Adventures of Anette: Norway abroad

Showing posts with label Norway abroad. Show all posts

Sunday, March 26, 2017

TV Interview: Norway and the World Happiness Report - ZIP！世界幸福度ランキング ”世界一幸福” ノルウェーどんな国？

Anette 12:58:00 PM

This week the annual World Happiness Report was released by UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), and Norway came out as number 1. As a Norwegian living in Tokyo I had the chance to talk about this topic with a couple of Norwegian friends on the Japanese TV-program "ZIP!". A short clip from the show can be seen below.

今週発表されました世界幸福度ランギングで出身地ノルウェーが世界一に選ばれました。その結果について日本テレビの番組「ZIP!」でノルウェーについて語る機会がありました。ご興味ある方はどうぞ見てみてください(　＾ω＾)ノ

番組の内容：

世界幸福度ランキングでノルウェーが1位に輝いた。世界幸福度ランキングは、国民1人あたりのGDP、社会的支援などを数値化しランキングにしたもの。日本は51位。ノルウェーはどんな国なのか？面積は日本とほぼおなじ面積で人口は500万人。公共教育は大学まで全て無料。留学生には家賃も全て出してくれるという。企業側も残業をさせない働きかけをしている。長期休暇も休暇手当という制度があり、法律で決まっている。出産・育児は有給で1年間休むことが出来、どちらの性別でも使えるという。

「TVでた蔵」より

The program is mostly in Japanese (except for one interviewee who uses English), but for those who don't the content in Japanese the things we discussed largely concentrates on the following points:

It is common for Norwegians to enjoy a large range of activities after work hours, and generally people like to do fun activities (This stands in stark contrast to Japan, where people usually reserve their weekdays for work only).
Working culture: In Norway it for employees to leave the office as soon as the official work hours are over. If the employees won't leave it often happens that their managers will ask them to leave (In Japan, on the other hand.
Maternity Leave: In order to ensure that both parents are able to spend time with their newborns Norway has adopted a law making it mandatory for both the mother and the father to take out maternity (/paternity) leave. The total period of the maternity leave is one full year (fully paid), but it is up to the couples themselves to decide how to split it.

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Monday, February 6, 2017

日本語あり

NHK E-Tele: "Gretel's Magical Oven" and Norwegian Waffles - グレーテルのかまど「“スプーンおばさん”のワッフル」

Anette 11:53:00 PM

NHKのEテレの番組「グレーテルのかまど」でワッフルパーティの収録に協力しました。番組をきっかけにノルウェーに興味を持ってくれる人が増えますように～。番組の一部をこの下に共有しますので、ご興味がある方はぜひご覧になってください。

A little while ago me and some friends had the chance to participate in the making of an episode about Norwegian waffles and the stories about the fictional Norwegian character Mrs. Pepperpot. It was aired today on a program called Gretel's Magical Oven (Gureteru no kamado / グレーテルのかまど), and you can find parts of the episode below in this post (Japanese only).

Video / ビデオ：

「スプーンおばさん」にも登場する、ノルウェーの国民的おやつと言えば、愛らしいハート型が特徴のワッフル。チーズとチョコレート、2種類のトッピングでお楽しみあれ！世界中で親しまれている、ノルウェー発の「スプーンおばさん」。ひょんなことから、スプーンほどのサイズに小さくなってしまうおばさんの冒険物語。作中にも登場する、ノルウェーの国民的おやつが、ワッフル！薄くてしなやか、ほのかに香るカルダモン、そして何よりも、愛らしいハートの形。おばさんお得意の一品に、ヘンゼルも挑戦。ノルウェー伝統のトッピングと、オリジナルのふわふわガナッシュで、何枚でも食べられちゃう！

（http://www4.nhk.or.jp/kamado/x/2017-02-06/31/7814/1440401/ より）

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Sunday, January 22, 2017

Yokohama

Yokohama Kannai: The Norwegian Bar - Bar Norge (バーノルゲ)

Anette 2:12:00 PM

Yokohama is a city that can boost of a long history of trade with the outside world during a time while most of Japan still remained closed. After the Port of Yokohama opened up to foreign ships in 1859 an area of Yokohama known as Kannai (関内) became a particularly popular place to settle down among the foreigners, and to this date their presence has left a mark on the atmosphere of this part of the city.

