Xenophobe’s Guide to the Norwegiansby Andrzej Jaroszyński

This is neither an extended essay, nor, God forbid, a scholarly piece. It is simply an exercise in intellectual vanity.

Writing these highly personal observations I followed the idea and structure of booklets on different nations published by Oval Books in London. The series was an inspiration but in no way influenced my already politically incorrect mind-set.

At any rate, I hope that the text will provide smiles of acknowledgments, howls of disapproval and weeks of wholesome conversation. I also hope that those who know Norway will reconsider what they seem to know, and those who are ignorant of the land will think seriously about what they should learn.

Any inaccuracies are not mine but those whose books and opinions on Norway I have consulted. Any mistakes cannot be blamed on me but my teachers of English and my computer.

Serendipity is one of the most beautiful words that I know in the English language. It means making the unexpected happy discovery. This is exactly the feeling I will get when I have to leave Norway.

Oslo-Warsaw 2006

HISTORY AND IDENTITY

Forewarned

For the ordinary reader Norway is associated with Vikings, polar expeditions and the beauty of wilderness. For the extraordinary reader (but still a member of the human race) it brings to mind Ibsen, Munch and Grieg but also the last bastion of social equality and the enormous wealth due to the revenues from gas and oil exploration.

Its history, however, is not considered to have been exceptionally turbulent and, therefore, it is not familiar to the average European. All the same, it offers a case of its own.

Since the dawn of recorded past, Norwegians set out on long expeditions getting as far as North America, or Vinland, as called by Leiv Eriksson, the first European to have (probably) reached it. The Vikings, including Norwegian forefathers, had the reputation of ruthless plunderers, builders of superior ships and efficient military organisers as well as talented traders. Interestingly, Viking expeditions were probably the first and best example of what is now known as Nordic co-operation.King Olaf Haraldsson gathered the various parts of the country under his rule and completed with a picturesque brutality the conversion of Norway to Christianity. Killed in battle with a Danish king, he was later canonised as St. Olaf, the patron saint of Norway.

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In the fourteenth century, Norwegians came under the Danish rule and for the next few centuries they had little say in how they were governed. In the early 1500s, for instance, they discovered they had become Protestants, without knowing exactly how this had happened.

Somewhat later, Norwegians took advantage of the unfortunate alliance of the Danish crown with Napoleon. Just before their country was seceded to Sweden, a group Norwegian VIPs (most of them priests and civil servants) issued the Constitution in 1814, which is still in force. In 1821 a bill putting an end to titled nobility in Norway passed under the conviction that the country was too poor to keep up a few aristocratic families who were all Danish, and that really true and ancient nobility were the Norwegian peasants who, however, had no desire for titular distinction. The Union with Sweden was peacefully annulled in 1905.At that time, due to the diplomatic skills of the British ambassador in Copenhagen, the second son of Denmark’s crown prince, Carl changed his name into Haakon, promised to learn Norwegian and kindly agreed to serve as the King of a newly born and sovereign Kingdom of Norway.

Until World War II, supported by the policy of selective neutrality, Norway was on its march to build a welfare state exploiting its maritime resources and water energy sector. As they never had to fight for their freedom they also did not want to conquer any foreign land. What they did was a gradual and peaceful annexesion of vast territories of the Northern polar spaces of ice and snow. The Second World War, however, shattered the illusions of safe remoteness from international conflicts, and forced Norway to find security under the NATO umbrella. The German occupation also shattered the myth of national unity, which then had to be renewed by historians and educators who convincingly focused on the heroic role of the local resistance movement.

In the late sixties huge resources of oil and gas were discovered in the Norwegian waters and soon Norway became one of the richest countries of the world. Out of solidarity with the national past (to protect old culture and social values) as well as in solidarity with the future (to leave some money for next generations) a special welfare fund was established to accumulate God’s and/or nature’s descendant wealth. However, although more and more Norwegians take advantage of their wealth by having good time, they do so with the sense of bad conscience because they know they did not work for it. Some even perceive it not as an economic blessing, but as a curse. Torn between turbulence of modernity and the inertia of tradition, they tried to do their best to combine new wealth with old culture of the poor, the traditional work ethic with the financial security that calls for no sturdy virtues and sacrifice. Now, Norway is discovering that sudden wealth comes with complications. The country’s bedrock work ethic is caving in and tension between profit-seeking and rent-seeking expectations is growing. According to the latest Europe Barometer survey, nine out of ten Norwegians say that holidays and leisure time are recipes for a good life as opposed to many Europeans who believe that education, work and careers are more important.There is a story summing up the Norwegian history in the shortest possible way, “For a long time Norwegian farmers toiled their land, then, they sold it for a golf club, now the farmers start playing golf themselves.”Still, their perceptions of themselves and the outside world do not wane as fast as the social reality is veering round. For most Norwegians still believe that the more Norway changes, the more it stays the same.

How They See Themselves

“East is East, West is West, life in Norway is the best”. This can undoubtedly serve as a motto for the Norwegian self-portrait. They may occasionally complain about their own institutions, life-styles (and the

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weather), but they are reluctant to change or ridicule them, and they even more seldom protest against them. “Why don’t we sell Norway and buy something closer to Paris” would never occur in the minds of grown-up Norwegians who see their country as a Disneyland for adults. Even the fact that Norway does not splash headlines across the first pages of the world’s newspapers does not particularly worry anybody.For in Norway, the only thing worse than not getting praised, is getting praised.

The exception is the Norwegian economic and political establishment that complains about the lack of global visibility in spite of the country’s obvious successes. To be unknown is a profoundly disturbing idea for the leadership that thinks its nation’s values and way of life are the best in the world and hence must be admired. So, the state apparatus is dabbling in nation “branding” by seeking what may be an idealised but immediately recognised individual personality to achieve the image and popularity proportional to economic and political ambitions of the national leaders.

Their state-paid academics constructed a rather simple but still relevant analysis of contemporary Norwegian society. Thus, politically, it is split (now more for the sake of fashionable diversity) between left versus right, but with the consensus on the dominance of welfare system and the security protection provided by NATO. Next, there is an old tension, between the cities and rural districts and the related one between central areas and periphery. While the central areas are attractive for economic expansion, the peripheral ones need huge state subsidies. However, it is the inhabitants of the northern part of Norway who are more open, hospitable and, at the same time, more rebellious and demanding.In addition, one can feel a kind of animosity between the inhabitants of the present capital, Oslo, and the historical capital of Bergen. In fact, the latter is the only city in the European sense, that is, the place where most inhabitants come from. Oslo, on the other hand, is the city of newcomers, career and asylum seekers; in short, those who on the Continent are labelled nouveaux riches. People in Bergen, thus, claim that the national wealth is produced in their city but spent in Oslo. The above opinion does not come, of course, from the academic research.The remaining cleavages are ideological and cultural. Thus, we are referred to the balancing between modern industrialism versus populism or green values. The opponents of economic efficiency, high technology and unfair distribution of wealth are still many. They postulate “simple life like the good old days” (which, by the way, were not all that good), “zero growth”, local self-efficiency, and ecological protection. As the first, progressive tendency promotes urban, European and secular culture, the second votes for rural, national and pietistic counterculture. The latter also fights for the preservation of nynorsk, and is attached to the idea of temperance (if not total prohibition, at least restrictions on the sale of alcoholic beverages). All those differences and conflicting trends are insistently tamed and kept under control due to the unshattered belief in the superiority of the Norwegian ways of resolving conflicts by means of debates, compromise and contracts.

