As mentioned in a 辫谤别惫颈辞耻蝉听补谤迟颈肠濒别聽and as most people know, we Latin Americans love to dance. It is a way to socialize, to have fun and to exercise.

Just to give you an idea,听a traditional wedding will start with the ceremony in a church, then a three course meal with all formalities and speeches, to be followed by many hours of fun, dancing. There is even a one hour “crazy hour” part of the party where guests get disguises and will become even more relaxed, unwind even more while dancing, of course.

During our wedding, we gave guests viking hats, to go with the groom鈥檚 culture. You will find small kids and grandparents also joining, having a nice time on the dance floor.聽 On a weekend, at a birthday party, we enjoy dancing.

In my聽article聽I actually made an analogy between volunteering in Norway and dancing in Latin America, since for us a perfect way to go out, meet new and old friends, and be active is dancing, while聽for Norwegians it is volunteering.

So, it was quite nice to find out that there is quite some interest in salsa dancing in the region. In the last years interest has increased to the point that I can claim that there is quite a large community of Latin American expats and Norwegians who enjoy Latin American dancing. It is a way to keep active and socialize in addition to volunteering, that is.

So, I have now gathered a short list with some of the venues and courses that aim at promoting dancing to some Latin American rhythms, such as salsa and merengue.

Venues to dance salsa and other Latin American rhythms:

• Holmen bar at Victoria Hotel, Thursdays from 21:00 to 1:00聽 Free entrance
• Salsaklubb in Gausel Bydelshus, Thursdays from 19:30 to 23:00
• organizes dancing events throughout the year at Park Inn Hotel
• offer聽social dance evenings and parties in聽Hillev氓g

Courses:

• Learn to dance salsa, bachata, kizomba and zouk –聽
• Learn to dance salsa and rueda –聽

Remember, it is really about having fun, no need to be an expert.

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Photo credit:聽,听Carmen Cristina Pettersen Carpio

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My husband and some other friends of him suggested that I contact Maijazz to get some experience and do some volunteering. I have to admit that most volunteering in my country is mainly linked to social services, so I was a bit curious and did not know all that it meant for Norwegians and for an expat living in Norway.

I did not expect it to be done in all kinds of festivals, groups and organisations. In many cases, volunteering in Norway became a large part of the event, how it would help me in my job search, among other things.

Helping out a Jazz festival

In 2010, I decided to become a volunteer for the Maijazz festival. I was in charge of marketing, specifically merchandising (presentation in retail outlets of the festival), helping with the branding in the traditional way in order to get the festival more visible in the city.

I found that it helped me to stay active working in something related to my background. I have to say that I enjoyed it as my first experience.

Then some months later, in August, my sister came for a visit and we both were recruited as volunteers in the catering team of the International Chamber Music Festival. Despite not joining a team related to my field of studies, I had a great time and was able to be a part of the most international team of engaged volunteers I have met so far.

Another festival

Since then I have been volunteering in the catering group for the International Chamber Music Festival most years, have had friends join and keep meeting some great people each time. In addition, one of the perks of been a volunteer is that you get to attend most of the concerts and if you are lucky you get to meet some top-class musicians during their meals.

To be a volunteer allows you to help, to network and it is also an opportunity to get some local experience and contacts, which are very useful when applying for a job in Norway.

I currently volunteer as Digital Marketing manager for Nettverk Stavanger, a which aims at making the Stavanger region more appealing for work and living, as well as having an important role in networking and leadership development.

As you can see, volunteering in Norway is a very social activity. I found out that some people have been helping at a festival or organisation for years in a row, they sometimes travel from other cities or get leave from work in order to help full time, as the perfect event to meet past friends and make new ones, in addition to their love of the festival itself.

Latin American similarities

If I could use an analogy to describe this I would say that volunteering is to Norway as dancing is to Latin America, that is, a fun way to socialize and be active.

Some of the reasons for me to come back, is the energy and friendly atmosphere that the leader of the catering group for the International Chamber Music Festival and Maijazz, Gaye Rosland, has created.

So I asked her bit more about it.

What do you think makes volunteering so special in Norway. And why do you love volunteering so much during ICMF and Maijazz?

