You can use your regular normalization tactics (has_many, belongs_to, has_many_and_belongs_to_many, etc.) with MongoDB, too. You could treat it like a MySQL/PostgreSQL that simply allows arbitrarily nested/embedded documents if you need them. The flexibility is great. Check the video I linked.

And, no, SQL is not awesome. It's painful and not implemented the same way everywhere. Fortunately, we don't really have to write too much of it nowadays.