How do the Norwegians cope with the heat?

Wow, it has been hot today by Bergen standards atmore than 22 degrees in the shade, and not a drop of rain has fallen for the past 3 days - amazing! We had our usual weekly staff meeting at work amd the room was so hot and stuffy it was hard to keep awake. Despite the heat, there was no water play arranged in the garden for the children, just the usual bikes, balls and sand pit, plus dancing to a CD player outside.

No-one could say why they didn't have water play stuff - but there is nothing at all. Hopefully when this job ends, I can get a job at another kindergarden and compare. Many of the children still had wollen clothes on, and close fitting hats instead of sun hats - guess they just are not used to this kind of weather here! Some were definitely neginning to 'melt' by the end of playtime, despite drinking copious amounts of water! For the first time I would say the non-Norwegian children were more appropriately dressed than the Norwegian children!!! So I guess in that respect they don't 'do' heat so well!

My colleagues though were in cut off trousers and T-shirts - Factor 50 suncream everywhere! As for coping with the heat - expect many families will take Friday off (Monday is a holiday here) and go up to their cabin in the mountains! Even now, traffic is much lower than usual, so maybe many have gone already. In Norway, family takes precedence over work!

Went shopping on the way home and found plenty of salad on the shelves so no sign of a shortage in that department yet! For those who don't know- Norway ran out of butter before Christmas, and there was none to be had. They could have imported alot from EU, but for some reason chose not to. It was said that the farmers/dairy company were afraid that Norwegian comsumers would get a taste for cheap foreign butter, and not buy Norwegian butter omce it was back in production. Who knows!

Even though it is hot here, in the middle of Norway they still have alot of snow in the mountains - so much so that you cannot get through to some of the cabins yet! Strange to think that there is such a difference just 6 hours drive from here! Well the good weather continues tomorrow! I am out all day with a colleague and the oldest children (5-6) year olds climbing Løvstakken, which is the mountain you can see from our appartment - no snow up there thank goodness though the paths are fairly non-existent, which does not bode well for me!! I will let you know how it went and hopefully have some photos too tomorrow!