Foreigner Exposes the Most Difficult Part of Living in Norway 🇳🇴 #shorts

What is the most difficult part of living in Norway besides the weather? What is one aspect of the Norwegian mentality that is especially tough to get used to as a foreigner? Irena, a polyglot from Ukraine has been living in Norway for 12 years and shares her experiences.

Dating Beyond Borders is a Youtube channel that focuses on highlighting the cultural differences that come into play while dating people from other countries.

Videos out every Thursday - hit the bell button to receive notifications! 🔔

Follow DBB on Social Media!

[Lamentablestudent]

That’s what I like about Germany. If you only talk about safe stuff that’s how deep your friendship is going to get. If you open up that’s how you go from acquaintance to friend

[Iloveperchik]

In Eastern Europe it’s common to complain as small talk❤️❤️❤️

[mstines]

She lives in the south of Norway, in the north we speak much more freely and openly, and we are usually more honest and blunt. I am from the north, but was married to a man from the south of Norway for years, and definitely noticed the cultural differences.

[momatotsosrorudodi]

"How are you?"

"Let's keep the conversation light, alright. You're not in Kansas anymore. We speak about the weather here, not how we feel."

[tigibucaro]

As a Greek, this would definitely be a culture shock 😂

[grantottero]

The exact opposite of what would happen in Mediterranean countries (I am speaking basically about my Italy): here, if you arrive in the office at morning and you are asked "Good morning, how are you?" and your answer contains some facial expression or some tone of voice which COULD be interpreted as a revealing sign of some unspoken problem, you would immediately bombed with a series of questions like "Oh, is there some problem? Tell us! Are there problems with health? We hope not! It's not something like that, isn'it? Have you got problems in your family? ...". And so on. So, try always to be convincing, when answering "I'm fine, thanks", or "Everthing as usual", in Italy...
Moreover, here you could discover that nobody has the slightest hesitation in answering you plainly (or telling you plainly even if unrequested) that his opinions about ethics, sex, habits, dress, family, politics, religion... are different, even diametrically opposed to yours, if you (or somebody else) happen(s) to enter into the topic even for just a moment.
So, be prepared for it, if you are planning to come and live in Italy longer than the the short duration of a holiday.

[Cloudipy]

It's the exact opposite in France. Everything turns into a heated debate and people go so deep so quick that it scares foreigners because they believe we're fighting when we're just talking normally

[JanSuing]

So basically, the Philippines is the opposite of Norway. Filipinos will talk about their feelings and issues with random individuals they meet in the train or jeepney or in a queue. I'm not exaggerating. This is why we have no shrinks, not kidding. We are each other's social support, and I like that about my country.

Personally, I am an introvert and will not share my feelings with a stranger easily, but I don't mind listening to people. I cannot count how many times my Grab driver (it's like Uber but for Southeast Asia) shared their innermost thoughts with me, even their politics. This is so common that in the Grab app, there used to be a feature that allows you to inform your driver beforehand that you are not in the mood to talk. Haha. (I'm not sure if it's still there.)

Long queues are common in the Philippines, particularly in schools and government offices, and I have also lost count how many times I clicked with a queue mate, and five minutes later, we were trading sex jokes. I know that in the West, this will seem inappropriate. In the Philippines, it depends on the context, power dynamics, and the vibe you get from the other person, but we commonly use culturally specific sex jokes as ice breakers. You just have to "read the air" so you'll have an idea how they will be received prior to saying them. (Of course, sex jokes between a straight male and a female are in general inappropriate, especially if you are strangers lol). We also use Filipino gay lingo a lot, which lightens the mood even when discussing heavy topics, without minimizing them. Even our straight men use gay speak.

Anyway, I love that, in my country, we trust each other with our emotions. I'm not saying we have it better or our society is perfect because, clearly, it is not. I'm just saying that, personally, I like having human connections with random individuals, positive or otherwise, and we have a lot of that here. (Yes, even negative human interactions can enrich your life. Comfort and perpetual happiness and pleasure do not equate to a meaningful existence. If a society forces you to be happy and comfortable all the time, somerhing's wrong with it. That's just me.)

Sorry for the long post. 😂

P.S. Filipino Taylor Swift GenZs in the comment section (some even pretending to be doctors lol) are crying over this post, making lame excuses about their fragility and lack of social skills and emotional intelligence. They are the weakest generation we’ve ever had. But it’s all part of their emotional development. (Oh, I forgot to mention — political correctness doesn’t also exist in the mindset of regular Filipinos. We say things as they are.)

[Sapientiam]

Not all Norwegians are the same, so the conversations are going to be different with each person. I live not to far from Oslo and i love people who are open. I love to talk about everything, especially deep subjects, and with everyone thats willing to talk. I have no problem with this. Not everyone are like this, and i respect that they are not willing to be open with strangers like that.

[rpstgag]

Minnesotans in the United States (many descendants of Swedes, Norwegians, Finns) are also like this.

[peacefulminimalist]

This is so exaggerated. As a Norwegian I can confirm we don’t share personal details with random strangers in a small-talk situation. We reserve that for our close friends as all normal people would.

[starhealer]

I did an extended time in Norway and I never felt like I belonged *more* to a society than when I was there. Everyone minds their own business, but is also friendly. Broadly speaking, their communication style is similar to mine; truly a lovely country.

[lis]

I'm Norwegian, and I am a very open and genuine person. People love it and they think I'm cool. I hate to talk about superficial stuff and people open up to me very easily because I am very tolerant and non-judgemental. Norwegians are longing for deeper connections and conversions. Some Norwegian are just plain boring and afraid to stick out, those are difficult to have connections and conversions with.

[lenebilde]

If you have a close friend... Of course, you can talk to them about almost everything. Here in Scandinavia we begin on safe ground - and gradually from there you can go into deeper conversations.

[kelleymcbride]

Small talk is a valuable tool to vet what kind of human you are interacting with. Smart people dont go deep until we know who we are speaking with.

[PortsladeBySea]

The Norwegian people which I have met in England have all been friendly, creative, fun loving, genuine, affectionate, artistic and well educated. They were a pleasure to meet 🇳🇴❤👍

[PaperParade]

This is EXACTLY what living in Minnesota is like and unfortunately I am more Scottish than Norwegian and I be saying too much all the time. The response of silence is SO real 😂

[JH-moxm]

That's why i respect Americans. They actually talk about their issues

[AmoebaCulture]

I’m from Seattle and this sounds about right for us too. This town was founded by Scandinavian settlers and that lineage runs deep through the city. It’s so infamous it’s called the “Seattle Freeze”. Everyone’s friendly and chit chatty - but when it comes to commitment and deep relationship building, people tend to just walk their dog instead.

[emelie]

But that’s just a behaviour with people you don’t want to be friends with or just at initial contact and then go into deeper conversations. Scandinavians actually (generally) hate small talk and meaningless conversations and will avoid those people who do it all the time like this girl clearly admits