According to a less-serious, but a popular view, a typical Norwegian cleans his car more often than his shoes, orders a drink at 6 a.m. at the Gardemoen air-port, buys Norwegian products in Swedish shops, and thinks that there is no bad weather but only improper clothes. He also insists that global conflicts can be resolved by means of a rational argument. This mediation habit stays with Norway, despite numerous failures, especially on the international stage.

In sum, the Norwegians see their homeland as a huge household in which persuasion, negotiation and social care have replaced political repression and economic exploitation promising the world without glitter and greatness but providing security and happiness to the average. The accusation pointing to Norway as a democracy of mediocrity is taken rather as a compliment especially since its average inhabitant earns annually over 36 thousand dollars living in a land of striking beauty.

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How They See Others

It is hard to expect Norwegians as “hugging” warmly any country of special relationship. A deficit of the Norwegian attention to other parts of the world in emotional terms is likely to derive from their history and geography.Usually peripheral nations watch the centre more keenly than the centre realises, or deserves. This is not the case of Norway.For a long time the Norwegians suspected that inhabitants from warmer parts of the globe had found better places in which to live. In order to conceal these sentiments of envy, Norwegian parents had been teaching successive generations that those living further south were unreliable, lazy, Catholic and depraved. Today, the echoes of the above can be only partially detected in the Norwegian attitudes towards foreigners, which, on the whole, have acquired much more sophistication and diversity.

Thus, the ideal foreigner in the eyes of the Norwegian is someone who lives abroad and buys Norwegian products. If the ideal foreigner has to come to Norway, he/she is supposed to stay in an expensive hotel and spend holidays in such a way as to avoid exploiting the local welfare system. European aristocrats, dignitaries and the like should be prepared not to be given a VIPs treatment. Ambassadors, for instance, feel that they have to apologise for being ambassadors since any privileges shown to otherwise privileged guests are frowned upon.

Norwegians, however, do not see other nationalities in the same, egalitarian way. Generally speaking, Nordic people are treated as cousins but with different preferences. The Danes are the closest. The Swedes are blamed for the Union of 1815, and all the jokes it has produced. The Finns are considered distant cousins whose institution of sauna is mistakenly attributed to Norwegians. The Icelanders provoke the greatest dissatisfaction. Partly, because of the Icelanders’ claim to have discovered America, partly because of their sense of superiority over Norwegians who are said to be Vikings with only a sword in their hand whereas the Vikings from Iceland are known to hold the pen in the other.

Germans, once good cousins, are never forgiven for pushing Norway into the World War II, leaving nearly 30 thousand offspring born out of Norwegian women, and introducing the name of Quisling into the international vocabulary. It would be hard to accuse Norwegians of pro-German sympathies. On the contrary, they look at Germany with a jaundiced eye. This is rather a case of betrayed love so much more painful because in their life styles the two nations are not very much apart.Theoretically, Swiss people should be considered as a twin nation since both specialize in social monitoring and digging tunnels. However, both nations see themselves as the centre of the world which excludes mutual admiration.

Britons are respected and enjoy special admiration among thin layers of the elites who, however, do not dare to display it in public. American mass culture is so deeply rooted that some TV programmes are run in the mixture of American English and Norwegian and there is a national Elvis impersonator contest. However, this popularity of American culture does not translate into widespread support for American policy. Although the Norwegian establishment is closer to the USA than in many other countries in Europe, the leftist and pacifist attitudes prevail among Norwegians who much more eagerly protest against imperialist America than against any “errors and mistakes” of communism, let alone dictatorships in the developing world.

Since the early 80’s Norwegians have been facing “others” inside their own land. Previously, one of the most homogenous populations, Norway has recently witnessed a rapid increase of immigrants especially from non-western nations. In 2003, the number of immigrants reached over 7% of the total population,

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with about 21% of the capital’s inhabitants, the largest group being from Pakistan. No longer, then, foreigners can be associated with tourists, lecture guests and TV series. A variety of non-Norwegians have become citizens of the Kingdom. But even in Norway tolerance has its limits and the question where to draw the line can be a tricky one, especially when an increasing number of immigrants come from societies with vastly different values.

Norwegians are considered guilty of “a fishbowl mentality” by requiring that”the world be a larger edition of Norway”. This is particularly true with regard to developing countries which are treated with a missionary zeal to help them grow according to the Norwegian model. So, what truly infuriates the Simple Norwegian is the resistance of the newcomers who desire to be neither fully assimilated Norwegians nor to become genuine democrats.

How Others See Them

How humiliating it can be, to see ourselves as others see us.Upon greeting a Swedish taxi driver, a Norwegian passenger has a fair chance to be told an anti-Norwegian joke instead of a welcoming response. While in Denmark he or she can be doubtfully entertained with a label of being a Northern Arab. The inhabitants of Reykjavik and its vast outskirts think of the inhabitants of Oslo and other provincial settlements as uncultivated in arts and identifying the achievements of the Vikings’ too much with their own folk. All the neighbours share the opinion that there must be some historical mistake in awarding only one of the Nordic brethren with such colossal resources of energy, and by this they do not mean the intellectual one. In general, the neighbours display a somewhat patronising attitude combined with open jealousy towards the Norwegians.

In Central Europe a visitor from Norway can be examined on his knowledge of Ibsen and Hamsun along- side and can be offered labour service, preferably including tax evasion. While in Norway, workers from Central Europe, especially illegal ones, are suprised to find that their brothers-in-labour are less efficient and less hard working but still more demanding and convinced of their superiority.

Russians are too many and too proud to think specifically about one of their neighbours. Perhaps, those who still think big would claim Spitsbergen as part of the Federation. On the other hand, those who speak English and, thus, by the lack of other definitions, are considered democrats, would hardly adopt the Norwegian model as their own. In their eyes, a nation so affluent and, at the same time, without any ambition to be a superpower, is not worthy its wealth. However, a belief that binds both nations is the one that drinking beverage without raising a toast leads to alcoholism.

