Norway versus Denmark: who’s having a good time?
As a longtime resident of Denmark now living in Norway, I’m often asked what’s different between the Danes and Norwegians. I’ve already posted about the service industry in the two countries. And over the last few months, I’ve begun to notice another major difference: the idea of a good time is completely opposite.
The Norwegian attitude is expressed wonderfully in this passage from Odd Børretzen’s book How to Understand and Use a Norwegian: A User’s Guide.
“[The Norwegian] wants the time he spends with other people to result in something sensible, or enable him to:
1. learn from it
2. have a child by it, or
3. obtain a good Fisheries Agreement.
The Norwegain has never quite understood how people from other lands can find it morally justifiable to sit in a pub, at a sidewalk cafe, or in a marketplace for hours, and talk about anything for no other purpose than just sitting there talking.”
The more time I spend in Norway, the more I realise this is true. Norwegians love to be doing something in their spare time. They climb mountains, go fishing, walk the coast, sew, better themselves. The idea of doing ‘nothing’ is thoroughly alien.
Compare this to the Danes, whose idea of a good time is nothing but sitting and chatting with friends.
