Norwegian culture vs American culture

[@sognsvann3]

here in norway we have a saying: if someone is talking too you at the bus, they are either drunk, insane or american.

[@Republic3D]

As a Norwegian, this guy is the one that gets the Norwegian traditions and culture the best. He really has a sense of things and I share his perspective. Very well done!

[@tore28]

How to you identity a shy Norwegian? He is looking down on his shoes. How do you identify an outgoing Norwegian? He is looking on other people's shoes. (Comedy drum fill please!)

[@fredlindalen6674]

+Tore Aurstad Jaså gitt.... we norwegians are different, in 100 ways.

[@steffeness1]

+Tore Aurstad Is this true that Norwegians don't make eye contact very much? Funny, Minnesotans are like this too sometimes. It's probably genetic.

[@TheZibatarinMoosighi]

they do with people they know ..

[@steffeness1]

Well in Minnesota, it's not uncommon for strangers to not make eye contact. But it really varies, stereotypes aren't reliable.

[@dwerg1]

+Erich Steffen Well, the largest ethnic group in Minnesota are Germans at 36.7%. The second largest group are Norwegians at 17.3%. If not genetic it's probably cultural patterns persisting, still with that statistic it makes sense they are the way they are. Not all Norwegians are like that, it depends on our level of comfort. Most are not used to strangers talking to us, but extremely few would not like it. Most feel uncomfortable chatting with a stranger, but comfort can grow quickly. With people we know and feel comfortable with we have no issue at all with eye contact. Amount of eye contact being a measure of comfort is useful to know, if you talk to someone who just keeps looking around themselves more and more you should probably end the conversation or call it out. They're looking for a way out, but don't want to seem rude by walking away and we generally have issues saying we feel uncomfortable.

[@CreepyMath]

A few corrections here and there / things you might be interested in! 4th of July is more like 17th of May here in Norway. We celebrate it by having these different.. marches you could say? There's mostly children, but a lot of different cultures/organisations tends to join in as well! We eat a lot of sweets, then go home to a great meal with our family / fun park c; Guns are allowed in Norway, but only if you have hunting purposes in your mind. There are strict rules about it though, and you have to go through a quite tough (theoretical and partly practical) test in order to be able to hunt. As he said 'Lille Julaften' (23rd December) is the day before Christmas Eve. We usually eat something known as 'Grøt' here in Norway, and it's known as porridge in US/UK I believe? A lot of people tend to go to church during the whole Christmas break, but there's a huge number of Norwegian people that goes to church at Christmas Eve. This is mainly cause Jesus was born at that day (I know maii stuff) and there's a lot of Christian people here.

[@dogiz6952]

I'll have to correct you. Guns are allowed, but only for hunting purposes.

[@LifeyApp]

Ninjawa good to know, thanks for the correction!

[@rune4465]

***** you can get guns for sports to.

[@dogiz6952]

Rune Urstad Yes, that too.

[@Nazdahra]

Ninjawa Yes, but probaly not anything comparable to an AR-15 and the good stuff that they allow in america :)

[@rune4465]

Nazdahr you can get a AR-15 in norway.

[@EiraBG]

hahahaha this is so funny to watch as a norwegian😂

[@danielz4602]

agreed

[@ДарьяРоманова-т5ф]

So, is everything this guy said true? :)

[@Danielhalvorsen1993]

+Дарья Романова Yeah lol it's true. Atleast that goes for me and my family.

[@Danielhalvorsen1993]

***** Sorry buddy :) As far as I know I have no family with that name. Solveig is a fairly common name. Stokke isn't a very weird surname, but I don't know anyone personally with that surname. As you said, Halvorsen is a very common surname, but I haven't really done much family research. I know my grandfathers family came from Bergen, my grandma came from Kirkenes (waaaaay up north) and my other two grandparents are from Trøndelag (mid-norway). Chances are neither are related, but I can't really confirm it as I haven't done family research to see where my family spread out to that far back. If you know John Halvorsen (he is on wikipedia, free runner) was in Janet's family in some way than the answer would be yes. He's my uncle.

[@Danielhalvorsen1993]

***** Yeah I see your point :) It is a very common name. I do not live the US, however I've been there about 7 times. My uncle, John, currently lives in Canada, but I've only been there twice to visit. Most norwegians have a pretty good understanding of the english language. We start getting taught when we're 6/7. I was taught earlier by my parents. We also get exposed to a huge amount of english/american culture as we do not dub movies, tv-shows or anything like that. We strictly use subtitles unless it's movies ment for kids. I'm not sure how expensive cheese is compared to other countries haha. I guess it's more expensive as everything in Norway is.. :( I'd say it's about 15$/kg or something like that.

