American that just visited Norway and I was hoping to get a few questions answered from Norwegians

18 comments

1. here to read all the answers! but i love showers outside of the US. they have always been my preference!

2. 5. There are more types of showers in Norway. I don’t think much when I visit America. Mostly just that it is a food paradise for someone who likes to cook and has many dietary restrictions.

3. 5.oh yes we all bring shower curtains back home after our yearly USA trip,so weird how we dont sell any here in Europe.

4. 1. To keep seagulls and other birds out of the trash
   2. The old way to fix the pole to the ground, or the point to tie the line?
   3. Not sure, but Hurtigruten has year-round traffic
   4. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon. The passengers will hardly notice
   5. All houses I have lived in or visited have shower curtains or cabinets…

5. 1. To stop birds from entering them
   2. because they are, or at least traditionally were, made of tree trunks, anchored to the ground with metal pieces, on on each side, going into a concrete foundation. I suppose it has become a part of the expected aesthetic to have a base like that.
   3. varies a lot. But some winters all the way to the southern tip, to the extent that at least small boats cannot use them. Seldom so much that ships cannot.
   4. somewhat common far inland in woodland areas. But since the locomotives have snow ploughs in front of them the impact usually cause little harm to passengers.
   5. umm.. not sure if this is toungue in cheek but shower curtains or doors are common here.

6. 1: so birds won’t drag stuff out and litter

   4: now and again, train probably has to stop and alternative transport will be fixed

   5: ?

7. 1. No idea.
   2. There is a hinge at the top of the wood, allowing the flag pole to be laid down for maintenance.
   3. No.
   4. Very common. Nothing happens to the people on the train. Most of what happens, happen to the moose/reindeer.
   5. Shower curtains are nasty and unhygienic. Glass shower doors is the way to go.

8. 3. The ports don’t usually freeze in winter due to the Golf Stream keeping the coastal climate very mild (relative to it’s Nortern latitude). That’s sorta one of the points of Norway, really, and why it has been coveted by Germans and Russians. The climate changes we’ve wrought lately has opened up other ice free ports, though, which gives the Russians access to the North Atlantic.

   Edit: Year round access, I should say

9. 1. To keep birds from entering the cans and pick whatever they fancy
   2. if you look closer, you will see that the pole can be tilted all the way to the ground. the 2 pieces of woods on each side makes this possible. usefull for maintenance, etc.
   3. None of our ports freeze during winter.. all hail the “gulf stream”
   4. not that common. in most cases the train will continue to its next station.
   5. most new bathrooms have waterproof floors, so showering on floor it ‘A ok’ 🙂 Ive been to the US once, but i cant recall the “shower situation”. it prolly wasnt that memorable 😀

10. 1 – So ppl dont throw big stuff in the trash cans, like a whole bag of trash and birds/animals out of the trash
    2 – Its to hold up the flag pole and the pole can be taked down from pins on em two side pices holding the pole
    3 – Ocean rarly freeze even all the way north
    4 – Its pretty common, moose,deers,raindeers,sheeps and cows. Not everyday but happens.
    5 – After traveld alot in Euro and lived in norway 30 years(4years in belgium) i never had a shower floor coverd in water.

11. 1. To avoid birds going in there I think?

    2. Support, and there’s a bar near the top of the supports that goes through the pole, allowing it to pivot down if needed.

    3. No clue

    4. Brother-in-law drives trains for a living, says they hit animals all the time though never specified much about what types. I’d assume the passengers would barely notice, the mass of a deer can’t really compare to a moving train. I doubt moose are hit all that often, there’s not that many of them.

    5. Where did you stay that had open showers? And why would we bring plastic curtains when we mostly have plastic/glass doors that seal *all* the water inside?

    Fair question honestly, I’m sure some people have open showers, but personally the last time I took a shower without glass/pkastic doors was when I was a kid in the 90s. We had shower curtains back then though.

12. 2. They have a tilt down base so the poles can be tilted – for paint and maintenance.

    4. Trains have so much weight and momentum, you can crash into a herd of deer and not even notice. Train drivers are instructed not to brake when they see moose or reindeer on the track.

13. Did you stay mostly in hotels here?

    Hotels have this weird thing with half covered showered, which means a lot of water gets all over the floor.

