Photo: Printscreen Instagram
Bojana, a pharmacist by profession, who is known to many on social networks as Bojana the hedonist, went to Norway back in 2019, and she often shares experiences from that country with her followers on social networks.
This time she told how Norwegians sometimes work five or six hours a day.
Namely, considering that she spends a lot of time with her daughter outside, many followers ask her if she works at all.
– Let me briefly explain what “turnusarbajd” to Norway is and why we sometimes work 5-6 hours, and sometimes 7-8 hours. So, the number of weekly hours is not strictly considered here. Maybe one of you has a contract or the union agreed that you work 37-40 hours a week. However, it is not strictly always so weekly, but follows the needs of the work. And, let’s say, it happens that, for a certain period, all colleagues are at work, that no one is on vacation. So you’re all there and then it’s decided: “Okay, this day you’ll work five hours, the next six hours, but that’s why when, say, summer starts, and there are annual vacations, or something a little more intense at work, then maybe you will work 7-8 hours, in order to make up for it – she says and adds that in Norway working hours are viewed in the long term:
– It is looked at in the long term, but it is important that in that long-term period you did not work more than the predicted and agreed number of hours – says Bojana and adds that this is why she has a lot of time, and, as she states, perhaps it is even more important that she knows how to use it.
Bojana previously told on her blog “The Smell of Hedonism” that she decided to move from Serbia to Norway because she knew that there was a need for pharmacists in that country and that it would not be difficult to find a job. In addition, she fell in love with the Norwegian fjords during her schooling and wanted to visit them.
In addition to being separated from family and friends, the most difficult thing for her was getting used to the Norwegian dialects of which there are more than 800.
What she likes most about Norway is the possibility to live and work in a small place, while still having everything you need:
– Our town has only 15,000 inhabitants and is the main town in our commune. It sounds funny. It’s the same for me after living in Zrenjanin, Novi Sad and Belgrade. But here we have a river, the sea, a camping area, two shopping centers, a swimming pool with slides, an Olympic pool, a jacuzzi, saunas, beauty salons, restaurants, a hotel, a cinema, a hospital, schools, kindergartens… The first electric train in Norway started from our small town. It’s a tourist attraction that I tried, of course, because the train still runs during the summer months.
She also told about the positive aspects of life in Norway for her.
– The positive sides of living here are that people trust each other, here the police do not carry weapons, they have no stress anywhere near that of ours in the Balkans, you feel safe in every sense… I don’t think that Norwegians are cold people, only after work they go to their home, family, train, make a late lunch/dinner and look at their plate. Here, the yards have no fences, the windows have no curtains, and yet you can walk around naked and no one will look at you. They live their lives and let others live. I like them. After a few hours spent at work with wonderful colleagues, I also need peace, cycling and walking by the river, I have to be quiet and recharge my batteries – she says.
The negative things, he says, are the big differences in healthcare. You have to have a prescription for almost everything, the midwife manages the pregnancy, and they also have waiting lists, especially for the psychologist. They lack nurses, he says, not because they don’t have the money to hire the necessary staff, but because they don’t have the people:
– So we Balkans should see the positive side in that, start learning the language, and there’s a chance for a job. The paperwork process, like any other paperwork-related process, is tiring, complicated, and boring. A lot of translation and certification of papers, both for you and for family members. But it is necessary if you want to move to another country. It is always good to know the language of the country where you are coming to live, for some jobs it is even necessary. But there is always the possibility to work in English if it is a restaurant or the IT sector – she wrote in her blog.
Bonus video:
00:42
Vučić, Our students in Norway are planning to return, that was not the case before
Courier