[@Luredreier]

You forgot about 17th of May! >< It's probably bigger then New Years eve and Easter combined, potentially rivaling Christmas. ;-)

[@LifeyApp]

+Luredreier thanks for catching that!

[@Luredreier]

***** If you say so. =) I've yet to experience the 4th of july in the states.

[@ina1994]

+Luredreier 17th may? That's no big day. I keep home and eat icecream xD

[@Luredreier]

ina1994 Cheeky. ;-P

[@bjrsherino7085]

+ina1994 traitor!!! 😡😡😂

[@AndyLarson]

2:35 Being a norwegian myself, I just had to laugh here, because this (among other things he said) is so true!

[@lenekristin1808]

He's norwegian is so perfect :) You can see how serious he took hit MTI and how he continued when he got here. I remember a few years a go, I had a good friend who was stationed here. Every friday we would go to Young adults class/night, and it took about an hour by buss. And he would always have a long list of things he'd have difficulties with during the week as far as language, and we would go through it all. Sounds just like this guy.

[@haanis5458]

4:27 Oh, you're on thin ice there buddy. Calling kvikklunsj a kitkat is that fastest way to make Norwegians go to war.

[@eizhowa]

We don't make eye contact because we don't want contact. Duh.

[@steffeness1]

+eizhowa Is this really true of the Norwegians?

[@eizhowa]

Erich Steffen In my experience, yes. You can ask anyone for directions and they will be nice and happy to help, but strangers do not make contact with you. At least not in cities. And if a buss is only occupied by one person, you have to chose a seat at least 2 seats behind or 1 seat behind on the opposite side. Or else you are WEIRD. But if you do happen to make eye contact, you have to make a little smile Or you are WEIRD. And rude.

[@steffeness1]

+eizhowa I see, it's basically the same here in small town Minnesota. People generally don't make eye contact either. Sometimes they don't make eye contact even when you're checking out at a store. but I think that is rare. Now making eye contact randomly for no reason isn't out of the ordinary and people here will not think its rude or weird. I'm starting to think my ancestral roots in Norway have been living in a bubble for too long?

[@lvsoad22]

eizhowa why do people get so offended and defensive? He's just talking about cultural differences you have no reason to defend yourself.

[@steffeness1]

Really, Norwegians go out of their way to be left alone? So, Norwegians in general try not to make eye contact cause strangers may want to spark a conversation with them? Wow, my ancestry is weird. Also, my in-laws attended college in Sweden. They both said people aren't friendly or basically not very approachable.

[@KrisRifa]

The non culture of speaking to strangers and looking strangers into the eyes on the street is very different in different parts of Norway. Here in western Norway it is not uncommon to look stranger into the eyes or even talk to strangers. In southern Norway it is very uncommon to talk even speak to strangers in bars or clubs. And I was in Oslo last week and notices how virtually nobody looks strangers in the eyes. Here in Bergen both those tings are very common, may be because of our history of international trade dating back to the 12th century, but there is definitely a huge culture difference within Norway.

[@GROENAASMusic]

Indeed. And in the villages, people are even more social with strangers.

[@reo666]

føler bergen er mykkje meir lukket en sei sogn og fjordane (kor som helst i sogn og fjordene) når eg går ut so er den eineste palssen eg får skikkelig kontakt med noken er når eg tar meg ein røyk og folk står der...

[@ricardomaccotta6367]

Krister Falch Det er det samen som du sier her i Tromsø

[@Sereomontis]

See, thing is, we do maintain eye contact while in a conversation, but we don't tend to make eye contact with random passersby on the street.

[@askingalexandria3504]

eye contact while in a conversation in norway is more about respect than u think. think about it next time, you'll almost be suprised.

[@Sereomontis]

Asking Alexandria In a conversation, yes, I'm aware of that. I was talking about not making eye contact with random people you pass by on the street.

[@Bob-nickga]

(I'm from Norway) The thing that you missed was the one that EVERYONE MISS (even the Norwegians) is that "gamers" are very social online and 16-40 year old people are very much on facebook™ and they are very social there on social places to be Overwatch, Reddit etc. But pretty mutch everything you said was right. ☻/ /¦ / \

[@LittleMew133]

Can I move to Norwegian - PLEASE!! I love honest, straightforward and peaceful people.