“In order to be a part of a community, it's important to give back…that's one of the reasons I started volunteering. A huge plus is that now I have made so many friends, not only Norwegian but from all over the world. People arrive here in international Stavanger and make positive connections through their volunteering at festivals.”

“In addition to friendship, there is the excitement, positive vibrations, the pleasure of solving problems and at the end a job well done.  In addition, you are able to listen to fantastic music AND meet the musicians first-hand.  We are able to create a homey atmosphere so they can relax and prepare for their concerts without a lot of stress.”

Photo credit: Bitmap / Dag Myrestrand ICMF 2014

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Are you looking for ways to meet new people in Stavanger and its region?

Or are you interested in tasting different flavours, tired of going out to the same restaurants all the time or looking for a more personal experience when dining? is a concept of social dining available in the Stavanger region aimed to help you with all issues mentioned above.

My personal experiences with EatinCommon started in May 2014 when, together with my husband, we attended our first EatinCommon event as guests, which was actually hosted by Metteliva, the founder of EatinCommon. We felt immediately that this was something that we could be a part of and decided to host an event ourselves. So far, we have had 4 events at our home, with the biggest one being a Norwegian traditional brunch where we gathered a total of 14 people while we enjoyed a nice meal and got in the Christmas season spirit. As an additional activity, our events have included a board game or a party game at the end which has been a great way to interact with guests and have some fun around the table.

I had the pleasure of interviewing passionate entrepreneur Metteliva Henningsen, who started the concept of EatinCommon some years ago when she moved to Stavanger.

How did the concept behind EatinCommon start?

“At Startup Weekend Stavanger 2013. When I moved to Stavanger I wasn鈥檛 sure if I could work here and what kind of work. So I brought my little business idea book and found out that Startup Weekend was also happening in Rogaland. So I joined and EatinCommon quickly got a lot of attention.”

What are your main goals with this new way of socializing?

“I want to challenge the term “stranger” and in general get people to be more friendly towards people they don麓t know beforehand. If I can help take away a fraction of the fear or the I-don麓t-know-you-so-I-don麓t-care-about-you-attitude towards strangers, I would be very proud.”

“Secondly my goal is to make a meaningful business that brings occasions for people to meet, and at the same time create my own work life. I want people to spend more time across each other than standing next to each other like in cinemas, galleries, concerts etc.”

Have you considered other business models that could come from this social platform? Focused on single people, collaborating with dating agencies? Giving hosts the opportunity to sell some additional homemade goodies during the events they host?

“Yes, we have considered both and are working on ways to implement this in an improved business model.聽But in the beginning we didn鈥檛 want to profile the concept too heavily towards singles, because we also want to include couples, 鈥渘ew-in-towns鈥�, students etc. If someone wants to do a singles dinner, that is fine with us. In the future you will probably see EatinCommon facilitate singles dinners along with kids dinners too.”

I personally arrived to the first event together with my husband, and was a bit anxious about what we were about to experience. We were glad to find one couple and one single person also attending the event which in this case was hosted by Metteliva herself. What struck me first was that this kind of event at home made it a very relaxed atmosphere. We were all just sharing our storiesand having a nice time conversing and sharing our experiences as expats.

There are many other people who might be a bit anxious about trying this concept. What is your advice for them?

“Take it as an experience, and set your expectations low. If you don鈥檛 expect much, you always get pleasantly surprised. Also, people shouldn鈥櫬磘 be anxious of being the only one coming alone. The group of guests usually have both singles, couples and friends. It makes a good mix and no-one is ever left outside of conversations, because people are naturally curious about everyone. I also think that going by yourself can be a valuable experience. Something you do for yourself.”

When I have explained or promoted the concept to friends and colleagues I notice that there are some that feel more comfortable if they can bring someone along with them.

Can guests invite a friend, partner or kids along to an event?

“Yes. We have a brand new functionality on the site, that allows guests to bring a partner, friend and sometimes – if the host allow it – guests can bring several friends or relatives.”

How do people make friends, before during and after the event?

“We have a “EatinCommon hosts and guest connect” – group on Facebook, where hosts and guests can connect and share info, experiences etc. Users can also add LinkedIin, Twitter and/or Facebook to their profile to show how they wish to stay connected.”

As a South American, I think that socializing might be part of my DNA. I personally believe that the concept of food is a way for social networking that works across all ages and cultures. It is so wonderful to experience how we through food can connect people in a common experience: eating.