In Yokohama Kannai you can find among others a number of foreign bars that used to be frequented by foreign sailors, and one of them is the Norwegian bar known as Bar Norge. This bar has a history stretching back to 1972, and is according to word of mouth a bar that was founded by a Norwegian sailor and his Japanese wife. The two of them have long passed away, but the bar was bought by one of their regular customers, and the spirit of the old bar has been kept alive until today.

At the bar you can enjoy a wide range of drinks, most of them not really related to Norway, but if you are up for a real viking drink they do serve some cocktails based on the traditional Norwegian/Scandinavian liquor called akevitt (also known as akvavit or aquavit).

A map of Norway inside the bar

As a Norwegian living in Tokyo this bar is one of the places I like to stop by while in Yokohama. My great-grandfather was actually a sailor too, and he and my great-grandmother lived a couple of years in Nagasaki and Kobe in the early 1970s working for the shipping industry. So who knows, maybe they've even enjoyed a drink or two at this bar during a visit to Yokohama?

Thank you for reading! Please feel free to leave any comments or questions below
Anette

Basic information

Bar NORGE (バーノルゲ)
・Address: 〒231-0023 Kanagawa Prefecture, Yokohama, Naka Ward, Yamashitacho, 217
・Opening Hours: 4:00PM - 12:00AM
・Homepage: http://www.bar-norge.com/

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Sunday, July 10, 2016

Yokohama

Yokohama World Porters: Norwegian Skolebolle in Cafe Be LL Be

Anette 5:28:00 PM

As a Norwegian living abroad I tend to get slightly patriotic about finding Norwegian stuff in the stores here in Japan, simply because Norway is a country most people here only associate with salmon and cold weather. It also seems that Norway doesn't do that much to increase its "brand awareness" in comparison to the other Nordic countries (who hasn't heard about Moomin, Ikea or Marimekko?), which means that once you're lucky enough to stumble upon a product that has any relation at all to your home country you kinda just have to proclaim it for the rest of the world.

So.. Anyway.. I discovered that they sell a type of Norwegian bun known as skolebolle (lit. school bun) or skolebrød (lit. school bread) at the bakery on the first floor of Yokohama World Porters called Be LL Be. That is to say, after another Norwegian friend had posted about this finding on FB and of course I just had to go there to get my hands on one of those delicious skolebolle myself.

Skolebolle is basically made in the same way as an ordinary bun except it is filled with custard cream in the middle and has a layer of icing/frosting on top along with grated coconut. Apparently this type of bun was first made in Norway in the 1950s. Whether you call it skolebolle or skolebrød depends on where in the country you're from. The bun originally comes from the west part of Norway where it is called skolebolle, but in the capital most people call it skolebrød (as used in the bakery in Yokohama: スコーレブロー).

I asked one of the girls working in the store about why they were selling the Norwegian buns in their store. She went to check with one of her sempais, and he apparently said it was a decision taken on chain-level to see how well this Norwegian pastries could sell.

One of my friends told me he once came across skolebolle for the neat price of 400 yen (!) at an event in Tokyo, so with only 180 yen/bun the Be LL Be sure will be getting my support!

The Be LL Be bakery is a Kanagawa-based chain that has a number of small and cute bakeries spread out through the prefecture. If you're in Japan and want to try out this delicious piece of Norwegian pastry I would strongly recommend visiting their store! You can find their stores and menu here.

