American Reacts to What Norwegians Think About Norway

Check out me and my twin brother reacting TOGETHER here:
kzbin.info/door/7rr_3XWxysq6ksx_K5mTzgvideos
So far I have only heard great things about Norway so I am very excited to finally react and learn about what Norwegians like and dislike about Norway. I feel like this unique conversation, coming from a Norwegian's point of view, will provide me with a unique insight into living in Norway that I would never otherwise have known as an American. If you enjoy my reaction feel free to leave a like, comment, or subscribe for more videos like this!

[@Fuxser]

Driving from end to end in Norway takes about 32 hours non-stop

[@Jesusisnothere]

good, i didnt have to say it myself :P

[@KjetilBalstad]

Unless you drive east to west ;)

[@Aurjelling]

Roads are one of the weak points about Norway, the landscape itself make roadbuidling difficult, and we need so many tunnels. The bad roads during winter can be very dangerous to drive on, especially on the countryside. Local authorities take forever to fix old beat up, damaged roads. They prioritize the biggest road networks leading into the cities where most vehicles that transport goods go. Lots of people live away from the cities in small towns, and the roads there are narrow and damaged. Which is unfortunate, because those who live far away from the cities are completely dependant upon using their car. The bus come and go during odd hours.

[@KjetilBalstad]

@@Aurjelling And even if we think our roads are bad... Driving in other many other countries shows us that our roads are not all that bad after all ;) But, the expences are considerable all in all, this is true...

[@VikingNorway-pb5tm829]

Da blir jeg her, midt i landet :)

[@jarls5890]

It is not that close together geographically. It is common to take a flight from the "middle and up" to get to the south and vice versa. It takes forever to drive. Consider that the distance from the southern tip of Norway to the northern tip is about the same as the distance to Rome! (from the southern tip). Thus the distance from Oslo (the capital) to Paris, London and Berlin is shorter than if you were to travel to Norways northernmost parts.

[@steinarhaugen7617]

When she talked about the country not being big, she was probably thinking of the population. Norway is big. Larger in area than the UK.

[@jarls5890]

And larger than Germany - which has almost 20x the population.

[@Vinterloft]

@@jarls5890 Germany and Norway are very similar sizes, Norway only marginally bigger, and I think that includes Svalbard which is pretty big. Of course, if we start including Queen Maud's Land, Norway is almost as big as India...

[@mathiasjuliussentang8503]

Yes Steinar! From Lindesnes to Nordkapp it is 35 hours if you drive thru Norway only.

[@davidbacher2587]

Steinar Haugen veldig norskt navn

[@steinarhaugen7617]

@@davidbacher2587 Ja, det er. 😀

[@helmaksi]

The reason for the strong differences in dialects between people who don't actually live that far from one another is because of the historical difficulty of traveling in this country. You may have noticed we have a lot of mountains. This made it very hard for people who live on opposite sides of mountain ranges to interact with each other.

[@djbandito5512]

Our countries history aswell might have a lot to say on our dialect since we were a part of Denmark. Many also live near the Swedish border i myself live fairly close and our dialect is fairly Swedish inspired i would say

[@Luredreier]

@@djbandito5512 Yeah, Trøndelag was actually conquered by Sweden for a while...

[@yvindwestersund9720]

Yeah that's true But now we just make a tunnel and woopse we are on the other side of the mountain So our dialectic are under pressure not only from the valley on the other side if the mountain But from English You cannot walk around in Norway And not hear English in some way It's creeping in to our language word for word Just saying 🇧🇻

[@ZentoContent]

forsenE

[@EricTheBroBean]

I realized when travelling to other countries, that i appreciate we have clean tapwater in every household. Its something ive always taken for granted..

[@wlbeneathify]

Been living here for almost 20 years and some Norwegians can be a bit "skeptical" of foreigners but, I have experienced more discrimination in my own country than I ever faced here. Can't remember one time it has happened, the coldness is not like they don't care, it's more like " I don't want to be in the way for you and your personal space ' than lack of caring. Once you get through that period, they are the nicest and most caring an loving people. 98 % of mi social circle are Norwegian and I really love them. Not a lot to complain.

[@ahkkariq7406]

Wonderful comment. Thank you.

[@DillaryHuff]

I was about to mention the part about "personal space" or not wanting to be intrusive to other peoples' privacy - which is something that's very traditionally Nordic (Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland), and not exclusive to Norway. I feel like Norwegians have been rapidly transitioning away from the mindset over the past 10-20 years, but it still lingers in our cultures to some extent. From a tourist's point of view, it can be interpreted as "cold" or introverted, and I assume that's what the people in the video are referring to. There are definitely a lot of people among the younger generations who have embraced the social media culture of "me, me.. and then me", who have more of a self-centered view on life, but as a result are also more superficially friendly towards strangers - presumably, because they want to appear nice, regardless of whether or not they actually are. Having traveled a lot in my life, I feel like the culture of wanting to "keep up appearances" is much more common in the US than it has ever been here, but I get the impression that it's spreading globally through the popularity of social media. As I alluded to above, humility and being mindful and respectful towards others used to be something that was deeply engraved into Nordic culture, but at this point in time, the "cold demeanor" towards strangers that can still be seen in some people is one of few traces that are left of it. Hate it or love it, it's typically more difficult to become friends with Nordic people than it is to become friends with a Brit or an American, but as cliche as it may sound, Nordic friendships last a lifetime, while from my experience, American friendships can often be very casual and non-committing, which I assume is the explanation behind why it's generally easier to approach and get to know Americans, as compared to someone from the Nordic countries. Another way of putting it is that Americans are much more about being familiar with someone, which doesn't require you to commit to anything, while a Norwegian would often be more careful about opening up to strangers, because there's we tend to value close friendships over just being familiar with someone. Like in every other country, whether or not you run into friendly and welcoming people, or distant and clique-oriented people, depends entirely on the place you travel to and the people you happen to meet. I've lived in Norway my entire life and I've met both types of Norwegians, both in Norway and while traveling abroad. There are definitely a lot of people among the younger generations who have embraced the social media culture of "me, me.. and then me", who have more of a self-centered view on life, but as a result are also more superficially friendly towards strangers. "Keeping up appearances" was something that was always referred to me as characteristic of American culture when I was a kid, but I definitely feel like it's becoming more common in Norway these days.

