About katp

Status:

Expatriate  

Gender:

Female

Currently Lives:

Norway

Citizen Of:

United States

Some Forum Posts:

Norway: moving to Norway:

Not sure if anyone is still active on this thread, but I am from the US and I would say my overall feelings of Norway are neutral. I personally have a slew of medical problems and have had nothing but problems trying to get a doctor to listen to me and not just tell me to go home and rest. I have had to pay out of pocket for private specialists here, and I do not think that is OK given how high my taxes are (40%) for this 'free' healthcare. It is not free, don't kid yourself into thinking so. It is around $30 to see the doctor and further costs to get any blood work etc. done. Call me crazy, but that doesn't seem right considering 7% of my income is going towards healthcare. Even with the worst healtcare option in the US, I never paid more than $25 for a visit. Not to go ramble, but I did the calcuations for how much it costs in total for a year of healthcare here (7% of my income + co-pays etc) and what it cost me in the states (monthly premiums + co-pays), and it is cheaper in Texas by $1,000/year. I digress. Pros of Norway: -Beautiful country - Much, much safer then the US in general- I have no issues walking around Oslo all times of the day. I would not be so carefree in most US cities at all. -It's a different culture and that is always great! -skiing- it's great, I happen to love the winter here since I have never lived in a state in the US with snow. Cons: -Expensive, duh that should be no surprise to anyone, and the whole 'you get paid more so it's ok' is just being silly--even being paid more, my out of pocket expenses for food and clothing is 4 times what it was in Texas. My trick is to just not look at the price because I will just get outraged. I mean you have to buy the basics anyway, so don't let it stress you out... -Very rude people in general. My solution is to just be rude back, which is difficult being from the South and having a very friendly mentality. Don't let it bother you. -Healtcare- already touched on it above, but it is a joke. I shouldn't have to pay out of pocket to see a private doctor because the ones in the National Healthcare system are so inefficient and/or spend my vacation time in the US going to doctors. I could let this bother me, but there's no point- just be aware if you require any specialized medical care, you will not be taken care of here. I would never in a million years trust my pregnancy to one of the public doctors. Someone in one of the previous posts on this thred had a story about how she lost her baby here in Norway due to lack of prenatal care and that is absolutly unacceptable and unfortunatly seems to be the norm- very sad. So to recap, if I had a choice, I would not have moved to Norway, nor will I stay here any longer than required. I would advise anyone to think twice before moving here and really understand what they are getting into. I am in a very fortunate situation where we are both making a good living as oil and gas expats, so perhaps that allows me a more carefree attitude, but I will not be sad to leave. The most important thing I have learned is to not let all of the cons get to me and chalk it up to being part of the experience!

Date Joined:

10/7/2009

Total Posts:

1

Posts/Day:

0.00