Norwegians are blunt. There’s no two ways about it. They are not the friendliest folk on the sidewalks, however once you get to know them they are easy to capture in conversation. Once “inside” they are very much a jovial bunch whom crack jokes and sarcastically poke each other with words. Over lunch, if they speak English, I fit right in. One whom talks about work at the lunch table remains the killjoy. During these friendly interactions, as well as on weekend encounters with strangers, I’ve realized they are a blunt society. It’s pertinent to understand, I’ve heard them admit it too. Blunt as blunt.
The first display of bluntness was on a few weeks ago on Friday. Within two minutes of using my lunch seat, the coworker across the table asked (out of the blue), “so why did Obama win the Nobel Peace Prize?” This was not only the first time politics had been discussed, but this question was being posed within an hour of the public announcement. In fact, her inquiry was my news broadcast. I had no idea why, let alone that Obama had received the Prize. It certainly got their point across in the most efficient manner possible.
That following weekend I was strolling the sprawling life statue park in Oslo. At this particular moment, the park was virtually empty and I had arrived at the main art sculptures. A lonely man walked up to me and spoke in the foreign tongue. I request English, in Norwegian. He replied with, “Do you believe in Jesus?” Being 11am on a Sunday, perhaps this is a common question. Stunned, I offered a meager portion of words that I no longer remember. He then proceeded to ask where I was from. Next was if I knew about the “Jesus Revolution” of the 1970s in California. I couldn’t admit I did, and this worshipper soon lost interest. I was relieved.
On the cruise, one of our temporary-passenger-lunch-companions told us that this cruise we had so eagerly signed up for was known to be the “cruise of rich blue-haired old American ladies and fat men with a camera resting on their belly”. Well, glad that we blew that stereotype out of the fjord water. Of the boat passengers, there was one person to fit this description. Of course, this was barely an acceptable sample size being there only 46 passengers.
The bluntness is amusing and not offensive. For many visitors, it may not always start off that way, however if the visitor has any amount of a laid-back or friendly attitude towards life, the awkwardness will end quickly. It’s just a fun aspect to the culture.
This tunnel to get me home has a light at the end. A light with a silhouette of a husband whom is holding something…. Ahh, it’s a glass of fresh squeezed OJ (he got that earlier hint, this is just a friendly reminder). Being in this tunnel certainly narrows my priorities for the next 11 days. Keeping focused on transitioning work activities, seeing a best friend in Oslo this weekend
On a side note, if you have any questions on Norway (or my experiences) please send an email! If the questions are interesting, funny or there are enough of them, I will make a blog entry out of them…. leaving the questioners completely anonymous. From the past feedback, I can confirm that there are 5 family members + 2 friends and 2 coworkers that are reading these entries. Thank you!
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