However, to be a student in Norway is rather delightful. We get scholarships from the goverments studentloan "assosiacion", (don't know the word for it) and we can easely get work. So all is not bad in Norway.

It was fun reading abaout you're thoughts about our city of Oslo :)

Hilsen Kine - a norwegian student :)

"...now the richest country in the world, Norway has only existed independently since 1905 and has built an identity which is associated with the beauty of its countryside and a rural way of life. This essentially romantic but cohesive national identity has made the process of integration for immigrants very difficult.

Laurie visits a young ethnically diverse hip hop group who have created a new language and asks how does their hybrid from of culture fit into ideas of Norwegianess and belonging?"

Re: bicycles -- it might be true that the situation for bicyclists in Norway is far better than they are in the UK, but compared to most other civilized countries like Sweden and Denmark and of course the Netherlands, Norway lags far behind when it comes to providing for bicyclists. One reason might be that fewer people in Norway cycle than in other European countries because it is so hilly and the weather is unsuitable for cycling a large part of the year. But of course it is as always mostly a matter of political will. Oslo has been run by car friendly conservative partys for the last couple of decades.

Regarding cleanliness -- your views on Oslo as being particularly clean surprised me a bit since I've seen it the other way around for a while. In the German-speaking parks of Switzerland, South Germany, and Austria you can eat off the sidewalks. Part of the reason for this might be that Germans are a lot more cleanly, but some of the reason might be that there is a much greater difference between wealthy and poor people. Because of this difference, it doesn't become prohibitively expensive to pay people to clean the streets. Here in Norway, where the minimum wage is quite a bit higher, along with the living expenses and taxes, the streets and public toilets tend to be quite a bit grimier than in countries with larger divides between rich and poor people. Personally I think grimy toilets is a price worth paying for an equal society. Another thing worth mentioning is probably that there are large differences between the east and west sides of Oslo when it comes to how clean the streets are. Unsurprisingly, the streets are a lot cleaner in the wealthy western parts than in the poorer eastern parts. When it comes to social economic factors Oslo is a very divided city, and if you only visit parts of it, it is easy to make wrong generalizations.

Re: Jantelagen -- I think this is a phenomenon all over, not just in Norway, what these particular for Norway though, is the incessant complaining by some people about how Jantelagen is holding them down. The explanation that they just might be average losers with illusions of grandeur never seems to strike them.

Again, some of my critism might lie in the fact I grew up in a relatively small town in Norway A(Halden), and in small towns Janteloven predominated (and I was an avid reader of Axel Sandemose's books).

Once more, yeah, maybe these rules have some sense but are not meant to be uttered this bluntly, maybe it's a more general small-town rule.

This movie here had some interesting depiction of norwegian rural life in it: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0157411

I'm told by my Norwegian insiders that Janteloven is something of a 'display rule' in Norway. In other words, culturally, it's useful or 'proper' to appear that you believe in it. Whether the idea goes any deeper than this is up for debate.

Either way, my own experience was certainly that Janteloven did explain many aspects of behaviour there. That tends to make me think there is something to it.

This is a point I've tried to emphasize with students in various psychology courses I have taught. And travelling is a great way to establish avenues that will allow for such contrast. But if one loses one's sense of self, sometimes you don't even have to leave your own neighborhood to rediscover core elements of yourself. For example:

I Found Myself at a Yard Sale
words and music by Dr. BLT (c)2006
http://www.drblt.net/music/yardsp.mp3

Bruce
aka Dr. BLT
The World's First Blog n Roll Artist

Although people are fairly friendly when you get to know them there is nothing like the dutch "cozyness". Drinking in Norway is close to a national disease. When you have to pay, as you saym 8 pounds for your beer, you want some damned effect of it. Result: youth crawling around in rural gutters, drunk out of their minds, screaming on the rightful Beelzebubian association in Milton's Paradise Lost.

Now this is not to say that Norway is not beautiful and norwegians surely know how to value nature, and this is probably one of the few positive things about it (and it's role should not be underestimated).

One more note: northern norway is so unpopular (with the exeption of Trondheim) that they promise to delete your student loan if you move there.

I admit I go back every year to draw in some natural wonders, I do however take my own booze.