Norway: an Eden with wifi

We still complain.<p>About the high prices. How short the summer is. The cold. The rain. The snow. All the people on welfare. That we can't buy beer after 18:00 om weekdays and 20:00 on Saturdays (and not at all on Sundays).<p>Norway might not be very exciting, though. After all, we're only 5 million people, which is like half of Paris.<p>Although I don't work there anymore, Opera is hiring[0], and it has a multinational workforce and English is the working language.<p>Other benefits not mentioned in the article is 5 weeks paid vacation and Norwegian management style[1].<p>[0]: <a href="http://www.opera.com/company/jobs/" rel="nofollow">http://www.opera.com/company/jobs/</a> [1]: <a href="http://www.worldbusinessculture.com/Norwegian-Management-Style.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.worldbusinessculture.com/Norwegian-Management-Sty...</a>

Remarkable story of an Iraqi geologist who helped Norway spread the oil wealth around:<p><a href="http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/99680a04-92a0-11de-b63b-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1eBlRc5lt" rel="nofollow">http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/99680a04-92a0-11de-b63b-00144...</a>

&#62; “We’ve become spoiled,” one Norwegian told me. “Lazy,” said another. “Petroholics,” diagnosed a third."<p>Does the Norwegian society as a whole feel this way? What about other oil-prosperous small countries such as the Emirates or Kuwait? Are the cases comparables?<p>What are the Norwegian govt plans for the long-time future when their oil is over? (it's long for that, i know).

I lived and worked in Oslo, Norway for the three last years. It was nice, but eventually got boring. And the dark winters were depressive.<p>Living in Berlin now, feels like a much more vivid city with a much more heterogenous society. Norway is very collectivistic.

"From Norway, even Sweden now looks gritty and hardscrabble, like something out of a Stieg Larsson novel."<p>Now, this is a case of national pride of course, but it really sounds like the author has heard just one side of a story here. My impression is that Sweden and Norway (like the other Scandinavian countries) are about equal in most aspects. That's not wrong, is it?

I've lived most of my 24 years in Norway, but the lack of a proper startup eco-system (successful entrepreneurs, VCs and companies etc.) motivates me to move to Silicon Valley in a few years. Am I stupid, or just adventurous? :p

The article leaves out the most important aspect of Norwegian society: the distribution of wealth is fairly even. The difference between the affluent and less affluent is fairly small.

On the subject of Norway, I can't resist recommending the brilliant dystopian sci-fi film The Bothersome Man. It complements that essay nicely.

"Still, there are worse places in the world."<p>Really?<p>(Are there truly places more wealthy/luxurious than this?)