Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with scandinavia

Aside from all being great places to live...

StrikeTheViol — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 07:58:28 -0800

I'd like to know more about social, cultural and economic differences between Scandinavian countries. I've seen this and have a few acquaintances that introduced me to national stereotypes, but I'm sure it gets more complex. How does life really vary across Scandinavia?

Differences between US and Scandinavian opiate RX access

symbioid — Sun, 25 May 2008 14:02:23 -0800

Compared to the United States, how difficult is it for patients in Scandinavian countries (or Europe in general) to obtain their legally prescribed opiates? (i.e. are there the same, more or fewer hurdles?) My partner is prescribed opiates, and she had a set of 3 Rx's (you can get the prescriptions for 3 months at a time). On the final month, she went to fill her final script, but the date was over a week old. This led to the refill being denied, because there is only a 2 day window from the date on the script. Obviously, dealing with our draconian laws regarding patients access to drugs can be infuriating. But this question is asked more out of curiosity. It's my understanding that Scandinavian countries generally are more "enlightened" in this regards, but I don't know for sure. I'm curious if anyone knows what sorts of differences there are in the two cultures/political systems. Apologies if this comes across as "axe-grindy" as it's not meant to be, just wondering...

Mobile data transfer up north

uncle harold — Thu, 01 May 2008 08:07:35 -0800

Mobile Internet access options in Scandinavia? For a foreigner, preferably no long term contract. I'll be in Scandinavia this summer for about 2 months and will need regular and spontaneous Internet access. The time will be mostly spent in Norway, with maybe 2 weeks in Sweden.

I know mobile services are very advanced and cheap in all of Scandinavia. But are there local carriers that offer short term contracts (no one or two year obligations)? Pay by call or volume based options? Available to non-residents without a local bank account or credit card?

Thanks!

I couldn't find the answer on Wickipedia

sixpack — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 15:22:43 -0800

Where can I find inexpensive Scandinavian garden candles in the U.S.? I saw these candles, called Marshaller, all over the place in Oslo. They burn for hours and withstand the wind thanks, I believe, to the thick wick. Here's a site with a photo. I'm looking for a wholesale or inexpensive source to avoid overseas shipping.

The most COMPLEAT working abroad thread EVAR. Or, help me get out of Jersey already!

twins named Lugubrious and Salubrious — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 09:17:53 -0800

I'm looking for resources on doing paid farm work (preferably in Scandinavia, but anywhere else in Europe is fine, too). I want to work on a farm in Scandinavia for a couple of months. From what I can tell, it's incredibly hard for non-EU people (I'm American) to get working papers to go there, so my options are these (in order of most to least wanted):

1) Drill through the process and end up on a farm in Scandinavia for a couple of months. Anyone have any experience with this? How can I make this process easier?

2) Work doing something else in Scandinavia for the next couple months. My options are pretty limited -- haven't finished college yet, don't really have any marketable skills as far as I'm concerned. Past jobs have included office work, temping, waitressing, cashiering. Could I actually get away with doing something like teaching English?

3) Work in another English-speaking country in Europe where it's easier to get a visa/permit. I'm ok with this, but I've never had a driving need to visit the UK, Scotland, or Ireland.

4) Volunteer to work on a farm in Scandinavia. As far as I can tell, the papers process might still be pretty complicated. Plus, my money situation is really tight; I'd really like to be compensated in some way, not just in food and board.

So the priority here is to basically a) get to Europe this summer b) get paid, although the preference is on Scandinavia, and farm work (the only widely offered job I can see myself being qualified for).

Any suggestions? Are there positions or locations that I've overlooked?

My research has basically turned up these sort-of relevant threads:

How feasible is it for me to live and work abroad?
money for living abroad?
How do I get a job outside the UK? ASAP.
How can I move to Spain for couple of years?
Summer programs
How to find jobs around the world?
Travel jobs
12181

and a handful of links basically pulled from these pages:

http://www.transitionsabroad.com/listings/work/shortterm/farm_jobs_agriculture.shtml
http://www.pickyourown.org/jobsonfarms.htm

Any other suggestions? TIA.

Beklager, jeg snakker ikke norsk - EU national moving to Norway?

Happy Dave — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 10:06:53 -0800

Moving around in the EU - how about them fjords there? Another week, another 'how tough would this be?' immigration question.

I'm 26, British, living in the UK, married to an American who is about three or four years away (assuming the UK govt doesn't move the goalposts) from a British passport. I work in communications, she's a journo.

