Meet our international family and experience the countryside near Oslo, Norway

Detalles

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  Descripción

  Now winter has come to Norway! Which means, time for office work, including the calendar for 2025.
  
  As you can see in our calendar, we are fully 'booked' for January, and until February 12th, 2025.
  April and May 2025 are also 'full' already.
  
  We will have an opening from the 12th of February, 2025, and the whole of March 2025.
  
  It would be an advantage for guests to have experience with horses. It's not sure it will be possible to ride - that is really dependent on the weather. But also just for helping with feeding them etc. it helps if you have been around horses before. :)
  
  
  Even in winter, we always welcome some help with the many odd tasks around the house and the yard.
  Such as painting some garden furniture, helping to bring some garbage to the dump, helping to go around and check/repair some fences, chopping and stacking some fire wood, and so on.
  
  And our animals, of course, need food and water every day. We are always especially happy to welcome people who know their way around horses/are good riders.
  
  We have an opening for 1 person from the beginning of January. (It might be possible we have space for two people, but then they would have to share a room/bed. And to be honest, there is really not enough to do in January and February to keep 2 persons busy...)
  We have had several Workawayers that have stayed here for longer periods (from several weeks to half a year) and we find that can work out very well with the right person. :)
  
  Note: The weather in Norway can be VERY unpredictable ;). And if it's raining/freezing/snowing, there might not be much to do outside. In our family, we usually use such days to catch up on office work, laundry, and stuff like that. Meaning we will not have time to help alongside you. So if you apply, please be aware that you might have to 'amuse yourself' for some days. :)
  (You can sleep, read, study, watch a movie, surf the internet, go for a hike, visit Oslo or another town, and so on.)
  
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  Our family of 4 (with 2 daughters, 20 and 15) lives on the countryside in Southern Norway, between Oslo and the border with Sweden.
  The place where we live used to be a farm, but it is not producing anything today. It is just a private home for us and our animals (cats, dogs and horses). The fields are used to produce grass and hay for our own horses, but the work connected to that is done by a local farmer.
  
  There are several nationalities in our family: Norwegian, Dutch, American – and our dog is a Welsh Terrier from Sweden!
  Therefore, we are maybe not the most ‘typical’ Norwegian family – but we love sharing our culture(s) and the way we do things here, with people from around the world.
  As regards languages: in our family we speak both Norwegian, Dutch and English to each other. And don’t be surprised if you hear German, too.
  
  We have been hosting many Workawayers now, and it has been a great experience. Our children haven’t yet had the opportunity to travel much, but through Workaway they have met people from many different cultures. And it has improved their language skills a lot!
  
  
  ARE YOU INTERESTED IN A CULTURAL/LANGUAGE EXCHANGE?
  
  NOTE: If you write to us, please be patient. Sometimes life gets very busy here - we don’t always manage to keep up with all emails. (If it’s really urgent, please write to us again.)
  
  NOTE: Please also see our information regarding meals/food/cooking, allergies, smoking and bringing pets to Norway, further down.
  
  Although we live on the countryside, we have ‘real jobs’ outside of the house. My husband commutes to an office job in Oslo, I travel around to work as a horse riding instructor and hoof care specialist. We do the work in the house, the garden and with the animals after/besides our work, and we always welcome some help with all the little jobs.
  
  Our house is fairly new (it was built a few years ago), spacious and nice. It’s not a ‘real Norwegian house’ – more like an American-style farmhouse. It was specifically designed for our family and for this place, so we love talking about its features.
  
  Workawayers live as part of our family. They either stay in our nice guest room, or in the room of our eldest daughter (when she is at university). Sometimes people stay in our ‘stabbur’ – a little cabin, just a few meters away from the main house.
  
  We are mainly looking for some help with the daily running of our household and garden. Such as: helping around the house and the yard, doing some cleaning jobs, helping to prepare dinner, painting some furniture, watering our garden and keeping the weeds away, taking away the garbage, feeding and watering our animals, walking the dog, unpacking the dishwasher, refilling and stacking firewood, and so on.
  
  If you want to help with the outside work in the garden and around the house, it helps if you are reasonably fit and don’t mind getting dirty, sweaty or wet and cold (depending on the weather).
  
  Since we both have other jobs, we are not always at home. And, depending on the weather, some days there might be very little to do. (And it’s not always easy to predict the weather accurately here.)
  Therefore, it’s good if you are flexible, fairly independent and can keep yourself entertained.
  
  Of course, we are also flexible and make sure our Workawayers can travel around, visit people, go hiking, can go to the beach in summer, and so on.
  Some Workawayers have visited Oslo together with our daughters, gone dancing, gone shopping, etcetera.
  