Those Europeans and Latin Americans who, if they do, frequent their elaborated Baroque churches, are in pain to understand how it is possible to pray in Norwegian austere and tasteless interiors which might offend God’s sense of beauty.

Not many Americans remember the famous praise “Look to Norway” by US President Franklin Roosevelt. Also a few choose Norway as their tourist destination or ‘country of the mind’. Everybody knows it is somewhere up north but only some will make the effort to find it. If they knew it better, they would enjoy Norway, although for different reasons: liberals for Norwegians’ hatred of America, and conservatists for their love of it. However, all of them would praise this country for the presence of McDonalds and the rule of the English language. Probably, they would complain about the lack of highways and cheap and easily accessible whiskey which, incidentally, most Norwegians confuse with scotch.

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The nation that shows the greatest affinity with Norwegians is Dutch people. Both are great enthusiasts of skaters whom they cherish as national heroes. Both have also common interests in the sea, permissive manners and feminism. That is why the Dutch think that Norway must be a member of the European Union.

In general, foreigners from continental Europe sometimes wonder why those Norwegians who saw the wonders of Barcelona or Rome were not courageous enough to seek for a cultural asylum there. In foreign eyes, the decision to return to the land of lutefisk after visiting Rome must be one of the most difficult tests of Norwegians’ local patriotism.

Sophisticated foreigners complain that while in Norway they are forced to exercise “cultural promiscuity”. They see the Norwegian landscape merely as a handsome waste of space. Consequently, the scarcity of cultural scandals and social gossip, simplicity of life-style, deserted streets on weekdays and the Norwegian escapism into nature make them feel like lost souls.Newcomers of somewhat more modest persuasion complain that they have to live under the rigid constraints of a police state. Still, both groups take advantage of the benefits of a welfare system and the naiveté of its adherents.

Foreigners visiting Norway display an ambiguous attitude as to the traditional and the modern dimensions in today’s Norway. Many tourists still expect Norwegians to preserve the old, parochial customs and to look and behave as if oil and gas had never been discovered here. The same visitors, however, want to enjoy a full service and all the comforts a highly developed country can offer. In other words, foreign travellers often wish that in Norway they could encounter trolls who speak English. Tourist industry in Norway certainly takes these opposing expectations into account. However, trolls who speak English are less enthusiastic.

Regardless of the tone and validity of the above opinions and stereotypes, what really worries a true Norwegian is that more often than not they are treated as a paragraph, maybe a chapter of the Scandinavian mainstream. However, proud Norwegians do not accept a popular image of Scandinavians as being monolithic. The only concession made, in this regard, was their acceptance of the name “Scandinavian Airline System” SAS.

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And EU

Norway is in Europe but not of it. Generally speaking, the Norwegians have nothing against Europe except for the fact that they do not want to join it. After having spent over forty years figuring out whether to join the European Union or not, they are still undecided. It seems that at heart they do not want to be part of European adventure, to share its conflicts and problems and to be responsible for its past disasters and future blunders. Their double rejection of the EU membership (in 1974 and 1992) was a manifestation of this nostalgia for non-commitment to European affairs and a rejection of dependence on the bigger and more powerful nation-states. They were also governed by the fear of losing their achievements of direct and accountable democracy as well as by the concern of having to reform their extended welfare system. Additionally, the old sentiments of distrust towards the lazy corrupt Catholic Europe made their due impact. In other words, Norwegians doubt whether they can adjust to the unpredictable – in their eyes - snobbish and class-oriented culture and politics of Europe. Having economic security provided by oil and gas, the ever-proud Norwegians were able to say “no” and show perhaps for the first time, to their neighbours, particularly Swedes, that they can afford to go their own separate way. The erroneous label of “an experienced loser” invented by the envious neighbours does not bother the Norwegians at all. Neither does the nickname “reluctant Europeans”.

CHARACTER

Viewed from foreign capitals, the ferocity of Norwegian debate over their national identity must appear puzzling. It gains particular momentum where the sense of vulnerability to outside influence is especially strong. Globalisation (read Americanisation), the debate on membership in EU, and emergence of a multi-ethnic society in the otherwise homogenous Norway have contributed to the renewed interest in a sharper definition of national character.

Rarely affected by the conflicts on the Continent, having no powerful bourgeoisie, nor landed gentry, Norwegian nationalism was rural and egalitarian, implemented by central agencies of the state, the Church, and society. At the same time, it attempted to distinguish itself from the identities of the neighbouring countries. Ironically, the invention of nationhood and national identity was promoted by urban and foreign-educated people far removed from the simple life of peasantry. It was them who during the 19th century Romantic Movement discovered or made up the forms of rural costumes, dances and fairy-tales as national traits. Similarly, they thought up a myth that national romanticism was at the core of the Norwegian character. But there is nothing romantic in the past and the present ways of Norway. Rather a combination of Protestant culture and rural egalitarian heritage seem to have given birth to characteristically Norwegian traits in beliefs, behaviour, manners and cultural expressions. Call it “pastoral enlightenment” or “peasant monarchy” but not a romantic spirit. The latter obsessed only the hearts of some Norwegian poets who followed the fashion of the Continent’s cultural revolution and formed a short-lived rule of peotocrasy. This romantic invention left very little for the future generations except for the topics of school essays and the designs of national costumes (bunads).

Norwegian mentality was shaped, however, not by Protestant religion as an institution but by the habits and customs it has produced in relation to social and economic circumstances. This is so deeply rooted in Norway that they are one of those lucky nations who do not even know that they behave like good Protestants. In the 20th century, the Norwegian religiosity assimilated to the egalitarian system by choosing a simple method of a qualified majority vote instead of bothering with the idea of the Supernatural. This also explains the virtual lack of the metaphysical dimension in Norway – a country that is sometimes referred to as “a longer Denmark but without a Kierkegaard”.

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As habitual Protestants, the grandchildren of the Vikings focus slightly more on fighting sins than on promoting virtues. The greatest pathologies, therefore, are corruption, vanity, wasting time and money, otherwise called luxury, begging, and cheating the authorities. Above all, they detest breaking law, especially by foreigners. At the same time, their attitudes allow for permissiveness and individualism, but in accordance with the old Protestant rejection of the joys of life. Characteristically, it was easy for pietistic Norwegians to turn into idealistic leftists because their tradition prescribes a need for individual initiation and the missionary responsibility for the world’s injustice. It must, in justice, be added that younger generations less and less resist this canon of social evils. Increasingly, they consider religion and patriotism passé and feel and affinity with religiously tepid West.

