1

Groceries (and everything else) in Europe is costlier than in the US - and Norway is in the costly end of Europe due to a combination of location and being an extremly wealthy country.
But I can assure that Norwegians live well with these prices.

IMHO there is no idea in trying to pack groceries for 10 months!! You can bring 20 kg in your luggage unless you are flkying first!!! (think also of CO2-footprint). Add all those things there will be import restrictions on (alcohol - where you really could save, meat ...and if you bring a lot of a single type it may be counted as commerv'cial import and you run into costly paperwork).
Even if you are gived paid "1 ton" or "10 cubic meter" cargo luggage it is nuts to send 300 cans of bakes beans or 50 kg of pasta ?? in order to save a relatively small amount - I mean these thing may cost 50% more but are still very cheap.
Since you are moving for a fixed period I guess that you will be paid either by Norwegian standards or by some from back home at a level adjusted to the local salary level?

Bring quality clothes as you would to the most cold northern states in the US if you can get these where you live. It is definately not colder than there.

2

Agree with the above in regards of bringing food!
As for clothes: for such a long time you will probably encounter all kinds of weather. If you arrive early in August it will still be summer, with temperatures at least around the 20C mark in the daytime. During fall and spring there will be rain, and then there is winter...and that will arrive anytime between mid October to christmas, and can be anything from just below zero to minus 25-30. Snow - can be anything from 50-150cm total for the winter. This last winter was pretty mild with little snow in Lillehammer, very few days below minus ten as far as I remember...the previous winter was heavy on snow and also longer periods where temperatures stayed below minus 25. The amount of gear you'll need depends on how much outdoors activities you plan on doing in the different seasons, but the main rule for winter is layers and thermals. Wool in layers, with fleece in the middle and a top layer of wind proof does the trick, most days!
If you're in doubt - buy it when you get here! There are plenty of shops with everything you need in Lillehammer. A great town - hopefully you'll love it:-)

Edited by: LadyLuna

3

What the others said... but it would be helpful to know where you come from/what kind of weather you are used to.

Will you be receiving a Norwegian income? I wouldn't bother with bringing food unless it's something so friggin' special that you can't get it any other place in the world...

4

I'll be coming from Minnesota, USA which has very cold winters so the snow and cold will not be a surprise! My husband will be working there and receiving a Norwegian income. Thanks for the responses!