Hristos vaskrs! It is Christmas for me today, as even though I am atheist, I respect the Orthodox traditions. So while I am figuring out the neatly assembled maze that are Norwegian politics, why not talk about Norwegians themselves instead of an aspect of Norway?
Uneralated explanation about Orthodox Christmas: So to explain to people who aren’t most religiously educated, or just straight up aren’t Christian – Catholics and Orthodox Christians used different calendars once upon a time, and they did not align. Because it’s only human that we fuck up the easiest things, kinda like a snowball but it’s actually [one of these things, but fucking massive and causes cultural and religious schisms up to this day.](https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=9TlQm7bL&id=CC890A9BBE1C6899EAAE603159049380E88DC8A0&thid=OIP.9TlQm7bL0J5qs6W9PDisuAHaHa&mediaurl=https%3a%2f%2fi.ebayimg.com%2f00%2fs%2fMTYwMFgxNjAw%2fz%2fbGkAAOSwUDZcpcix%2f%24_57.JPG&cdnurl=https%3a%2f%2fth.bing.com%2fth%2fid%2fR.f539509bb6cbd09e6ab3a5bd3c38acb8%3frik%3doMiN6ICTBFkxYA%26pid%3dImgRaw%26r%3d0&exph=1600&expw=1600&q=censer&simid=608040014942599510&FORM=IRPRST&ck=C4121F3D6828C3B1181D1F4057AE698C&selectedIndex=2&adlt=strict) If you don’t get it, don’t worry. We Europeans will find anything to fight over\have a war over.
Now, Norwegians are patriots, heavy patriots and they love their religion very much, but this isn’t bad. Where as in most other countries, describing a person like this would lead ot a bad conclusion, it doesn’t in Norway because they have an amazing tradition that I politely call “Not giving a fuck.”.
They just don’t care. They keep it to themselves, keep quiet about it, as religion is a mostly private matter in Norway. Wear your burka or hijab if you will, but just don’t flip out if somebody is\isn’t wearing one also.
They don’t care about your skin colour, religion, gender, culture, place where you come from. They just don’t. It’s magical how they’ve just mastered the ability to not care *so well*, that they have accidentally become the most progressive nation in the world. Only thing they care about is if you make a big fuss over somebody else’s ethnicity, *which is a no-no.*
Norwegians are a quiet people most of the time (**so long as we don’t talk about the students**), but that’s not to say they’re sad. Quite the opposite. They actually, while walking down the street, *smile*. For no reason at all, mind you. If you were with your mate, I would understand it. If you were with your mates, I would get it. But no.
Nooooooooo, they just *stroll on down the street,* ***happy with their lives***. This was foreign to me.
In Serbia, you don’t just walk down the street, smiling at strangers. You are, most likely, not happy with your life or depressed. Some times both! But Norwegians are definitely happy. And they are so happy, carefree, and accepting that it’s *infective*.
My mother at first thought they were all on drugs, which I can understand. But no, instead we learned from one of her clients that people here are just happy.
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But that’s less important. People call Norwegians cold, and that’s a lie. Lemme debunk that.
From personal experience, Norwegians are some of the sweetest people out there, but they never become your friends the second you meet them. They observe, look, and just kinda wait for you to make yourself a part of the group. You gotta show intiative, but not be too overbareing.
They’re cold on the outside, but definitely warm on the inside. They’re like a coconut. Gotta break the shell in order to get the sweet milk inside.
***You know what, let me rephrase that.***
***Ahem,*** they are like a Panzerkampfwagen Ausführung H Krupp Entwurf. It’s tough to approach at first, due to the fact that there are likely more next to it, and it’s frontal armour is well made, but when you do, you can easily crack it open.
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And that’s it for a small filler thingamajig. Do correct me if I am wrong about anything at large, as this is mostly personal experience with Norwegians. Do people in your city behave differently?
11 comments
Norwegians are good at acting like they don’t care. That’s very different from actually not caring
Norwegian strangers smiling on the street? I find this hard to believe.
Unpopular opinion: This post is very generalised, and one sided. Racism is everywhere, and if you are trying to convince yourself or anyone else that racism doesn’t exist in Norway, then you have your head in the clouds.
*”Now, Norwegians are patriots, heavy patriots and* ***they love their religion very much***, *but this isn’t bad. Where as in most other countries, describing a person like this would lead ot a bad conclusion, it doesn’t in Norway because they have an amazing tradition that I politely call “Not giving a fuck.”.”*
*- Citation needed.*
Most Norwegians are secular, and a general minority of people have what you would actually call a religion. People may visit church during the jule-holidays as a family tradition, but very few people in Norway seem to actually have *faith*. Some may of course be more in line with agnosticism and may think there “is something”, but Norwegians generally are not a very religious people and religion has had a very lacking imprint in Norwegian society the past 30 years.
Love the chaotic energy of this post!
A very small amount of norwegians are christian, and i wouldnt say borwegians are more tolerant of christians than alot of other european countries.
You obviously have it all figured out.. good for you
I have never met at christian Norwegian under the age of 80
Aww, what a lovely description of Norway! Don’t mind the complainers, I thoroughly enjoyed reading your post.
As other have mentioned, not all foreigners moving here has had your (very) positive experience, but happy to hear you did. (And do). I think people from your region tend to find it easier to move here, compared to someone from further away.
I’m surprised you find us smiling walking down the street though, but I think I actually do smile (when alone) when I think about pleasant things.. 🙂
Let’s play the generalizing game!
I live my life by this rule:
“Religion is like a penis.
If you have one, good for you!
If you don’t have one, good for you!
If you start shoving it i to my face without me asking for it we have a problem.”
But I don’t think it was an accident that norway became as progressive as it is. The mentallity of” I don’t give a fuck” is more prevelant now than a generation ago thanks to the hard work to normalise “different people”. If my parents came out as gay when they were young, the entire town would have whispered about them behind their back. If I came out as gay today, nobody would care