Norway is also a country with very few peasants but with substantial rural mentality. “You can get me out of Valdres, but you cannot get Valdres out of me” illustrates best their attitudes. Difficult to befriend, jealously guarding their personal space, simple Norwegians are rather suspicious and introvert. The British expression “Norwegian charisma”, describing people devoid of grace and charm confirms this image. On the other hand, positive attitude and wishful thinking have been long embedded in Norwegian rudimentary traditionalism. It is well illustrated in a folktale about Askaledden, a lazy village fool who wins a princess and half of the kingdom by observing four simple principles: to be in tune with nature, to help the weaker, to take it easy, and to trust in your luck. This folk wisdom is echoed in the famous, and shortest, definition of the Norwegian identity offered by the former PM Gro Harlem Brundtland, “Norwegians are good by nature” (Det er typisk norsk å være god).Thus, the most cherished place is Norway in the world, home within the country, and kichen table at home.Again, this folk tradition married successfully the idea of direct democracy and welfare system. Norwegians, rich or poor, educated or self-educated, sincerely do not like cities and their atmosphere of commotion, mobility, foreign influences and aggressive novelty.

Those two threads combined, that is, Protestant culture and peasant mentality, both well protected by a welfare system and both individualistic, binds them firmly to their ancestry and gives them a clear idea of what is expected of them.

BELIEFS AND VALUES

Here three stories linking past and present and capturing the imagination, are so relevant to the Norwegian mainstream that they might be called obsessions.

Equality

Norwegians still stick to the theory that the common people know well what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard. This belief expresses itself not only through a suspicion against social climbers and rejection of formal hierarchies but it also protects any kind of minorities or otherness in the way unheard of in other countries that claim to be democratic.For instance, the special court (Trygderetten) that decides social welfare conflicts has lately sided with a man who claimed he could not use public transport for fear of being ridiculed because of his exceptional short height. The court, thus, ordered the state to purchase a private car for the „deformed” man.

Egalitarism is not only a social norm. For Norwegians also beauty and virtues are democratic. Thus, a professor from Trondheim accuses the media of discriminating the ugly in favour of beautiful people. He demands higher ugly quotas for the less fortunate majority on TV on the grounds that ugly people are

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ignored and told daily that they are inferior. For a basic Norwegian trait is that no one and nothing should be too fancy and that Norwegian origins as a nation of farmers keep coming back to haunt it. Thus, people here aspire not to higher classes but resemble farmers and the proletariat.

A bible for the Norwegian gentle depotism of the average is, of course, Jante law (Janteloven). It comes from the 1933 novel by Axel Sandemose in which the Ten Rules regulates the citizenry of Jante, the fictional small town symbolic of the conventional society. With its Law, Jante holds its people down by the following commandments: “You shall not believe that you are something. You shall not believe that you are equal, wiser, or better than us. You shall not believe that you know more than us or can rise above us. You shall not believe that you are are capable and that anyone cares about you. You shall not laugh at us nor believe that you can teach us anything.” Some say it is an example of self-imposed restraints on human progress and economic growth. Others say it protects citizens against human sins of pride and provides the sense of safe equality. Both agree that the applicability of the Rules of the Jante Law is still widespread.Norwegians often depict themselves, as “born socialists” because the only alternative was being a small headed and sneering snob, a ghastly thing indeed. As a matter of fact, it was not so much the abundance of snobs but rather their absence that made it easy for the Norwegians to become socialist-minded people. Indeed, there was no significant reason for a class struggle here since there were hardly any exploiting classes to fight against. So, what functions as a gentleman in England is a noble simpleton in Norway.

By the way, it seems suprising that Norwegians living so close to an undemocratic nature, treat historically and man-made democratic institutions and laws as natural, absolute and perennial.

Nature

The Norwegians have a unique, almost sacred relationship with nature trying successfully to conquer and exploit a hostile environment and, at the same time, preserve and protect natural resources. As mediaeval man tried to push the limits of the possible by erecting sky high cathedrals, so Norwegians are developing new environmental technologies in drilling tunnels or exploring deep-sea. They are also actively engaged in nature from skiing to extreme sports, from hiking to glacier expeditions. In fact, it is rumoured that it was Norwegians who invented the sport of skiing. They certainly introduced the words ski, slalom and telemark to the world vocabulary. To prove that sport is an international adventure, Norway has won more Winter Olympic medals than any other nation.

A proverbial and ubiquitous hytte, a small wooden family shrine, where recreation is combined with hard work and severe living conditions, is both an individual and collective way of living with nature and for nature, and not merely for fun and leisure. So, it is probably true to say that if every Norwegian had a hytte, preferably in the mountains, any social problem outside of hytte would be self-solved. It is surely true that any foreign guest invited to hytte for a weekend can consider himself an honorary Norwegian.

However, it is the sense that nature is their own creation, being almost part of the Norwegian soul that makes the Norwegians perceive it in a very unique way. They are so preoccupied with their natural environment that living with it serves as a sort of substitute for mystical, metaphysical or artistic experience. For common Norwegians a slogan “nature for nature’s sake” sounds familiar and obvious, while “art for art’s sake” does not.

Norwegians are also pioneers in modern thinking about the future of the planet, from Gro Harlem Brundtland’s concept of “sustainable development” to Arne Naess’s idea of the “deep ecology” movement. The national motto is “think globally, act locally”. Probably the best manifestation of this attitude is the famous Inky Club for concerned environmentalists numbering about 17 thousand members

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aged 5 to 13 who monitor, write articles and promote various measures of natural protection. Another good example here can be noticed in the phenomenon that makes Oslo perhaps the only European capital where snow is not cleared off the pavements. As everyone is insured by the state, there are no post-accident claims. So, snow and ice lie in the streets of Oslo undisturbed throughout wintertime in accordance with the conviction that what nature gives, nature will take away

Internationalism

This obsession has two basic roots. One comes from the old spirit of adventure expressed in sea and polar expeditions and the international presence of the Norwegian fleet, which is estimated to amount to more than 10% of the world’s volume. The second derives from the old missionary zeal to be a champion of global peace and human rights. This policy is based on a simple assumption that Norway as a small country, should bypass her lack of power and influence by seeking instead a role as the champion of ideals. Thus, it has become a sort of humanitarian superpower. Although Norway is a small country in terms of its size, it has outperformed all others in foreign aid, in peacekeeping and peace processes and its commitment to developing good governance. So, despite their Viking warrior past, Norway is a country of keen peacemakers. For Norway peacekeeping has also been a significant foreign policy tool. Interestingly enough, the largest of peace missions did not take place under a UN flag, but was a part of the Allied occupation of Germany. From 1947 to 1953, a total of 50.000 uniformed men participated in what became known as the German brigade. Later on, Norway sought an active participation in the global affairs under the motto “the further the engagement (i.e. Sudan, Sri-Lanka) the better”. However, as a humanitarian super power Norway has meagre experience in the area of conflicts and crisises. Recently, Norwegians are, on the whole, ardent but selective pacifists specialising in monitoring and protesting mainly against any American military involvement. But, as one professor has said, Norwegians debating on war and peace resemble Catholic priests teaching on sexual life.

