A nurse who moved from Serbia to Norway shared her experience, which is full of interesting details.
Moving to Norway is a dream for many, however, those who have done so soon realized that not everything is as it seems. A nurse from Serbia experienced such a fate; she packed her bags and left with her family for the promised land.
Previously, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria were the most common countries our people moved to in search of better-paying jobs and a better life, but Scandinavia has gradually become an increasingly desirable option. A nurse from Serbia reveals what it is like when you move there, how easy it is to manage, and what the standard is specifically in Norway.
At the time this Serbian woman was talking about her life in Norway, she was 36 years old. She lived there with her husband and two children. She worked as a nurse.
“Like many in my profession, I was given the opportunity to go to Norway, and I took it. It was not a decision like: ‘Goodbye Serbia, you will never see me again!’ Simply, my husband supported my idea to try life somewhere else, given that our children are still of kindergarten age, and we have a full two years before they start school – we decided to ‘go abroad’,” she recounts.
“I don’t have an apartment, but I didn’t have one in Serbia either” She immediately started working as a caregiver, her husband drove for a courier service, and the children started kindergarten. Here is what she says about how they managed and what message they have for those considering moving to Norway:
– As for money: when you pay the bills, you are left with the same amount you had in Serbia.
I don’t have an apartment in Norway, I didn’t have one in Serbia either.
Free time: my working hours were 8 hours, it took me 15 minutes from work to kindergarten, but an hour from kindergarten to the apartment. So – I didn’t have any more free time.
Time spent with family was more tense than usual. Due to the change in climate, but probably also the stress of moving, the children started to get sick more often. Since in Serbia we made maximum use of “grandma and grandpa’s help” on those occasions, we couldn’t do that here. Therefore, I started to “chop up” my working days, and they “chopped up” my salary. I watched my children with increasing stress when they sneezed, and they happily announced that they were sick because, unfortunately, that was the only time they had my full attention.
Work environment: A job is a job! I did all sorts of things in Serbia, and I do all sorts of things in Norway. There’s not much difference – this woman recounted.
Is it really that bad in our country? She also commented on the notion that it is always “better outside of Serbia.”
“That was my opinion before I came to Norway, and then I started reading some forums on the topic ‘life in Norway vs. life in Serbia’. I realized that Serbia has shortcomings that we as individuals can significantly influence. That is how the Norwegians did it. For example, if you want our Serbia to be as clean as Norway:
We can fix the entrance doors in buildings ourselves. We can not break fences, light bulbs on the staircase, let the dog pee on the flower beds in the building’s courtyard…. If you want your building to look nice, don’t glaze the balconies and don’t turn them into storage, if it is not urbanistically planned.
Always throw garbage in the bin. Pick up the one around the building or in your park. When your child sees that, they will do the same…
If you have a dog – you have a responsibility. Keep it on a leash, pick up the feces after it! You wanted a dog yourself!
They say there are no traffic violations in Norway. Well, that’s because they respect the law. If you want to reduce the number of traffic casualties in Serbia:
Never exceed the speed limit while driving!
Never cross the street at night in black clothes, outside of a pedestrian crossing.
Wear your seatbelt while driving.
Don’t “cut off” other vehicles on the road. Don’t brake suddenly. Use signals when you want to turn while driving.
Do not drive if you have drunk beer, brandy, etc.
They tell me Norwegians live up to ninety years!! And do you know why?
They don’t distill 50 liters of brandy every year, then drink it all to the last drop during slavas and funerals. They don’t have a custom where a whole pig is roasted for Christmas, even if you don’t have enough household members to eat that same pig. They eat little, but reasonably. Their pensioners like to walk, not like ours using public transport to get to the market. If they have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, Norwegians will do everything to change their lifestyle to improve their health, and not like our people – thinking that a pill solves all problems.
Dental repair in Serbia, as in the rest of the world, is expensive, but brushing your teeth every day is free.
She says that after everything, they packed up and returned to Serbia.
“Now I feel calmer because now I feel like I’m not missing out on something big ‘over there.’ I don’t know how long this mood will last. Maybe tomorrow I’ll go somewhere else with my family, but for now, we are still here.”
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Source: Stil Photo: Wikipedia