Gun Laws in Norway

Gun ownership or usage is one of the most controversal topics throughout the world. With that being said this is a good topic to talk about, and explain Norway's stand point on this controversal issue. The gun regulation in Norway is restricted. Norway has enacted a gun control called the Firearms and Ammunition act of 1961. This act is the law that guides the gun control in Norway. For you to own, possess or transfer a fire arm or ammuntion you must have a license. To obtain a firearm license you must take what we would call a hunters safety course and have a valid reason for owning a firearm. Once the license is obtained you are able to possess rifles, hand guns, semi and fully automatic assault weapons. While dealers are not required to keep a record of the firearms sold, the citzen is required to register in a public registry the firearms or ammunition acquired, transferred or possessed.In Norway to sell a firearm in Norway you must possess a valid dealer license, and the private sale of firearms or amunition is against the law. In Norway the government dictates how citizens or state agencies must store firearms and ammunition. Also the possession of a fire arm in public prohibited. All of these laws apply to air power guns such as paintball guns and airsoft guns as well. While Norway does have strict gun laws, shooting sports is a major hobby in Norway.

Education System

To compare the Norweigan school system with the American school system, norwegians look like geniuses. To lay out an out line from first grade to second grade it would look a little something like this:

School subjects at primary level

• Christian knowledge and religious and ethical education
• Norwegian
• Mathematics
• Social Studies
• Art and Crafts
• Science and the Environment
• English (is compulsory from the primary level)
• Music
• Home Economics
• Physical Education
• Compulsory additional subjects

When you have completed first grade it is mandatory that you know norwegian and english fluently.

You are then given an option to choose another language to learn i.e french, german, spanish or any other foreign language that is widely spoken across the world. You also have to the option to further learn in depth, a language that you are already familiar with or have basic knowledge of.

As for grade levels, it is mandatory to complete 10 years of school. During the time i was there it was 7 then in 1997 it increased to 9. However for guys, when they turn nineteen they are drafted into the military and have to serve for nineteen months.

overall i am very pleased with the system that they have in Norway. Their education is amazing and people are incredibly smart.

Agriculture

Most of Norway is made up of farmland. Especially in the southern part of the country. Lots of corn fields and wheat farms.  Before the industrial recolution, norway's economy was laregly based on agriculture but since the expansion and growing of services and oil related industries there has been a major decline in Norway's agriculture.

Agriculture in Norway accounts for about 2 percent of annual GDP, and only 3 percent of the land is cultivated,which seems natural, since it can get pretty cold, the thin soils, Grains are grown only in the south while western Norway has some livestock raising and dairy farming. The leading crops in 1998 were cereal, particularly barley, wheat, and oats (total output of 1.3 million metric tons),and potatoes (400,320 tons). In 1998, there were 2.5 million sheep, 998,400 cattle, and 768,400 hogs in the country. Norway is still a major fishing nation and is self-sufficient in many agricultural products, but fruits, vegetables, and most grains are all imported. Agriculture and fishing remain protected by the Norwegian government

Pest forecasting of Norwegian agriculture:

A network of 52 weather stations in Norway is operated by the Norwegian Crop Research Institute. The main goal of the network is to reduce the use of pesticides, resulting in better crops at lower costs in a better environment. information from the stations is used in forecasting models that look to provide early warning of conditions such as apple scab, potato late blight, cabbage moth, cereal diseases and turnip moth. The stations measure air temperature, humidity, wind speed, leaf wetness, and global radiation. Some stations also measure rainfall, soil temperature, and sunshine.

 

Nightlife

Norway seems to come alive at night. legal drinking age there is 18 so you will be seeing a lot more teenagers out, the wild party kind. You have clubs and bars here in america and of course all over the world. However, unlike in America, they are geared more towards dancing than drinking. You see a lot less of these drugs you see in the clubs here, even though the main music played in Norway is "dubstep" or techno which are both often associated with ecstacy. As stated before the bars are more geared towards dancing, and where you see a lot of "clubs" have a large bar, a lot of seating and a small dance floor; in Norway you see a small bar, very little seating around the edges of the club and the rest is a dance floor. The clubs in Norway are typically a lot bigger as well. While there is a lot of alcohol consumed when they go out, due to the fact that alcohol is an everyday drink much like juice in America , typically they dont drink until the pass out, and little with focus on drugs, you dont see very many people at work hung over or even call in sick. Another huge differenece is that Norwegians for the most part party everynight, and even if the party is simply at someones house they always get dressed up 'to go out." Needless to say, if you're down to party, come to Norway!

Favorite pastime and Hobbies

Skiing, once a means of transportation, is now the national sport. Children learn to ski at an early age. Downhill, cross-country, and slalom skiing are all popular. Other winter sports include iceskating and bandy, a game similar to hockey. Soccer (called "football") and tennis are popular summer sports.
Norway has some of the biggest ski resorts in europe and are usually up on the tops of moountains as there is snow year round.     

