Misleading headline? Well, I just came upon a wonderfully detailed post arguing that Norwegian is the easiest language for English-speakers, to learn. This followed up on an equally fresh post from last week in which the poster explained why Persian/Farsi (two languages for which the CIA is desperately looking for translators) happen to be easier to learn than most people think.

Anyways, back to Norwegian. The guy's basic points are:

• It's a Germanic language
• But with simpler grammar than other Germanic language
• And a word order that more closely mirrors English

You'll have to read the original post for the many examples. After an hour of this stuff, you'll probably feel like you have a rudimentary grasp of Norwegian! Great way to introduce a language.

Whack me but I found this funny more than anything else: A Spanish couple traveling in Norway wanted to go to Olden to catch a cruise they had left to sort out some health issues. Traveling by taxi, due to a mispronunciation of their destination, the taxi driver took them to Halden instead, which is 560km away. Their fare came to 15,000 Kroners ($2765).

Still oblivious to the mistake, they tipped the driver 1000 Kroners ($184!) and spent the night in a hotel, only to find that there was no cruise ship waiting for them -- that's when they realized that they were in the wrong city. They jumped back into a taxi and and head towards Olden which was 610km away and the taxi ride cost them another 15,300 Kroners ($2,820).

So their pronunciation error cost them over 30,000 Kroners (over $5,300), the approximate cost of 2 round the world tickets.

Funny thing is, Spaniards don't pronounce "h"; so they would pronounce Halden as "Alden" -- which sounds more like Olden than Halden. When they try to pronounce the "h" it's very strong and sounds like a "khhhhh", so I'm not quite sure how they ended-up going to Halden. Perhaps the driver saw they were rich and decided to dupe them.

Scandinavia is known for being liberal; universal health care, government funded secondary education and open immigration policies are the first things that come to mind when thinking about Denmark, Norway and Sweden. But when it comes to advertising, the Scandinavian countries are a little more at odds.

Sweden recently decided not to put a ban on sexist advertising, something that is strictly regulated in Denmark and Norway. Sexist content used to sell a product has been banned in Norway since 2003. "Naked people are wonderful, of course, but they have to be relevant to the product. You could have a naked person advertising shower gel or a cream, but not a woman in a bikini draped across a car," said Sol Olving head of Norway's Kreativt Forum.

In Sweden however, the government cited concerns that such a ban would conflict with freedom of speech and freedom of the press. "I don't want to infringe on fundamental human freedoms and rights for a legislation the efficacy of which I question. This is not the way to win the fight for gender equity," said Gender Equity Minister Nyamko Sabuni.

Basically if you want half-naked photos of Scandinavian hotties, better make your way to Stockholm and not Oslo.

Is Norway planning to surpass Australia as the country with the "coolest opera building on the water"? Could be.

Norway's King Harald V has just opened a $835 million white marble Opera House on the shore of the Oslo Fjord in the heart of the capital, BBC reports. From the outside, the most striking feature is the sloping stone roof, made up of 36,000 fitted pieces, which seems to rise from the water of the fjord.

The Norwegian parliament's decision to approve its construction in 1999 ended more than 120 years of debate and waiting for a national opera house. The opera house is the largest cultural center built in Norway in 700 years.

Well, it is not exactly as photogenic as the Sydney Opera House, but maybe the photo doesn't do it justice.

As we work on trying to save our planet, it is disturbing to realize that we are also preparing for the ultimate global catastrophe.

A "doomsday vault" -- which is a bombproof shelter dug into a mountain on a Norwegian island in the Arctic Ocean -- has been built to store 2.25 billion seeds of important agricultural crops in the world, so that in the face of a global calamity, the world will be able to restart the growth of food.

The vault has already received an initial shipment of 100 million seeds from 268,000 varieties of wheat, barley, lentils and other crops. The $9-million, highly protected vault will keep the seeds cool as well as safe from potential flooding caused from foreseen ice-cap melting, for the next 200 years. More than 100 countries have supported its construction, although its ownership rights are with Norway.

So, in event of political instability, nuclear warfare, an epidemic, or large-scale natural disasters, we need not worry my friends, we and our children, and their children, will have food to survive.

We frequently hear that the world is in peril for many reasons and global leaders are putting their heads together to save the planet. Building such a vault is a smart and practical move but it also underscores the harsh reality that, no matter what we try to do, the world's destruction is imminent, sooner or later.

Happy Wednesday.

I find that either you love IKEA or you hate it; you can probably ascertain my own leanings by the fact that I am writing this article. Coming from a Scandinavian family, we have friends who used to have stuff shipped from Sweden to the US before the store made its American debut -- some people are just truly committed. But seriously, the company's basic idea was pretty cutting edge back in the 50s when it started designing furniture. "Affordable solutions for comfortable living," as the company's motto goes, went along with flat pack and consumer assembled pieces. How intelligent to reduce costs by reducing the volume of a piece of furniture.

