• Home
  • General

Foreigner Exposes the Most Difficult Part of Living in Norway πŸ‡³πŸ‡΄ #shorts

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

Dating in Scandinavia? Read:
Shop for our cultural merch here:
E-guide for dating women around the world? πŸ’πŸ»β€β™€οΈ
Join DBB mailing list:

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

Videos out every Thursday – hit the bell button to receive notifications! πŸ””

Follow DBB on Social Media!

Facebook:
Instagram:
TikTok:
Website:

Irena's IG: πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡¦

Premium
 

  • @hashish9 says:

    Small talk is always about weather, holidays, sports and current events. Even in Canada πŸ‡¨πŸ‡¦

    • @sofijatodorovic9564 says:

      it is like that in every country. Thats why its called small talk. I completely agree with you.

    • @Usamamohamud says:

      Im canadian and thats exactly how it is, but as soon as you move to another country or go for a visit you see when people ask how you are they truly mean it and they want to share their stories and experiences with you as well not just a polite ice breaker but a way to build connections

    • @professionalboycottservice7872 says:

      Canadians are the most shallow and insincere people

  • @timmyturner5358 says:

    Woah, I’m not even Norwegian and I do this often πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚

  • @Sammi_Kristiansen says:

    Marina is back in Norway and Scandinavia again! I look forward to your travel vlogs. Takk!

  • @MissFashionHeartz says:

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

  • @frantzl says:

    Small talk is for people with way to much free time. Deep talks/discussions I’ll have with my friends or people I vibe with. If I don’t want to talk to someone, they’ll get a nice little weather update

    • @Lafemmefutile says:

      I prefer people don’t talk if they are going to talk about the weather. I already have an app with detailed AND accurate info.

    • @ccc4102 says:

      You won’t do well in South Africa 😊people talk to each other, they smile. I think it’s the Sun β˜€

  • @emelie5515 says:

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

  • @timothya.olmeda7299 says:

    No matter the nation and culture people today are not as social as they were even a decade or more ago. Instead, just as we are at this very moment, we are more social in social media outlets than we are in person.
    Of course, there are exceptions.

    • @MPostma72 says:

      You really think things were very social when people lost their homes after the 2008 collapse of the economy? When the ‘war on terror’ was still in full swing, that was when we were more social?

    • @timothya.olmeda7299 says:

      @@MPostma72

      Yes.
      Because again, we weren’t relying on social media outlets as much, many had yet to transition over. It was Six Degrees, a platform created in 1997 that started the social media revolution. It was nowhere near the level what the iPhone and other devices has become.
      Terror has always existed in societies, some more relevant than others.
      Every generation throughout history has witnessed terror, not only from war, but from other circumstances.

  • @Myviewingtime07 says:

    I’m kind of like the Norwegians. I don’t mind people talking about the weather with me, but when they start talking about their problems and other personal stuff, I don’t say anything back.

    • @yahyahussein425 says:

      Haha. Come over and try living here. You’ll seeπŸ˜‚

    • @peacefulminimalist2028 says:

      Agree – it’s awkward and shows a lack of social skills. Unless they’re in dire acute need of help, you don’t spill all your tea to a stranger.

    • @marquiscrumpton4673 says:

      Exactly. I hate small talk in America and they dump their personal info to a stranger. It makes me uncomfortable and why trauma dump on someone you don’t know?

    • @nv2332 says:

      Because americans are supposed to be friendly and you can use that as therapy plus they arent close to family/confiding in family members

    • @clarence493 says:

      You’re rude

  • @JasonQog says:

    You are not our Tribe, until you become our Tribe.

    Until then keep your problems to yourself, when you are my Tribe your problems are our problems, and we will solv all our problems together.

  • @SteaksOnSpear says:

    Why do people want to have meaningful convo with irrelevant random people you will never see again?

  • @peacefulminimalist2028 says:

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

    • @raffffff says:

      So glad I came across this commentπŸ˜…

    • @coffeenorth says:

      All the videos on her channel that I have seen, particularly the shorts, have a strong focus on negative features of different countries. She also leads in that direction with her questions. She could easily get into unique quirks or funny sides of a country but chooses this predominantly. I guess it creates a lot of controversies in the comments.

    • @elis8669 says:

      Basically, you have just admitted that foreigners have no chance to develop friendships in Norway.

    • @peacefulminimalist2028 says:

      @@elis8669 Well that’s not true and also not what I said. You draw conclusions from your own mind.

    • @coffeenorth says:

      @@elis8669 You seem to actively want to turn her comment into something negative and even changed the meaning of her statement all together. If you don’t want to exchange personal information with a rando on the street, doesn’t mean that you are excluding yourself from meeting new people all together. There are still plenty of topics left. That meaning you just added impolitely.

  • @carolineauma2256 says:

    You are 100 percent correct and thats how i ACT now .I wont stress i rather go by the flow n don’t feel offended when u happen to meet mei go by the flow

  • @raffffff says:

    I can do small talk but it gets old really fast 😭 I am about to move to Norway, I hope this is a big generalization and not true for everyone.

    Though I am selective about the people I tell personal things to I definitely wouldn’t like to just have superficial conversations.

  • @2011sliverdude says:

    Norwegian are very reserved

  • @coffeenorth says:

    I love Norwegian culture and your wonderful landscape. You’re fine the way you are.

  • @laurebourgeois8482 says:

    Well, that’s the definition of small talk πŸ€·β€β™€οΈ

  • @melodyknight6494 says:

    I’ve met loads of Norwegians while travelling. The people I met loved deep chats and had a great sense of humour. There was nothing superficial about them at all.

  • @trulsslemmeli8134 says:

    We do talk about deep things, with people we know that is.

  • @Mary-zk4ry says:

    That is actually normal for most Europe, im from Est Europe, we do not do the Hollywood smile and Huggies and deep talk with random people, the deep is happening in building a relationship, then you know you have gained a friend for life and the deep gets really deep and we actually like to conversate and share pretty much anything with people we trust

  • @CrownRider says:

    She found out that Norwegians speak English with a Norwegian accent and Norwegians don’t spill their guts on the first small talk. She is smart….πŸ˜‚

  • >
    Verified by MonsterInsights