    Showers in Norwegian homes usually have glass doors that fully close or shower curtains.

14. 1. So birds don’t get in.
    2. You mean those things that let you tip the whole flag pole over?
    3. Don’t know, I couldn’t find an answer.
    4. From what I could find, around 700-1000 moose, deer and reindeer total each year.
    5. I have always had shower curtains? Some people are probably just lazy.

15. 1. To prevent mess from birds and trash blowing away.
    2. It makes it a lot easier to paint the flag pole, or to replace/repair the string or pulley. There’s a bolt at the bottom you can remove and then you tip the whole pole down.
    3. Depends on how salt the water is I suppose, some harbors in the north can be ice free while some in the south are frozen all winter.
    4. I don’t think passengers notice much ([example here](https://gfx.nrk.no/T_IOHvurMuKN9jaslMPXFQRFqFNq5s87OW1zPt22uSVg.jpg)).
    5. What do you mean? It’s a great way to clean the bathroom floor! Or you could get a different kind of shower. At least the shower head is not permanently fixed to the wall so you’d have to sit down to wash your hair.

16. > 1. Why do public trash cans have 1-3 vertical chains over the opening of the trash can?

    It’s not all of them, and it’s to stop people dumping vast quantities of waste in them, instead of just the odd thing they have in their hand.

    > 2. Why do flag poles have two pieces of wood on either side at the base of the flag pole?

    I don’t know what flagpole you’ve seen, but it’s presumably so the flagpole can be taken down when needed.

    > 3. How far south do the ocean ports regularly freeze during winter?

    I’m inland, so I don’t know.

    > 4. How common is it that trains will hit a moose or deer? What happens with everyone on the train?

    Tbh, I’d assume that it means there’s a dead deer or moose on the tracks if one gets hit. I don’t think it’d stop the train, though someone else can correct me if I’m wrong.

    > 5. Now for a twist on the classic shower question. What do you guys think when you visit America and take a shower and the floor isn’t covered with water? Does anyone bring shower curtains back to Norway with them?

    Where have you been showering that there’s water all over the floor after you’re done? Norwegian bathrooms are all wet rooms, so you can safely have water anywhere, but there’s supposed to be a slant towards the drain, and most places either slightly recess the shower area, or have a ‘shower tub’. At the very least, there should be some rubber ‘curtains’ that go at the bottom of the shower doors, to stop *most* of the water getting out.

    In my old place, the slant wasn’t done properly, so water would pool outside the doors. In my current place, we haven’t had a single drop outside of the shower area that didn’t fall off our bodies.

    Shower curtains exist here, but they’re an inferior solution to doors, so most people don’t use them. If the place you were in had neither doors nor curtains, then if you were still there I’d suggest you check your accommodation for hidden cameras.

17. >How common is it that trains will hit a moose or deer? What happens with everyone on the train?

    [This research report](https://www.nina.no/archive/nina/pppbasepdf/rapport/2015/1145.pdf) indicates that this happens about 734 times per year on average for moose, about 230 times a year for deer. The data is based on the years 1991 to 2014. There are more moose than deer in Norway, which would explain why they are more often involved. Also the most common type of deer is the r[oe deer,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roe_deer) which is small, fast and agile, and therefore probably less likely to end up in front of a train.

    Now as for the passenger, they won’t even know it happened unless the train driver sees the moose early enough to slam on the brakes. Usually they don’t, so the train will keep moving as if the moose was never there.

    The reason is simply that the moose has way too little mass to noticeably affect the speed of the train. Some napkin math: A typical commuter train in Norway weighs around 160 metric tons. If it is going 100kph it has a kinetic energy of around 62MJ. A stationary moose weighing 500kg will have a potential energy of around 0,2MJ. If all that energy goes into slowing the train down, the train will lose about 0,003% of its speed.

    Now the train might still stop or slow down after the fact, but the impact itself will not be felt by the passengers.

18. 2. You have those tilt base flag poles in the US too 🙂 [https://youtu.be/P_1yNxkQwEY?si=NHJ1hCLFsm8oTUR0&t=12](https://youtu.be/P_1yNxkQwEY?si=NHJ1hCLFsm8oTUR0&t=12)

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