The diary of David, a just-turned-30 Brit living in Norway
This weekend saw the biggest local rivalry in Norwegian football, the Oslo-Akershus derby between Lillestrøm (LSK) and Vålerenga (VIF). Lillestrøm are known by many outside Norway due to their regular appearances in Europe during the 80s and 90s, whereas Vålerenga are the biggest club in the Oslo area; in fact they are now the only team to play (at the professional level) within the city itself. I'm still new to Norway so don't know the … [Read more...]
It was very easy to miss, but the new Norwegian Premier League season got underway tonight. Easy to miss, because most Norwegian eyes are focused on Manchester and the battle for the English title. The Norwegian obsession with English football continues to fascinate me, but even more quirky is the small group of bloggers and tweeters getting excited about Tippeligaen 2012! I had intended to write a big season preview on here … [Read more...]
As I write this I'm sitting in my Oslo apartment watching a popular Norwegian TV channel, TV2 Zebra, sort of the Channel 4 of Norway. Any guesses as to what I'm watching? A two-hour English football special, featuring five pundits live in a studio talking about transfer deadline day. Back in December I stumbled into a packed bar in Tromsø to find everyone's eyes glued to the Liverpool match. A few weeks ago in Lillehammer, the only … [Read more...]
This is the first ever guest post on Diary of David, written by my dear mother! If you enjoy reading, please leave a comment :) - David How excited was I to be boarding the Norwegian flight to Oslo! Norway is a country that I have always wanted to visit, and now I was on my way. The flight was shorter than I expected, the weather was clear and sunny, and I had a window seat! Looking down as we approached the coast, I was struck by how like the … [Read more...]
This weekend I hosted my parents for the first time since I moved to Oslo. On the Friday night I took them to the Ullevaal for their (and my) first Vålerenga match, versus Viking. I’d been to the Ullevaal once before for Norway v Iceland and watched several Vålerenga games on the tele, but had not seen a match in person. As this was the penultimate home game I suggested we go along. My dad and rather surprisingly my mother both agreed! We … [Read more...]
Last night me and Matt went to watch Norway v Iceland in a Euro 2012 qualifier. It was my first trip to Oslo's Ullevål Stadion. We started off at the Billabong Café in Majorstuen then took the T-Bane to the ground. The atmosphere was pretty good with punk music and free programmes unexpected highlights! Considering we got some of the last seats available they were pretty good, on the end of a row just behind the goal in the Bendit part of the … [Read more...]
With tonight's Champions League Final receiving blanket coverage across Europe, including here in Norway, today's blog post is almost inevitably about the beautiful game. There's a big Manchester United connection in Norwegian football with former favourites Ole Gunner Solskjær and Henning Berg both managing clubs, Molde and Lillestrøm respectively. Both are being interviewed around the clock on Norwegian TV ahead of tonight's final! When … [Read more...]
He writes here about his new life in Norway: his observations and experiences, the language and culture, the people and places. [Read More …]
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