[@MegaLordZyren]

Its Norway not Norwegian

[@Luckyyshot]

Blah Smith Well that's pretty much the whole Scandinavia, but as long as you have an education you should be able to immigrate to them all rather easily...

[@askingalexandria3504]

+Luckyshotwhat? u don't have to have an education to immigrate to Norway..

[@Luckyyshot]

Asking Alexandria You don't have too, but it'll sure be a lot easier. That's all I'm saying.

[@ingvarwikhgas6897]

+Asking Alexandria its very expensive here in norway

[@stupididiot3261]

If I'm gonna fight a norwegian for looking into its eyes, they better drop 2 ender pearls.

[@GnosticAtheist]

I can understand why he thinks we have no guns. We do not show off hunting equipment. In fact, guns are locked away, so its not even plausible to use as self defence (home invation). Such incidents are rare, and when it happens its usually when the house is empty. But yes, we have guns.

[@DonxxSollozzo]

Guns are very much allowed in Norway. So much so that there's about 1.3 million firearms in Norway, to about 5 million inhabitants. However, weapons are not allowed for self defence, as they are in the US. Firearms can generally only be bought for either hunting or sporting applications. And for handguns the age limit is higher, and the rules are more strict.

[@DonxxSollozzo]

+Erich Steffen That's very unlikely. The way things look, guns are more likely to be heavily restricted/banned because of the EU and the gun legislation they are trying get through.

[@zemekiel]

The Justice department has now issued a general permission for cops to bear arms. This is basically a result of threats from terrorists/islamists. When it comes to civilians, Norway is actually on the top 10 list of "arms per capita".

[@mongonorway6855]

It's normal to have guns in norway, but only for hunting.

[@mongonorway6855]

There are 1.3 million guns in Norway with 5 million people. 31,3 guns per 100 people. We are ranked 11th in the world of guns per capita. You spoiled centralized oslo youths are so detached from norwegian culture and the rest of Norway. Among your fathers it's not rare to have guns at all..

[@seb7643]

Christmas and Julaften is tecnically not the same thing, but people just make it out to be.

[@JA-jx3sz]

I started watching this, and I was like, "Wow. He sure looks Mormon." Turns out this is an LDS missionary channel! haha!

[@LifeyApp]

+First Last surprise! :) Yeah it's a channel my wife and I started a couple years ago to hopefully be of help to some future missionaries.

[@stefanipetrova]

So you go to someone and you're like: "Hey, I don't know you... but how are you? How is your family? Do you like ice cream by the way? What about pizza?" Of course they'll ignore you. Jeez! :D

[@Frank_C_]

Guns are allowed for hunting,collections,sport shooting etc.

[@kamillahovda813]

ja men du må sende søknad til politiet.

[@Frank_C_]

Ja selvfølgelig og det er derfor våpensystemet fungerer en trillion ganger bedre i norge enn i usa :) Jeg har selv 2 våpen og fikk min første hagle da jeg var 16 år gammel. Har ikke drept noen enda, så man ser jo at de blir del ut til vettuge folk også :)

[@kamillahovda813]

jeg fikk min første når jeg var 11. Forsatt ikke drept noen jeg heller, ahhaahaha å vi har et helt våpenskap med rifler etc.

[@Frank_C_]

kamilla hovda Haha nice :D Eneste gangen jeg håper å få bruk for dem bortsett fra jakt er om det eventuelt blir zombie apokalypse :D Haha

[@kamillahovda813]

hahahahahha true that

[@kirealf91]

Hm. I think you got the thing about the eyes wrong, generally at least in my part of norway it's considered disrespectful to not look the person you're talking to in the eye.

[@CliffJumpingProd]

I think he was talking about generally walking down the street. Do you often sit next to a stranger on the bus if there are other seats available, just to chat with someone? :P few Norwegians do.. or just smile at strangers you walk past on the street and say good morning or good evening? not happening in Kristiansand at least, and that's not normal outside the Norwegian borders.. I've lived in the states for a while and you have to say "how are you" if you enter a store or something or "good morning" if you walk past someone (unless its in a high density city where 20 people walk past you at once)

[@hardgaymania6492]

Alf-Erik Pedersen han mein ikke når noen prata te dæ. han mein fræmede på gata.

[@kirealf91]

Ser no folk i øuan på gata rætt som det e...

[@natalieh3139]

What? Its common to look people in the eyes here. Yes, Norwegians are more reserved, but we do look people in the eyes.