  If you have experience with horses, it might be possible that you can ride some of our horses. We have several horses and ponies of our own, with different sizes and level of training.
  
  During the year, we usually can accommodate 1 or 2 Workawayers. This depends on the time of the year and if they can share a room or not.
  
  
  .... WE LOVE....
  * People who have a good work ethic (meaning, also do the little jobs - and do them well - when nobody is looking over their shoulder, or we are not at home).
  * People who can think for themselves and who 'see' what needs to be done, without needing reminders for everything. (Of course, we will explain what needs to be done and how we do it – we have our ‘own way’ of doing a lot of things here – usually with a reason 😊.)
  * People who realise that even 'dumb jobs', such as cleaning, often require some thinking.
  * People who are flexible (we are flexible, too, to make sure our Workawayers can travel, visit Oslo, go to the beach, go shopping and so on).
  * People who are careful with our house, furniture, tools etcetera. As said, our house is fairly new, and we love it – so we try hard to keep it nice.
  * People who are friendly and respectful to other people, and who like animals :).
  
  
  DO YOU HAVE ALLERGIES?
  As you can read/see, we have a dog (and sometimes another one comes to stay with us), several cats, and several horses and ponies.
  The dog(s) and cats like sleeping on the furniture, if they get a chance.
  We have hay and straw from the horses, and in dry periods there’s dust from the riding arena everywhere.
  And we live on the countryside, with farms on all sides, dust, grass, pollen, woods… This means our house is NOT a good match for people with allergies!!
  
  
  ABOUT FOOD AND MEALS
  We consider ourselves flexitarians - we sometimes eat vegetarian, sometimes meat, sometimes fish. But we are most likely NOT a good match for vegetarians or vegans. And, unfortunately, we also cannot cater for people with gluten intolerance.
  
  Because of some food intolerances in our family, we usually do all the cooking (although some help with preparation is always appreciated). We like sharing cooking techniques, tips and recipes. Our meals can be traditionally norwegian, but it can also be things from other countries - from pancakes to pasta, and from strata to satay sauce.
  
  Our meal set-up is the same as for most Norwegian families: bread or yoghurt with cereal for breakfast; bread with ham, cheese or such for lunch; and a warm meal is served in the evening. (This can be a bit of a shock for Workawayers who are used to eating a ‘hot lunch’ – unfortunately this is not possible here.)
  
  As you can read in our reviews, we always try to serve good, healthy and tasty food here. (Nobody ever goes hungry!)
  We provide breakfast, lunch and a warm evening meal, and occasional snacks (home baked cakes, for example). And, of course, we will try to work around it if a visitor does not like a specific food.
  
  However, we cannot cater for specific diets or provide unlimited amounts of food and drinks. (So no, we cannot cater for low carb diets, body building diets, vegetarian diets, vegan diets, gluten free diets and such.)
  Also, it’s not possible to use our kitchen to cook your own food.
  
  
  ABOUT SMOKING
  We very strongly prefer non-smokers (even if you 'only' smoke outside, the smoke residue will still be in your clothes, luggage etc. - and therefore also end up inside our house....).
  
  
  WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW MORE?
  Feel free to send us a message. We will try to come back to you as soon as we manage!

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  Tipos de ayuda y oportunidades de aprendizaje

  Jardinería

  Construcción y bricolaje

  Cuidado de animales

  Ayuda en una granja

  Ayuda doméstica

  Mantenimiento general
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  Objetivos de sostenibilidad de las NU que intenta conseguir este anfitrión

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  ¿Que es esto?
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  Intercambio cultural y oportunidades de aprendizaje

  We are not a traditional norwegian family, and this is not a traditional farm.
  Our family has several nationalities, and several languages - and we have been living in different countries. Both in Europe, and in the USA.
  The one thing this has taught us, is that there usually is more than one way to do a thing! :)
  
  Our house was designed for a very specific purpose and a very specific place. We love sharing the thoughts behind it, what has worked well and what could be improved upon.
  We have an interest in interior design and love sharing tips - maybe even browse a second-hand store?
  
  I am an experienced cook, who can teach both basic cooking skills, and share recipe and tips for experienced cooks. Food in Norway is expensive, and there is not a great variety of food available in the stores. It takes real skill and planning to provide nutritious, healthy and tasty meals for a family and a varying group of visitors, at a reasonable cost.
  
  Housekeeping in general (especially for such a big house, and with so many people going in and out) is a very underrated and almost 'forgotten' skill. Cleaning, organization, hygiene, laundry, ironing - all such things are actually skills you can learn about here.
  
  Since we live in the countryside, with farms, fields and woods all around us, you can learn about norwegian nature (maybe even see a moose?!), seasons, farming, wood management and such things.
  
