After a long time, when i'm writing this post a lot of things have changed. when i wrote the last one i was around in Singapore. Now i have moved around 58 degrees of latitude North and 93 degrees of longitude West. A lot of choices have been made. Did i do the right ones? Only time will tell. But then I thought may be if i take the time to note it down, might help somebody understand a fewpoints and make a few decisions. I wouldn't say that this post has no other motivations other than reopening the blog like doffing a few rumours and doubts from the minds of people around.
I have a reasonable doubt how to structure this post and how can i convey everything i want to convey in a single post. Where to start and where to end still eludes me, but i have to start now anyways.
Was moving to norway an easy decision to make? No... not really. ... Everybody thinks "What do you have to worry about when you have a staggering paycheck?" and everybody wants to jump into the ship. Little do people realise the hardships beyond the converted value of the paycheck. The paycheck in my humble opinion doesn't probably mean anything beyond the converted value that can go on matrimonial profile with a star value. People just think "He must be making tons of money. Lucky Bastard. How can i get a job like that( Please Don't take this personally if you have asked me this question. Not intended at anyone, it is very generic and you are not alone) " To everyone here, i just want to tell "Once again, Money is not why i moved here! There is something called 'Quality of life'. This is a nice place to live." Like 'with great power, comes great responsibilities', 'with better Quality of life, comes greater expenses'.
Another reason why I moved here is i wanted to see Europe, brilliantly placed in Schengen visa agreement, is this one and only one country for which my job experience was relevant in Europe. (UK was another option, but Norway is much easier to migrate with a job than UK i believe) If i had a choice, i wouldn't have moved to Norway. This doesn't mean i have something against norway. If i could choose, Germany would have been my number one choice. Probably because of the Automobile fame. The name which has always been impressive throughout the history of the world in last century is Germany. Norway was always a silent spectator. It had been godforsaken before the onset of the big money and the discovery of huge reserves of Oil in the Northsea. At least that is what i have heard. Not sure i have known much about norway before i started working in Oil & Gas. This is just the impression you have from outside.
So how do i find Norway. What i'm really impressed with Norway is the culture of the people around here. The people are not hard to mingle with. Very friendly people and as my couple of groups of IIM eurotrippers say "it is safest place to live in whole of europe". I surprisingly discover from their accounts that europe isn't all that cheerful place you imagine when you are back in India. But i dare to say norway at least is and at least till they came around i thought europe was all like that. This is a safe place, nice place if you want to raise a kid safe and sound this might be the place you are looking for. The attitude of the people is what makes it safer. When i rewind, I can say singapore is one of the safer places in asia, But the fundamental difference between singapore and norway is that, the norwegian safety is part of their culture and in singapore it is more of an induced, policed discipline.
Language here is not a hard barrier, because most people here know English. Not at all hard to communicate, but if you are here for long it is good to know Norsk or Norwegian as the english say it. The language is similar to english and not a hard one to learn as far as i have ventured. (Disclaimer: I haven't ventured much beyind the bare basics and i'm not resposible for any hardships caused) Communication is much better and easier around knowing norsk because all signs and writing you will only find in the Norsk mostly and even shopping you probably don't get very many english description of products on the back. Mutliple languages are limited to the Scanduinavian languages. What is the big worry in the era of Google translate anyways?
Weather, as you can imagine the Land of midnight sun is no way easy. Even living at the southern norway. It gets dark very easily and it's already cold in november and the winter temperature peaks in -20's (that's all hearsay anyways, but accurate) and hence the winter so harsh, summer usually pleasant with long sunny cool days, best of which i missed sitting around in India. but then it is something i don't regret.. everybody deserves a break from work. Travelling 8,500 km with no strings attahced and seeing a lot of friends would never happen like that ever again. That was so much fun.
The topic is drifting, and nothing much more to say... After all this do you think i'm happy with this? I have things that i miss.I have to adjust to an entirely different culture, a different way from the life i have known for last four years with regards to work.. Immigrating myself, becoming a NRI, leaving India and a lot of friends behind.. There is a lot of challenges which i face which at times make me think, whether i did it right. Then there are things that come around and pat you on your shoulder, and say "All is well". I would leave it for time to tell... but there is definitely a lot of light at the end of the tunnel
More to follow... Hopefully...