Norwegians are both confirmed individualists but also voluntary conformists. Once they had been adventurous, lusty sea nomads, then, as suddenly as they burst upon in their ships, they retreated and converted to being God-fearing Christians. So, a Norwegian labours under a double identity. One tells him to leave cold, homogenous, indifferent Norway. The other tells him to stay home, embrace tradition and preserve social order. Above all, most Norwegians trust in Norwegians only and are suprised that this belief is not shared all around the world.

BEHAVIOUR AND MANNERS

The Norwegians come off as indifferent or aloof because they don’t give compliments and seem to be emotionally and socially unavailable. They avoid purposeful niceties, frivolous chatter and provocative statements. There are still some people in the countryside who seldom use the definite affirmative or negative. When they say, “We’ll see” it is equal to “yes”, and when they say “I don’t know about that” it should be interpreted as “no”.

The Norwegians display characteristic features of rural community living long in isolation. They treat strangers with suspicion and distance but when they get to know them, their friendship is solid as a Norwegian rock.

Civility may be on the decline in Europe, but probably the rate of deterioration is slower in Norway. Although they address their parents by their first names and do not insist on titles and the honorific, foul

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language and vulgarities are not tolerated. Paradoxically, although Norwegian public behaviour is rather gentle, it does not derive from their appreciation of a concept of “gentleman”. Far from it, the very notion sounds here as artificial, snobbish, or, foreign, which are - needless to add - all synonymous.

A good example of Norwegian public manners is their organisation of road traffic. Pedestrians are treated with reverence almost like “holy”cows in India. Then come bicyclists, public transport and lorries. The least respected and the most rigorously treated both by the police and traffic users are drivers of personal cars. Naturally, diplomatic cars constitute the lowest class only to be compared to the Continental lumpen-proletariat in the old bad days. So, although Norwegians are proud of their efforts to maintain classless society, they are equally proud to construct their own upside-down hierarchy on the road.

Speaking of human traffic, foreigners visiting Norway sometimes comment how bad dressers Norwegians are. But they know how to dress - for comfort. That is why they dress down. So, when in Oslo, dress as if you were on holidays. There is no desire to please and to be seductive. Lavish, stylish, chic or finesse goes unnoticed in the casually and comfortably dressed Norwegian crowd.

Norwegian home is a warm and well-lit idyll, full of abstract paintings, plants and simple wooden Scandinavian furniture that has conquered the middle class. Their ideal is snow outside, warmth inside. Family life - as other institutions - is regulated more often by a poor compromise than by a violent quarrel. Tolerance dominates here over fidelity, partnership over hierarchy and permissiveness over orthodoxy. Thus, children with two parents of opposed sexes are becoming an embarrassing rarity. Grandparents, once a source of folk wisdom, live either alone, or, in state-run communes, otherwise called old-people homes.

As regards sexual manners, the Norwegians treat them as a case of balanced reciprocity Thus, they do not firmly observe the Eleventh Commandment which says”Thou shalt not admit adultery”. In the preliminary stage, they would rather skip the art of flirtation, and in the aftermath, the acts of hypocrisy. Since Norwegian women do not think that men were born primarily to admire them as an object of desire, and men seem to have accepted this release from conventional manly duty, Norwegians have been able to reduce the differences between sexes to minimum. That is perhaps why jealousy is a much stronger feeling in this egalitarian society than a sexual drive.

Norwegian Women

The Norwegian national anthem includes the following words, “Også kvinner op at stride, som de vore menn” (Also women took up arms as if they were men). The consequences of this statement go far beyond the period of the non-violent struggle for independence.

Fully-throated feminism and its offspring, gender equality, never stopped pushing for women’s empowerment. Women in Norway have managed to win a very high position, especially in politics. For example, Gro Harlem Brundtland (Labour Party), the first ever woman PM, who made her husband iron her clothes and not just because he belonged to the opposition party, became the president of the World Health Organisation; Anne Enger Lahnstein who led the fight against Norway’s bid to join the EU and earned the nickname of “the anti-EU Queen” (Nei dronningen) was awarded accordingly with the position of the Minister of Culture; Kristin Krohn Devold, the Minister of Defence, surpassed even her generals in her firm euroatlantic policy and was an unofficial Norwegian candidate for the NATO General Secretary. There is, however, one characteristic blot on the record. Norwegian women are not much present in business either as owners or executives. Only about 9% of company directors in Norway are women. One reason is probably that the old boys club is still well protected against the emancipation process, another

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that social profits stemming from entreprenuership deserve more challenge and earn less prestige than, for example, from political life.

True, some continental European men say the French, may complain that Norwegian women ignore the art of flirtation, but, then those features are not expected from them at home. Ambitious women aspiring to attracting attention in public should be warned that, no matter how fashionable or sexy, their chances to be picked by or chatted up by Norwegian males are modest, if any.

However, Norwegian women are said to be the most optimistic in Europe, and among the most demanding when it comes to sex. A vast majority thinks a good man is far more important than their jobs, friends or even children. Norway leads world statistics in couples who live together without being married, while more babies are born out of wedlock than within the confines of marriage. At the same time, fewer and fewer Norwegian women are taking the man’s name when they tie the knot. Thus, while addressing a letter to a couple you have a choice of name sharers, hyphen’s chain or two separate family names. The recommended and safest formula is “and/with a partner”.

The following legend is, of course, not verifiable but often quoted among the commentators on the Norwegian scene: “When God had created the first Norwegian woman he was not totally satisfied with his performance. So, as compensation, he created the most beautiful landscape for Norwegian men. Still, Vikings did not understand his generous gesture and started leaving this northern land in pursuit of much more satisfying adventures. The Danish and Swedish rules over Norway did not alter the situation. Finally, Edvard Munch could not take it any more and produced his famous painting “The Scream”.

LEISURE AND PLEASURE

In the past, weekends in the city were so painfully boring that everyone was glad to be back to work on Monday. Even today Norwegian cities look on weekdays like other cities do on weekends but, admittedly, open cafes, pubs and discos have become an accepted sight. In general, however, it is rather quiet then otherwise in Norway. The Norwegians think that the time spent with other people should result in something sensible and useful like broadening one’s knowledge or obtaining a satisfactory Fisheries Agreement. Thus, they do not understand how it is morally justifiable to sit and talk for no other purpose than just sitting and talking. On the other hand, to satisfy his desire for his social contacts, the Norwegian is a member of numerous organisations, most often dealing with sports.

For a majority of the subjects of His Majesty Harald V, leisure, pleasure and outdoor sports are synonymous. As in other countries people are divided into social classes of aristocracy, middle class, etc, in Norway they differ according to their preferences for outdoor leisure.

