We moved from Ukraine to Norway in November 2023. A lot has become familiar since then, but some things still make me rethink habits I had for decades. People here treat weather, Sundays, personal space, appearance and even health differently. What surprised me most is how much prevention happens not in a doctor's office, but in ordinary daily life.
A Ukrainian in Norway: What I Still Cannot Get Used To
After living in a new country for a few years, you stop looking at it like a tourist. The fjords are still beautiful, but they are no longer the things that surprise you every day. Instead, you start noticing ordinary details. And those details often show more clearly than anything else how different everyday habits, expectations and attitudes can be.
I already know how Sundays work, what to wear in the rain and who to call when I need medical help. Some things still feel unfamiliar anyway
During the first months after moving, most of our attention went to practical things: paperwork, housing, school, transport, language and all the questions that begin with "where do I go?" and "what exactly do they want from me here?"
After a while, those things become easier.
Habits built over decades change more slowly.
I can still look out of the window at the rain and think it might be better not to go anywhere. I can remember something I need to buy on a Sunday. I can be surprised by how simply someone is dressed and later find out that they have a senior position or a very successful career.
There is also one area I have started noticing much more after forty: the way people think about health.
In Norway I am slowly learning not to wait for a day that feels good enough to go outside
We have three children, so we noticed the difference in how people treat weather very quickly.
Rain. Wind. Everything is wet. It is definitely not the kind of day I would once have called good walking weather.
And the children still go outside.
People walk their dogs. Someone is running. Someone is heading into the mountains. Someone is cycling.
At first I looked at all of this and wondered why anyone would deliberately make life harder for themselves.
Then I started understanding the simple logic. Here, people often solve the problem not by cancelling the walk, but by wearing the right clothes.
A waterproof jacket. Trousers. Proper shoes. And you go.
I have not become someone who enjoys every rainy day. But the old reaction "bad weather means we stay home" no longer works as automatically as it once did.
I keep seeing one very simple idea here: it is better to take care of your health before something seriously hurts
I do not want to write that prevention does not exist in Ukraine and that everyone in Norway lives perfectly. That would simply be untrue.
I can only speak about my own experience.
Before moving, health often became a separate issue in my life only when something had already started bothering me. My back hurt. I had no energy. I slept badly. My blood pressure went up. Then I would start thinking about doctors, tests or medication.
What surprised me in Norway was something different.
I see prevention around me every day, often just by looking outside.
People walk a lot. They run. Cycle. Hike. Children spend a lot of time outdoors. People of very different ages exercise regularly.
And it does not always look like a major fitness project. Very often, people simply keep moving.
Official advice from Helsenorge follows the same logic. Any physical activity matters, and adults are advised to get at least 2.5 to 5 hours of moderate activity per week. Regular movement is also presented as an important part of preventing disease.
Not going to the gym once before summer. Not waiting until you feel really bad. Walking, moving, spending time outdoors and taking care of yourself as part of normal life.
After forty, I have started looking at this very differently myself.
It is no longer enough for me to say, "nothing seriously hurts yet, so everything must be fine."
I want to have energy. Sleep properly. Move. And not wait until my body forces me to pay attention.
Not everything starts at a hospital, but that does not mean Norway only treats emergencies
At first, I sometimes had the impression that seeing a doctor in Norway was harder and that the system mostly reacted only when a problem became serious.
Over time, I started understanding the structure better.
For ordinary health concerns, the main point of contact is the fastlege, your regular GP.
If help cannot wait and the fastlege is unavailable, there is legevakt.
If there is an immediate threat to life, you call 113.
So it would be wrong to say that Norwegian healthcare exists only for emergencies.
The different levels of care are simply separated quite clearly.
At the same time, outside the healthcare system itself, you constantly hear about movement, nutrition, vaccination, screening and prevention.
I think this was the part I did not understand right away. A lot of looking after your health here begins long before you see a doctor.
Helsenorge describes the fastlege as the main point of contact in the healthcare system. Legevakt is for situations where help cannot wait, while 113 is for life-threatening emergencies.
People in Norway really do live a long time, but it would be far too simple to explain that only by walking more
According to Statistics Norway, life expectancy at birth in 2025 was 81.61 years for men and 84.85 years for women.
