MISTAKES I made whilst living in Norway | Mon Amie

Here are some of my most embarrassing moments whilst living in Norway mostly because of cultural differences.
Feel free to share some of yours in the comments section!

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My other social media:

#norway #typicalnorwegian #norwayfacts

[randomman]

«Someone has the word «norwegian» or «Norway» in the title*

Norwegians: *Allow us to introduce ourselves*

[povelvieregg]

I had a number of awkward moments in the US. I am Norwegian but a lot of my problems actually stems from speaking english with a too American accent. So I sounded like an American but I was not fluent.


1) I remember ordering a hamburger and the guy asks me "Lays or Ruffles?" When I did not understand he looked at me as the biggest idiot. Lay and Ruffles are just the most common types of potato chips in the US. Every American knows what Lays potato chips is. I did not, and eating burgers with potato chips never happens in Norway, while in the US they have potato chips as a side with many things.


2) Ordering home delivery Pizza in the US. Remember this was about 15 years ago. I don't know the status in the US now. The pizza guy comes to the door and I bring my credit card to pay him. He looks at me like a complete fool, asking how on earth he is supposed to take a credit car payment on the door. For a Norwegian portable credit card payment terminals is something we have been used to for many years. We rarely use cash. But this guy had never seen one or even knew they existed because America at the time I lived there was far more cash and cheque oriented than Norway.


3) A hospital visit and the doctor at the midst of our conversation asks me if I have a rash. At the time I did not know what "rash" meant. Keep in mind my english was from Hollywood movies, and computer science books. Rash is not really a word you pick up from that. The doctor was utterly confused. In her mind she had just had a normal conversation with a regular American guy, and he suddenly asks what a "rash" is. A pretty basic word, even an American toddler would know. I had to hurry and say "I am not American!" before the doctor got completely weirded out.


4) Americans have an odd habit of saying "I am Irish", "I am Swedish" etc and actually meaning their ancestors 3 generators back or something where say Irish. It does not mean they know a single thing about Ireland or Sweden, let alone the language. So when I met people and I say "I am Norwegian, " people normally took that as meaning, my ancestors are Norwegian, not that I was actually from Norway. Sometimes I would meet people saying "Oh I am Norwegian too!" and I would switch over to using Norwegian only to observe a very confused looking face struggling hard to grasp what I was saying, and then struggling to grasp WHY I was suddenly speaking funny.

[jwilskow]

*every norwegian person who watch a video and someone mention norway*
“OMG! i am from norway!”

[TourdionInstrumental]

2 years ago, I visited Iceland with my husband and friends. We had rented a small grey car to drive around the island. We had stopped at a gas station and my husband parked the car. I was inside the little shop, and when I came out, I saw that my husband had moved the car right outside the door, as if he were waiting for me. He had his head down looking at reading something. So I hopped in the car and starting telling him something. Finally I looked over at him—-only to see that it wasn’t my husband! It was an Icelandic man with hair very much like his and driving a car like out rental car! He was a bit surprised but also smiling and amused, just waiting for me to realize my mistake. I was mortified, apologized, and said he looked like my husband! He said it was quite alright. I left very quickly but laughed as well! Thank goodness he was a nice man!

[kingkramer]

Me, a Norwegian just finding this in my Recommended, just watching this to validate my existence as a Norwegian :P

[rojson]

If you go further north in Norway, it is normal to share drinks. Even when I moved to Oslo from the north, I found those who were born and raised in Oslo a little weird.

[ALFRABEIRA]

I'm also Portuguese. I've been to Norway two years ago and visited a little town called Roros (don't have de funny o here) and i met such lovely people there. Norwegians can be quite warm given the proper circumstances. Miss Norway. such beautiful country.

[lisenormann]

Norwegians eat dinner very early, so unless you are specifically invited to a *dinner* party, there probably won't be any food there :) I used the word "ass" plenty of times the first time I visited the U.S (southern states) without realizing it was basically a curse word, I just thought it was another word for "butt".

