I am two weeks into a placement at Ducky. New to the country and new to the company I am in an interesting place to see how Ducky and Norwegians do things differently. I am an Earth Science graduate and my main task here is integrating global data into the excellent carbon calculator they already have.
The calculator is based on consumption patterns and it has been really interesting to see how these vary across the world. For example, did you know Norwegians take the global average number of showers: 7 showers in a week? While in the UK the average person showers 5 times a week. In contrast Brazilians shower on average 12 times a week.
These are relatively small differences in habits and likely explained in part by climatic differences, but one major difference I wasn’t expecting is how different our global energy sources can be. For example, mains gas is a staple of British life, back in Scotland I used it for heating and cooking. Chatting about it in the office, some of my colleagues were most concerned about the fire risk with using gas. I was amused by this as in Norway I am learning to use a wood stove to keep my majority wooden flat warm. This originally seemed more of a fire risk to me. Further differences are that in most urban environments in the UK there is smoke control areas where you aren’t allowed to burn wood at home, only gas or coal.
Apart from the differences between the UK and Norway I have learnt a lot about the rest of the world. Most of my time is spent finding out the factual differences, but I also get anecdotes in the office. Ducky is a very interesting company to be involved with as it represents a wide range of backgrounds, including many different nationalities. Apart from comparing cultural differences, travel is a common topic of conversation over lunch. From my research I have found that on average Australians take 1 continental flight a year, Norwegians take 2 and Americans take 8. How we chose to travel also differs with the UK favouring public transport for long distance trips, while in Australia people almost always drive.
As we adapt Ducky for a global market, so I adapt to working in Norway. I am now used to taking my shoes off every time I enter the office switching to a bright pink pair of slipper socks. Most importantly I have learned how to work the coffee machine which is essential in a Norwegian office.
Written by Amy McCormack