If you are interested in learning more about in Norway, you can connect with聽them聽on .

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Photo credit:聽

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Once you've learned the basics of any language, its the expressions and idioms that add colour.

This is part of a series on how to learn Norwegian.

When I started learning Norwegian I tried to translate every world in order to get the meaning of a sentence. Most of the cases it did work, but others, it does not. Here is my list of some common Norwegian phrases that you will hear while in Norway and which directly translate in a funny way.

Learn Norwegian Now: Norwegian Class 101 / The Mystery of Nils

Takk for sist – “Thank you for the last time”

The first time I heard this expression I thought my memory was failing and that I just had forgotten that I had recently seen this person.

What it really means: “Nice to see you again”

It is used when you meet someone that you see again but it does not matter how long ago you did.

H氓per at det smaker – “I hope that it tastes”

This is an expression used when you are served or serving some food. My immediate reaction was to hope the same. After all it is food and it should have a taste, right?

What it really means: “I hope that you enjoy it”

This is a polite, nice way to serve food to guests.

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Du har f氓tt en telefon – “You've got a telephone”

I thought someone had bought a new phone the first time I heard about it.

What it really means: “You have a phone call”

You just have to stop thinking in how it translates to English and you will get used to this one.

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Hva er i veien? – “What's in the way?”

This is something you neither hear while driving nor walking, though you could easily think that is what it means.

What it really means: “What's wrong?”

This is their way of asking you if there is some problem or something bothering you. Another expression worth remembering!

脜 v忙re midt i sm酶r酶yet – “To be in the middle of the butter's eye”

At first I just didn't know what to think or how to translate this expression. Some expressions make no sense at all, unless you really know the meaning.

What it really means: “To be right in the best possible spot”

So actually, if you hear this expression it is something very positive and not related to food!

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To sum it up, any time you hear an expression and find it utterly funny or just plain weird, the odds are that it has a very different meaning than you first think.

When in doubt, simply ask for an explanation. Most of the time, the best thing to do is memorise these expressions as you will hear them often in Norwegian conversations.

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Photo credit: 

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In my case, before coming to live here I have lived in France and Holland during some summer holidays from the university to work as a trainee. Despite being only two summers plus some previous trips backpacking – and having some family in France, Holland and Belgium – these experiences gave me a general perception of Europe that was quite different from the reality of聽Norway.

During the last years, I have found that I am not alone with聽some of these assumptions. I have gathered here some of the ones I believe that are most聽common, from questions asked聽by tourists, family or friends visiting, as well as from my own experiences.

Mobility and distances
Of course after having spent some summers in Europe, especially the ones backpacking through continental Europe, I falsely believed that distances would be shorter and that there would be fast trains to connect shorter distances making it easier to explore the country and Scandinavia. This is also what has happened to many tourists coming to the country and to Stavanger who come from Europe and they falsely believe that getting from Kjerag to Trolltunga can be easily done in a couple of hours.

Food courts
In Ecuador, most of South America and parts of Europe, most cities have large shopping malls with food courts in the middle, which make it really great not only because of the wide choice of food but also as a great way to meet friends and family, and generally socializing. This is possibly something that will change and be included here soon I believe.

Main squares
Back in South America, as well as in Spain and other countries, the downtown areas or main neighbourhoods have a well marked central area with benches, townhall or some official building or muniment are aslo placed in the are. So they make for great meeting places, you find people reading the newspaper, enjoying the scenery, meeting friends, and so on. This could be a great addition to all cities here. Of course, adding some nice roofs or glass buildings to keep people warm during colder months would be ideal.

Brands and food options
It is nice to see that a lot of new brands and food items have been added in the last 3 years, but there are still some that are not found, some are seldom found, others luckily have started to get popular. I moved here at the end of 2009 and back then the sushi trend that had invaded the city of Quito in the late 90鈥檚 was not quite here yet. There was only one restaurant specialized in sushi. Now there are several sushi restaurants to choose between.

Other good news: there are more and more food items being imported, such as quinoa, stevia, mate, Reese鈥檚, plantains, as well as new stores opening. Starbucks and Zara are about to open in the city!

