| Dream Job-Nightmare
Trip Moving To Norway, Or Not… |
| When Things
Go Wrong |
| By Karen Southall Watts |
| It was the
job opportunity of a lifetime, a one-year contract as an economic development
consultant in beautiful western Norway. I was going to be working with
local schools, governments and entrepreneurs while my children and I lived
in a postcard perfect rural village near the fjords. Within just a few
weeks we were packed and flying home, just in time for my kids to end up
almost a whole grading period behind in school. What happened?
Timing is
everything, well almost everything. For a move like this to work timing
and research were everything - everything that went wrong. More time and
more careful research might have saved this move. |
|
|
|
|
|
Hopefully
our experience will help the next family who wants to experience the beauty
of Vest land. Our problems broke down into two major groups: the financial/logistical
problems and the social/cultural problems. By learning from my mistakes
you should be able to avoid difficulties in both areas.
| Search
4Escape - The International Lifestyles Search Engine |
| -
4Escape is a search engine that searches our network of websites each of
which shares a common theme: International relocation, living ? investing
overseas, overseas jobs, embassies, maps, international real estate, asset
protection, articles about how to live ? invest overseas, Caribbean properties
and lifestyles, overseas retirement, offshore investments, our yacht broker
portal, our house swap portal, articles on overseas employment, international
vacation rentals, international vacation packages, travel resources,
every embassy in the world, maps of the world, our three very popular eZines
. . . and, as they are fond to say, a great deal more. |
|
|
*You must have
a personal number to receive wages in Norway. It’s similar to the American
social security number. This fact I knew. Unfortunately, I found out when
I went to Svelgen to register my work permit that it would take about six
weeks for this number to arrive. For someone who had just spent thousands
on plane tickets and moving expenses this was a rude awakening. |
|
|
| My company
eventually advanced me some cash,
but this problem seemed to be tied to a strange cultural notion: Norwegians
think all Americans are rich. It never occurred to anyone that waiting
weeks for my first paycheck would be a problem. In addition, my company
assumed that I would be able to immediately purchase a car. Cars are considered
luxury items in Norway and even used ones are expensive.
*“Credit
card” often means VISA only. No, this is not a commercial for VISA.
Before leaving I asked my contact about expenses etc. and she suggested
a cash amount (which turned out to be inadequate) and that I bring
a credit card. My moving expenses had almost maxed out my VISA, so I made
sure my MasterCard was carrying no balance and set off. Only after I arrived
did I discover that most small merchants don’t accept MasterCard or the
popular debit/check card I was also carrying. |
|
|
Offshore
Resources Gallery
|
|
|
| *Nothing
is urgent in Norway. While I was very successful in getting the consulate
in Miami to rush my work permit through I was less successful in communicating
the need for speed to others. I told my company that I would need immediate
access to email and the Internet. I was legally separated at the time and
had to be able to contact the father of my children. Also, I had converted
all my finances to online services so I could more easily track them while
overseas. It was a week before I finally got to a computer, in a public
library, to check in with my life. By then I already had an angry email
from my ex accusing me of vanishing in a foreign country with the kids
and my credit card payments barely made it in under the wire. About two
weeks into the adventure I was provided with a cell phone (our cottage
had no phone) but I could only make calls within Norway.
*The role
of the local Norwegian school is very different from an American school.
About two weeks before we left the US I got an email from the headmistress
of the school in the village where we were headed. In was a very nice introduction
and I was feeling pretty positive. After we arrived we found out just how
wrong I had been. The school staff, most especially the headmistress, was
boiling over with anger. They felt the company should have given them much
more advanced notice that an American family |
|
|
| was moving
in and that “someone should have asked for permission” to place
us in the town and school. The teachers were mad and apparently had a poor
relationship with the company and did nothing to hide this attitude from
my children or myself. In addition, the state religion of Norway permeates
the public schools. For families used to separation of church and state
this was a strange feeling. Lastly, the local school we landed in was about
two years behind in content matter when compared to the academics of our
North Carolina schools.
*Housing
and living standards are very subjective. We were driven late at night
to our temporary housing. My only in town company contact then informed
me that he was unavailable and would be gone for the weekend and left us,
before anyone showed us how to use the heater. Luckily we slept most of
the weekend anyway. |
|
|
Offshore
Resources Gallery
|
| Escape
From America Magazine - The Magazine To Read To If You Want To Move Overseas |
| - Began Summer
1998 - Now with almost a half million subscribers, out eZine is the resource
that expats, and wantabe expats turn to for information. Our archives
now have thousands of articles and each month we publish another issue
to a growing audience of international readers. Over 100 people a
day subscribe to our eZine. We've been interviewed and referenced
by the Wall Street Journal, CNN, The Washington Post, London Talk Show
Radio, C-Span, BBC Click Online, Yahoo Magazine, the New York Times, and
countless other media sources. Featuring International Lifestyles
~ Overseas Jobs ~ Expat Resources ~ Offshore Investments ~ Overseas
Retirement - Second Passports ~ Disappearing Acts ~ Offshore eCommerce
~ Unique Travel ~ Iconoclastic Views ~ Personal Accounts ~ Views From Afar
~ Two things have ushered us into a world without borders... the end of
the cold war and the advent of the world wide web of global communications
? commerce. Ten years and over one hundred issues! We're just
getting started - Gilly Rich - Editor |
|
|
| We dined
for a day on the bread and jam we bought in Bergen. The furnished house
did have a refrigerator but it was empty and the stores all closed by seven
at night and are closed all day Sunday. Our temporary house was a vacation
cabin, which aside from the very steep mountain climb to the door was okay.
However there was no washing machine for clothes, nor any laundry facilities
in town.
Traveling
with two kids meant I spent lots of time washing clothes in the sink and
hanging them on the porch. Finally, a local mom of six took pity on
us and washed and dried all our clothes. Good thing too, because by then
we were packing them up to leave. We were taken to look at two prospects
for more permanent housing-both had completely gutted bathrooms and needed
lots of other repairs.
*When the whole
situation finally broke down I was told that because my work permit had
been rushed through no one had time to prepare adequately. Boy do I wish
I had been told that on this side of the Atlantic.
Would I go
again? YOU BET! Norway is beautiful with a friendly populace. There
are lots of opportunities in the western areas where we went and I had
traveled before. Would I do things differently? OH YES! Here’s what
I would change “next time”.
1. Ask more
specific questions about transportation, what’s close to the town and get
photos of schools and houses. Find out if your employer intends that you
purchase your own car right away.
2. Take a
VISA credit card and lots of cash, even if it meant postponing a
move by several months to save up the extra money.
3. Don’t use
the US mail to send my office books. I sent books by the special “media
bag” before our trip and they were never seen again in either country.
4. Ask more
pointed questions about the relationship between any employer and the local
community.
5. Insist
on housing choices in two different school zones. Request a local company
liaison that will be available 24/7 for at least the first week or so.
Take an extended vacation with family to the area where you plan to relocate.
This company
successfully relocated some families from other parts of Europe to the
same area. We were the first Americans to give it a try and I hope not
the last. |
|
 |
|
Article
Index ~ Norway
Index ~ |
Copyright 1996 -
EscapeArtist.com
Inc. All Rights Reserved