[@the_norseman9162]

Thats pretty accurate😊👍

[@ysteinberg5084]

Interesting.. I was on a road trip through Europe this summer and I realized how much I like Norway.. 😅 also, I realized how huge it is. At work I drive 521 km each day delivering blood, which takes me through one county, barely touching the next one. In Europe 500km took me through several countries.. And the roads wasn't great. Worst thing about Norway is that Norwegians are privileged, so we complain about little things. And yes, we're arrogant, because.. we're the best! At winter sports.

[@ctriis]

Driving across Norway (west to east) in the southern part is fairly easily done in 8-9 hours. Driving across Norway from south to north is another matter. It would take 4 days driving 8-9 hours per day, essentially the same amount of time as driving the full length of the I-10 from end to end (Santa Monica, CA, to downtown Jacksonville, FA).

[@eddale5557]

Ja vi har ikke de beste veiene da er som krøtter stier mange av de gahh :(

[@Vinterloft]

Life hack for going south to north, just take the damn train from Sweden to Narvik. That's basically 24 hours to get 69 degrees north, and Narvik is the perfect crossroads to choose to go to either Lofoten or Troms & Finnmark. And you get a sleeping cabin for 900 NOK.

[@lilletrille1892]

I plan to walk across Norway. In the north there are fjords going so far inland that they end a few km from the Swedish border 😎

[@toralfkristofertorkildsen3933]

The "coldness" of Norwegians is hardly ever about arrogance, rather about a certain shyness or "social awkwardness". What I often hear from visiting foreigners is that Norwegians are extremely kind and helpful if asked for help, and even a lot of fun to be around - if you take the first respectful step. I think I can guarantee that with your personality and mindset, Tyler, you'd be very warmly welcomed in Norway :-).

[@Last_Dance]

I think what the lady was talking about "friendly" is not about tourists, but immigrants from the 3rd world, and especially Arab countries? We must admit that these do not always have it as easy due to our prejudices and that we perhaps demand too much too fast when it comes to integration?

[@thomasborg1415]

@@Last_Dance We definitely demand a lot quickly from our immigrants, but i also feel like we provide the services they need for integration. Norway is very welcoming, as long as you show a genuine interest in our culture and language. If you come here hoping for an easy ride through life we will respect it less than if you come here ready to work for a better life. Maybe I'm blind to many of the issues we have, but i like to believe we're welcoming to those whose respectful to us. Would you not agree? c:

[@Last_Dance]

@@thomasborg1415 that's true :)

[@sillynorseman6847]

We are used to the scenery, but it doesn’t get old. We have to travel to most of these super epic places ourself, and we don’t do that everyday. But i do stop in my daily life every now and then, and take in the fact that i grew up in such a wonderland. 😉 And one of the weirdest travel moments I’ve had, was the first time I went to Germany, and experienced completly flat in every direction. 🤣 No mountains in the distance. Had never seen that in my life before.

[@BodhiBloodWave]

Standoffish might be accurate since we value our personal space a lot, thus prefering having family and close friends near. This obviously means that getting included takes some effort(tho once you befriend one of us it gets a lot easy to grow your social circle due to being a 'friend of a friend ' ). We are indeed well aware of this issue as when the rules relaxed after the recent 'major event'(not sure how touchy youtube is on that word still) many of us joked about how nice it will be to go back to our 'regular' 3 meter distance after the government mandated a 2 meter one :D

[@TainDK]

I laughed hard at that joke to =) Okay please, enough of those 2 meters, please let us go back to our regular 3 meters of distance =D

[@alvsindre]

React to: norwegian king's speech - norway is one 👍😁👍🇳🇴

[@lillm6874]

Second this 👍

[@notlyxu]

YES, its such a beautiful speech that literally brings people from all over the world to tears...seriously people who react to do actually start to cry sometimes

[@ahkkariq7406]

Leftists love the speech, and patriots are more like eeeehhh...

[@Vinterloft]

@@ahkkariq7406 Patriots in Norway are generally leftist. Did you mean to say conservatives?

[@ahkkariq7406]

@@Vinterloft Patriots are definitely not leftists. People who want to destroy the country by chopping down trees in the capital, destroy the nature with monster turbines and destroy the trust in the population with immigration from dysfunctional cultures are far from patriots. They are idiots.

[@oceanmythjormundgandr3891]

Dialects are a big thing in Norway. They became so different or unique because of the mountains separating places back in the day, so some places have dialects that can be so special. While the air distance is small, the actual travel time can be long by land.

[@charlesmartin1121]

A similar process occured during the Campanian in western North America, a transgressive episode of the epeiric seaway, restricted gene flow between constrained basins leading to greater than normal taxonomic diversity.

[@lillia5333]

We have "janteloven" the law of Jante: you are not supposed to think you are better than other people. It's maybe a bit oldfashioned now. We are not arrogant or cold, really. But we like our personal space. And that makes us seem cold and unfriendly, perhaps. We are mostly nice to tourists, but immigrants from Africa or Asia can get a cold reception. Things we are not used to scare us a bit. It's slowly changing as we are getting more and more second and third generation immigrants in occupations like tv reporters, rappers, singers, authors and such and also in politics. The president of "stortinget", the highest position in the country (apart from the king) is son of pakistani immigrants. Even our king, whom we love very much, is third generation immigrant. But his grandfather was from Denmark and that's scandinavian, so... almost norwegian. We mostly keep to our childhood friends and our family. But when we open up (and we do) you will become family too. Well, not all norwegians are friendly towards people from other countries. We have our share of extremists and racists. They will eventually die out, I hope. I've never understood the "importance" of melanin anyway. We are just people. In my neighbourhood we are ethnic norwegians, polish people, syrian people, people from Denmark, Sweeden, Somalia and Nigeria. We all get along just fine. It's a very peaceful, safe area. So, please visit. Bring lots of money (expensive, remember) and good clothes as it can be a bit chilly. Talk with people. We love to practice our english and we like americans.

[@TTDahl]

The thing is. We have learn to be extremely greatful for what we have, through generations. That's what we learn from our parents when we're kids. And as we gets older and learn more about other country, we're even more greatful, than we were as kids.

