Norway is a country full of a variety of breathtaking environments. When we look at how people have adapted to living here, we can learn lots about Norwegian culture. Join me on a brief road trip through four of Norway’s most striking ecosystems: the coast, the mountains, the forest and fjords.
Our first stop, the coast:
Living on the coast is a lifestyle unlike any other. While I was working with seabirds this summer, I got a taste of the Norwegian coastal lifestyle. I loved taking our boat around the rocky shoreline to stop for ice cream or a quick lunch in the harbor. Many small towns near the ocean tend to be isolated from other big cities. This means that life moves at a slower pace and people know each other well. One of my friends, Celina, was born and raised in a small town called Arendal. If you’ve seen Frozen, this is the place that inspired the name of the fictional city in the movie: Arendelle! Every day in the summer, Celina and her friends and family would get together to spend time on the water. She said she learned water sports like waterskiing, surfing and snorkeling when she was very young. Her siblings and she were even allowed to drive a small fishing boat on trips to the harbor when they were just 10 years old!
