In Norway, the oatmeal is often steel-cut oats, which you really can't eat raw. If you're eating them with milk, you've probably got rolled oats, which are already cooked.

Yes. I am aware of this, but it's a distinction that I've never really seen in everyday use of the Norwegian language. Basically, there's two common versions of the product, they have the same name, but one of them is pre-cooked. I've always used the pre-cooked one for oatmeal though. Which might not quite make it the common American oatmeal, I don't know :P

A common theme, the language often doesn't make subtle distinctions when it comes to food.