[@supercoockie1]

jeg liker ikke å glo på folk. og jeg liker ikke når folk glor på meg. og sånn føler alle jeg kjenner og.

[@Vissepisse11]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this and other subjects in other videos, (minus some of the bible stuff) I came here from watching US vs Norway prison and healthcare videos and almost lost hope of the 'american' view on money, revenge, status, power. I read the comments, wrote a reply but didn't bother to post because it felt like a lost cause.. I don't share the religious aspects but I apart from that I enjoyed listening to your experiences of Norway You seem like a humble young man. All the best!

[@ericcartman5166]

Wow, very interesting. I am from Germany and have spent some time in the US as well. In Germany, it sometimes won't matter much, but in certain scenarios it can be seen as very impolite to not make eye contact, almost like refusing a handshake. A good example would be a job interview. I would assume it is similar in the US, I barely met anyone who didn't make eye contact there.

[@Kim-md8bg]

Itl like if someone loss theyr dog everyone goes searching for it and it gets in the news and stuff xD

[@dennisstory8337]

This guy is so awesome

[@SuperCloudBerry]

....and 17th of May, can't forget that....it's kind of a really really big deal here ;)

[@moonlogic1986]

It is not considered disrespectful to look someone in the eye. Norwegians are just on average a little more shy than other people. Proselytising to strangers is a different thing, though. If someone interrupts us as we go about our daily business, they better have a good reason, unless it is something simple, such as asking for directions.

[@CalledtoShare]

I really like this tie!

[@fl0od89]

No, I'd rather say that an American 4th of July is like a Norwegian 17th of May.

[@ryanownsu10]

+fl0od i guarantee Americans go way harder on the 4th of july... literally billions of dollars go up in smoke because of how many fireworks go off and they are massive. my house is 3km from a place that puts on a firework show and the fireworks shake my house. plus we were celebrating the 4th of july first in the 1780's

[@bearofthunder]

Kvikk Lunch is a tradition started long time ago at the time when choclate was concidered helathfood and served to kids to fight malnutrition... yeah...the times....

[@HeavyDemir]

yes, once a pair of watch tower guys came buy my house, they told me they were out taking a walk and I said " that is so nice, feel free to keep on walking " and so they did, I presume cos when I left the house an hour later they were gone. :) As u said, don't look us in the eyes and do not come to our door and we are golden . Oh and yeah strict gun laws, but still we have as much or more guns as you Americans (per capita) but we just hunt game with them , not each other, however we have mostly hunting rifles not hand guns.

[@ricardomaccotta6367]

HeavyDemir That's the problem with americans, here in Norway most of the guns you can get are hunting guns or you can get some hand guns for practicing is the shoot ban, but here you CAN'T get assault rifles or machine guns, americans does --- Norway = hunting/practicing guns. Americans = Any gun

[@Crowle83]

salty meat(fåreribbe and svineribbe) and beer goes well together on christmas eve...but i live in the north west of norway (ålesund) other places in norway the may eat other sorts of food...I think some may eat fish. which I think is crazy.

[@Crowle83]

+Christian Kvam fåreribbe, svineribbe, tykke pølse( som e har glømt ka hete, hvite og røde, hvite e best synes e) potete og stappe. og så øl( helst mørk juleøl) og foreldrene mine drikke akevit, som e hata. ekkelt.

[@fredlindalen6674]

We norwegians are very different, some crazy, some awesome, some wise, just like in every other country, our morals might be high do to the morals in our countries, our rules are strict, also in usa, well, what do i know, the more rules in a country, the more kind people are, unless anarchy, total anarchy.

[@steffeness1]

+Fred Lindalen The more rules / laws in a country creates less individualistic, less free thinking people, and less imaginative people. People that are always concerned about the rules should instead be using their own judgement and imagination. Put it this way, people tend to be more conforming and don't think for themselves in heavily regulated society.

[@karen-sofiethorsensen5777]

I agree - 17th of May is the biggest. Not new year.

[@lifeguy3000]

what denomination are you?

[@kimono7350]

oooh, make a vlog about the difficulty of RESPONSES to anerican smalltalk/greetings! Like, when you always greet me, for instance by saying, "hi! how ARE you?", norwegians WILL tell you, lol! Most americans just throw that 'how are you' out and not expect/want a sincere reply, cause that would mean you cared for real...then I'd say;"oooh, my day was messed up! Awful!", and you would have to at least ACT like you cared...lol! I have gotten in soooo much trouble for my honesty, this goes for EVERYONE I know of norwegians as well, because after a few times of actuallyvanswering the "how ARE you", wether it is a positive or negative response, brits or americans will chew my ear off, annoyed that I actuallyvanswer an insincere 'greeting'😂😂😂❤️! I don't mean this post in a negative way at all, I just HAD to ask abt this, since I now get nervous whenever I'm asked! Pleaaaase make a video about how to answer different stuff like that😂😜💋❤️?! Impressive norwegian! VERY enjoyable!

