Money

In class today we learned all the special words one would want to know if they are pregnant (gravid) in Norway. And the reason they are so important, is because they mean money! I can’t believe it --they actually pay women to have babies, and then they keep paying for those babies until they are 16 years old – no matter who you are or how much money you have. Norway is, I believe, the most progressive country in the world when it comes to maternity leave. All working women get 80% of their pay (fødselspenger) for the first year after they give birth – and their jobs remain secure. If they chose to go NOT go back to work after that first year, they can take another year off and keep their job, but they get no pay during the second year. If the woman was NOT working prior to giving birth, then the government makes a nice one-time deposit into her bank account to help with the expenses of raising a baby (that money is called “engangsstørnad”) – to the tune of 90,000 kroner (about $18,000 – tax free!) And all medical expenses here are paid by the government so it doesn't need to be used for that. The father of the baby also gets a paid maternity leave for eight weeks. And once the baby is born, the government gives the parents several hundred dollars every month until the baby is three years old, and then the amount goes down to about $200 a month until they are 16 years old. All “baby/child” money is tax free and is given for every child in Norway, since the government here realizes that it takes money to raise a child. So we went around the room today and everyone told about the maternity leave policies in their home country. Of course, everyone in the class is from a country where the medical expenses are free or miniscule and several countries had many months of maternity leave. I was embarrassed to tell about the policies in America and how we have none of the above and that I had the privilege of paying over $8,000 to the hospital just to give birth. The gasps were audible -- but I choose to believe you get what you pay for and I have a boy worth every cent – and then some!

Kaleb came home with the sniffles. He had a good day otherwise, but he’s over tired and not feeling well now. He’s determined to go to school tomorrow because he has gym during school and swimming during the afterschool program. I do hope he doesn’t have a fever in the morning. He was home alone for a few hours tonight while we went to a meeting at school and he’s very upset he spent the whole time doing homework and had no time to himself. The meeting was about traffic safety for the kids going to and from school. They made a presentation to the “kommune” (city planners) about the dangerous intersections and paths the kids encounter on their way to school. As advanced as Norway is in so many areas, they are really behind in the area of sidewalks. New neighborhoods being built even now don’t have any sidewalks, so the kids have to walk and ride their bikes to school in the street along with the cars. There was much discussion and emotion around the whole deal even though there have been no accidents. The school wanted the parents to present their case to those who have the power to change some things. It was very interesting for Kory as he loves that kind of stuff, but I should have stayed home and slept.

After class today I took the bus from downtown Aalesund to downtown Sykkylven– a city across the fjord (see the photo I took from the ferry of the mountains around Sykkylven – the snow is almost gone!). Our friend, Ole-Petter, is the manager of Nordea bank over there and we finally decided to put some of our cash in the bank. We’ve been pulling out money from America because the exchange rate is so favorable right now, but it makes me nervous to have too much cash on hand. I went there to set up a CD for three or six months, only to find out they stopped offering them a few weeks ago when the financial markets went crazy (all the banks in Norway did that). The best I can do is a variable rate savings account until the financial world calms down a bit, I guess. Oh well. I opened a savings account anyway and deposited the money. Kory and I had a huge discussion about it because Norway taxes money that is just sitting in the bank to the tune of 2.5% so if the money wasn’t in the bank, we wouldn’t be taxed. We will pay 28% on any interest earned, and 2.5% of the principle amount – but considering the bank pays 7% interest, it still works out to be a better deal than keeping it under the mattress. (I hope!) Kory has an aversion to banks, for some reason, so I’m hoping this was a good move. If it wasn’t, I’m going to apply for some of that money they hand out for all the kids in Norway so I can get back some of those taxes. Money comes and money goes.