Å gå på tur (to go for a walk) and Å få fred og ro (to find peace and calm) are sacred words only by some mysterious reason not included in the national anthem. Therefore, walkers and hikers occupy the top of this Norwegian leisure hierarchy. They constitute the most numerous but not necessarily the poorest leisure force, which is then divided into two sub-groups. Amateurs are those who walk without a definite purpose, in a walk for walk’s sake style, with nothing on their backs or in their hands. They are mainly of non-Norwegian background and tend to look for the nearest resting-place, possibly with a coffee shop. The second category consists of professional hikers who are hardly visible because they carry huge backpacks containing a tent and all the utilities necessary to camp overnight for a few days or weeks. They sometimes resemble Himalayan sherpas except for the height and complexion. The Norwegians who have

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never been part of a true hiking expedition are treated in the same way as those who have never undergone a rite of confirmation.

The next class is obviously made of skiers. All are passionate, but certainly cross-country skiers are considered to be more national than downhill practitioners. The latter, in turn, are divided into those pursuing a purely Norwegian invention of telemark style and those who choose a less appreciated version of slalom. Snowboard is more and more popular and therefore acceptable but hardly accepted by the patrons of the traditional Norwegian life-style.

Water sports have a blessing from His Majesty, Himself an experienced yacht man. When a skiing season is over thousands and thousands of Norwegians (and there are only 4,5 million) rush to their boats in order to prepare them for the waters. Some of the boat owners are so consumed by preparations and repairing that at the end of the summer they are hardly ready to set off.

Joggers, bicyclists and woodcutters are sort of free professionals who are well organised but too independent to build up the culture of their own.

Tennis-players and golfers are at the bottom of this list. An ordinary Norwegian knows about their existence but pretends he has never met one.

EATING AND DRINKING

For generations the Norwegians have prided themselves on their distinctiveness. Certainly, their cuisine has stood for this sense of exceptionalism.Historically, Norway had no leisure classes affluent enough to develop a culinary tradition. They used to regard food as fuel and their dining habits still bear traces of this. In Oslo bad food is expensive and good food doesn’t necessarily cost more. Perhaps that is why the Norwegians insist on raising long toasts in an attempt to distract the attention of the guests from the food on the table.

Before a Norwegian had become a “European” he drank water or milk or blande (a mixture of water with sour whey) with his meals. Now, although he would rather have wine, he still prefers a wine he is more or less accustomed to, namely, a wine that tastes like water or milk, or fried mackerel. However, it must be categorically denied that in Norway wine is made of fish. Herring or salmon in scrambled eggs are greatly enjoyed at breakfast.

A Norwegian speciality handed down from ancient times is lutefisk. It is simply dried cod soaked in lye and then boiled until it has the consistency and taste in a class by itself. Its rejection or acceptance splits Norwegians in the same manner as the use of bøkmal or nynorsk or the choice between telemark and slalom styles in downhill skiing. As the popular saying went “Every time when I‘ve been good, I get lutefisk instead of food.” At any rate, one has to have eaten it for at least half a century to like it. It serves also as the most daring test for the extent of foreigners’ assimilation into the Norwegian way of life. Even those who refrain from its consumption at Christmas Eve dinner, look with contempt at strangers who admit sharing the same negative culinary conviction.

A traditional Christmas dinner normally consists of roast pork ribs (in Eastern Norway) or cod or lutafisk (in the coastal regions). Other Christmas specialities include pork headcheese, mutton role as well as many types of marinated herring, sausages and meatballs.

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Objectively speaking, a lot of the most popular cuisine is international in origin. A famous Norwegian “napolenkake” is a somewhat heavier and larger version of its French original. A “ tartar” promoted already in the late Middle Ages by the Asiatic counterparts of Vikings, is served in posh and expensive restaurants. Kjøttkaker (meat cakes) resemble small Salisbury steaks. Regrettably, it must be also admitted that seductive junk food, which undermines everyone else’s national cuisine, is slowly coming to Norway’s petrol station and 24 hours shops as well.

Perhaps not suprisingly in the 1990 competition for the most Norwegian artefact, out of many “national totems”, including cheese slicer (a Norwegian invention) and the Hardagen fiddle, the winner turned out to be brown cheese. What it epitomised even the King (not to mention God) had not the vaguest idea.

SENSE OF HUMOUR

Like sex or eating, laughter is something that is highly culturally and historically specific.However, it is rather rude to describe the sense of humour where it does not appear in excess.A traditionally pietistic Norwegian from the Western coast and the Bible belt (southern provinces) dismisses it as a waste of time, or even a sin.A Simple Norwegian living far from the centres of sophistication and finesse ignores any attachment to telling jolly jokes, making up puns or the like. For example, in the Nobel Prize awarded novel, “The Growth of the Soil”, by Knut Hamsun, the protagonist Isaak, who has settled down far away from other traces of population, accuses the nearby villagers of . . . drinking coffee and gossiping.A nature rambler has hardly an opportunity to develop a sense of humour because she/he often walks by herself/himself, bicycles or goes in the rain.A peace lover or an internationalist is usually dead serious and would sing protest songs or shout against the imperialist policy of the USA or the Vatican rather than engage in fruitless display of irony or self-criticism.

However, three kinds of humour are fairly common. The first one – known as morsom historie (amusing story) - is rather moderate in substance as it tries delicately to penetrate the peculiarities of the Norwegian character. This type of humour prefers understatement to any other form. For instance. A farmer when asked what the new baker is like, would answer after a while, “His father wasn’t much of a baker, either.” Pause, “I’ve heard that his brother is quite a decent fellow”. Another pause. “He isn’t bad when he’s sober”. Long pause. “But, he can be, sometimes”.Another example is the so-called numskull stories. A father and his son travel with one horse. First, the father rides, and is rebuked by a passer-by for letting his son walk. Then the son rides and is criticised because he lets his father walk. Finally they carry the horse between them. The second kind of humour is directed mainly at Swedes, and, thus, is a bit sharper in tone. The old rivalry in jokes between the two has been proverbial. The Swedes think that the only smart people in Norway are tourists and the best way to sink a Swedish submarine is to put in a Norwegian crew. As expected, the same kind of jokes is popular in Norway but, of course, targeted against the Swedes. By the way, the most offending question, a foreigner can ask the Norwegian is “Are you Swedish?” Most probably, this is yet another innocent case of the Nordic co-operation in action. The third, and certainly most radical kind may be called, at some risk, “physiological humour’. A product of verbal rural tradition, based on the experience of primary bodily functions, it often knows no taboos, nor any kind of depth except of the physiological character. For example, there is a custom known in the Telemark region of women gathering to sing obscene songs. The lyrics of those songs are so daring that even the most daring men are reluctant to quote them.