[@lillm6874]

Speaking for myself, I smile and talk to everyone. I think that those who said Norwegians are cold, maybe they’re not that good in connecting and talking to others themselves 🤔 Because every person I meet, weather it’s Norwegians or people from other countries, I smile to and they smile back. And that makes it easier to start a conversation. It’s impossible to not appreciate this beautiful nature we are blessed with😍 I live high up in the mountains, and I have mountains and beautiful nature surrounding me all the time. I never take it for granted 😍 As a Norwegian I am really happy I live in Norway, I wouldn’t want to live any other place 👍❤️

[@CUPZYY]

Norway is actually one of the largest countries in Europe, so driving to different places can take a really long time.

[@VindicatorAalun]

"Longest" would be the best way to put it :D

[@notlyxu]

@@VindicatorAalun it is one of the largest area wise aswell, its like the 5th or 6th largest in land area i think, around there somewhere

[@hoenircanute]

@@notlyxu I think thats cause we claim Antarctica and named large parts of it.. :D

[@Luredreier]

@@hoenircanute To be fair even without that we're still pretty high up there among European countries in terms of just land.

[@CUPZYY]

@@notlyxu correct

[@Inadharion]

As far as language goes: Try being Sapmi (Lule in my case). I had to deal with the two official written forms of Norwegian, some of the 1093+ (exaggerated a bit) Sapmi dialects, Russian and Finnish (I love Finns. the lush bastards, but their language is horrible 🤪) while learning German. And English, of course, the easy bit. I'm just happy my family settled in Oslo. We don't have a military parade on our day of independence. We have a children's parade, and that day includes ALL cultures. That makes me proud to be Norwegian.

[@SaintElvardielSHMD]

We don't flaunt our weapons in our parade, but our youths, our flags and our musical instruments. Everyone loves that day... The young adults drink champagne for breakfast and it's socially acceptable to post it on instagram. The kids get as much ice cream and hot dogs as they want for the whole day. People are dressed in nice suits, dresses or our cultural garment The Norwegian Bunad. And people are free to wear whichever Bunad they feel represent their family heritage so it's a beautiful mix of colors and not a totally uniform sight. On that day of independence we are truly united. It reminds us of who we are and where we come from. I'm actually falling more in love with my country after watching these videos and being reminded of the many blessings that we are given. Thanks for sharing about being Sami/Sapmi. You don't get enough credit in my opinion and there should be another option... At least you should be able to opt out of one official written form, like the minorities from other countries get to do. I was always frustrated why I had to learn the new Norwegian, but at least I didn´t have the struggle of all these other languages and dialects to deal with at the entrance of the Oslofjord.

[@TheNemesez]

here's my conversation with a couple older tourists from Minnesota "i gotta love you american tourists, you're always so polite and nice", couple looks at me stunned and starts laughing "you've gotten lucky"

[@ingematland]

I like your videos, especially your cool and funny comments! When it comes to cold people, we sure have them too, but I think some who appears to be cold are in fact just shy.

[@sunshinejansen85]

The king speach blew my away

[@martinjacobsen2992]

Hello Tyler! In regards to the dialects it has been mentioned a few times regardless I will just point out that a trip that takes 2 hours in a car across a mountain and under some tunnels, could have been a day or two with travel by boat up until recently. As many of the major road projects were only completed in the 1970-1980's. The distance is very decieving as everything has to be meassured in boat travel time, rather than by road.

[@TheMsAnye]

Trondheim has a lot of students from all over, I doubt they all drove there that day!

[@ishraqyasin]

Love this guy's reactions😍 "..oh, that's how it just is. NO, THAT'S NOT HOW IT IS!" Thanks for another great video☺

[@stephanhansen904]

Thank you for some great reactions. I find it very refreshing that an American actually understands Norwegian culture and way of life. I have watched your videos and you’re spot on when drawing your conclusion about the stand off’ness and taking things a bit for granted. To answer the questions myself, I would actually say the same, we should have a bit more genuine care for each other and be more open to different ideas and different people. And the month of January is usually very dark and cold and I often wish I could skip both January and February and go straight from December to March. However, like you also conclude with, the thing I like most about Norway is that this was the negative parts. And I really hate to admit it, but the cold and dark January makes me appreciate March and April much more. And then comes May and the 17th of May when Norway is at it’s most beautiful and the evenings are long and summer is ahead. I love the Norwegian nature in the fall as well with all the colours. I know I speak for the majority of the Norwegian people when I say we love our fjords, mountains and forests and Norwegians love to hike and to be outdoors. This applies for me as well, the nature in Norway is just spectacular and I really appreciate being outdoors experiencing it. Norway wild life guru Lars Monsen is a very humble and passionate guy and his TV shows have motivated an entire nation to fall even more in love with the Nordic nature. You should check him out. And I would also recommend the visit Norway montage of the Norwegian king Harald’s speech from a couple of years back. I don’t count myself as a supporter of monarchy, however I have to admit that the Norwegian royal family are good people and know how to use their positions to give important messages to the Norwegian people. kzbin.info/www/bejne/fYW6p3qomqeda8U

[@bragebjelker2879]

18:37 Despite Norway being a small country and cities being very "close" from the view of America (and other countries), the reality is that for us Norwegians its actually pretty far. While an 8 hour drive could be looked at as a relatively short drive just to meet family in the US, here in Norway most people would look at that as a very long trip. These people most likely didnt drive there as a day trip, but might live there or study there. Thats very common in Norway, for students to travel to completely different parts of Norway to study at certain universities. Another thing that makes traveling in Norway a less common thing than you would think, consideting Norway is as small as it is, is the fact that a lot of Norway is mountains and therefor makes it more difficult to travel. Not to mention incredible dangerous during winter or generally in cold and snowy places. This is also one of the reasons Norway have so many dialects. Because communication between different cities in Norway was so difficult before internet, radio, cars and planes made it easier to communicate and travel. Dialects in Norway is often parted into 4 main groups or dialect areas/regions if you like. Its Østlandsk, spoken in the east part of south Norway. Vestlandsk, spoken in the west part of south Norway. Trøndersk, spoken in middle Norway. Nordnorsk, spoken in north Norway. But most cities within these bigger regions have some unique dialect. Tho it might be hard for someone that doesnt speak Norwegian to hear a difference, some Norwegians can hear a small difference. And even more will claim there are big differences between two very similar sounding dialects because dialects is a big part of who you are and where you belong. Like if you belong on this or that side of the river, even tho both dialects sound very similar and the cities are mostly similar, but they want to feel a belonging to their city. Then you have the two ways to write Norwegian. Bokmål (literally meaning "the language form used in books") and Nynorsk (Meaning "new Norwegian"). Bokmål is as the name describes a standard writing form for books etc. Kind of like when books came back in old norse times we would use latin to write books even tho we spoke old norse. Bokmål closely resembles how dialects in and around Oslo sounds like in written form. Meanwhile Nynorsk is a collected cominated written form for all dialects. Even tho Nynorsk represents the written form of most Norwegian diacelts only 10% of Norwegians use this written form.

