<p>callthecops2, how is the Norwegian government paying that much for you? airfares too?? wow. I am going to go and talk to the swedish government, maybe they’ll help me out as well :D</p>
<p>also, is it true that internationals can work during summer in the U.S? Full time?? I really hope that’s true.</p>
<p>Callthecops: Can I be a norwegian too? That’s so lucky of you people… as in the Scandinavians! =) Intels can work full time during summer in the States… but it’s only limited to on-campus jobs I think!</p>
<p>" how do you finance your studies?"</p>
<p>Put my allowance in the races, cross my fingers and hope for the best. <em>Run like the wind Morning Glory!</em></p>
<p>you can become norwegian…</p>
<p>u have to live here only for 7 years. Wanna wait that long for college? :p</p>
<p>Wow… I wouldnt mind… for the sake of my children! 
I am so in love with the way Scandinavians works! Haha…</p>
<p>yes. its SOOOOO laid back here in norway. Everyone is entitled to 6 weeks of vacation + 10 days sick leave, all exluding public holidays. Also, everyone gets back home by 4 PM after getting to work by 8-9 AM. Even if its in the middle of an important meeting, people just pack up and leave! my dad was working in a large oil company, and even there, the top managment was outta the office by 4:30 latest. Thats what you call laid back :p</p>
<p>all the scandinavian countries have about the same system :)</p>
<p>yeah. in my opinion, there’s no better place to live than scandinavia. Best quality of living (i think norway has been ranking no.1 for a few years now!),very friendly people, loads of people speak english, which makes it VERY foreigner friendly, low amount of racism if the immigrant is educated etc. The only problem i find though is the motivation level for the youth is next to ZERO. really. its SO low. people dont aim high! They all know that if they do reasonably well, nothing spectacular, just mediocre, they can live a great life. They’re post retirement life is fully taken care of as well, so what else to ask from life? It’s a little sad when things are TOO good and the desire for upward mobility is zilch. Some make it big, no doubt, but overall, the incentive to do so is low.</p>
<p>I think people are actually very motivated in Scandinavia, you can see that from the economy growth and how they succeed in business for example. The competition is high, universities are hard to get into…
I think we pay too much taxes. Of course the social welfare system is great though. I always realise how great my country is when I travel abroad. But still, I always want to go abroad and see different life.
In my opinion, sometimes life can also get a bit boring in Scandinavia. In the U.S everything is big and more things seem to happen (in the big cities). Also, what could beat the weather in California… Americans are probably a bit more outgoint than us. So there’s good things in both countries, I’m trying to have it all ;)</p>
<p>economics growth cannot be equated in terms of personal fervor and motivation. At least in Norway, the universities are DEAD easy for me, a fairly mediocre Ivy applicant, to get into. I got into Oslo U, Trondheim, NHH (handels) in bergen - all the top unis in norway last year. At the same time, I got rejected by ALL of the five colleges I applied to in the US including GAtech. Competition here isnt that tough, and the system (here it goes from 1-6 in school), is darn easy. It’s not that people here dont succeed, but its just the drive to take the extra step, to think outside the box, that is not there in the common student. Common student, specifically, because there are exceptions.</p>
<p>About the taxes, I agree with you 100%! The gov simply fleeces us. but yeah, they do maintain a high living standard because of the taxes. One of my friends 6 year old sister has a medical condition which has made her partially blind. The amount the gov is doing for her, like for any other handicapped kid is amazing. They got her some equipment worth 100,000 NOK which is abt $15K for her to do schoolwork comfortably. Daily, she is picked up and dropped back in taxis, by familiar drivers (so strangers dont scare her). All med. expenses are taken by the gov. To go 1 km here by taxi costs abt $6 (they need to recover the money for merc E-class taxis somehow), but still, i feel our tax money is being put to use, to help others.</p>
<p>Boring…I live in Stavanger, and it is the most BORING place on earth. N OTHING HAPPENS, well yeah, it rains 24/7 but thats abt it. it’s kinda frustrating when you see the SAME news being repeated in the local newspaper for a WEEK lol. Any place outside scandinavia will provide urban excitement.</p>