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The Younger Sibling Syndrome

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Category: Ramblings | Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2007 10:51 am

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Since Norway had been under both Danish and Swedish rule, we felt we had nothing much to be proud of. True, the national romantics of the 19th century made a wave of national feeling, but it didn't last. We had no world renowned painters, poets or scientists, and not a single noteworthy building. We had stone, wood and water.

When trying to find out what to do next, we looked to Sweden, Denmark, Germany and England, but when we tried to emulate them we did not succeed. Then foreigners started to notice our mountains and fjords. The first mountaineers to climb our highest peaks were English. The first fjord tourist was Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany. English and Scottish nobility discovered that our rivers were teeming with salmon. The term «Salmon Lord» was established.

The Norwegians shook their head, thinking foreigners slightly mad for spending so much money and energy just to get closer to the scenery. And we kept looking for guidelines from Sweden and Denmark.

Then there was oil. American drillers and oil workers came, bringing their families with them. Several other Europeans found work here, and they looked around and exclaimed: «How beautiful! Oh, how quaint! This is very special!» And the Norwegian blushed, nodded and said, «Well, we've known that all along.»

And finally we lifted our eyes from our boots and started to grow up.

When we discovered that we could actually excel in something, our common inferiority complex started to disappear. We have the painter Edvard Munch. We have Sonia Henie, an ice skating star who became a movie star. We have great ski jumpers and cross country skiers, and even soccer pros. The Iraqui soccer team just hired a Norwegian trainer. And we have diplomats touring the globe for UN. It seems that no peace mission is complete without a Norwegian, probably because we're so small and harmless that we intimidate no-one.

Our stone, wood and water gives a good income now, and we've got sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Hopefully we won't end up being intolerably proud of ourselves.


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toni wrote on Thu Nov 01, 2007 1:59 pm:

You have such a good grasp of your history and the 'behind the scenes' going on.

Sonia Henie was one of my Mom's favorite skaters/movie stars. When I was growing up she would say that if there is such a thing as reincarnation, she wanted to come back as another Sonia Henie.

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Droopy wrote on Thu Nov 01, 2007 6:14 pm:

I hope she does!

Sonia Henie and her husband founded an art museum near Oslo. Well worth a visit.

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Frank wrote on Thu Nov 01, 2007 7:35 pm:

Is it correct that everyone's pension is already taken care of by the oil Droopy?

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Droopy wrote on Thu Nov 01, 2007 8:33 pm:

Our oil fund is being saved for future generations, Frank. The government won't spend much for fear of inflation. The Pension Fund is financed mainly from taxes with a small contribution from oil.

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Frank wrote on Thu Nov 01, 2007 9:26 pm:

That's another myth dispelled then, thanks Droopy.

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Droopy wrote on Fri Nov 02, 2007 8:30 am:

I have to correct myself here. The Pension Fund is the Oil Fund. Due to name changes I got confused. Last I heard it is the second largest pension fund in the world. Sorry about my mistake.

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