Hello from Norway

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
C

cico

Regular
Hi.

I was sick this weekend and was searching through different bike forums and then got stuck on this one because I found so much information and also liked the "feeling" of this forum compared to others I scrolled through.

Anyways..

The reason I scrolled through a lot of forums is because I just got a new job as a manager in the department of the workshop in a big store in Norway, where I've worked for several years. (Has to be said that 40% of the job is admin work)

And to be honest, I am very new to everything mechanical about bikes. The last time I changed tires was maybe 25 years ago as a kid with a screwdriver... All the parts on a bike is new to me. How things works is new to me. But as a person I love to solve problems, and even though I'm new to this, I have confidence enough to think that this will be an awesome job in the long run for me.

I know how to ride a bike though. I have been commuting with a bike for many years, in Norway and Sweden in cold conditions and also in Spain for many years in warm conditions. (Why pay for a bus ticket to work or to the pub when I have a bike?) But I've never fixed my bikes..

I should've learned that...

I have one winter bike, which is a 29" MTB bike and one ebike which I use in the summer (which I also crashed and bruised my ribs on in the last days of October, still hurts). @DCLane my first bike was actually an oversized DBS bike when I was about 7-8 years old!

My commute these days is approximately 32 km round trip, Monday to Friday. (But haven't done so much since my crash, waiting on my stud tires)

I'm now 34 years old, just got my first kid, bought a house. I have a nice job environment and an average salary. When the chance for a challenge came up, I said yes please!

When I went in to work today I felt like a kid in a candy shop because of all the tools and stuff I need to learn. I have 1 month(!) with my colleague who's trying his best to teach me as much as possible in that short time before he's off to a new job. I've already learned a lot from him!

Sorry for such a long intro post. But I hope I can blend in with the rest of this community.

-cico
 
Last edited:
Stephenite

Stephenite

Membå
Location
OslO
Hei, and welcome to the forum.

Have you been enjoying the snow the past few weeks? ^_^
 
ColinJ

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
Location
Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
Hi, @cico :welcome:

Are you Norwegian, or some other (non-British) nationality living in Norway?

The reason I ask is because your English is so good. There were about 25 Norwegians doing the same degree course as me at university and they too all spoke perfect English. We were told that we all had to do a remedial English language course in our first semester. A couple of the Norwegian students asked why (in their perfect English!) and were told that it wasn't actually aimed at the foreign students. It was required because too many of the British students tended to have poor English language skills... It is a bit embarrassing when overseas students speak (and write) better English than many Brits do! :blush:
 
OP
OP
C

cico

Regular
Thank you everyone :hello:

@Stephenite The weather has been changing so much recently. Snowing on one day, raining on the next day. Then freezing up from the rain again.. But I'm getting used to it now.

@ColinJ Thank you! I'm 100% Norwegian, born and raised in Oslo :smile: I think it was The Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Norway who has the world's best non-native English speaking population.

I personally believe that it's also because of English and American TV shows, movies and culture in general that has influenced this. Usually we start to learn English in primary school as well.

Thank you again, I appreciate it :smile:
 
ColinJ

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
Location
Todmorden - Yorks/Lancs border
cico said:
I personally believe that it's also because of English and American TV shows, movies and culture in general that has influenced this. Usually we start to learn English in primary school as well.
Click to expand...

Funnily enough, I am now doing this in reverse. I watch a lot of foreign TV shows on Netflix and UK's Channel 4 - Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Finnish and so on. I always watch in the original language with subtitles because I like to hear the dialogue spoken properly rather than dubbed into English. What I find really funny is when the on-screen character meets someone who doesn't speak Norwegian/Danish/etc. and they both switch to English - I don't notice for a while and carry on reading the subtitles! :laugh:
 
OP
OP
C

cico

Regular
@ColinJ That's how I learned Spanish when I lived there for 7 years. I watched it in the original language, but with Spanish subtitles instead of a voice over.
When I was In Spain and also Japan, they always dubbed the TV shows. And personally I believe that is a big reason why many of the people there don't speak English as good as the countries who shows subtitles instead. That's just me speaking from experience.

But I have to say that I've been watching English panel shows for many years as well, and maybe that's why my vocabulary has become better through time as well. My favourite show as a young lad was (and still is) QI, 8 out of 10 cats does countdown, the big fat quiz of the year (something I look forward to every year) and of course my guilty pleasure every easter: Midsomer Murders. It's soo bad now that I'm an adult. But I've watched it for so many years that it just got stuck with me, and I love it.

I told my girlfriend the other day while watching a movie: Isn't it strange that the scene is set in Spain, many years ago, and everyone is speaking English instead of just Spanish 🤔

@Dayvo Ooh India! Sounds great! Backpacking or just vacation for a few days?

Tag me or send me a DM and I'll definitely come up from my cave and say hi ✌️ A person who has "the dude" as an avatar is always welcome 😁 Don't forget your rug though!

@HobbesOnTour Awesome! Thank you for that link! I'll look into it when I have the time to read through it. I already read a few of his posts. And now you've given me an idea for a new thread here.

Wouldn't it be cool if I made my own thread here with all my accomplishments and mistakes now that you all know my background?

I think I'll start one soon ✌️

Thank you again for the warm welcome everyone, really appreciate it 🙂
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Patty1961
Hello from London
Replies
1
P
Hello from France
Replies
7
philipgonzales3
Hello from San Antonio, Texas (USA)
Replies
1
Greasy Gilbert
Hello from a newb.
Replies
9
Top Bottom