# Okay, so ask the American expat living in Norway **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 12, 2003, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-so-ask-the-american-expat-living-in-norway/148128 "2003-01-12T13:20:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Azael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a8b319/32.png) [@Azael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azael)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-so-ask-the-american-expat-living-in-norway/148128/41 "2003-01-20T16:58:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > Why does everyone seem to have a hangup about the smell and texture of lutfisk? I’ve never noticed anything special about it. \*\* Might have something to do with the lurid descriptions you Scandinavians seem so fond of giving. Lutefisk I haven’t had, but I have had the dubious fortune to try another Norwegian “delicacy,” **boiled sheep’s head**. That was fun, we got my friend to eat the eyeballs (a dare). Flodnak: What brought you over to Norway? Is there an extensive American ex-pat community around Oslo? Ever been to Stavanger? (I lived there for four years) > [@](#): > > Drunk driving penalties seem harsh to most Americans - first offense results in three weeks in jail and a suspended license. Don’t they take a percentage of your annual income as part of the “fine” as well? One thing I do remember was that the legal limit for blood alcohol was ridiculously low. They used to set up traps in the morning and you could fail the breathalyzer test just by having had just a few drinks the night before. I also remember that any alcohol that wasn’t beer was to purchased through the state alcohol monopoly ( **Vinmonopoli** ) for ridiculously inflated prices. That and many other factors have led me to consider Norway as the epitome of the “Nanny State.” ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2003, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-so-ask-the-american-expat-living-in-norway/148128/42 "2003-01-21T01:20:49Z")
How popular is telemark skiing compared to cross-country and alpine? ---
**Author:** ![ems](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@ems](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ems)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2003, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-so-ask-the-american-expat-living-in-norway/148128/43 "2003-01-21T08:29:54Z")
**Azael** you are right about the low blood alcohol limit I think it is almost zero now although I am not certain. And yup any wine and spirits have to be bought from the state run Vinomonpolet but at least now they are changing a lot of them into self service instead of “take a ticket and queue then go to the counter and have them get it for you” although there are still some about. And in Stavanger you can’t buy alcohol in the supermarkets after 3.00pm although in Bergen it is 8.00pm. The have just recently allowed the sale of alcopop type drinks in supermarkets. And if a pub wants to sell spirits it has to have a special liquor licence and the entry age is raised to 21 instead of 18 for a pub that sells beer and wine. Lemme guess **Azael** you were here for the oil business right? So am I for my sins - in Stavanger at the moment as well ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2003, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-so-ask-the-american-expat-living-in-norway/148128/44 "2003-01-21T13:09:43Z")
Are there any musems in Norway? I’m particularly interested in interesting medical conditions. And are these museums close to breweries? ---
**Author:** ![Azael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a8b319/32.png) [@Azael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azael)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2003, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-so-ask-the-american-expat-living-in-norway/148128/45 "2003-01-21T21:32:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > Lemme guess Azael you were here for the oil business right? \*\* Indeed. My dad works for Conoco (er Conoco-Philips), I graduated from ISS back in '99. Lived near the “three swords.” Heh, Norway is great this time of year isn’t it? 😉 I used to call it the “Land of Eternal Gloom.” It’s beautiful in the summer though. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2003, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-so-ask-the-american-expat-living-in-norway/148128/46 "2003-01-22T09:02:25Z")
**Azael** : I’m married to a Norwegian, so I’m a “lifer” (or, as some others put it, a lurrrrve immigrant 😃 ). There’s a pretty decent US expat community here - I live about ten minutes’ walk from Oslo International School, which is a combination of what used to be the British School and the American School when there was a NATO base here. I’m only moderately active in that community, though - our kids don’t go to the International School, and though I’m a member of the American Women’s Club I miss more meetings than I attend… Never been to Stavanger; the closest I’ve been is Bomlø, an island about half-way between Stavanger and Bergen, where an old friend from my days in Trondheim lives now. Rural Norway and then some! The fine for DWI is instead of jail time, not in addition to; the judges have the option of sentencing you to pay the fine for this offense if you can convince them going to jail is a particular hardship for you. The fine is based on your annual income; I forget what it is for a first time DWI, but I know fines of up to two months’ salary are possible for other offenses. The legal limit is 0.5 parts per thousand, or 0.05%. For a while it was 0.2ppt, but fortunately that didn’t last long. Coming from Pennsylvania, I tend to think that at least you can buy _beer_ in the grocery stores here… as of the New Year, you can also buy alco-pops and low-alcohol wines. **Muffin** , telemark is a distant third in popularity behind cross-country skiing and alpine skiing - but it does seem to be regaining popularity. Lots of kids think snowboarding is so twentieth century 😉 As for me, I’ll stick to my cross-country skis. At least I know how to brake with those! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-so-ask-the-american-expat-living-in-norway/148128.md?page=2)