Unikum 9 - 2016 (november)

10 Facts You Didn’t Know
About Norwegians
TEXT AND PHOTO: Quynh Le Nguyen
Before I came here I read and heard some things about Norwegians
and their culture. But you only know how Norwegian people really are,
when you live here and make your own experiences in this country.
Since August I am here in Kristiansand for an exchange semester. I am from
North-Germany. In the following, I list the most striking facts about Norwegians
based on the experiences I made. Probably you will find yourself in one or
another fact. :)
1. Norwegians love milk.
The first time I wanted to buy milk in a Norwegian supermarket, I was really
confused: kultur, summet kultur, ekstra lett, lett, skummet, hel. My Norwegian
is not really good, so all I saw were the different colors dark blue, light blue,
turquoise, pink, rose and red which didn’t say anything to me. I called a friend
to translate it for me. It felt like, I stood half an hour in front of this fridge
staring at the colors and listening carefully to my friend’s words. Meanwhile,
the natives seem to know exactly what they want and just picked the milk
bottle they needed. In Germany, we have maybe three different types of milk:
full cream milk, UHT milk and low-fat milk. That’s it!
2. Norwegians love pizza.
I’ve read before that pizza is like a national dish in Norway. Norwegians don’t
like the thin italian style, but the big american one.
I’m not a big fan of the pizza they offer in the cafeteria or in other snack bars.
The duff is dry and the covering has a boring taste. Also, I have the impression
that there are no standard pizzas like pizza salami, pizza funghi and pizza
tuna. The covering seems always to be mixed with many different stuff like
salad, avocado, meat balls, bacon and even tortilla chips! And on the pizza,
Norwegians put again sour cream dressing. Sorry, I have to say that: You ruin
the pizza!
3. Norwegians hate tea.
The first time, I stood in front of the tea shelf, I was shocked. Barely tea, plus
very expensive. I love tea! Black tea is my standard drink in the morning.
When I was ill, I went to a chemist’s shop to search for tea. But they didn’t have
any tea at all! In Germany, we have tea for every kind of illness: tea against
cold, tea against cough, gastroenteritis-tea, waterworks-tea.
4. Norwegians love their country.
Never compare Norway to other countries! When I expressed my surprise
about the lack of tea and the good side about Germany, the chemist told me
without ambiguity with her eyes: “Don’t dare to do that again!”
5. Norwegians love nature.
When I sat in the car here the first time on my way to Trolltunga, I could not
stop staring out of the window: so many lakes, waterfalls and mountains.
Untouched nature. In between, some small houses with grass on the roofs. I,
myself, could not live so isolated. This is only for people, who really have a
passion for nature and calmness.
6. Norwegians don’t know cold weather.
There just have to be a few sunbeams and Norwegians take all their jackets and
long clothes off and walk around in T-shirts, shorts and sandals – even though
it’s not more than fourteen degrees! Meanwhile I only go out with my cagoule,
sturdy shoes and jeans and meet Norwegians with disbelief. “There is no bad
weather, just bad clothes.” This is a standard slogan I hear in Norway. I think,
it should be called different: “There is bad weather in Norway, but Norwegians
don’t care!” I grant them the feeling of summer. And I wish to have Norwegian
genes against coldness.
7. Norwegians can’t wait for winter.
Once, I was on my way to school and I heard a clicking noise behind me. I
thought, it would be someone who walks on crutches. But when the person
passed me, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I was even too perplexed to laugh about
it. A man in a sports suit was moving in something that looked like a mix of ski
and inline-skater with two sticks in his hands. I’ve never seen that before. Ski
without snow? That looks wrong.
8. Norwegians don’t like blinking.
As a pedestrian, I troubled over car drivers many times here. Norwegians don’t
like to blink when they have to turn right or left. This is annoying when you
wait for a car to pass and then realize by the slowly driving that it wants to turn
where you are standing. It does not take much effort to use the blinker.
9. Norwegians love paying with credit card.
You pay everything here by credit card, no matter what, no matter the price.
In Germany, once I wanted to buy something for five euros (about 45 crones)
and pay with card because I didn’t have any cash anymore. The cashier was
shocked and annoyed at the same time and said: “Are you serious?”
Here in Norway, it’s normal. Even the coffee and tea automat in the cafeteria
only functions with credit card, what was really annoying to me when I forgot
my card. I only know automats where you have to put a coin or a banknote
inside.
10. Norwegians don’t like deodorant spray.
In no supermarket I found deodorant spray. And I only like the spray version.
But you only seem to have roll-on deos, (where the sweat stays on the deo).
24 norwegian facts