Norway: Cross-Cultural Conversation

A couple of weeks back Skymring, of Earth and Living, posted six observations about American bloggers. I was feeling perky that day and posted a comment as to where I fit into the observations she made. Did I feel the need to differentiate myself from the crowd? Do I rebel at being lumped together with others? Probably yes, to both. At any rate, if you go to the post you can read my comment. (Go on, follow that link and read it, I'll wait here on the other side of your back arrow.) Skymring kindly emailed me to wonder whether I found the post offensive, which I didn't, and I honestly didn't mean to come off snarky. But then we started emailing a bit back and forth as a continuation of the conversation that she began with her post.

One of the things Skymring said was that she notices that there is a propensity for SAHM-ism (Stay at Home Mom-ism) in American bloggers, and that this might give some of her Norwegian friends fits. I wondered why, and she elaborated:

Norway is rated as the country in the world with the most equality between the sexes. That is easy to forget for us, as the battle for even more equality is very much alive and present in our politics and media...

The underlying assumption is that our society needs to be run by both men and women, so women are needed in leader positions and in all work areas. What most people fail to see though, (in my opinion) is that the flip side of the feminist coin is this: it basically just draws a moustache on women, as they enter the corporate world on men's premisses. Perhaps, hopefully, those premisses will change as (if?) women alter it.

I love this last statement, while also loving the former statement too! What a contradiction, but it excites me to hear about a country that values its citizens equally and so openly. Like without the glass ceiling to be kicked down and forced into.

Everyone's reading it.
Because it's great. Check out Orangette's blog.

I decided on Butternut, Pear, and Vanilla Bean Soup.
Perfect for cold and rainy Thursday.

Skymring goes on to say that because in Norway, there are not the class differences we have in the States, the standard of living is fairly, well, standard for everyone. And for that type of quality of life, two incomes are required. But this is changing also, as families are realizing the need to slow down, that the frenzied pace of two working parents can take a toll on the kids and the adults also. (Check out this article on the stressfulness of the average U.S. Kindergarten from the New York Times.) She was quick to say that she favors whatever type of lifestyle works for a family. But hey, as we also know, Norway and Sweden pay 100% of your salary while you are on maternity leave for 10 months, or 80% for 12 months, and six weeks is allotted to fathers. This seems an immensely reasonable idea and awfully civilized of them. How about for gay families? Is there the same set up, I wonder?

And finally, Skymring also observed that Homeschooling is very prevalent among the mostly white, female, blogging community of SAHMs. Yes, I agreed, this is something I notice. This may go hand in hand with the SAHM factor, because homeschooling sort of precludes working outside the home. In Norway, homeschooling is quite rare, according to Skymring, because:

a) Public schools are good. Of course, there are differences here, but basically they have a decent standard.

b) We don't have many private schools, basically just Waldorf and a very few Montessori - so we don't really have a culture for choosing our kids' education (again, based on the fact that public schools are good).

c) There are strict rules for both private schools and homeschooling. You can't just do whatever you want. There's a certain curriculum every child goes through during elementary and high school, and if you homeschool you are supervised by a person from the government education department. This is of course to see to that every child gets the same education in regard to facts/subjects etc, and that the parents are up to this, and to prevent people from giving their kids, say, an education based on religious beliefs instead of scientific facts.

2 Boys and their collaborative drawing.
You can see it's hilarious.

I love it that the government takes a concern with facts in Norway. Like, perhaps they don't want to raise an ill-informed citizenry (because as we know, education is cheaper that ignorance, or whatever the bumper sticker says), that doesn't believe in evolution (here is another interesting article).

Thanks, Skymring, for sharing your experience and observations so honestly with me, and allowing me to publish some of the highlights here. And I will also add that I am very grateful to the non-native English speakers/writers, who so graciously converse with me in my native language. It feels very self-centered to only speak one language fluently (I have some French, Italian, and Russian tucked away in my brain folds somewhere), but here are these brave souls who can discuss complex ideas in other languages...not just ask where the nearest metro station is.

The soup was amazing comfort food
that Jonas hated.
With homemade sourdough bread on the side.

Here are my own thoughts (and thanks for staying with me this far in this epic post). For me, I always wanted to be a SAHM and was lucky to be able to do so, with lots of family support and the support of my husband. So now, I am really just beginning my professional life at the age of 34. To me, this feels just right, as the youngest is on his way to first grade next year. The evolution of my professional interests, finishing school at last, beginning graduate school has been the product of being a SAHM first. I guess I am sort of a semi-SAHM now, since my schoolwork happens at home, but I work part-time outside the home. Also, I just like being at home. Period. The days when I don't have to rush myself or anyone else out the door are precious to me. Today, in honor of being a hair's breath away from a completed first semester of grad school, I cleaned the house and made this delicious dinner (which you have been seeing through this post). It felt great. So, so good.

Spring sliced salad of Endive, Raddichio, Radish, and French Goat Cheese.
We had no ripe avocados. Only rocks.
But anything with avocado is OK with me, so I'll try it next time.

So, the conversation continues....Do you want to jump in and add your 2 cents?