Norwegians enjoy many outdoor activities such as hunting, fishing (including ice fishing), hiking, boating, and white-water rafting. Watching televised competitive skiing and speed skating events is a favorite pastime. Many people take skiing vacations in the mountains during Easter week. Summer vacations are often spent either in cabins in the mountains or in the area between the cities of Stavanger and Krageroe in the south. The fjords there are sheltered from the wind and sea, and vacationers enjoy swimming, sailing, relaxing on the sandy beaches, and viewing waterfalls.     

Norwegian craftspeople turn out knitted and woven goods, and wood products including utensils, bowls, and furniture. Another leading craft is the production of traditional Norwegian costumes. Folk dancing and singing are enjoying a revival and are practiced at festivals throughout the country

Government Layout

Norway has a very different government from United States. Norway has whats known as a constituional monarchy. A constitutional Monarchy, also known as a limited monarchy, is a monarchy that follows an established constitution. As a monarchy of course there is a King and Queen, as far as prince or princess, the first born child is the first in line for the thrown, along with their spouse. Prior to 1990 only the first born son was eligable for the crown. In 1990 it was added to the constitution that the first born child is eligable for the crown.  However, this is affective for prince or princesses born after 1990, there for the in current monarchy the first born son and his wife will  be the next king and queen even though the prince has an older sister. For military control the king has the sole power to declare war.

To pass a law in Norway you must first get people in public to vote for it. You then send it to the local representative who will introduce it in to parliment. Parliment then reads and votes on it. If the vote is no then the law is thrown out and can not be re-proposed for a year. If it is voted yes then parliment waits 3 days then reads and votes again. If the answer is still yes then it is sent to the king where the king votes yes or no. If the king says no it is thrown out, if the king says yes it goes back to parliment where it is enacted as a law. If in the second parliment vote the vote changes to no, then parliment waits 3 more days, then reads and votes on the law again, if yes it goes to the king and if no it is thrown out.

Transportation

Cars, buses, trains, planes, boats,bikes, scooters and walking are all a part of Norway's transportation of course but what i have noticed is that there is a rare occurance to where youd see a truck. They are not popular in norway as our roads are very slim and only wide enough to place a compact car on each lane. Not to mention 90% of roads in Norway have only two lanes, one coming and one going. The highway has 3 lanes.
Since Norway has alot of water around and has major islands off the mainland, a very popular form of transportation is by boat. They have ferries. Small ferries that hold only people are called "fjordkat" which are generally faster like speed boats.

People who live on the islands tend to take this boat. For teenagers who work or go to school they can go buy a "columbus" card that they pay 300,- (kroner) which is equivalent to about $60. This card lets you travel by boat, bus and train unlimited amount of times in one month. When that month is up you have to pay another 250,-. After being transported to your island there is a mini bus which does a drop off/pick-up at 9 am and again at 4:30 pm which will take you to your house. If you are traveling with a car and you need to bring it, you used to have to just drive straight on to the ferry and the ferry takes you to the island but an underground tunnel has been built. This means that you have to drive from the mainland (stavanger) to the island called Judaberg. A ferry will then pick you up from there and take you should you need to go further. This ferry is quite large and has 2 floors of seating with a big deck below to park your cars. Instead of paying the fee for the ferry everytime you come on you can also buy a card. This card is good for any ferry big or small and is paid monthly as well. It runs about 2.800,- ($560).

When you drive in Norway we have toll booths. when you drive out of one city to another there is one placed on the city lines. There is also toll booths which are run by electronic bricks little computers placed behind your rearview mirror in your car. Each month you have to pay $560 on it. When you pass by the toll it will flash green if you have money and re good to go, a certain amount of money is subtracted every time you drive by. When you start to run empty on your card the light will flash yellow and if you have no money on your card it flashes red. You will then be sent a ticket in which you have to pay.

Cops do patrol in Norway but not nearly as much as you see them in the United States. In Norway there are cameras that are placed on certain light poles and are normally hidden pretty well. When it checks your speed, should you be speeding, your picture is taken and sent to the police station in which they write you a ticket and send it to you in the mail (along with the picture taken).

Laws in the U.S state that you have to be 16 years of age to legally drive. Well in Norway the legal limit to drive is 18. In the U.S the driving test is as simple as aking 30 minutes out of your day to drive with a teacher and $15-$20. When getting your license in Norway, you have to have atleast 100 hours of driving with a teacher, written test and a driving course on the ice. This you will not be "graded" on but for your persnal safety to experience driving on different road conditions to make you aware to drive with caution. After all this, what you will need is about 40.000,- ($8,000) then you have your license and can get to driving.

now you can begin to see why most people walk or take the bus :)

The averge day of a Norwegian

A typical day would be to wake up, go to work and shool, come home, eat then go to bed, right?
Not so much. In norway the schedules are genrally the same but have more detail to them than the average american. Norwegians will wake up and make breakfast for the whole family. The table will be covered in breads, meats to go on the bread  different drinks and everything else you can think of. When breakfast is done everyone helps clean up then head off to work and school. Students who attend school have to either walk to school or take the public bus because no school buses are provided. School starts at 8:30 am monday-Friday and ends at 12:30 pm. On certain days which will change from week to week the school day may end at 1:30pm.
When school is done, the kids will come home and with no hesitation sit right down at the kitchen table and do their homework. When homework is done, the chores get worked on until parents come home and dinner is made. I've personally seen a lot of americans buy frozen T.V dinners, pop them in the microwave and eat in front of the television. Norwegian families cook dinner together then everyone eats at the dinner table with the television off. There is family time spent together every single day, no matter what. Norwegians really live under the term "family comes first."` No work problem, no other problem what so ever comes in between the family.

