SKIP HYGGE, GET KOSELIG!

I am assuming that if you read my blog then you love Norway and if you love Norway, then you have probably already heard that Norway was just announced as the happiest place on earth!! According to the World Happiness Report 2017 Norway jumped from 4th place in 2016 knocking Denmark from the throne into 2nd place this year. The main factors of this research are: caring, freedom, generosity, honesty, health, income, and good governance with the top countries having high rankings within each factor.

I can attest from visiting Norway multiple times that it is certainly a beautiful place inside and out. What I mean when I say inside and out is simply that it is a charming, well-kept place with attention to detail in design and sustainability with gorgeous people everywhere which is obvious the moment you get off the plane, but the people living there are beautiful on the inside too. I have never met a Norwegian that has not genuinely held a deep love for their country and shown kindness for everyone they meet.

A good example of this is when I was studying abroad in Norway back in 2005. I was trying to find a classroom or something and was a little lost. I came across a man who seemed in a rush to get somewhere, but unfortunately he was the only person I had passed in quite some time so I proceeded to ask for help... in Norwegian of course so I could get some practice in. The man stopped, listened to my slow, stuttering, and choppy sentences without any judgement and in fact took the time to explain back to me in Norwegian the directions to where I needed to go. I was very grateful of course. So grateful in fact that I responded with "Mange tusen takk!" which I had learned in my Norwegian language courses back in the states. He just smiled and said "That's a lot of thanks!!" in english I was a little embarrassed at first thinking he was making fun of my skills, but he kindly explained that they typically say just "mange takk" or "tusen takk" individually. For those of you not familiar, tusen takk means a thousand thanks in Norwegian and mange takk means many thanks. So mange tusen takk translates to many thousand thanks which in all honesty is quite a lot when you think about it. Like I said though, I was very thankful!

I have visited with family, bartenders, waitresses, security guards, restaurant patrons, classmates, teachers, and even strangers on a plane about my love for Norway and each and everyone seems genuinely proud to live in such a wonderful place and love it when others show interest in their home and culture. I had never traveled alone before when I embarked on my study abroad trip to Noway in 2005 and the moment I got back on US soil I told my mother that I wanted to go back and live there. My husband and I have talked about it many times and haven't completely ruled it out. Now with the new 1st place ranking, perhaps this conversation needs to become a reality!

For your viewing pleasure I included a few images from my past trips to Norway as proof of how beautiful the country really is.

For more information on the World Happiness Report 2017 visit http://worldhappiness.report/ed/2017/

Vigeland Park, Olso, Norway

Stave Church from The Norwegian Museum of Cultural History, Oslo, Noway

Prepared lunch with family in Stavanger, Norway. They even know how to prepare roast beef, shrimp and turkey with style!

This is a picture from one of my favorite places on earth. This is Naley, Norway on the island of Skudeneshaven. So peaceful and amazing. Some of my ancestors lived here before moving to the US.. not sure why they left this and moved to Iowa!

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