It started snowing this morning on my way to school (see photo of the street in front of my school). By this afternoon, my world was all white again. I think this is the “third winter”, maybe fourth; I’m losing count. By the time our year in Norway is up, it will seem like we’ve been here for years for all the seasons we’ve gone through time and time again. But I like it because it’s never boring. It did however, put a crimp in my plans to get some exercise today during our lunch break. Yesterday I managed to get almost to the top of the mountain behind my school and today I was looking forward to making it all the way up, but not with snow and ice on the ground. It’s 418 steps, and each one is a death trap when the weather turns. At the top sits “fjellstua,” (“mountain living room”) with a nice view of the surrounding area and probably the most photographed spot in the city. I’m trying to take some of the creaks out of my body and climbing to the top everyday seemed like a good idea because the path is so close to my school – but only wise when the weather cooperates.
Because she had jury duty yesterday, The Good Teacher Inga explained today a little about the legal system here in Norway. She said there are three levels of courts – one for minor crimes, one for major crimes and one that is like our Supreme Court for the most difficult cases. For minor things like drunk driving, petty theft or assault, one would go to “ting retten” and be sentenced for their crime by a judge and two private citizens that make up the “jury” (where she was.) In this court, the majority rules, so if the two citizens disagree with the judge, their opinion wins. In the higher court for bigger crimes, one would go to “lagmanns retten” and there sits more citizens on the jury, with the judge, but the judge’s opinion matters more. And then if a case is taken to the highest level, it goes to “høyesterett” which is made up of all professional lawyer/judge type people and they decide the case amongst themselves.
The penal system here in Norway is quite different from America. We know one guy that was going over 110 kilometers an hour (about 65-70 mph) in a tunnel and got caught by a traffic camera and had to pay a big fine, he lost his driver’s license for nine months, and went to jail for 18 days. Just for speeding! There were no other cars around either, so it wasn’t like he was endangering anyone or driving recklessly (except for the speed). He had enough vacation time that he just used it for his jail time so he even got paid while he was there. He said the prison was just like a volunteer work party, where they were well cared for, ate good food, treated with respect and just had to work a normal workday. They did manual labor - building playhouses for children that would be sold in stores. After “work” they were free to play sports, watch TV, whatever they wanted. He even checked himself into the prison –he just showed up at an appointed date and time to start his sentence, and then took the train home after he was done. After a few years, his “crime” will be off his record, but I think if he has other traffic related incidences the sentence next time might be harsher, but not by much. We know someone that was caught embezzling from his employer and he just had to pay back a fraction of what he took and go to jail for just five months. He even got out on the weekends and holidays to be with his family, so they handle “criminals” here quite differently than in the States. I heard this week that per capita, Oslo now has the highest crime rate of all the major cities in Europe and New York. Oslo’s population has changed drastically in the last ten years even, so that now over 25% of the population is made up of immigrants, which happen to be the bulk of the ones doing the crimes. It’s sad really, as twenty five years ago Oslo was by far the safest city in the world. In 1983 when I first visited Norway, I remember reading in a travel book that it was the only place safe enough for women traveling alone to hitchhike, as the crime rate in Norway was next to nothing. My, how things have changed.
Kaleb had another uneventful day, except for the fall off his bike on the way to school because the road was a bit slippery. (He’s fine.) He managed to breeze through his homework when he was told if it wasn’t done by four o’clock he wouldn’t be allowed to play with Tobias today. I hate that he needs so much motivating, but at this point, whatever works. Tobias came over after he was done with his work and we all went to the store to buy snacks and road food for our big weekend at the resort coming up this Friday. The boys have been counting down the days and it’s soon here. I hope they have as good of a time as they are anticipating. I’ve ordered up a massage and a facial at the hotel as this weekend in Norway is Mother’s Day and I’m thinking I deserve it. What mother doesn’t? Well, I know a few....
Because she had jury duty yesterday, The Good Teacher Inga explained today a little about the legal system here in Norway. She said there are three levels of courts – one for minor crimes, one for major crimes and one that is like our Supreme Court for the most difficult cases. For minor things like drunk driving, petty theft or assault, one would go to “ting retten” and be sentenced for their crime by a judge and two private citizens that make up the “jury” (where she was.) In this court, the majority rules, so if the two citizens disagree with the judge, their opinion wins. In the higher court for bigger crimes, one would go to “lagmanns retten” and there sits more citizens on the jury, with the judge, but the judge’s opinion matters more. And then if a case is taken to the highest level, it goes to “høyesterett” which is made up of all professional lawyer/judge type people and they decide the case amongst themselves.
The penal system here in Norway is quite different from America. We know one guy that was going over 110 kilometers an hour (about 65-70 mph) in a tunnel and got caught by a traffic camera and had to pay a big fine, he lost his driver’s license for nine months, and went to jail for 18 days. Just for speeding! There were no other cars around either, so it wasn’t like he was endangering anyone or driving recklessly (except for the speed). He had enough vacation time that he just used it for his jail time so he even got paid while he was there. He said the prison was just like a volunteer work party, where they were well cared for, ate good food, treated with respect and just had to work a normal workday. They did manual labor - building playhouses for children that would be sold in stores. After “work” they were free to play sports, watch TV, whatever they wanted. He even checked himself into the prison –he just showed up at an appointed date and time to start his sentence, and then took the train home after he was done. After a few years, his “crime” will be off his record, but I think if he has other traffic related incidences the sentence next time might be harsher, but not by much. We know someone that was caught embezzling from his employer and he just had to pay back a fraction of what he took and go to jail for just five months. He even got out on the weekends and holidays to be with his family, so they handle “criminals” here quite differently than in the States. I heard this week that per capita, Oslo now has the highest crime rate of all the major cities in Europe and New York. Oslo’s population has changed drastically in the last ten years even, so that now over 25% of the population is made up of immigrants, which happen to be the bulk of the ones doing the crimes. It’s sad really, as twenty five years ago Oslo was by far the safest city in the world. In 1983 when I first visited Norway, I remember reading in a travel book that it was the only place safe enough for women traveling alone to hitchhike, as the crime rate in Norway was next to nothing. My, how things have changed.
Kaleb had another uneventful day, except for the fall off his bike on the way to school because the road was a bit slippery. (He’s fine.) He managed to breeze through his homework when he was told if it wasn’t done by four o’clock he wouldn’t be allowed to play with Tobias today. I hate that he needs so much motivating, but at this point, whatever works. Tobias came over after he was done with his work and we all went to the store to buy snacks and road food for our big weekend at the resort coming up this Friday. The boys have been counting down the days and it’s soon here. I hope they have as good of a time as they are anticipating. I’ve ordered up a massage and a facial at the hotel as this weekend in Norway is Mother’s Day and I’m thinking I deserve it. What mother doesn’t? Well, I know a few....