  If you like learning about, or getting more experience in 'handyman work', there are always small projects going on where you can lend a hand. Painting, some repairs, fencing, etcetera.
  
  Our horses are also kept in a non-traditional way. They live outside in a group, and they do not use iron shoes. So if you are interested in natural horse keeping and natural hoof care, you can see it in action and learn a lot here.
  For people who can ride and want to improve their skills, you can learn about the finer details of classical horse training here. And, most importantly, learn how to keep a horse healthy and happy.

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  Proyectos con niños

  En este proyecto podría haber niños. Para obtener más información, consulta nuestras directrices y consejos aquí.

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  Ayuda

  We are mainly looking for some help with the daily running of our household and garden. Such as: helping around the house and the yard, doing some cleaning jobs, helping to prepare dinner, painting some furniture, watering our garden and keeping the weeds away, taking away the garbage, feeding and watering our animals, walking the dog, unpacking the dishwasher, refilling and stacking firewood, and so on.
  
  If you want to help with the outside work in the garden and around the house, it helps if you are reasonably fit and don’t mind getting dirty, sweaty or wet and cold (depending on the weather). Maybe even all in the same day!
  
  Since we both have other jobs, we are not always at home. And, depending on the weather, some days there might be very little to do. (And it’s not always easy to predict the weather accurately here.)
  Therefore, it’s good if you are flexible, fairly independent and can keep yourself entertained.
  
  If you have experience with horses, it might be possible that you can ride some of our horses. We have several horses and ponies of our own, with different sizes and levels of training.

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  Idiomas

  Idiomas hablados
  Alemán: Fluido
  Inglés: Fluido
  Holandés: Fluido
  Norwegian nynorsk: Fluido
  Español: Principiante
  Francés: Principiante
  Swedish: Principiante

  Este anfitrión ofrece intercambio de idiomas
  We are a household of mixed nationalities: Dutch, Norwegian, and American. So in our family, we communicate in English, Norwegian and Dutch. You might hear some German, too! I speak a few words of French, and both our daughters learned some Spanish in school.
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  Alojamiento

  Our farmhouse is large and very new. We have a very nice guest room with a comfortable double bed. The large and pretty bathroom will be shared with our daughters (when they are home). Our guest room has its own porch area.
  
  If our daughters are not at home, maybe you will stay in one of their rooms. All bedrooms are nice, with comfortable beds and access to the porch.
  
  If you prefer to 'camp outside', you can find a nice place to set up a tent. (Do you dare to use the outside toilet ;)....?)
  Are you traveling in a motor home, or with a caravan? We have plenty of parking space.
  
  We also have a small separate building ('stabbur') with sleeping facility.

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  Algo más...

  Our place is located in Ostfold. This region goes from the border with Sweden almost up to Oslo. The landscape is mostly gently rolling hills, with many farms and woodland areas.
  
  We are not far from the coast (Oslofjord) and there are many beaches and small coast towns to visit. In summer, there are great hiking opportunities.
  
  The train station is about 10 minutes away, with a direct connection to Oslo. Here you can find museums, galleries and all other aspects of 'big city life'.
  
  There is no direct bus connection to our place, but there's always somebody who can drive you to the train station.

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  Un poco más de información

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    Acceso a Internet

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    Acceso a Internet limitado

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    Tenemos animales

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    Somos fumadores

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    Puede alojar familias

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  Puede acoger a nómadas digitales

  Our place has a good Internet connection. Our main guest room has a working space which is suitable for computer work. It's usually also possible to find a place in our living room - or even to sit on the porch, if the weather is nice. NOTE: We live on the country side... so there is always a possibility that 'something happens'. Such as a tree destroying the internet connection in a storm. Usually it's fixed quickly, but we cannot absolutely guarantee 100% Internet, 100% of the time, all over our place ;).

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  Espacio para aparcar autocaravanas

  There is enough space on our farm for a campervan(s) or motorhome(s). It's even possible to pitch a tent or two :).

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  Podría aceptar mascotas

  We have a smaller dog (Welsh terrier) who is very friendly with other dogs. We also have a medium-sized dog park (fenced-in) on our farm. We are open to accepting visitors with a dog, as long as it is well-behaved and not aggressive - and the owner cleans up after it. Since we have cats, we do not accept visiting dogs that will chase cats. NOTE: Norway is NOT a member of the European Union. That means that there are very strict rules for importing animals to Norway. Please consider this if you are considering bringing a dog, for example. You might have to start many months beforehand with vaccinations etc. NOTE: Also, please be aware that there are several months each year where it's not allowed to have your dog off the leash in Norway! Not even on a farm - and especially not in any kind of natural environment. This is to protect the wildlife.

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  ¿Cuántos voluntarios puedes hospedar?

  Más de dos

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