[@Jeppe.P.Bjerget]

Fun to see the start up picture. It is the street and the buildings i started my work-life. In the building to the right i worked when i get married, and get my 2 sons. The world is small and i did not belive to see that when i open this video. It is interesting to see a Americans view of Norways life. I learn a lot : )

[@bjarnenilsen2692]

Norway is not a small country, it is 385,207 km²[2] Norway is the 8th largest country in Europe, but has a small population. approx. 5.4 million inhabitants. Driving From Oslo in South-East Norway to Bergen in South-West Norway is: 462.57 km. Driving From Kristiansand in the far south of Norway to Kirkenes in the far north-east, on the border with Russia, it is incredibly far to drive a total of 2309.79 km.

[@Mulakulu]

The reason we have such large difference in dialect is because of all the mountains. They kept us very separate for a long time and small communities formed their own way of talking over time. There are many dialects where I have absolutely no idea what they're saying and I have lived both on the west and east side with diverse dialects.

[@firefly7fire310]

I was born there and now have been living in switzerland for 9 years but while living in norway i can say that school is way more advanced in switzerland in terms of education but in norway you get a lot more help money and for disabled people. And i love how many dialects there are in norway like i speak one dialect with my familly but once i went to oslo i was shocked that many words were completely different and coudn t really understand and that makes me proud to idk like having my own dialect. And yes it is very cold every where you go and doesn t really get over 25 degrees celius in summer.

[@johanrnbeck5004]

As a norwegian myself I loved this video cause it made me reflect over the fact of how good it is to live in Norway. Thank you for that. I am guilty of the taking it for granted alot. Do not know where you have been since you describe the country as concentrated and drivable in a few hours. It easily takes more than 27 hours to drive the whole country, from Lindesnes to Kirkenes it is 2230km. The three largest cities is in each of their own side of the country. Takes 9 hours to drive between the two largest ones. I dislike the degree of conformity and political correctness(call us snowflakes) and love the fact that the norwegian freedom includes a passport that gives me visa free entry to 174 countries.

[@ahkkariq7406]

Thank you for mentioning the conformity and political correctness. I hate it.

[@DidrickNamtvedt]

I'm from Bergen and I have the same dialect as that blonde guy and I largely would say the same as most of the people inteviewed here. We have it pretty good here, with beautiful nature and many great hiking areas that are easily accessible. We could however be better at letting new people in to befriend them, we can definitely come across as quite cold and introverted and we try to avoid eye contact with each other at all cost in public, especially on public transport haha! But other than that, there are more pros going for our country than cons, although no country in the world is ever perfect.

[@poppy7325]

Norwegians are definitly distand, but I would not call it unfriendly. It takes some time to get to know people and be real friends. We just prefer sitting alone on the buss, we don't walk around being openly friendly when others are minding their own business. I find it relaxing, I would not want to have to chat with someone when I'm traveling or minding my own. Sitting alone with your own thoughts is nice. I can see how some might find that arrogant

[@Rakel-iren]

Norway has free education. Thats why we have posibility to achive what we want as work. And it also help to make the social cap smaller

[@lindagonzalez5059]

That's a lie. Only few years are free and than you have to apply for state loans in lånekassen and possibly get a stipend grant.

[@Rakel-iren]

@@lindagonzalez5059 No. I think you mix thing here. You can apply to het money from lånekassen for living, but you don't need to pay the university tousens of norwegian kroner. I think the semester fee is about 90 dollar/euro. The education itself it is free. Many university in the world is super expensiv to study at.

[@lindagonzalez5059]

@@Rakel-iren Only if you follow the pre set education scheme and I'm on about pre University education vk 1,2,3 that would have to completed prior to University and before 24 ,ungdomsrett. Lots of people lost that right due to covid lock down. IB is not free in norway but in Denmark it is .....so rich norwegians send their offspring there and of course due to the nordic rules ,nordiske sammarbeid agreement they are free to do so.

[@inquisitor4635]

@@lindagonzalez5059 I appreciate someone who can cut through to the cold, hard facts. The devil is always in the details.

[@ShadowTani]

Norwegians have a pretty big cabin culture where we get to enjoy the raw Norwegian nature during our vacation, so yes, the beauty of the nature is largely appreciated by the locals. That appreciation might also be one of the reasons that environmental issues are taken rather seriously here.

[@perchristianaaslund6385]

If you come to Norway, and I'd love to see that vid btw, I am 100 % confident you experience a cold shoulder from Norwegians. I am sure there are a lot of different takes and views on this, but because we are a very diverse people, our culture has grown warmer from what I remember back in the 90s (for example). Like handshakes, hugs between friends upon seeing eachother and so forth. If you travelled 20-30 years back in time - this was not a normal thing. I like to think we adopted some of the good things as "standard etiquette" in Norway from both immigration and us becoming a more travelled nation over said time. I found this chan "by accident", and it's fun seeing your perspective on Norway as an American. I've watched alot of your videos - and I thank you for taking an interest in my humble nation 🙂

[@MemTMCR]

the part about foreigners is mentioned because it's not something we're used to Norway is not generally a tourist country for 2 basic reasons: everything is very expensive, and cold (both literally not warm and also not too friendly to strangers)

[@tusewel6128]

Norwegian nature makes driving very difficult actually, because infrastructure across a country made almost entirely from mountains is incredibly difficult and expensive. Instead it’s normal to take a flight or a train, depending on the distance a person wishes to travel…

[@Luredreier]

Okey, wow, just noticed the number of comments on this video. Guess we're driving up the engagement level of your videos. Just wow.