Thank you for reading! Please feel free to leave any comments or questions below
Anette

■ Basic Info

・Name of Cafe: Be LL Be (カフェベルベ横浜ワールドポーターズ)
・Address：〒231-0001 神奈川県横浜市中区新港2-2-1
・Phone: 045-222-2018
・Opening Hours: 10:30～21:00 (Depending on the season)
・Official Home Page：http://www.bellbe.com/kanagawa/

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Sunday, January 4, 2015

Tokyo

Norway Food Festival in Tokyo!

Anette 9:38:00 PM

Norway Food Festival

A little while ago the Norway-Japan Society arranged a Norway Food Festival in Tokyo, an event that also happened to be the first of its kind arranged by the society.

Dressed up for the food festival

As a board member I helped planning out the event, and along with a couple of the other board members we brought along our own homemade Norwegian food for the participants. My boyfriend and I spent all Saturday evening making Norwegian meatballs, known as kjøttkake (meat cake) in Norwegian. I don't have any pictures of the meatballs, but here are some Norwegian waffles made by one of the other board members for the event:

Norwegian waffles

The event was a great opportunity to introduce a bit of Norwegian culture to our participants. In addition to serving some Norwegian dishes we also demonstrated how to cook them as well. We did the same program twice, and during the event we had over 40 guests participating in the small office we had borrowed for the day.

Jens Simon demonstrating how to cook baccalao

Mami-san helping out making waffles

At the end of our program we also had a small concert with my colleague Will, who is aiming to be a professional musician. He is American, but we had him sing his own version of the Norwegian artists A-ha and M2M. I don't have any videos of his performance available yet, but please feel free to check out his talent on soundcloud.

Will

The Norway-Japan Society arranges many events throughout the year. If you're interested in learning more, please check out the society's homepage or Facebook page.

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Sunday, September 7, 2014

Tokyocafes

Tokyo Cafes: Cafe Fuglen - Norwegian style Coffee & Vintage Furniture

Anette 10:08:00 PM

Fuglen by night

Last weekend the popular Norwegian cafe "Fuglen" ("The Bird") arranged an official launch party for their new Fuglen Coffee Roasters situated around 10 minutes from the original cafe. I went to the event along with some friends, and afterwards, we walked back to Café Fuglen for an evening drink.
For those of you who don't know Fuglen from before the original café opened in Oslo in 1963, and after all these years it is still a popular place that focuses not only on coffee and cocktails but also on Norwegian vintage furniture. What is really unique about Fuglen is that you get the chance to both try out and even buy their furniture during your short coffee break.

Café Fuglen's Japanese branch opened in 2012, and has since then become a trend setter in the pulsating Japanese capital. During my internship at the Norwegian embassy last year one of my daily tasks was to translate Japanese articles from newspapers and magazines into English, and one of the most frequent topics was Fuglen. If I'm not mistaken one of the articles was even entitled something like "Cool girls like free WiFi", and consisted of some hip cafes around town where they provided the opportunity for people to surf online for free on their net. The only relevance to Fuglen was, as you might have guessed already, the free WiFi..

A Fuglen poster inside the cafe

The characteristic Fuglen logo outside the cafe

With the popular Norwegian beer Nøkne Ø (naked island) on the menu (unfortunately it was sold out)

Fuglen and beer

Fuglen is, in other words, a very popular place to hang out. There are usually quite a lot of people who visit the cafe during the weekend, but since we left the launch party relatively early we came just in time to capture the whole row of seats in front of the cafe. The area is rather quiet at night, so hanging out with friends in front of the cafe is quite a nice opportunity to chat and chill out.

