Norwegian talk

If you don’t already know, people in Norway speak Norwegian. And so you roughly have about 4 million people in the world who know and understand the language. And I’m not one of them. Many people here speak English, but when it’s not the first language, of course it’s not the language of choice when they first converse with you. 85% of the people I meet for the first time automatically speak to me in Norwegian. Which amazes me, for the fact that I look nowhere close to resembling a Norwegian. I tell Bcc it’s like speaking Malay to an Ang Moh in Malaysia. She says it’s different. Ah, whatever lah…

And so I’ve learnt that it’s pretty advantageous to be in a country and not speak the language. Coz it’s dead easy to feign ignorance. In social situations, there’s usually plenty of Norwegian talk, so for me, it’s pretty much about sitting there and either stoning or having a monologue with myself.

A lot of people here have been asking me if I have picked up any Norwegian. The other day at the local store, I met Roald, Trond’s Uncle. He too asked me if I’ve learnt any Norwegian since I’ve been here. I told him, the only words I know are blåbær multebær and sjokolade.

Which translates to blueberry, cloudberry and CHOLOCATE.

Coz it’s all I need to know…