[torekristoffersen]

I am an American that moved to Korea for two years. This was in the early 90’s. Is was not common to have a bathtub in your apartments then. I was told if I wanted a refreshing bath to visit the local public bathhouse. As I missed soaking and relaxing in the tub, I found a bathhouse in the Korean town I lived in and and was excited for my first visit. I undressed quickly in the dressing room area and picked up a freshly laundered towel to take to the pool area. I was just starting to learn Korean and I was not very good (especially at reading the language!) I was not told that in the bath house there are areas where only men go, areas for women only and combined areas as well. Well, I entered through a door into the all women’s I don’t know who was more shocked! The naked women or the stunned naked foreign man standing before them wearing nothing but a small towel draped over my shoulder! 😳

I enjoyed the bathhouses in Korea, but I never made the mistake of entering the women’s only area after that! Lesson learned.... embarrassingly.... 😜

[rebeckamunthe]

Culture in oslo is a lot different than in other places in Norway.

[Norsemann]

That candle is way too close to the wall

[terjemyller]

In Norway, party is Party not dinnerparty ;)

[Eissau]

My most awkward mistake living in the UK was to not be able to differentiate between American and British English. My new friend and I were talking about graduation traditions, so of course I went into detail about my red pants. Pants you wear for three weeks, don’t wash and have your classmates sign. 🤦‍♀️

[KiralearnsNorwegian]

Embarrassing moment when I was living in Uganda: I was in town waiting for the public shuttle to pick me up and my legs were tired from walking all day. I decided to bend my knees and kind of crouch overtop of my feet. Little did I realize this was the "squatting position" that people do when they go to the toilet (toilets are just holes in the ground) and a man came up to me and handed me a newspaper and started laughing. I think it was his way of teasing me, "here, wipe your bum with this." I was so embarrassed. We don't go to the bathroom like that in Canada.

Thanks for sharing your Norwegian experiences. Hopefully I can avoid these mistakes in the future.

[core]

Oslo is weird. Nobody outside Oslo cleans out the mayo tube before throwing it away, and i suspect someone is messing with you.
Sharing alcohol at parties is extremely common and to bring a bottle of wine to the host is... not expected by and means but very appreciated. And no, do not expect dinner if it is not specified by the invitee.

[TFfan]

You can have a closed bottle of wine or beer in your hand walking down the steet, you just cant drink from it in public.

[musictomyears]

I'm booked to visit Norway end of Feb/ March so I'm here to educate myself. I was in India a few years ago and I was invited to a family home for some food. I had bought some jasmine perfume oil which I decided to wear for that occasion. My host had sadly lost his dear mother just a short while previous to my visit. When I entered the family home he seemed a little shocked (for want of a better description) when he smelled the jasmine oil. I told him it was a perfume I had bought locally, rather pleaseed with myself smelling so good but the shock soon shifted to my face as he told me it was what they perfumed their dead with before cremation!! To make things worse I laughed from the shock of our cultural differences but he and his family ignored my mistake and welcomed me into their home without question. Such a beautiful family and I hope one day to see them again.

[krystlemyklebust]

Embarrassing moment from an American living in Norway: Very recently spent Christmas in the mountains with my Norwegian husband and his family. Went to the ski center to spend some time on the slopes, keep in mind, I’m a beginner with a snowboard but can at least get up and down the mountain. Well I’m not used to the lifts they have there that you hold on to and it pulls you up while you ride your board/skis. I fell about 5 or 6 times before I gave up and just went to the bunny slopes 😆😆. It was so embarrassing!! But maybe I’ll get it next time... Anyway, God Jul!!

[Tentadish]

I love your charisma! I think the alcohol part is different for different parts in Norway, as well as different groups. Whenever I have friends over for drinks at my place, I generally offer them beers or a drink, while others might not have spare alcohol lying around. But its also really common to bring your own alcohol, and if you run out others who brought more would most likely share. I have had a few people from around the world join me in drinking with my friends etc, and its generally a fun time! Learning about the person you talk to and where they`re from, always a fun time. I`ve also been to Portugal once, it was a lovely place!

[shanaiamascarenhas]

I’m from Goa, which was a Portuguese colony and we too always serve food (snacks as well as actually dinner) no matter how big or small the party is