The second cultural shock

I never thought I would experience a cultural shock twice in one year. That happened when I moved to Norway last fall.

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My first cultural shock was Finland. I moved to a small city in northern Finland called Oulu to do my Master’s. While I was just getting used to the cold Arctic winter and shy Finns, I got a call from Norway. It was from EVRY, a leading IT company in Norway, offering me a position at their Trondheim office, in a project called Innovation Lab. I happily accepted the offer.

Like most people who haven’t explored all the Nordic countries, I had the same stereotypical idea. Norwegian and Finnish culture have to be very similar. I mean, they are both so close to the Arctic, right? How different can it be?

Well, my very first thought when I landed in Trondheim was, ‘Okay, this looks different.’ I could see the snowy peaks of mountains right from the plane window. The bus ride from the airport to the city center felt like a sightseeing tour. I saw more mountains and rivers in one hour than I have seen in my whole year in Finland.

Oh wait! That’s the first mistake. It’s not river. It’s fjord. I was not familiar with the word. Coming from a riverine country like Bangladesh, most waterbodies look like a river or a lake to me. Fjord actually has quite a strict definition – It’s a narrow inlet of the sea created by glaciers. It’s the contrast between deep blue fjords and snow-capped mountains that makes the landscape of Norway so unique and stunning. So, for me, the first striking difference between Finland and Norway was the landscape.

During the first couple of days I was quite immersed in the beauty of Trondheim. Then I felt like there was something more. I told my colleagues, ‘Guys, I think I’m having a second cultural shock.’ ‘Why?’ they asked.

I said, ‘It’s not just the scenery. It’s also the people. They’re different.’

It takes a while to understand what exactly is different about Norwegians. They look pretty much like other Scandinavians. But when it comes to lifestyle and behavior, I found them easily distinguishable from Finns. Norwegians are more chatty and socially active. You will not run out of topics when you start talking, and you can generally talk about anything. I had many interesting conversations about Vikings, the Norwegian language, LGBT, terrorism etc. They are quite aware of what’s going on around the world and have strong opinions on matters like peace, equality and openness. Overall, the positive and chill atmosphere cannot go unnoticed if you move from an introvert nation like Finland.

I was quite intimidated at first with all the differences. My initial move to Norway was such a rush that I didn’t even have time to learn the basic greetings in Norwegian. I didn’t do mandatory research like how much a pack of milk would cost or which supermarket is the cheapest. I didn’t have any familiar faces to ask awkward questions like how some strangers know my first name. In Norwegian ‘Heisann’ means ‘Hi’, which almost sounds like my first name Hasan. So when strangers said ‘heisann’ I always thought they were calling my name!

When I got a home that I shared with six Norwegians, my stress levels escalated. What if they are colder than the Finns? What if they find it rude that I don’t speak even one Norwegian word? Worst, what if they are bothered when I cook spicy food full of strong smells? I can try to break the ice with one or two people. But six? Way too much for a fresh immigrant!

Fast forward four months. There I am, right before Christmas, enjoying Julemåltid (Christmas meal) with my flatmates and a cute cat named Fia. After dinner we also had Julebrus and Julemarsipan (Jule literally means Christmas). We hung out in the living room which felt so warm and exuberant with Christmas decorations and a brightly lit Christmas tree. My flatmates were going to their parents’ for Christmas, and I was moving to Oslo. So it was like a last meal together.

Not to mention, all the fears I had in the beginning were meaningless. I have become very good friends with everyone. They helped me settle down in a city where I was almost a stranger.

I was smiling. My second cultural shock was fading away. Norway started to feel like home.

Read also: A survival guide to Trondheim

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