I have a reasonable doubt how to structure this post and how can i convey everything i want to convey in a single post. Where to start and where to end still eludes me, but i have to start now anyways.
Was moving to norway an easy decision to make? No... not really. ... Everybody thinks "What do you have to worry about when you have a staggering paycheck?" and everybody wants to jump into the ship. Little do people realise the hardships beyond the converted value of the paycheck. The paycheck in my humble opinion doesn't probably mean anything beyond the converted value that can go on matrimonial profile with a star value. People just think "He must be making tons of money. Lucky Bastard. How can i get a job like that( Please Don't take this personally if you have asked me this question. Not intended at anyone, it is very generic and you are not alone) " To everyone here, i just want to tell "Once again, Money is not why i moved here! There is something called 'Quality of life'. This is a nice place to live." Like 'with great power, comes great responsibilities', 'with better Quality of life, comes greater expenses'.
Another reason why I moved here is i wanted to see Europe, brilliantly placed in Schengen visa agreement, is this one and only one country for which my job experience was relevant in Europe. (UK was another option, but Norway is much easier to migrate with a job than UK i believe) If i had a choice, i wouldn't have moved to Norway. This doesn't mean i have something against norway. If i could choose, Germany would have been my number one choice. Probably because of the Automobile fame. The name which has always been impressive throughout the history of the world in last century is Germany. Norway was always a silent spectator. It had been godforsaken before the onset of the big money and the discovery of huge reserves of Oil in the Northsea. At least that is what i have heard. Not sure i have known much about norway before i started working in Oil & Gas. This is just the impression you have from outside.
So how do i find Norway. What i'm really impressed with Norway is the culture of the people around here. The people are not hard to mingle with. Very friendly people and as my couple of groups of IIM eurotrippers say "it is safest place to live in whole of europe". I surprisingly discover from their accounts that europe isn't all that cheerful place you imagine when you are back in India. But i dare to say norway at least is and at least till they came around i thought europe was all like that. This is a safe place, nice place if you want to raise a kid safe and sound this might be the place you are looking for. The attitude of the people is what makes it safer. When i rewind, I can say singapore is one of the safer places in asia, But the fundamental difference between singapore and norway is that, the norwegian safety is part of their culture and in singapore it is more of an induced, policed discipline.
Language here is not a hard barrier, because most people here know English. Not at all hard to communicate, but if you are here for long it is good to know Norsk or Norwegian as the english say it. The language is similar to english and not a hard one to learn as far as i have ventured. (Disclaimer: I haven't ventured much beyind the bare basics and i'm not resposible for any hardships caused) Communication is much better and easier around knowing norsk because all signs and writing you will only find in the Norsk mostly and even shopping you probably don't get very many english description of products on the back. Mutliple languages are limited to the Scanduinavian languages. What is the big worry in the era of Google translate anyways?
Weather, as you can imagine the Land of midnight sun is no way easy. Even living at the southern norway. It gets dark very easily and it's already cold in november and the winter temperature peaks in -20's (that's all hearsay anyways, but accurate) and hence the winter so harsh, summer usually pleasant with long sunny cool days, best of which i missed sitting around in India. but then it is something i don't regret.. everybody deserves a break from work. Travelling 8,500 km with no strings attahced and seeing a lot of friends would never happen like that ever again. That was so much fun.
The topic is drifting, and nothing much more to say... After all this do you think i'm happy with this? I have things that i miss.I have to adjust to an entirely different culture, a different way from the life i have known for last four years with regards to work.. Immigrating myself, becoming a NRI, leaving India and a lot of friends behind.. There is a lot of challenges which i face which at times make me think, whether i did it right. Then there are things that come around and pat you on your shoulder, and say "All is well". I would leave it for time to tell... but there is definitely a lot of light at the end of the tunnel
More to follow... Hopefully...
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