[@Orikix]

You spend roughly 2-3 days driving from the south to the north of Norway. From Oslo to Bergen, which are the largest cities, it takes 7-9 hours.

[@janeh3134]

How can you drive in a day from north to south??? It takes 12 hours to drive from Oslo to beginning of Helgeland. From Lindesnes to Nordkapp its 2518 km. 😊 From Nordkapp to Kirkenes it's a long way to drive. 😊 And people from north are very different from the southerners here in Norway too. 😊

[@F0NIX]

The second lady said that she like that we have seasons. Sounds like some places do not have it :) But I get what she are pointing to, the seasons are VERY different from each other and goes from one extreme to the other. While other parts of the world, like south in Europe have not so much diverse seasons. Maybe they have just a bit colder in the winter time but else there are not that that much that stands out like in Norway (especially up north where I'm from). We can have it very cold with lots of snow: 1.5m - 2m is the norm, temps around -20 C is the norm inland, while at the coast we have around -5 to -10. And then we have the darkness (I live above the arctic circle). The spring is often wet and gray. And here I live it is very short. While in the summer we can have up to +30 C, sun day AND night. The autumn is the best I think (at least here up north). No insects. Normally pleasant weather. Sunny, but not too hot (above +15C is considered hot). Then it starts to get dark and suddenly we have Christmas and snow and dark and cold. Did I mention that the winter is dark? :D About the comment about Norwegian being "cold". Search up the "law of jante". We dont like all of it, but we follow it even if we dont have to, and it forms the culture and the people in Scandinavia...

[@VikingNorway-pb5tm829]

I think when we are the best on winther sport and have nice nature we use a lot..we have a real backbone and we are happy whit that.. mayby "cold" is not the right word for it. Mayby "fornøyd" is better. We all help people in need.. say "hei" to strangers and mostly behave nice... not the beerheads..they often say and do stupid things..so hold distance to them. :) hehe.. hei å hå. Ha en fin dag.

[@haraldjensen3935]

Norway from north to south is 1748 km, wich is a little morexthan 1000 miles, given that the roads in Norway are mostley not straight highways, I think you'd be surprised how long it takes to drive between our major cities

[@hansmonsen1359]

You may underestimate the distances in Norway. From Oslo - it is a days drive (about 7-8 hours to Trondheim, Bergen and Stavanger. However - from Trondheim you are about a quarter up to the north cape - som 3.4 days driving from south to north. Also astonishing - is how far east Norway reaches. Tnorthenmost region - Finnmark, is bigger than denmark alone.

[@olehaugan9555]

Norway is really long. It is about the distance from NY to New Orleans. We have a lot of mountains and fjords, so it's not that easy to cross

[@torgnyaanderaa2334]

Just a note; the people in the video didn't drive to Trondheim from the various other places that day, or something like that. Trondheim is Norway's third biggest city, and so many people move there for work or higher education. As many others have pointed out in the comments, Norway might not look huge on the map, but it is loooooong, and although we have decent-ish roads, they're not all multi-laned highways; the geography of the land makes for plently of uphill crawls and zigzaggy narrow roads alongside fjords, for instance. Not everything is a two-hour drive away :)

[@evilmessiah81]

the dialect thing is realy common in whole of europe, im from germany and we have alot different dialects here, some are so thick that most germans from other parts of the country cant understand it.

[@In_my_own_mind]

Maybe the reason most Norwegian asked the question say Norwegians are cold and distant cause they dont have a lot of negative things to say and since Norwegians are preceived that way, they answer it by default…even though most people here are welcoming and open (we dont small talk a lot to strangers though). Some are arrogant. In America you always say «hi, how are you?» to strangers…but I feel you dont say it because you are really interested in how strangers are doing (and to hear a 5 min answer), you say it by default, because thats what everyone do, right? Its kind of superficial courtesy😉

[@leonhorn7727]

On the part on Norwegians not being friendly or cold, it’s a real thing. I noticed when I was in the rest of Europe people are a LOT more friendly. As an example we don’t sit next to each other on any public transport. We would rather stand than sit next to a stranger. So, if you go to Norway and don’t want to seem like a tourist, that’s a dead giveaway. And if you do choose to sit down next to a Norwegian stranger, expect a surprised/uneasy look.

[@feonor26]

Haha....well within driving distance especially on the western coast there....might be within driving distance if you have a day and a half to spare. The roads does not go in straight lines as there are a lot of fjords and mountains and some stretches you have to wait for ferries which may or may not show up within the hour. On the dialects: They are all pretty distinct and you can tell almost immediately where in the country a person is from. I myself am from the same city as the last guy, Stavanger, which is a distinct dialect of its own. One theory why we have so many different dialects that are so different from each other is that after the Black Plague in the 1300s, there were almost no people left and those that were left lived in isolated pockets from each other. As time went on and the population started to rise again, people were still isolated in their distinct parts of the country and developed their own little dialects. But at the same time on the other side of the mountain another pocket of isolated villagers and farmers had developed their own.

[@bjarnekjlleberg8029]

LOL, driving accross the country. it is close to 2000 US. Miles in the north/south route. close to 40 hours of driving at 60MPH.

[@egilgreibesland8967]

I think we are not so cold people per se. I think it is a bit about personal boundaries, It depends on where you meet people. If you are in a big city people protects there own space. If you meet people in the nature, hikes or on the sea in boats it is wery wery different. People always say hi on the trails and people waving to each other on the sea. And talk when at shore on the small islands.

[@cola_legenden1376]

4:06 you cannot drive from the bottom to the top. Stavanger to Oslo is around 8 hours

[@nanach6276]

Driving from Oslo to Bergen on th west coast is like 10 hours withr mountains up and down....and you see how LONG Norway are?

[@mzbubbeline]

Research "janteloven".. That's the foundation for our humbleness.. Also.. There is a BIG difference between rural and city, when talking about coldness in society 😊

[@inquisitor4635]

Janteloven merely hides honest human nature under a very false veneer of propriety from my experience of it. Seems to be a form of imposed social conditioning for appearances sake and for the population to police one another by conformity and mediocrity.