Enjoying good company & drinks in front of Cafe Fuglen

For more information about Fuglen, please check out their homepage

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Tuesday, May 20, 2014

日本語あり

Norwegian 17. May Celebration in Tokyo 2014 - 東京でのノルウェー憲法記念日

Anette 9:34:00 AM

On the 17th of May we celebrate Norway's National Day in Norway and in Norwegian communities around the world, and for the third time I had the opportunity to celebrate the day at the Norwegian Embassy in Hiroo. This day also marked 200 years since the Norwegian Constitution was written in Eidsvoll. The Norwegian Constitution was actually written in May 1814, which makes it the oldest European constitution that is still in use. It is also the second oldest constitution in the world after that of the United States, which it was inspired by. In 1814 the Norwegian Constitution was a groundbreaking document that ensured a strong focus on human rights, freedom of speech, gender and equality. 17. May marks a day that laid the foundation for the modern Norway and Norwegian democracy.

The Ombudsman for Children Anne Lindboe (left) holding a speech at the Embassy

世界中のノルウェー人は毎年5月１７日にノルウェーの憲法記念日をお祝いします。私も在日ノルウェー人として東京にあるノルウェー大使館でのパーティーに参加しました。ちょうど良い機会なのでブログに憲法記念日について少し書くことにしました。
２００年の歴史のあるノルウェー憲法は1814年に制定され、現在はヨーロッパの最も古い憲法です。世界ではアメリカが第一の、ノルウェー憲法が二番目に古い憲法です。当時前歴のないノルウェー憲法は特徴として人権、言論の自由、平等権などを中心にしました。5月17日は現代ノルウェーとノルウェーの民主主義の基礎の日であります。

Norwegian style buffet

The Norwegian Constitution Day is in a way also Norway's largest festival. It is a day for delicious food, great company, children's parades, music and fun. Although people have different traditions depending on for instance place and family background there are some things like salmon, sausages and waffles with the Norwegian brown cheese "brunost" that is a must for most Norwegians on this day.

Norwegian Salmon

実はノルウェーの憲法記念日はノルウェー最大のお祭りの日でもあります。この日は家族や仲の良い友達と一緒においしい料理、音楽やパレードを楽しみます。地域によって多少伝統が異なりますが、この日にサーモン、ソーセージ、ノルウェーの茶色いチースbrunostを食べるのが人気を集めています。

Celebration by the Embassy pool

The Constitution Day is also known as a Children's Day, as the day is filled with games and activities for children. Children's parades is a common sight throughout the country, and Norwegian communities abroad also make their own small parades. Tokyo is not an exemption, although we unfortunately didn't have live music like in the parades back in Norway.

Norwegian parade in Tokyo

この日に行う子供のゲームも多くあるノルウェーの憲法記念日は子供の日としても知られています。子供のパレードは国の各地に見ることができ、外国に住んでいるノルウェー人でもよくこの日にパレードに行きます。東京でのパレードでは残念ながらノルウェーのようにライブ音楽はありませんでしたけどw。

My bf and me outside the Embassy

Another thing that is special about the Norwegian Constitution Day is that it is a great opportunity to have a look at the Norwegian traditional costumes called bunad. Every area in Norway has its own unique bunad, and you can even tell a person's hometown by looking at their bunad. My bunad comes from the city Bergen on the west coast of Norway where I partly grew up, and where all my relatives live. If you look at the picture above you can see the traditional houses from Bryggen on the belt.

ノルウェーの憲法記念日の他の特徴は伝統的な民族衣装「ブーナッド」を見るのに最もよい日です。ノルウェーには日本の名物のように各地域独特のブーナッドがあります。従って他の人が着ているブーナッドを見ることによってその人の出身地が分かります。私の場合は地元ベルゲンのブーナッドを持ってます。是非上の写真をご覧になってください。ベルトを見るとベルゲンの伝統的なブリッゲンの家が見えるでしょう。

Some safety guards watching our parade with great interest

Although the Embassy only can open its doors to a limited number of people there are alternative places such as the Norwegian Cafe Fuglen where one can participate in fun celebrations regardless of nationality and background. In our case, after the celebration was over at the Embassy we continued to Bar Acqua Z in Shinjuku where we met up with friends to celebrate more with drinks and Norwegian waffles.! What a great day!