So why Norway?
So let’s start with the question everyone asked when we first announced our plans.
Why Norway?
Or at least that's what they wanted to ask. In fact, almost no one did. They nodded gravely and said, “well, you do like skiing.” Perhaps they thought it would be rude. Perhaps they thought we were unhinged and asking the question would be like cornering an enraged elk. Who knows. In the event, the question was posed only once, at a funeral. My husband’s grandfather died and he went to Liverpool for the service. Afterwards, at the wake, he was buttonholed by one of his aunts. She’s one of those aunts: the type who ask their dying Dad for money for a hairdressing business then spend it on plastic surgery. She lives in Spain, this aunt, which is probably why she needed the face lift. Sun damage.
“Why Norway?” asked Auntie, glass of funeral wine in one claw.
My husband confessed later he had several responses to choose from. The top two were:
1) Because Scotland is too hot.
2) Did the surgeon mean to make one eye higher than the other?
Being him and not me, he gave her response 3. Norway has the highest standard of living in the world. And alcohol is illegal, he added, nimbly putting a stop to her holiday plans.
Yes. Norway has the highest standard of living in the world. It’s also the most peaceful, and according to the United Nations’ index, has the highest level of Human Development. The UK comes 24th in that list. The United Nations also ranked Norway the best place to live. If you were an alien and relocating because the Kloogons had just blasted your planet to smithereens with their deadly Xargle ray, Norway would be your new country of choice. Of course, if the Alien Relocation Service had their way, you and your six eyed family would be sent straight to Burkina Faso, ranked 174th.
So that’s why Norway. It’s peaceful, prosperous and healthy. It’s a great place to raise kids and we had two fledglings still in the nest. The skiing is wonderful.
And no, since you ask, alcohol is not illegal here. But don’t let Auntie know.
Litopia is the winner
So why Norway
It sounds wonderful. I had been living in the States for almost twenty years when my son reached school age. We decided to move back to the UK with rather hazy Brideshead memories of how civilised a country it was.
Hmm. I'm not saying we made a mistake yet. London has myriad advantages over Las Vegas (our last port of call in the US) but I wouldn't call it an idyllic place to raise children.
Did you already speak the language or did you have to learn it?
Norwegian
We had to learn it and that experience will be the subject of a future blog.
Las Vegas must have been an interesting place to live. Have you read "Beautiful Children" by Charles Bock? Great book, but perhaps defines why you wouldn't want to raise a family there.
Most British people don't
Most British people don't understand why anyone would want to live in any country that isn't scorching hot for at least half the year.
I love northern countries - if I ever relocated overseas it would be to Canada, Alaska, Norway, or Iceland. But if I say this, I get a bewildered response from most people and absolute horror from my partner who is rather keen on Australia and various small hurricane-thrashed Pacific islands.