Dear all, sooooo many families dream of emigrating. Simply leaving everything behind and starting again somewhere new. It sounds romantic and adventurous, but it can also take a lot of energy. Helen and her family took the plunge and now live in Norway. She explains how this came about in this interview.
Dear Helen, who is part of your family, and what was your life like in Germany?
My family includes my husband Dirk and our three children Liv, Luise and Levy. Levy is 15, Luise is still thirteen and Liv is just 6 years old. And we have a little poodle puppy called Kiki.
We moved from Berlin to Falkensee 10 years ago and lived there with a large garden in the countryside. My husband has worked as a project manager in Berlin for the last few years, but has spent the last year as a self-employed gardening contractor, mainly cleaning gutters. After 10 years, I became self-employed as a camera assistant in marketing. The children went to the Waldorf School in Berlin, the little one to the kindergarten in Falkensee.
Now you live in Norway. When did you first think that you would like to emigrate?
We were here in Norway for 6 months last year because we spontaneously had the opportunity to run 8 vacation homes in Haglandlille, in a small bay by the sea and fjord. Haglandlille is on the west coast near Haugesund.
The offer originally went to my father, who told us and said: „Great project, but not possible for me at the moment.“ So we thought: „After two years of the pandemic and so much time at home – why don’t we do this?“ And so, at the end of October, we simply canceled the project – we hadn’t thought about emigrating yet. We then rented our house to two Ukrainian women with their three children, at the end of December we looked at the property for a week and immediately said yes.
Why Norway? What do you like about the country? Why Norway?
Simply because we got this great offer there and we were open to change. In addition, we have always liked the Scandinavian countries as a travel destination.
We all love nature. We’ve always been very close to nature, but we just loved it here. We also didn’t expect to make such deep friendships here so quickly.
We live minutes away from Haugesund and the last 12 minutes are on a small road that ends at our place. We’ve met so many great people in our first six months here and are very impressed by the calmness and openness of the Norwegians. School and kindergarten were also so relaxed that all three children quickly felt at home.
When was it clear: We’re going to do it. We’re emigrating!
After the first 6 months, we had to decide whether to do it again. It wasn’t an easy decision. But we said yes. We only realized what that really meant when we got home. However, we quickly realized that we missed the sea, the fjord, the nature and the people here in Germany. And that the children couldn’t keep moving back and forth, but that we needed to create clarity. So we made the decision to move to Norway for the next few years – in other words, to sell the house and take the plunge.
How did the children react?
We made this decision as parents. It wasn’t easy to communicate this decision to the two older children and it was initially met with absolute rejection. But that was clear to us and we find it completely understandable. Nevertheless, we are convinced that they will look back on it differently in a few years‘ time and will most likely be grateful for the time we have here.
They both enjoy completely different opportunities to grow here. But: the last few weeks or months have been incredibly emotional, especially for our older son, who is already in a steady relationship and now in a long-distance relationship. It was clear that we would have to let go of some friendships or take them to another level. The nice thing is that many friends from Germany visited us last year and many will come again this year.
Do you already speak Norwegian?
Last year we communicated more in English here because everyone in Norway speaks English and we weren’t planning to be here for long. This year, thanks to school, the older ones are already speaking Norwegian and the little one is now getting into it. We adults are practising hard via Duolingo and in language courses – we still understand more than we can speak, but we’re on the right track.
Are you still happy with your work?
Yes! My husband mainly does the plant and I work online as an aroma coach. And when there’s a lot to do, I naturally lend a hand here.
What feels better today than back in Germany?
We spend a lot of time outdoors in nature. By the sea, by the fjord. We go fishing, swimming, hiking. That’s a luxury for me! And we are so grateful for that.
One disadvantage is that two children play soccer in a club and we have to drive a lot. We had that in Germany too, but it’s a bit more extreme here.
Is there anything you miss about Germany?
If we miss anything, it’s the choice of bread and the organic selection. But we now bake our own bread and have already planted a small garden.
Many people dream of emigrating – and then fail. What do you think is the most common mistake?
Mhm, we never dreamed of emigrating – we were also happy in Germany. But then we just fell so much in love with this little corner of the world that we couldn’t help but take the next step. It’s simply beautiful here and you only live once. Be brave and seize the opportunities that come your way. You always grow, even if it’s not always easy. But ups and downs are part of life.