[@Anirossa]

not juledagen. første juledag :)

[@mariussalvesenmeland]

good u like my cuntry

[@Partyffs]

No guns....my dear every one have guns here.

[@imortaliz]

we have guns, you just need to have a valid reason to own the gun, like hunting, u cant just go buy a weapon beacause you want it, also u need to get approval from the police to even own a gun at all, handguns have the strictest rules u need to be atleast 21 years old and u have to be a active member in a approved gunclub.

[@Partyffs]

olerobherm1993 .olerobherm1993 Yes, but when you leave said club the police don't come for your guns.

[@imortaliz]

Mystogan Edolas thats true

[@lumiesoucek3478]

Try talking to Americans, they tell you "I gotta go."

[@kanel123boller]

I really enjoy watching this video serie. But what this guy here is saying about guns is totally wrong - Norway is in fact one of the most armed countries in the world. Is is true though that it is illegal to "open-carry", and that is probably why he has the impression he has.

[@kristianfagerheim1329]

Mormons- Yes li laugh little of them, but so polite youngsters will you not find in Norway. But "the word, is the old Viking law. You have only your word!

[@kjartaneliassen2017]

I'm maybe going to begin with gun practice and I'm only 11yrs old(I'm NORWEGIAN!)

[@LifeyApp]

That sounds like fun :)

[@kennethworde862]

nice tie?!! Swedish, could only get by if you are Minnesotan, lol

[@MoonOvIce]

They are huge introverts

[@CC-lq6wp]

Nice, and well spoken American..! Nice. But you are wrong on the gun thing... Plenty of guns in Norway..! We just do not kill mutch ppl. with them ! ExEMTNor

[@jarisundell8859]

Solo, the orange soda drink, was invented in Germany as the (secret) Coca Cola syrup was not available during the war. Therefor Solo is a fascist soda. ;)

[@RannonSi]

Jari Sundell Solo? Don't you mean Fanta?

[@schaferund1812]

He's so cute

[@andresmoge6398]

Hi! I like your videos.. You also look very Norwegian. I bet it is in your blood. About traditions.. and holly days.. You for got two big days witch is very characteristically Norwegian. THe 17 Mai (a big parade celebrating the national constitution) and Jonsok (A huge Summer solstice bonfire ) This is the biggest single day celebrations. Also the the 17 have the 16 of may before. witch is known as the biggest party day of the year often a outside party. and the final big party of the Russ (high school graduation ceremony)

[@andresmoge6398]

sankthans

[@WhackyRavenLand]

Solo smaker høgg! :p Not my favourite either.

[@fredlindalen6674]

We took usa, because of europe and me, usa has guns today, usa is created by europe..........

[@ady2010iby]

Every family who wants to live in Norway should be aware of BARNEVERNET who is the evil.My friend's 5 children were taken from his family....TERRIBLE PLACE>>> Family Bodnariu..Is this Norway? The family lost all 5 children? Is that right? Is this the human rights? This family is suffering and they are in a lot of pain.I am so glad that my children are with me...I am sorry for people of Norway

[@mariopinot9884]

Nice

[@JCWiley2300]

Yassssss Queen!

[@GakkGakkUnited]

Solo is the best soda there'll ever be!

[@thekommex4831]

GakkGakk United pffffft Cuba Cola!

[@iselinsofieeik-nilsen50]

or you have people like me that selebrate christmas in my pyjamas all day and just relaxing with my family with (ribbe) or christmas rib from the pig not bbq ribs but with the fat as well that turns out yummy, and cartoons and som presants. ^^

[@المسيحهوابنالله]

Hope Christ will open more hearts in Norway! We love our land and our LORD!

[@LifeyApp]

المسيح هو ابن الله amen :)

[@NaCl-e]

المسيح هو ابن الله Aint gonna happen son :)

[@Luckyyshot]

المسيح هو ابن الله The whole idea of 'opening hearts' to me sound rather unrespectful, in the regard of that is basically just trying to put beliefs down into people's throat. Anyways, as blackbirdflight said, it's not gonna happen. :/