from time to time, i have to remind myself that living in the Oslo area isn't like living elsewhere in the country. for example, if you're in some town up north, the largest media outlets in the country don't read like the local news, like they do when you live in the Oslo area. when urban areas are illustrated in books, it's not your city being depicted, but typically Oslo. debates about immigration always focus on the ones who live in Oslo. also, since the seat of government is in Oslo, it gets more attention and has more influence on national politics. most TV, film and music production companies operate from here.

you'd think Norway *was* the Oslo area. but it's not representative of how the rest of the country is. geographically, it's flat and humid with lots of evergreen forests. it's densely populated. the dialect(s) spoken aren't quite like in the rest of the country. there is far more infrastructure and people take it for granted and complain when it fails. and overall, stuff is just slightly weird here compared to elsewhere, is done differently, in large part due to the influence of Oslo.