[@lumithelapphund6990]

3:00 i mean in local areas where you live you really dont care after seeing the same thing every single day. But nature around the country never gets old. But walks in nature is also notable even in your local area

[@haka9531]

I love the social democracy, the freedom, the welfare state and the fun and outgoing people of Northern Norway! In the North we are more inclusive and speak much more to foreigners. There is diversity in Norway, there is a big increase in immigrants and refugees here. The Lgbtq+ rights are strong here. We have some challenges to actually include new inhabitants into our friend groups and every day life. Not because we are unfriendly, but more because historically Norway has been so homogeneous. But it’s getting more diverse now. The Norwegians appreciate our privacy. So it’s polite to not talk to strangers at the bus stop and in public areas. We respect peoples privacy. But if you initiate conversations we usually are very friendly. 😊

[@malinjensen4626]

i wanna point out that the cold and distant part do not just include people from other countries. depending on the town people are like that in general to strangers. you don't just walk up to a group in a bar and ask to sit down because you don't know anyone they will probably let you but they will think its strange to. but if you go to a bigger city like Trondheim people are more open and welcoming. and I actually think as an American just to pick something people will be open and welcoming and want to get to know you because you are from another country and they think that is interesting.

[@Henoik]

So, although Norway is a small country, we don't have the same kind of road structures that you have in the US. There are a lot of mountains and fjords over here, so going from A to B, even though it would take 2 hrs in a straight line, that traveling distance is tripled by having to drive zic-zac around mountains and on ferries.

[@matteopacelli9001]

Norway isn’t really a small country in the grand scheme of things like it’s only small if you compare it to the biggest countries

[@fredrikz]

It’s at least 10 hours drive between Bergen and Trondheim. Most people fly between those two cities

[@litensnubbe9516]

We have something called "janteloven" in norway it goes like this; "You should not think that you are something. You should not think you are as much as us. Don't think you're smarter than us. You should not imagine that you are better than us. Don't think you know more than us. You should not think you are more than us. You should not think that you are good for anything. You shall not laugh at us. Don't think anyone cares about you. Don't think you can teach us anything." It was translated with google translate so that's why it looks a little weird. It used to be the norm in norway in many ways. Alot of people lived very simple lives before we found oil. And this term "Janteloven" or translated "Jante law" was a very common way of thinking back in the day, and this cultural norm back in the day still survives somewhat today. Alot of Norwegians dislike others who are loud, outgoing or brash people. this is somewhat changing especially with the amount of American media we consume. and alot of young people try to break this norm. But i have even caught myself disliking people just because i think they are to extrovert and loud (even though i am an extrovert myself). But most norwegians are very friendly and are not hostile to have a conversation with a stranger. But they will probably never initiate one.

[@skinnyjohnsen]

I'm from Northern Norway, but now live in Oslo, The capital of Norway. People are more direct/ less reserved, maybe "friendlier" outside the (big) cities or towns. Most people in the video seems to live in a large(ish) city.

[@MemTMCR]

norway is small, but long, for an american you can compare it to the shore between florida and pennsylvania and then add mountains on top of that and the roads are longer with slightly slower speed limits thus it's common to take flights if you're going as far or further than from east to west (thicc part)

[@joloman606]

thanks for this

[@KjetilBalstad]

I don't think arrogant would be the right word. And I don't think we're really "cold" either. But, we do tend to hold back on new relations, not acting like we know strangers, we don't change friends all the time, rather we tend to keep to certain groups and the family and so forth, and might hold back on including new ppl into these groups. And I don't think this is us being selfish and only thinking about ourselves. We have a huge tradition of "dugad" where lots of people do show up to make a contribution of some kind to the community, like with local sports where carpenters comes together and build a new garage for the ski trail grooming machine, or driving the machine, or ppl tending to the grass on the football fields, or working as coaches, scout leaders or all kinds of things for the communities, all for free. And the whole social economy is built around the concept of all for one, and one for all. Even so, we loke our cliques. But this is also kind of a stereotype, and not true for everyone.

[@inquisitor4635]

You should sit and talk at length and candidly with both white and colored foreigners and strangers about this and how it is perceive by them and how they are treated as a result. That is if you can find the time to separate yourself from your clique to even begin to care to do so.

[@KjetilBalstad]

@@inquisitor4635 Thing is, foreigners in Norway are treated very well. And, as I wrote, this is more stereotypical than real. I think that even if we can be more reserved than for example Americans, we are also more open and less scared of other people, also in regards of rase and culture. This is not about how we treat other people, it's about who we let in close.

[@runenordb1303]

We like the seaons because when you are tired with one there will be another one comming.After a hard winter you will get spring when everything comes to life again and then the summer with sun almost all day round ,so when the fall come we are tired off summer and looking forward to all the nice things that fall has to offer.And winter with all its charm and winter activetis,but lack off sunlight so we appreciates all the seassons beacuse they are so diffrent from each other.

[@sognsvann3]

3:30 You can for sure not drive across the whole og Norway in a day. The fastest route from Kristiansand too Kirkenes takes 28 hours without breakes or sleeping and goes via Finland and Sweden. While if you want to travel from one end of it to the other without going abroad it takes 38 hours. Just saying😀.

[@oldbutgold5958]

Thia channel is going to be biiig. Mark my words!❤

[@Luredreier]

3:31 She's not talking about the absolute size of the country but rather the population and the settlements (cities, towns and villages).

[@upscole]

You should make a video of the top Cities to visit in Norway

[@TheChrchBrnr]

I takes at least one sleepover if you drive from end to end in Norway. Most people would use 2 sleepovers to make that drive. Its a very "big country" size wise, just not population wise :) Its 1 100 miles from south tip to north tip! That distance equal to that from Oslo to Rome or from New York to Miami.

[@megtvedt6120]

Well, east to west if you follow the speed limit is 8 hours, from south to north i think it is 36 hours driving...speed limit is quite low, most roads is not higher than 80km/p/h... The dialects is quite a bit different almost like, english and american english, like most of it similar in how you write it, but some words are very different... An example is the word for I, you have like 5 or 4 differences at least if not more... Æ, jei, jeg, eg

[@R1ChArD83]

30 hours estimated driving time from south tip(lindesnes) to nordkapp (most nortern part)

[@EuphemineYuki]

someone in the video said you get help if you need it, which is not necessarily true. In some areas where you might require medical help, there is one hospital in the capital of Norway which is the only hospital where you can get help you really need. But since it's the only hospital that helps with certain conditions and wants to keep it that way, there is a long wait list which impacts the health of quite a few people. This hospital can also just refuse to give people the treatment they need. Soo yeah, that's one thing I don't like about living in Norway, heheh.