I've been thinking about the future, and in particular the various places in the EU that we might consider living and working, and Norway keeps coming up again and again in my personal wish list. I've always been attracted to Scandinavian culture, and my Dad works for a Norwegian firm and comes back with stories about working over there that make me really excited.

I'm also quite drawn to what I perceive as a pretty liberal, well-run government and strong economy, good education, healthcare and cultural life.

If we were to think about moving to Norway, within, say, five years, what would be the plusses and minuses? Any expats or Norwegian MeFites who have done this or have insights? We live in London at the moment, but may move back to Scotland, where I'm from - how would Norway compare with Scotland in the above terms?

Cheers!

Help an acoustic guitar pop guy tour Scandinavia

jeffmshaw — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 11:34:40 -0800

My friend is a singer/songwriter who would like to tour Scandinavia. How would he go about doing this? I'm looking for general advice about booking shows and setting up tour routes as well as the specific nuts-and-bolts of how to begin the process. The type of music he does is acoustic guitar-based pop with roots in American country and folk. He'd especially like to tour in Sweden and Denmark. Any thoughts?

No, not lutefisk

lbergstr — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 13:55:50 -0800

Somewhere in the office chatter I agreed to bring food from my "culture" to an office happy hour Friday. I'm a European mutt with let's say a Scandinavian plurality. Any recommendations on something I could pick up at the average supermarket? Appetizer, dessert, whatever, enough for at least 10 people, budget up to $20. I'm not going to get cute and bring Doritos and beer, either, accurate though it would be.

What's the quick gasping noise that Danes make while conversing?

Ø — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 04:33:23 -0800

When talking, Danes sometimes make a quick gasping noise that's very distinctive but difficult to describe. Can anyone explain this odd habit? Does it have a name? (More details inside.) Danes do this when speaking English also; it doesn't seem to be limited to Danish-language conversation.

If you have a DVD of the Danish film "Italian for Beginners," there's a perfect example 12 minutes 20 seconds in. The woman makes the noise right after saying "Jørgen Mortensen."

As far as I can tell it seems sometimes to serve as a verbal nod of sorts, the equivalent of an American saying "yeah" occasionally to let you know that he's paying attention to what you're saying. Other times it seems to serve as a kind of verbal punctuation, emphasizing what the gasper has just said.

Please comment if you know anything at all about this.

Help me find a short story published in Harpers.

nathancaswell — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 19:04:25 -0800

Help me find a short story published in Harpers in the last two years. It appeared in Harpers between 6 and 24 months ago. I believe it was set in Scandinavia, perhaps Norway, and was written by a Scandinavian writer. It was very fantastic, but had a restrained tone, and was about the onset of an extremely cold winter, reminiscent of Fimbulwinter. Everything froze and by the end of the story people were wearing coats made from living dogs in an attempt to stay warm. It worked magnificently as a short story, but may have been part of a longer piece.

I searched Harper's website and Google to no avail. An email to Harpers is yet unanswered. Help me ask.metafilter, you're my only hope.

Looking for a spider-like piece of heavy machiny

ruelle — Sun, 07 Aug 2005 22:14:28 -0800

Please help me find a picture (or the name, or the site) of a surreal scandinavian forestation machine. It's a huge machine on 6 or 8 legs - looks just like a spider - with the cabin nested in the middle and one huge scorpion-like arm for lifting tree trunks. Rings a bell? Yup, I'm having one of those discussions where no one believes what I saw on the net. *sigh
And I'd love to find that picture again (or alternatively the site that was selling them but which was in finnish, I believe).

All I remember is :
- the spider-like shape of the machine.
- it was used for forestry or perhaps deforestation.
- it was scandinavian-made (perhaps finnish?)
- totally surreal.

Help?

Scandinavian travel tips?

Succa — Fri, 23 Apr 2004 07:45:59 -0800

Scandinavia. Any travel tips? Must-sees? Ways to avoid vacating my savings account while I'm there? [...] A friend and I are going for three weeks in August. We haven't booked our flights yet. Our for-sure spots are Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm, Bergen (fjordy goodness). We won't be hitting Iceland or Estonia. Our questions:

- to Helsinki or not to Helsinki? Leaning towards yes. Finland sure is out of the way, though.
- accomodations? We'll be hostellers. Looking for recommendations.
- best way to get a cheap flight. i.e. which city should we land on (we're leaving from Toronto)?
- eating and drinking on the cheap. Is it even possible?
- given a Scanrail pass, what is a good travel route that hits all of our spots?

Any advice about the region is welcome.