Howdy. Its now been 5 months since Helen and I moved to Trondheim in mid Norway. We made the move in the dead of winter then there was only about 5 hours of proper daylight each day. Opting to be able to take more stuff with car (2 bikes, 2 snowboards and a pair of skis on the roof) rather than flying we embarked on a 3 day nonstop journey. We had various challenges to overcome on the 22 hour nonstop overnight drive from Haugesund in the south to Trondheim a lot more north. Most of the challenges were snow related:
After we arrived in Trondheim we were happy to have made it. The we promptly left by train for a week in a ski resort in northern Sweden for new year with friends, snus and jagermeister.
The we finally started life in Trondheim. Thanks to the Glasgow city race, I had met a woman by the name of Turid Arnesen. She has sorted us out big time here, from lending us skis to teaching us Norwegian.
We have joined the local club Wing OK which is the elite club to join here. It also has a strong medlemmer (members) section. There are loads of trainings planned, almost everyday in the winter there was some sort of training on. This was totally different from Clyde in the UK where there would be at most 2 trainings in a week. However, in winter we live on the edge of a huge xc ski resort (which I never realised until we got here). It looks like this:
We live here (I always wanted to live on a map):
There is snow everywhere in winter, except for by the sea; so that is where the orienteering takes place. Its amazing having both mountainous snow terrain and the seaside within a few miles of each other. Its easier to ski in winter than orienteer (half of trondheim seem to ski) so I did a lot more of this than running training but still went to the orienteering training.
Coming from a science and engineering background, languages are not my strong point. Learning Norwegian has been a mind expanding experience and I would heartily recommend learning a second language if you havent already.
As with most things there are pro’s and con’s:
Cons
The food in supermarkets is rubbish and overpriced.
Flights are more expensive than the UK.
The car market is a joke, again super expensive.
There is nothing open on Sundays.
Pros
Real seasons – summer is totally different to winter.
Lack of people – overpopulation is not an issue here. If you want to build your own house, you still can.
Orienteering is like football here – well not quite, but there are loads more people doing it.
Quality of life – Norwegians believe in family time. They work set hours and spend the rest with their families. There are no points for staying late here. Also there seems to be loads of public holidays. The work ethic in the UK is unhealthy. The Norwegians have got it right.
Have a fun summer and hopefully I’ll see you at the Oringen!