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Generally speaking, telling funny stories or other follies go along with showing off – a still socially unacceptable behaviour. Therefore, their delivery is usually left to the professionals, such as, tv or theatre comedians. In this area, Norwegians rely heavily on the achievements of British and American entertainment. On the other hand, a mania for political correctness has also hit the Norwegian scene. This, in alliance with the traditional anti “vanity fair” attitude, has produced a lot of sobriety in the art of national humour.

Perhaps, instead of presenting a somewhat overstreched analysis of the Norwegian humour, suffice to say that vits is a Norwegian word for a joke and comes from a German vitz.

CULTURE

The greatest contribution of Norway to European culture is certainly not sports culture. Neither is it true that rusacks are used for carrying the Norwegian cultural heritage. To prove it, the following should serve as convincing arguments.

Literature and Theatre

Two major icons dominate the literary memory of the Norwegians: Henrik Ibsen and Knut Hamsun. Ibsen brought Norway to European salons and tried to bring Europe to the Norwegian “hytte”. He probably was less successful in the latter. However, his method of criticising conventional morals by means of drama had a profound effect upon thinking people. Even his weaknesses: an absence of humour, free imagination and glamour contribute to his strength. Ibsen certainly maintains to be the most staged and discussed Norwegian literary celebrity in the world.

Hamsun probed the depth of consciousness with a frightening power. He also defended nature loving, rural spirit against the threats posed by profit seeking and hallowed Anglo-Saxons, although not from the healthy and dynamic Teutonic Germany. Erased from the obligatory school reading list after the Second War for his support of the occupational forces during WWII, Hamsun’s works are back. His glory and defeat will remain a meaningful warning to many generations to come.

However, to define the precise domain of Norwegian literature is problematic. Its beginnings are rooted in an ethos of political liberation and a long rule of “poetocracy” but the Norwegian identity has been shaped by it only superficially, if not only officially. Rather, a characteristic feature of Norwegian literature is its folkelighet (roughly speaking, folksiness or common touch) combined with civic and social interests. Repeated cultural debate or feuds (kulturkamp) have shown distinctly how difficult it is to be an independent, pure and individualistic author in Norway. That is why, the most recognised and popular Norwegian writer today who has littered the world with many a books, Jostein Gaarder, has chosen a career of adopting in prose philosophical masters for children and adults alike.

Asked to enumerate the three best Norwegian playwrights, one is tempted to answer: Ibsen, Ibsen and Ibsen. Perhaps it is the lack of the metaphysical in their culture, or theatricality in their politics and drama in their history that Norwegian can boast of only the above reference. Comedy, based on the Norwegian sober and rustic sense of humour, is, largely, a local pastime, which seems to satisfy crude needs to laugh loudly and to understand the joke.

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Music

As Ibsen in theatre, so in music, Norway’s fame can be summed up by one name: Grieg. His music, representing a blend of the old continent’s classical tradition and the native folk music, is a bridge between Norway and Europe. Although recognised, promoted, and bragged about, especially for export purposes, Grieg’s music is not the most favourite sort of music today. As in other countries, proud of their national heritage, so in Norway the music coming from the detested American empire is most often listened to, known and enjoyed one. Jan Garbarek, the most famous jazz player and composer was recently promoted to the status of the Royal Court musician as he played by saxophone his own piece at the church wedding service of the Crown Prince and Mette-Marit.

Painting

Edvard Munch’s works are the most significant contribution to art history. He is the only Norwegian artist who has decisively influenced European art, above all, as a pioneer of Expressionism in Germany and the Nordic countries. His works are also the only ones regularly stolen from the museums. Next generations of artists look next him as “angry young men” do next to Shakespeare. Perhaps one of the reasons why the other artists are so “angry” is that it is not their works but Munch’s that are the objects of the art thieves’ admiration.

Architecture and Oslo

It is unfortunate, if understandable, that Norway lacks monumental grand buildings having been under foreign rule with its seat first in Copenhagen, later in Stockholm.The domestic architecture is rather dominated by folk tradition, especially in the use of wood. Stave churches and log houses gave it distinctive qualities. On the other hand, Norwegian stone architecture bears strong influence from the West. A unique construction, in the Nordic context, is the Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim, completed (in the English Gothic) in 1320. Later developments came from the Danes, German and Swiss and in the last century focused on functional, simple, if not ordinary, architectural projects. Yet, Norway is still a country of small wooden houses and cabins finely spread out in natural environment.In sum, architecture in Norway confirms – as in other countries – the common truth that the older the more beautiful (and less comfortable), the newer the uglier (and more functional).

A prominent Norwegian architect once said that if architecture were a narrative, Oslo would be an example of a crime story. Perhaps one of the reasons is that, allegedly, while Helsinki had been built by Russian architects, Copenhagen by a Royal decree, Oslo was built by social democrats.

Certainly, the Oslo City Hall with its kitschy frescoes and monumental character manifests the belief that art should reflect the image of the workers’ state. Numerous sculptures dedicated to fishermen, sailors and other representatives of the working class seem to support this impression. Oslo also hosts a unique example of what can be defined as pagan totalitarism in art. This is a colossal collection of sculptures erected by Gustav Viegeland in the Oslo City Park, and featuring nude muscular Norwegian women, men and children carved in stone. However, these figures seem to look more pagan than totalitarian. Being fully preoccupied with themselves they show neither Soviet enthusiasm for a bright future nor German Nazi display of military might.

The straight and gemuthliche streets of Oslo lack perhaps excitement and commotion. It is highly probable that the city authorities in order to create the atmosphere of a metropolis hire a few beggars in the sentrum. However, a few capitals are more fortunate in their environs. In less than half an hour drive, the mountain scenery is really grand and, when it doesn’t rain, it takes one’s breath away.

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Norwegians should also be applauded by not desecrating the beauty of their country by the insane mania for advertising.However, as prices here are inhumanly high, the only quaranteed way to enjoy Oslo, and the rest of the country, is to be either stinking rich or to be an asylum seeker with an extended family. The citizens of the capital, it should be noted, roll up their eyes at this allegation.

Film

While in other areas the bonds linking the Nordic countries are clearly discernible, film has an altogether different image. Norwegian cinema does not possess the Swedish urge to improve the world, as its political films are few. It also lacks the cosy and self-satisfied approach of the Danish colleagues. Interestingly, urban life and not the natural beauty of the countryside provides the grist of the Norwegian movies. In the 60’s and 70’s film production was rather meagre since money earned from film screening was spent on school buildings instead on filmmaking. The level of the cinema in Norway improved considerably in the last decades focusing on dissenting society and rites of youthful passages, both with a smile. However, in accordance with the principle of equality, no single personality dominates in the field of film art in Norway. The only Norwegian film ever to win an Oscar was Thor Heyerdahl’s documentary “Kon-Tiki” from 1950. It must also be added that Norsk Film is perhaps the last wholly government-owned movie concern outside the former Eastern bloc.