[@djbandito5512]

I would to say that personally i dont think of Norway as a bad place, but i think i feel the same as these people in the interview its hard to immediately think of something bad unless you are very aware of it or think about it alot. Ive tried to think myself about what i dislike about Norway, but i just simply cant but my finger specifically on something because i never think about that often. It also isnt as publicly known as the issues in the US where a simple google search and you will have thousands of results on the issues that go around. Where as in Norway it doesnt seem to be such a mainstream thing that we see all over the news and on social media atleast not me personally Like the people said we seem like we are "cold" people, but i dont think that would be very true. Im not personally an outgoing person i prefer to keep me to myself i dont particularly enjoy going out and talking to people, but when i do ive met quite a lot of fun kind hearted people and i try to be that myself when i am at work talking to colleauges or customers, and also talking to people that i meet in general. Edit: The clique-y argument was very clever he is not wrong in friend groups even at work there are always those groups of people who have fun together and then when an outsider comes in he/she is not very included or welcomed into the group in a sense

[@TTDahl]

I am in wheelchair and I have it for free. If something breaks, I just call a garage and then they fix it for free or I'll get a new one for free. Sometimes I take it for granted. I don't pay for any of my meds. Because I'm retired due to medical issues I have a low income. Because of that. All I need to help my day living better I just can borrow from the county. For as long as I need or live.

[@R1ChArD83]

the nature might get this feeling of it getting old. but then you go on a vacation for 2-3 weeks, and you miss the nature really fast and see why you love it here

[@fatimakabir8128]

Norway take time to drive,tge roads are going around,but it so beautiful.

[@omgwerockhard]

Its a bit of a distance to travel from top north to bottom south of Norway

[@baldis12]

Regarding the people : The hospitality and opennes/coldness, if very different depending on where in Norway. up north, people are generally much more open and nice.

[@monicabredenbekkskaar1612]

Norway has a total area of 385,207 square kilometres (148,729 sq mi) and had a population of 5,488,984 in January 2023.

[@fredrikfjeld1575]

You mentioned "small differences in how they speak", but the differences are not small at all. To outsiders it might sound like we have at least 8 languages here. Some dialects are further from standard Norwegian than Swedish and some Danish. The diversity of the dialects is huge. My dialect is quite close to "regular" Norwegian, but I still find new words that I say, that people outside my region do not understand. Even as nearby as half an hour drive. My dialect also has its own dictionary that tells you what the words mean in bokmål. And my dialect is among the easier for foreigners to understand, given that it is close to bokmål, with some Swedish and old norse thrown in.

[@vogel2280]

Drive from one end to another in a day? In a day I'll be through the Netherlands, through Belgium, through France, in Spain

[@benttranberg2690]

... where you can drive from end to end in a day? Phew ... I guess it's technically possible, but my first thought was that you confuse Norway for Denmark.

[@TTDahl]

To learn more about our menthallity. You should learn about "The law of Jante". It's a huge thing.

[@godofllies]

I just found out that usa spend almost SIX swedish total state budgets/year on the military alone. Imagine if you just cut the defence budget to 20% over there you guys would have all the perks that we have in the Nordic countries and STILL have the strongest military in the world.

[@evahelen3511]

We Norwegians can seem cold because we don't talk to people on the bus or in the street, but if you get to know us well, we become the best friends in the wold and look like Americans

[@Vinterloft]

A rule of thumb for Norway; the colder the air, the warmer the people. Basically it means, Northern Norway and the highlands/ mountain communities even in the south will be way more outgoing and friendly. The "cold" people thing is true, but mainly in the bigger cities/ towns like Oslo and Bergen. Notably better in Stavanger and Trondheim, and not at all a problem anywhere else that I know of. So if the main motivation for going to Norway is northern lights, and thus, northern Norway, it won't be noticeable.

[@annefosli7044]

As a Norwegian that has lived in the US for the past 9 years, I think there are a lot of great things about Norway but there are also many good things about the US. I think both are great places to live as long as you have money and are employed in a job you like and that earns well. I think Norway has better social welfare systems in place, although this may be part of why we are more cold, we typically don't have to ask family or friends for help, we can get help from the government. Also people don't typically drive between big cities but this survey was in a "student" city. Favorite things about Norway •The nature •Work/ life culture, people actually typically work their 37.5 hrs a week and it isn't looked down upon when you leave work on time or even early if the weather is nice. •Smaller wealth gap, I think most salaries are about $50,000 to $100,000. That's not all salaries, there are higher salaries but I'd say that range is comparable to saying salaries in the US are typically $20,000 to $200,000 •Good social welfare •Free school, and university stipends and loans with low interest rate (1-2%) that everyone can get independent on parents salaries. •How long it stays light in the summers •Politics isn't polarized or typically a major part of someone's identity Least favorite • I think people are more racist in Norway than they are in the US, there is just less diversity so it's not brought up as often. (Especially if you live outside of the capital.) I also think it can be hard for people who don't know the language (but that is probably the case in most countries.) • Smaller country so there are fewer different job options • Police are really slow to respond, therefore get contacted less and I wonder if this is part of why crime rates are statically lower • Uber/ lyft is illegal (I feel more comfortable with these than Taxi's...) • Drinking culture, alchol is really expensive (taxed very heavily) so people often want to get really drunk if they're drinking. (Especially younger people.) Neutral differences: • People are a lot more "cold" in Norway. I don't mind this. Americans are known for being overly friendly or fake friendly depending on who you ask but there is a definite difference in small-talk. • Schools, in Norway there's no grades until 8th grade, less homework and you don't have different levels (no honors/ pre-AP/ gifted programs). In high-school though you have some choices in what classes to take. And you apply to go to a high school (which one you get in to depends on your middle school grades) including going to "trade school" instead of a typical high-school where you can become a baker/ electrician etc and this is great especially for people who don't plan to go to University.

