Being a British expat there are many things that I have got used to having lived in Norway for 5 years such as driving on the other side of the road, the cold snowy winters, the limits and restrictions on alcohol and much more besides. 

The two things I have found the hardest however are firstly the language and secondly the simple fact that I am a foreigner here. 
The language one probably doesn't come as much of a surprise, being British I am very fortunate that most countries speak some English and I think unfortunately this is something that perhaps too many of us Brits take for granted. There doesn't seem to be enough emphasis on the importance of learning a second language in the UK, certainly not when I was at school anyway, and I think we leave it far too late to begin teaching another language too. When I first moved to Norway I was a little naive, I believed that simply living over here and looking in a few books would allow me to master the language fairly quickly and easily. Five years on and I'm embarrassed to say that my Norwegian is still pretty average, and although I can understand a lot of what is being said to me and give simple replies my brain finds it extremely difficult to think of the words quickly enough so I can actually have a conversation. Of course the result is that most people speak to me in English - or not at all. 

Another consequence of not speaking the language very well is that I still feel like a foreigner over here, I'm not totally sure if this feeling will change when I can speak Norwegian to a high level but I hope so. I live in a fairly rural and beautiful part of Norway, perfect for the children and our newly acquired dog, but most of the people over here haven't travelled very far and still live near their family with friends that were the same ones they went to school with. This makes it difficult to make friends and break into their groups and circles and although many Norwegians are extremely friendly there are also some that are highly sceptical of foreigners and make you feel pretty unwelcome.

Of course running a small photo editing business from home doesn't exactly help!  If I was to work for a company over here I'm sure my language skills would develop quickly and I would make new friends, but I love my job and I love the flexibility it gives me to work around my two little boys.

It is a funny feeling being a foreigner in the country you now call home, as much as I love the UK I haven't lived there for so long now that I don't see it as my home anymore. I have a lot of empathy for the foreigners in the UK who are there to make a better life for themselves and their family and are working hard to achieve this. I can see, from first hand experience, how hard it is to move away from your home land traditions, comforts and language and to adapt to another country and be accepted there.

In an ideal world I would like to create a country that is a mixture of the things I love from the UK and Norway ... I just haven't come up with a plan cunning enough to make that happen. So in the meantime there is nothing for it, I have to put the work in and make 2012 the year I master the Norwegian language!

 I thought some of you might like to learn a little along with me so I've decided to post a weekly blog with a new Norwegian phrase - you never know one day it might come in useful!

Week 1:              My name is ...........................    -    Jeg heter ______ .   (jei he-ter _____ .)
                           What is your name?                  -   Hva heter du?       (Va he-ter du)