When I was in Bosnia, in Sarajevo, the two bases I was at were both mainly guarded by Norwegians. Occasionally they would rotate out for short periods of time and some other nation would take over, but it was mainly Norway. I was struck by a couple of things about them.
For one thing, they were all extremely friendly and just about always had a smile on their faces. Ihad been outside the base and was walking in the main gate one evening and had pointed my weapon into what's called a clearing barrell so that I could safely remove the round that was in the chamber. While I was doing this a cat jumped up onto the barrel directly in front of my weapon. The Norwegian guards, apparently tired of this stray cat who had been bothering them all night, began laughing and imploring me (picture Norwegian accented English) to "Shoot it! Please shoot it! Shoot the cat!". Naturally I didn't (I like cats), but the way they said it made me laugh, including their feigned disappointment when I didn't comply.
The other thing that struck me about them, was that each and every one of them looked about twelve. We were like, do your mothers know where you are?

So all together they kind of resembled a highschool ski team more than a military fighting force.
They seemed like a great bunch of people though, not an imposing deterent on the gates, but a good bunch none the less. If they were any reflection of the rest of the country, I'm sure it is a great place to visit.
On a side note, I also remember the Czechs, Moroccans, and US 101st Airborne taking their turns guarding the compounds when the Norwegians rotated out. The Czechs particularly looked like a bunch of people you would not want to mess with. Anybody would have had to have thought twice about making a run at the gates while they were on. Same goes for the Americans, although they didn't look as rough as the Czechs did. The Moroccans were another story. The poor guys they had on the gates didn't seem like the brightest bulbs on the Christmas tree, and in fact looked mentally challenged by their duties. We were afraid that they were going to accidentally shoot themselves.
Anyway, meeting the Norwegians there (especially seeing the women

) definitely gave me the desire to visit Norway.
[This message has been edited by Jason Menard (edited November 21, 2001).]