the one with its all about norwegian

It has been a long week for me. Spent more than 600 kr on my x-ray (oh thats my budget for hair cutting!), couldnt walk much so just been staying at home, and went on a cabin trip with AIESEC which is lot of fun. When last night I was on the phone with dad talking about some random thinking I had during the weekend and it turned out to be a culture discussion, and today in the media course we talked about habitus of Norwegain people. So I was thinking to it might be time for me to take a note on how I see Norwegian so far.

Yesterday when I got back to Fantoft and having a late dinner with the girls talking what we have been doing during weekend, Michy naturally asked me, "so, did you make any friends in the trip?" Making friends with Norwegians has always been a topic among us exchange students and somehow the most conclusion we had is, Norwegian people are really nice but for some reason it is difficult to build up really close connection with them. This German guy who went fishing with the girls and has been working here in Bergen for more than four years said you can have fun with norwegians totally party up on Saturday night but when Monday you go to work and try to talk like buddy but it never works out, norwegians could be very politely nice as if you are just met.
As an exchange student like I said before, it is not easy for us to break the wall and really integrated with locals. And it is interesting to find out that those who are really into the conversation with us are the ones have been either exchange or work abroad. Norwegian students would raise questions in Norwegian although they are aware of that most of classmates are foreigners. Well, I really dont complain about locals being like that since I absolutely understand how locals feel kind of distant from foreigners and they of course would feel more comfortable hanging out with the ones belong to the local group. And that makes me especially appreciate those who think for us as incoming guests, respect our presents, even show interest in our cultures.

Anyways, I was very excited to take this trip with AIESEC not only because I feel excited about this organization itself but also for my curiosity about Norwegian studetnts (well little part of this is because we girls are very impressed by the guys in Bergen and we commented as "Norwegian guys are incredibly good looking" =) and so far no one disagree with that lol).
We did some introductory games and mini presentation based on group work which all made me think more about myself as a teamplayer and discovered more of my strengths and weaknesses. One thing also came to me is comparing the thinking pattern that I have which has been greatly inflenced by the university education in HK with the one that was shown on my teammates as Norwegians. In HK, we are trained to be professional. Even if we do not have the professional knowledge, we need to look professional, in terms of the way we present ourselves, the way we respond to doubts, the way we look, and the environment we creat. Yes people are aware of that we might be too green to do stuffs like that but the thing is, we need to learn how to be professional step by step. --- We might not know the answer, which is alright, just give a professional smile and think of a vague politician answer. People call it typical business training which I also found a lot in North America, but Norwegians are more honest and straight in my opinion.
The professor in my media course is from Colombia. Ever since the first I talked with him, he said Norwegian students never raise questions. Today when he was trying to encourage us to have a discussion, the whole classroom was in an akward silence and he said come on don't be too Norwegian. Which is also an interesting stereotype about Norwegian --- people dont like to be put on spot or voluntarily stand out. People like to be even which also resulted in the fact that the most comment we have on Norwegians is: oh they are very nice people, just being nice, somewhere in the middle. It is unlike in the states, when during the weekend we were talking about why using "fasinating" to describe America because it just have so extreme and diversified population. But norwegians are just very alike. This reminds me of the thoery of equality, typical Scandinavian charateristic, in Sociology. That the goverment or the regime that the country connects to is just trying to erase distinction among people. That everybody should have equal access to things.

Party time is also fun to observe Norwegian character. I dont know if its because its just the first weekend that we spend together that people don't get familiar with each other yet, that most of people prefer holding a beer and talking and talking and talking when there is loud music going on and people would get wild dancing if its north america.

I have heared some anthropology explanations for Norwegians people based on this country's farming history. And of course very cold climate is also an important factor that shapes a nation's personality. I have only been here for bit more than one month and very much look forward to knowing more about this country.

My ankle is recovering and hopefully I can go back to gym very soon and I so much miss running and doing stuffs there.

Hope you all are having a great time and get lots of "red envelops" =).