Weather
It was expected to be a lot colder during the winter time for many and in general most of the year. Here in the region the weather is pretty mild, due to the Gulf Stream and therefore there are usually no extreme winters. It is actually colder in NYC during winter, which says a lot seeing that NYC at Latitude 40, same as Madrid, is located nearly 5000 km further south than Stavanger at Latitude 59.

I have to admit that for most visitors, fellow expats and for me to have expected some of these similarities between Norway and continental Europe or other countries, was a disadvantage for the adaptation process. Norway is a beautiful yet different country, not only because it is part of Europe and still one of the few without the Euro but because of the geography which has influenced the history of the country.

So, I feel a need to share with you some of these faux-pas if you are planning on moving here, as a way to help you prepare better for the move!

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In my previous article, I explained that learning Norwegian was one of my first challenges when I moved to Stavanger in Norway, from Ecuador in South America.

How did it start?

Because I was lacking the main tool required (the local language) to work in my field (I have a Masters degree in Communication), I started by taking intensive Norwegian classes every day.

Further down the line I started working with children in order to practise the basic level of Norwegian I had by that stage.

Once I reached an intermediate level of the language and while working at a hotel, a guest asked me for an iron and I thought she wanted knitting needles to knit!

Learn Norwegian Now: Norwegian Class 101 / The Mystery of Nils

I just thought 鈥淚 know Norwegians are really into knitting, but how can they expect us to have knitting needles at a hotel?鈥�

Lost in translation!

These 3 big challenges will explain a bit better my previous example that saw me confusing ironing with knitting (“氓 stryke” versus “氓 strikke”)

1) Programming your mind to pronounce vowels differently to what you are used to if you speak a Latin language is one challenge. The letter 鈥溍モ�� is pronounced /o/ – as in or, 鈥渙鈥� is actually pronounced /u/ – which is not easy to describe, 鈥渦鈥� is pronounced /眉/ – as in the last part of 鈥測ou鈥� … and finally that 鈥測鈥� is not pronounced like 鈥測鈥� – as in the first part of 鈥測ou鈥�.[D2]

2) Another challenge is learning to pronounce a word with a single consonant different to one with double consonant. Not doing it can mean that you鈥檙e asking for a file or row – spelled “rekke” instead of shrimp – spelled “reke”.

3) The third challenge is that there are three additional vowels in the Norwegian alphabet: 氓, 忙 and 酶 that require some repetition and a lot of practice in order to learn their pronunciation and also to know how to recognise them when used in a sentence.

To sum it up, the lady had to mime ironing and I had to mime knitting鈥� well, after all, non- verbal communication accounts for a large percentage of all communication.

Time to name another challenge.

4) Bokm氓l vs Nynorsk – The two official languages in Norway.

On one hand we have Bokm氓l, the Norwegian version of the Danish language, with its origin in the 16th century when the Danes occupied Norway. On the other hand we have Nynorsk (new Norwegian) which is actually made up of different dialects from the pre-Danish period. Norway is a long country that, due to its geography of fjords, mountains and valleys, translates into an array of different regions located far apart and each one with its own dialect.

Can you imagine a country with 2 official languages and who knows how many different dialects? Well, it just makes learning Norwegian even more interesting.

5) Another challenge that is not as common but still exists is that most Nordic words are made up of two or three words. One example of this can be the word mattilsynet, which seems to be made up of three different words: mat – til – synet. When you translate them literally they mean 鈥榝ood – for the 鈥� sight鈥�. Well, it turns out that it actually means Food Safety Authority and is made up of two words: Mat – tilsynet.

6) It is of course common to learn by association. In my case I could recall easier words that were similar to those I had learned before.

Example – the word free, which is 鈥済ratis鈥� in both Spanish and Norwegian – the word restaurant is pronounced exactly as in French and there are some common words with English that keep their meaning and pronunciation in Norwegian. The problem is when they don鈥檛.

Example. – the word 鈥渟ky鈥�, which as well as being pronounced differently is not 鈥榮ky鈥� but 鈥榗loud鈥� in Norwegian. A second example.- the word 鈥渂ad鈥�, spelled exactly the same is not 鈥渂ad鈥� but 鈥渂athroom鈥� in Norwegian.

These are just some of the main challenges that you should be aware of in order to avoid communication problems.