[@janak132]

The beauty isn't equally distributed. The famous fjords are on the west side of Norway, I live in the eastern part. No valleys or mountains this far south either. We have.. pinewoods and coastline. So to me the fjords and mountains are places I can visit, but I don't live there. Many Norwegians live in the cities and have to go visit nature, I think that's part of the reason we're aware of it. We Norwegians kept to ourselves when we were poor as well. It is a cultural trait. There's a valley here when they have a saying that translates to "I didn't understand what he said, so I hit him just to be on the safe side." .. and this actually refers to Norwegian dialects being way more differentiated than English dialects. Example: the word "I" in English can be "Jeg, je, eg, e, æ, ei" and there are more variations. The reason for the variations are that groups of people lived isolated and separated by mountains for a couple of thousand years before modern conveyance made travel easy, and later the arrival of radio and television. In fact the dialects have gotten less differentiated over the past few decades and will probably eventually be way less differentiated. We Norwegians aren't very gregarious on average. We sort of lack good protocols for getting to know people. I think many of us feel awkward in that situation... and the larger the differences the more awkward and unsure we feel. And even though we like to think of ourselves as accepting and open, there is a solid portion expressing views ranging from skepticism to on the far end outright racism, as in any other place in the world. Statistics suggest about 1/3 of Norwegians hold some level of prejudiced views in this regard. (Those numbers are about a decade old. They may have changed in either direction) The reason I describe them as prejudiced and not just racist, is that one group consist of people who tend to be skeptical to ANY change or new thing. Personally I do belive for most of them it is just a matter of adapting slower. In a way the changes are still fairly new. In the 80's I personally knew of one black man living in the area where I lived, while now people of other colors make up at least 10% of the population in most cities. So yes, we do have some racism that has been blooming a bit as a result of recent change. It doesn't help that the far right is working hard on spreading lies about the government prioritizing refugees over nationals; we struggle with the same conspiracy and social media issues as everyone else. We also have a lot of people who technically are welcoming.. but.. since we tend towards being reserved, we are not good at showing it, while those who are racist as usual tend towards showing that blatantly. I think that should explain the answer "we could be more welcoming to people who come to Norway".. she wasn't referring to tourists. Ofc, the issue has many more facets, like for example.. if you don't feel accepted and welcomed the road to becoming a criminal is a bit shorter than for other people, so naturally immigrants do tend to be overrepresented in crime statistics, basically because we aren't doing a better job of integrating them. Final sidenote: Freedoms. With the exception of gun laws our freedoms are mostly (erring on the side of caution) the same as those found in the US. People from the progressive European nations tend to be a bit chagrinned by those Americans that seem to think the US has some sort of monopoly on freedom.

[@Retzmag]

Soooo, driving from all the way south to all the way north in Norway would take well over 30 hours without sleep, so... certainly not wide, but it is fairly tall :P

[@linnbaardsen9459]

As a kid I never understood why anyone would go to Norway (where I live). I had to grow up to realize how lucky I am to live in this landscapr

[@hakon5473]

i think norwegian cultural personality is kind off not overy emotional can be cold to strangers.

[@kenzzakennedy408]

Norway does have many issues internally just like many countries. But the general public are not really being informed about it or a willing to pay attention to it. Don't get me wrong, we do live in a great country with alot of safety networks in place to help those who struggle. But since 2004 there have been alot of minor changes happening that have a major impact yet they can be tricky to comprehend when you don't expand your view. We used to have a law in our constitution that that made it illegal for politicians to lie to the public, but in 2004 it was removed with out the public being informed. Our politicians just like in America now continues to promise anything they think people want to hear inorder to influence elections and then goes behind closed doors and do the opposite, increaseing taxes, making more "bomstasjoner" (road tax), many of them have close relationships with Industries and organizations that Norway invest the public funds in and some how it's only the politicians that benefit from it. They are often caught lying on tv or during public speeches yet no consequences. You know, how they typically act, but Norway used to be quite good at combatting corruption and falsehoods, but not anymore. Our Child Protective services (cps) has gone rouge in many instances. Abusing their powers and kidnapping children from normal and safe households, which have caused many families to flee from Norway to other countries like Poland, usa, England etc. Also, we used to have free speech protected by our constitution, but that was removed during covid. So now the USA is the only country in the world where free speech is protected. Sorry for the negative tune, but gotta be real, no place is perfect.

[@evopeter]

Norway is fantastic, but I cant say that out too loud since im swedish :)

[@MariaJin97]

When it comes Norwegian nature and enjoying the outdoors depends really if you are one of those hiking people or not, most Norwegians travel abroad during the summer/school holidays, but during the pandemic the native citizens of Norway started to use and appreciate more of the nature and landscape, plus with no tourists because Covid-restrictions we could travel to those tourist attractions ourselves. 🤗

[@ahkkariq7406]

Many Norwegians travel abroad on holiday, but I would not say that most Norwegians do. Maybe it applies to the cities, but most Norwegians travel domestically. If you include those who travel abroad on day trips or for an overnight stay or two to our neighboring countries, crossing the border to Sweden or Finland, and across the water to Denmark, then I would say that most people travel abroad, but it is not on holiday. It is mainly for buying cheap alcohol and other goods.

[@SouthHill_]

To give you some perspective, Norway's pretty similar in size to the state of California, and yeah we've got a heck ton of different dialects. It's sorta arbitrarily divided into North, East, South and Western dialects, but you'll pretty much get a different dialect every time you move between towns. What I personally dislike about Norway is its tendency towards... Individual inexceptionalism? Country as a whole I'd say is exceptional, but individuals not so much. There's this part of the Scandinavian psyche that "You ought not think you're better than anyone else", which is nice in its own way, but I feel that it can stop those who'd otherwise excel to just... Stay average.

[@nimnum1265]

driving from Namsos to Kristiansand can actually take about 12 h. It's from about the middle of Norway till the very bottom of our country

[@TullaRask]

People from the US are so outgoing all the time. People in Europe isn't like that. In Scandinavia we are even more reserved. The winter here can be pretty cold, and in rural district peoplecan live far apart. It's not unfriendly, it's just our private space is a bit wider and we connect with new people in a different way. It's different in Oslo the capital, though. We have so many people from warmer climate, used to sit outside more than in. They connect with people they don't know so much easier, Norwegians copy them a bit. I like that. I don't mind starting a conversation with people I don't know on the bus, but that's not the normal thing in Norway.