Yesterday I was educated on the finer points of living in a place where it snows in the winter (by a British expat who has been in Norway for seven years). Before I was shown the ins-and-outs of buying the right kind of boots with the proper sole for walking in the snow and ice, she told me that being sexy in the winter goes out the window when living in Norway. AND she told me that you have to learn to walk like an Egyptian a Norwegian.

Instead of a cute light walk or a runway strut, to avoid slipping on the ice or falling in the snow you have to walk like a Norwegian. I asked her what that was (because from what I could recall I did not ever notice a particular ‘Norwegian walking style’). She showed me - to which I burst out laughing (because then I realized I HAD seen this ‘Norwegian walking style’). She put her feet kind of far apart and kind of tottered sideways slowly back and forth while walking. She said, “It’s all about weight distribution”.

Then she explained when it starts snowing and especially when there is ice on the ground you have to have the right boots to manage without falling. She said that it is important to get boots with soles with large spaces between the tracks on the bottom or else snow and ice will get stuck there and make it very slippery. Also, she said that you need to find boots with really soft rubber for soles. The reason is, is because the hard soles just slip on the snow and even medium textured soles get really hard in the freezing temperatures. So even if it seems like its not too hard, it might get really slippery still when you are outside in the freezing weather. So boots with very soft rubber soles are the best bet for not falling in the snow and ice!

It was a very educational fashion lesson for me to know what to wear in Norway in the winter now! At least as far as footwear is concerned (one thing at a time :).