Little Things I noticed in Oslo

When I wondered through Ekeberg in Oslo, Norway, I noticed a few things that I found interesting. As a German, some of these things came to me as a surprise, others make a lot of sense.

1. No underground power lines

Most of the power and utility lines are above ground. I would assume this is due to added cost burying them underground.

2. Rocky ground

The ground is very rocky. When walking through the forrest, there’s barely any soil, mostly just huge rocks.

3. Big Mailboxes

I did not see a single mailbox that could not fit a package. They are all huge and can fit a package of 3-4 books easily. Meanwhile, in Germany, a mailbox can at most fit a single book. Is there some sort of regulation for this?

4. Great busses and trams, icky subways

How are your busses and trams so clean, new and modern, but the subways are old and dirty?

5. Degraded streets

Many streets in the suburbs are in bad shape. Something like that is not common in Germany. Have winters something to do with this?

6. Colorful plates

There seems to be multiple types of license plates. I saw a lot of green plates on larger cars. Probably related to company cars.

7. Lots of secondary apartments

It seems like that legislation is more permissive when it comes to renting out a basement or attic as a secondary apartment. I saw a lot of these in the suburbs. In Germany, there is so much red tape and law around renting that barely anyone bothers with it.

8. Old houses with chargers for EVs

There is this stark contrast between old wooden houses with a Tesla or some other modern EV parked in front and hooked up to a charger. It’s funny.

9. A lappen is a lappen

Apparently, a lappen can mean driver’s license, which is exactly the same in German. Never once I expected to find this informal colloquialism anywhere outside the DACH area.