Learn Norwegian Now: Norwegian Class 101 / The Mystery of Nils

My top tips for learning Norwegian

• Accept that you will be taking baby steps at first; start by writing down and memorising basic words or sentences
• Listen to Norwegian radio stations, as it will get you used to listening to local dialects
• For starters, watch movies and read books or comics in Norwegian, things that you like. Start with simple things like Disney films because the vocabulary is easier
• As you progress, watch TV series in English with subtitles in Norwegian and pay attention to them, you will catch many new words and expressions that are used in everyday life
• Talk to as many people as you can (it is often easier to begin with children), and if you are comfortable with it let them know that you want to be corrected by them in order to improveDo you have some tips to add, or have you experienced something similar to this while learning Norwegian?

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Did I experience culture shock when I moved to Norway?

I have to confess that the differences were easy to spot, in fact I would often compare things here with what I was used to in Ecuador and consider them as “poles apart”

I first moved from Quito, Ecuador, 4 years ago after I married my Norwegian husband and we decided to live here. I moved in December, and that year there was snow that lasted about 5 months in Stavanger, something that had not happened in many years.

An entirely new climate

This led to my first challenge, I was affected by both the weather and the lack of light during the day. Learning to get dressed and not to freeze was my first mission!

Coming from Ecuador, where the sun rises and sets always at the same time resulted in me wanting to sleep at 3pm, once it was dark and of course waiting for daylight to wake up… That was way past 9 am.

Another thing that I found quite different was that kids have to go out 30 minutes whether it rains or snows, and in this region it rains quite often. In that case, kids in South America would not be allowed to go out as they would catch a cold. But then come to think about it, they would seldom go out here in that case.

An entirely new language

Of course my second biggest challenge was related to the differences in languages and how demanding this new language was for me, despite speaking already 4 languages, none of them was really similar to Norwegian. Thus, feeling like a toddler and needing help even for small things like understanding instructions on how to fill the gas, to buy groceries or even to understand information online that was of course only in Norwegian. I had to phone my husband and ask for explanation or a translation.

When I first moved to Norway, I had in mind how easy it had been for me to meet the locals in Europe when I lived two summers while working as a trainee in Amsterdam, Holland and Concarneau, France. In France, people would look at me and greet me as we crossed each other on the street, I made friends rather fast as I consider myself a social person and I thought it was also going to be easy here.

Here I tried talking to the person sitting next to me, joining the gym and other activities that in South America would have worked out. The fact is that making new friends is easy if you know where to look for them!

Due to the low population density in Norway, most people have spent their lives surrounded by the same people, you go to the same kindergarten, school and live near your same friends most of the time. So it is a bit less common to meet or approach people you do not already know.

An entirely new diet

Once I arrived and after having during a week bread for breakfast, lunch and sometimes even as a snack after dinner, I realized there was a really big consumption of it and that I couldn't do the same.

At the same time fresh fruits and vegetables are for some people unknown to the point that I would have to give the name of my exotic fruits or vegetables to the guys at the till, as they had no idea how to find them in the system. It is quite the opposite when you come from a continent and specially a country where fresh fruit and vegetables are staple food.

Once the snow melted, 5 months later and the road conditions were back to what I knew, I decided finally to drive and I was positively shocked! I utterly enjoy the fact that here you are driving carefully, following rules and have little to no traffic compared to large cities in South America, that is. The goal here is to avoid or prevent an accident, opposed to the Latin American more defensive way of driving where you have to know how to get in line fast, how to overtake smoothly or stop abruptly if needed.

An entirely new lifestyle

Moving to Norway also had an effect on my lifestyle which was pretty active but at the same time more stressful.

When I first arrived I had Norwegian lessons every day, and then long long days to fill in a new place where I knew no one, besides my husband who was at work. I was in desperate need to find more activities to fill my day!

Some of my strategies to get over my culture shock and the challenges linked to it, involved: driving despite the weather, learning which international stores had more food options, renting books, joining the international women group in my municipality where I found some of the most warmhearted Norwegian ladies I have had the pleasure to meet, doing something never planned like becoming a lifeguard at the local pool, joining cooking groups with expats and enrolling in a Master degree programme at the University!

All these have helped me meet my needs for being active, learning, meeting new people and being part of this new culture!

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