents at least once a week!
How long have you lived in Norway? Where do you live now?
I landed in Oslo in 1989 and have lived in Norway’s capital ever since, even though I spent quite a bit of time back in California when my parents became ill. I lost them both a few years ago, so don’t travel back now as often as before. Time to cut the chord, I suppose. And now Oslo is “home,” too.
What brought you to Norway?
At the time, it was because of a Norwegian husband who wanted to move home. I jumped off the career cliff in the US, so to speak, and agreed to come along. He disappeared fairly quickly once we got here, though. I ended up staying on my own, thanks to a good job as an editor at one of Dagens Næringsliv’s English-language publications. I remember thinking, “well, I’ll stay through the Olympics in Lillehammer — that will be an exciting news event.” I had to overcome a LOT of challenges from immigration agency UDI, since I no longer had a Norwegian husband. But the funny thing about Norway is that it gets under your skin, in a way. It suddenly became “my” Norway instead of my ex-husband’s Norway. I’d also invested a lot of effort in making an intercontinental move (from Hawaii to Oslo), and trying to learn the language and adapt to the culture. I wasn’t about to just dump it all and head back home. I also thought it was pretty cool that it was possible to travel around in Europe fairly easily, with Oslo as a starting point. And there’s a reason why Norway has often been ranked as the best country in the world in which to live. This is quite a lovely corner of the globe.
What do you like best about Norway?
The four seasons. I grew up in California and moved to Oslo from Honolulu, where I’d been working at the morning daily and the local ABC News station. We had seasons there, but they were very subtle. Here, life is NEVER boring! We’re regularly changing the kinds of food we eat, the clothes we wear, the things we do (skiing versus hiking, for example), all in accordance with the seasons and the weather. Even after 21 years in Norway, I find the seasonal changes exciting, and refreshing. I should add that the scenery is wonderful as well, as are the people. One of my old language teachers once said that “Norwegians are like a Thermos bottle — hard and cold on the outside, but nice and warm once you open them up.” I have found some of the best friends I’ve ever had, here in Norway … not to mention a wonderful new Norwegian husband!
Do you feel like you have integrated into the culture and lifestyle here in Norway?
Hmmmm … good question. I’ve certainly tried. I’m fluent in the language (albeit with a heavy American accent), I learned to ski and earned the ski association’s “distansemerket i gul” five years in a row (that involved skiing at least 500 kilometers a season, and I was rather proud I managed that). I love lutefisk and quickly learned the art of the “skål.” But I also feel very much like an observer at times, and will ALWAYS be American-born at heart. You can take the girl out of California, as they say, but you can’t take California out of the girl. Because of my accent, Norwegians are always asking where I’m from, or letting me know that “YOU’RE not Norwegian!” So I don’t think we foreigners ever can become full-fledged “members of the club” here. And I still have regular fits over the high prices in the grocery stores. The staff at the local Meny store has grown accustomed to my occasional outbursts.
What do you do?
I’ve been a journalist my entire adult life, and now work as editor and publisher of Views and News from Norway, an online news service that attempts to explain what’s going on in this country, in English.
What motivated you to start an English news service?
I’m a foreigner here myself, and will never forget how frustrating it was to move here and not be able to read the local papers or understand TV and radio. You could buy the Herald Tribune or even USA TODAY at the local kiosk, or watch CNN on the (then-new) cable TV system in Oslo, but there was NOTHING about Norway in them, and no local sources of news that I could understand. In 1999 I got the chance to help found an online news service in English for Oslo newpaper Aftenposten’s then-new website. When Aftenposten most unfortunately pulled the plug on that service at the end of 2008, I decided to try to keep it going, in my own way.
How do you decide which articles to translate and post, and vise versa?
We never really “translate” articles … the journalistic styles are too different for that. But I try to pick up the top stories of the day, also stories that may be of special interest to expats here in Norway (for example, immigration issues) or to a foreign audience in general — and then write them in a way that will help explain them to a foreign audience that doesn’t have the background that a Norwegian has. I feel we need to add a lot of perspective and detail. You can’t just write about “kontantstøtte,” for example, and just assume that readers will know that’s a system that pays parents to stay home with their children — a truly foreign concept where I come from!
How long did it take you to learn Norwegian?
I’m STILL learning! Seriously, it took more than a year before I could read the newspapers, and probably around two to three years before I could really follow the nightly TV newscast or radio news on NRK. I’m a bit of a language dummy. I still have a big problem with lots of dialects — sometimes I feel like us “foreigners” are expected to master a dozen different languages instead of just one. I’m comforted when many of my Norwegian friends and family claim they don’t understand a lot of the dialects either.
Anything else you would like to add?
Just to say thanks for the opportunity to “sound off,” and to encourage newcomers to HANG IN THERE as you adjust to Norway. It’s really a great little country with a marvelous lifestyle and solid value systems, not to mention some stunning scenery and infinite travel possibilities. Enjoy it! And, of course, click in to “Views and News from Norway“, to keep up with the Norwegians!
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About Fonda LaShay
Fonda is an American who has been living in Stavanger since July of 2008 with her Norwegian samboer. She enjoys tea, visiting with friends, music, taking photos and traveling. She loves the rain, but really dislikes when her feet get wet - this is always challenging since it rains so often in Stavanger. Follow Fonda LaShay on Google+ Fonda is a design blogger - blogging about design, architecture, photography, and music. Check out her blog!
1 comment
EL
Mar 31, 2011
What an interesting interview! Thanks for this one!