Those are high numbers.
But I do not want to turn them into a simple conclusion such as "Norwegians walk a lot, therefore they live longer."
Life expectancy is affected by healthcare, income, education, working conditions, food, smoking, alcohol, physical activity, the environment and many other factors.
One part, however, is very clear. The Norwegian Institute of Public Health states that regular physical activity helps prevent many diseases and premature death.
So when I see people of different ages on walking trails, in gyms, on bicycles or simply taking long walks, I no longer see it only as a Norwegian hobby.
It is part of a culture that genuinely supports health.
If you forget to buy something on Saturday, Sunday reminds you very quickly which country you live in
Most ordinary shops in Norway are closed on Sundays.
There are exceptions, including some smaller grocery shops, petrol stations, kiosks and other permitted businesses.
But the familiar option of going to a large shopping centre whenever you want often simply does not exist on a Sunday.
At first, this genuinely annoyed me.
Especially when I needed one simple thing that same day.
Now I almost automatically think about shopping on Saturday.
At the same time, I have started seeing the other side of it. Sunday really does feel different from an ordinary weekday. There is less shopping and less everyday rush. More people are outside, away from town or simply spending time at home.
I still do not enjoy discovering that I forgot something. But the idea of having one day when everything does not revolve around buying things no longer feels strange to me.
This has been harder for me to get used to than rain or closed shops
In my experience, Norwegians are often polite and genuinely helpful.
They will explain something. Help if you need it. Say hello. Have a perfectly normal conversation.
But several good conversations do not automatically mean that you are becoming close friends.
Personal space feels stronger here.
I am gradually learning not to read distance as coldness.
Someone can like you perfectly well and still not ask many personal questions, call just to chat or invite you home after meeting twice.
And I still miss Ukrainian spontaneity sometimes.
Calling someone. Dropping in for coffee. Making plans at the last minute. Sitting in the kitchen much longer than you expected.
Those things do not rebuild themselves within a few months after moving.
It is much harder to guess who someone is from their clothes, phone or car
I like this.
In everyday life, people can look extremely simple. A jacket. Comfortable shoes. A backpack. Clothes that make sense when you might walk through the rain.
And you have absolutely no idea who the person is.
A student. A doctor. A manager. A business owner. Someone with a very high income.
I have caught myself many times realising how automatically we make assumptions from appearance.
In Norway, those assumptions often do not work.
And this is probably one of the local habits I do not just want to get used to. I want to keep it.
Judge people less by the packaging.
Especially when you leave the textbook and step outside in Stavanger
You learn a word. Listen to the recording. Repeat it a few times. You think you know it.
Then someone uses the same word in a real conversation and for the first few seconds you have no idea what you just heard.
Dialects make this a separate story in Norway.
Bokmål and nynorsk are written forms. In everyday speech, people use different local dialects.
You notice this very quickly in Rogaland.
So even familiar Norwegian can sound very different from the language in a learning recording.
These moments used to knock my confidence much more.
Now I take them more simply. I did not understand, so I ask again. I hear another version. I remember it. Next time it is easier.
The language teaches you very quickly not to be afraid of looking like someone who is still learning.
Some things are not just something to get used to. I genuinely want to bring them into my own life
I do not want to become someone who says after a few years, "Now I completely understand Norway."
I do not think it works like that.
But I can already see things I want to keep in my own life.
Not waiting for perfect weather before going for a walk.
Thinking more about health before a serious problem appears.
Judging people less by appearance.
Being calmer about other people's personal space.
At the same time, I do not want to lose the things I love about Ukrainians.
Our humour. Real conversations. Emotion. The ability to get close to people quickly. The habit of being there when someone needs you.
This is what adaptation looks like to me now.
Not forgetting who I was before moving, and not closing myself off from the good things I see in the country where I live now.
And I think that is probably a good thing
Once you stop noticing differences, it becomes very easy to take everything around you for granted.
I am still interested in seeing what in Norway changes my old habits, what I accept easily and what I still cannot get used to.
If you also live in Norway, I would be interested to know what still surprises you. I think everyone would have a slightly different list.