I see a lot of kids these days who will back talk their parents, not help out around the house, do bad in school fr no reason and i highly believe it's because there isn't that family bonding time to get them closer, there for the kids push themselves away. I've yet to see that kind of problem umong norwegians. They have always been very tight knit.

Language

The general population of Norway speaks the official language Norwegian. Norwegian is spoken in two different forms, bokmal (book norwegian) and nynorsk (new norwegian). Bokmal is more commonly spoken in the southern part of Norway. A good way to relate it is to think about American english and British english. It's the same language but has a different accent to it or dialect.
The Alphabet has all the same letters as english but contains three additional letters: Æ, Ø and Å.

Both or these dialects are taught and are expected to be known by everyone. For a while there was a movement trying to create a single standard language, Samnorks (union norwegian). Politicians liked the idea but more people seemed to think it was a waste of time and that it would never happen so nothing came of it.

By the end of second grade, you are to know Norwegian fluently (of course) and English. You are tested to make sure since english is the second most common language in not only Norway but generally all over the world. When you have reached third grade you are offered to take another language such as german or spanish even french. I personally speak over 5 languages and im very thankful for being raised in norway and given that skill to be able to speak and comprehend so many different ones, it gives me and opportunity to travel the world and know a little bit more than most that go there.

A a	B b	C c	D d	E e	F f	G g	H h	I i	J j
a	be	se	de	e	eff	ge	hå	i	je/jådd
K k	L l	M m	N n	O o	P p	Q q	R r	S s	T t
kå	ell	em	enn	o	pe	ku	ærr	ess	te
U u	V v	W w	X x	Y y	Z z	Æ æ	Ø ø	Å å

Fashion

                 As part of europe(typically one of the world leaders in fashion), Norway is always ahead of the curve. What you see in Norway tnormally starts showing up in the U.S. 6 months to a year after the style has changed. The most recent one in Norway that we are starting to see a lot of in the U.S. for women is leggings with over sized shirt and a belt on the outside.
Norway doesn't forget its roots though, we still have to break out our traditional clothing which includes sweaters called Lusekofte or setesdalsgenser, dating back to the 19th century. These sweaters are made out of thick norwegian sheep wool, also used for pants, gloves and hat similar to the sweater.

                Another formal kind of clothing that is traditional in Norway is a long dress called "bunad."  These can be worn by both men and women, although men would wear pants instead of dresses...obviously because it's not scotland.
These dresses and vests come with a variety of designs and usually depend on where in Norway you are from and how old your costume is. This clothing usually has a very high price with it as well and can run up to a couple thousand dollars.

Shoes worn with the bunad dress are called bunadsko and are always black with a silver buckle and red trim.

Food

A common food among Norwegians is fish. No surprise, there is an abundance of seafood found in it's water making Norway's fishing industry incredibly large. They are also one of the biggest fish exporters out there.

Norway is a country that it's people are said to be the healthiest. We have fish anywhere from 2-4 times a week. For breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper.

For occasions like Easter and christmas, lamb is usually whats cooking. To make the lamb you have to prepare a day ahead of time. With probably the biggest pot you could find, you place a filter at the bottom to filter out the salt of the lamb. We like it salty but not THAT salty. Then you leave it to cook for up to 5 hours depending on you personal taste.

In almost every family, dinner is made every night after work. Time is taken out of the day to have family time which is spent at the dinner table.

Some common baked goods would b what is made on May 17th (Norways birthday) or someones birthday, Kransekake. It's a pastry cake, stacked with many layers and frosted with sugar. You can also place little toothpick norwegian flags on each layer as shown in the picture below.

Also  called the Norwegian Wedding cake. Usually made fat free and flour free..and did i mention, it's delicious!

History of the vikings

Norwegian influence in the medieval times is what makes up the history of this great place. Back in the 9th century when boat building was a common job and skill everyone had. The Voyages which were taken to do trades were done on a boat called the Long boat. Built with flat bottom hulls by the voyagers later to be called the "Vikings."

At first, few long distance voyages were made but as more boats were built they traveled longer distances to places such as France, Scotland and Ireland.

Dublin and Normandy were two of the many cities founded by the Vikings. Around the year 879 they found and colonized iceland which later lef to them colonizing greenland.What led to the viking dimise was internal disputes and other european countries becoming stronger.

Overview

Born and raised in Stavanger,Norway,i wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Beautiful scenery, delicious food and laid back people. In this blog im trying to get you to not only get a feel for Norway but experience it as well.