IKEA is a Scandinavian institution gone global, and despite whether you love it or hate it, you are bound to end up with one of its products at some point. I mean really, who can resist sleek Scandinavian design? And when you do find yourself with that Nordic sofa, bookcase, or lamp, you might be interested to know exactly what all of the funny names mean. Pyssla, Svala, Visdalen, Gök? Although it may seem like a jumble of Viking vowels, there is some method to the madness. IKEA's founder Ingvar Kamprad was actually dyslexic, and he found that developing a system where products were named after places and things made it easier for him to remember them. Learning Swedish is great, but learning IKEA? Even better. A guide to deciphering the system that defines the IKEA language, thanks to a little help from the The Guardian:

Scandinavia unite:
Sofas, coffee tables, bookshelves, media storage and doorknobs -- I agree, that last one is random -- are named after places in Sweden; beds, wardrobes and hall furniture after places in Norway; and carpets after places in Denmark. And don't think Finland gets left out; Finnish cities and places are the namesake for dining tables and chairs.

In the far north of Sweden lies Lapland, a place known for snow, the summer midnight sun, and lots reindeer. This is the land of the Sami people and today, February 6th, marks the yearly, festive celebration of their national holiday.

An indigenous group of northern Europe, the Sami inhabit large parts of northern Sweden, Norway, Finland and the Kola Peninsula of Russia. They are known for their reindeer herding, a traditional occupation that has been handed down over generations. Unfortunately this year's big holiday celebration is marked by a reindeer crisis; almost all of the grazing grounds having been declared disaster zones. Excess snow has led to much of the winter pasture land being inaccessible to the reindeer, and all but two Sami villages have had to apply for catastrophe aid.

The Sami are a strong people however -- how else could you cope with almost all day winter darkness? -- and despite the dreary reindeer situation, festivities are not being put on hold. Jokkmokk's yearly market is a center of activity as people from around the region, both young and old, gather to sell traditional crafts to the hordes of tourists that flock in for the occasion. For this northern part of Europe that is stereotypically known for its calm and reserved personalities, the national holiday is an energized event. Elin-Anna Laber was quoted in The Local as saying, "Jokkmokk's market is sort of a Sami equivalent to Milan fashion week." Who knew the far north could be so crazy?

If there is anything to learn from this truly bizarre case, it should be "do not overestimate cultural differences."

Barbora Skrlova, 33, duped Norwegian police, classmates, child care workers and teachers for four months into believing she was a teenage boy named "Adam". She went to school and all.

The kids in "his" classroom thought the boy was a "little strange", but since they were brought up to be tolerant of different cultures, they didn't think much of it.

The masquerade in Norway was just Barbora's attempt to escape from an investigation in her home country, the Czech Republic where she was a key witness in a child abuse scandal. Wait, it gets worse.

Last year, Skrlova was found at a house in the Czech Republic during a raid by police investigating the child sex abuse case. At that time, she--successfully--posed as a 13-year-old girl called Anicka.The adults involved were said to be members of The Grail Movement, which follows the teachings of a 19th century German mystic.

A couple of days ago, she was deported from Norway back into the Czech Republic where she is being investigated.

I already mentioned Detroit as being number 40 on the list of the New York Times places to go in 2008. Sad to say, I have only been to the airport in Detroit. After posting about this city, I agree that the capital of the automobile and Motown is indeed a place to see this year.

Places to go lists such as the New York Times version can either make a person feel as depressed as hell that one can't possibly see all of the places mentioned in one year, or fairly smug that one seen as much as one has. As for me, I'm happy I've been to some places, but still tipping towards the so many places, so little time and not enough money to even make a dent reality check.

1. I've been to Oslo, although I was young, broke and can't remember much about it except for this Canadian guy I met who I was enamored by to the point that meeting him was far more important than any glacier I may have seen. I still have the sweater I bought.

I've also been to San Francisco, New York, Prague, London, San Diego, Tuscany, Vietnam, London and Munich--all on the list at various points. That's it. I have so much more to see this year and the two places on my itinerary so far, Mexico and Williamsburg, Virginia aren't even mentioned.

Finland was recently named the best place in the world to live, thanks largely to great air and water quality, low rates of infant diseases, and protection from water pollution and natural disasters. What else is great about Finland? Well, for starters, Finland ...

• Boasts the Northern Lights
• Hosts the Sauna World Championships
• Offers sleddog vacations
• Is home to the Ice Hotel

Plus, it's gorgeous.


Iceland also made the list of the world's best places to live. Despite it's name, Iceland is not made entirely of ice. In fact, Iceland offers:

• Opportunities to surf
• Excursions to the Icelandic Phallological Museum
• Some of the most gorgeous valleys in the world
• Scuba diving

Iceland has all this, plus ... it's stunningly beautiful.


Norway made the cut, too. Despite it's reputation as being expensive, Norway has:

• Amazing views
• Amazing coasts
• The amazing Hurtigruten
• Some of the world's most amazing islands

Don't believe us? Check out this amazing gallery.


Ahhhh ... Sweden. There are so many reasons to love this nation:

• It's home to one of the world's top tech cities.
• You can see the world's longest art gallery here.
• It'll soon have an ABBA museum!
• They even have Swedish tacos.

Yup ... it wouldn't be hard to live here.


Austria rounds out the list of the five most liveable countries. However, just because it came in at number five -- and just because it has controversial urinals -- don't dismiss this nation. Austria is the proud home of:

• The world's largest ice caves
• One of the world's most elegant Easter festivals
• Entire villages you can RENT!
• One of the world's most unusual spas

Of course, the nation is lovely to look at, too.


Don't feel like living outside the U.S.? Be sure to check out Money's list of the best places to live in America!