It seems that some weakness of Norwegian culture derives from the unspoken distrust in the assumption that culture is a great attempt to set people free from the tyranny of nature and social order. There is also a dislike of the „artificial” world of fiction, roles, masks and costumes. For the Norwegians do not see the tyranny of nature and social order as a real tyranny. Thus, there are far more priest-like artists than jester-like ones in this country. The same, by the way, applies to the native customers of Norwegian culture who refrain from cultural blasphemy, touching national wounds or radical questioning of Norwegian legacy and achievements.It is also exiting, but perhaps not paradoxical to note that the golden age of Norwegian culture, which produced such giants as Ibsen, Grieg, or Munch, was the age of the advent of statehood and the Norwegian language, the time of poverty and international obscurity. However, neither gas nor oil, nor the championship in human rights and sports, nor near-classless society has produced, so far, anything close to the masterpieces of the Golden Age, presently kept in museums and libraries.

CUSTOM AND TRADITION

In Norway, the difference between holy days and holidays no longer stands. Foreign holy days observers must remember that Norwegian streets are empty and silent and churches only moderately packed on the days celebrated elsewhere with crowds and pomp. Likewise, foreign holidaymakers are warned against believing that their luggage of whatever weight can be carried by hotel service to their rooms up or down for whatever tip.

Constitution Day

Norway is probably the only country in the world, which does not celebrate its national day with a military parade but with a parade of jubilant school children. Long before May 17 – the Constitution Day – both state and private sectors are busy cleaning up streets and gardens. On no other day of the year can one see

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so many people in their Sunday best or national costumes, and so many national flags flying from every possible spot. The only difference between this and last year’s parade is that this year everyone is older. And that more and more Norwegians go shopping to Sweden.

Russ

Russ is a mild and regulated manifestation of the old Vikings’ rowdiness . High school graduates who are russ because of the red colour of their “gowns” which are really overalls, celebrate the end of school era during a week of unusual ritual. They are allowed to live and move about in old buses, to make a lot of noise, and to go party enriched by excessive drinking and sexual experiments. Each russ carries a name card with a student’s life motto. Some of them present quite hedonistic announcements, such as the following “All I want to do is illegal, immoral, or fattening”To prevent russ outbursts on a regular basis, caring Norwegian parents have introduced an institution of the night ravens (Natteravnen) – voluntary groups of adults who patrol streets at night to help prevent drinking, drug abuse and violence among the youth.

Rørosmartnan

Located in the north central Norway, close to the Swedish border, Røros used to be for 300 years a copper company town and now is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. By a Royal Decree of 1853 “beginning on the next-to-last Tuesday in the month of February, and lasting until the following Friday”, Røros has hosted ever since an extraordinary event which combines the old tradition of a local market with a lot of drinking, singing and other ludic expressions of collective entertainment. It is a unique example of an intense, although short in duration, exciting, although in cold weather, and very free, although limited in scope, acceptance of joys of life that are rather unknown in other parts of the country.

Confirmation

This is a remnant of a long and solemn tradition of a rite of passage. Even today those who rebel against this Lutheran heritage decide to go through a borgerlig or civil confirmation, which, by its very name, is a contradiction since confirmation is a religious ceremony. The traditional confirmation takes place in church. The aspirants are usually in their bunads (national dress) as are their families and friends. A big party after the service includes all possible relatives who are supposed to bring presents which are mostly silver. This is because Norwegians treat silver with the same respect as the Chinese treat gold.

Christmas

Characteristically, Norwegians seem to enjoy a pre-Christmas time much more than the season holiday itself. Starting in late November, a traditional feast of Julebord is celebrated by companies, trade unions, and other institutions (including families) usually in restaurants with sumptuous meals and more than generous drinking. The police react with spot checks for drivers on heavy julebord evenings (julebordkontroll) to reduce this annual problem. Christmas as a time of family is observed in a traditional way on Christmas Eve. By the way, if the Norwegians knew that Christmas Eve dinner is a relict of the Catholic tradition, they would not cherish it so enthusiastically. Nowadays, however, thousands flee Norwegian Christmas, travelling out of the country to do shopping or spend the season under sunnier skies.

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Easter

Once a significant religious celebration, it is now the longest opportunity to go up to the mountains to ski, acquire an Easter tan and to catch the last glimpse of the snow after six months of winter. No wonder, then, that at Easter everybody leaves the city for a hytte except for dogs and Catholics, as the old saying goes.

Religion

One in ten Norwegians says they are not religious at all, while most say they are only moderately so. It makes Norwegians the least religious nation in Europe. They also rank low in church attendance which has prompted an easy accusation of being „spiritually lazy”. While almost 90 % of the population belongs to the state Church of Norway, which is Evangelical-Lutheran, because they are automatically born into it, only around 4 % regularly attend church services. The most attended one falls on the Constitution Day (17 May) when around three thousand people gather at the peak of Hardangerjøkulen for an-open air mass. This may prompt a remark that for the Norwegians the most comfortable or enjoyable church is the Norwegian nature. For some the old belief in God and Martin Luther has been replaced by their unstoppable love of ice and snow.

Since the Norwegian is a sober creature, his relationship to God resembles his relationship to the King. He believes that God – and the King – is quite all right as long as He behaves like a decent Norwegian and does not think He is somebody special. Thus, the Norwegian would not be suprised to see God – or the King - on Karl Johansgate in Oslo or on a ski-tour.

There prevails a common conviction that the statistical majority of believers should dictate the theology of the Norwegian Church to serve people’s needs and moods, producing a sort of “therapeutic theology” with God a la carte. It is as if the people had created God in their own image and not the contrary. The most radical result of this way of thinking is a well-developed secular mindset. Lutheran Protestant Christianity as the State’s official religion is considered by some as an anachronistic leftover from the Constitution of 1814. Those who adhere to this progressive view demand this embarrassing paragraph to be abolished together with the paragraph forbidding the so-called blasphemy, although the latter has not been in a court for seventy years.No wonder, then, that the second largest group of believers is not religious but a „philosophical community”, namely, the Human and Ethical Union. Asatru, an old pre-Christian religion of German tribes, enjoys a smaller group of supporters. The Roman Catholic Church, officially recognised in 1837 is still considered as foreign and is still run by bishops with the German background. That is perhaps why one of the bishops of the Norwegian Church could excuse himself from meeting with John Paul II during his visit to Norway in 1989 with an apology that he had been earlier appointed a visit to the dentist.

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GOVERNMENT

The Monarchy

Norway is a brand new monarchy with long traditions. King Harald V is only the third king since the country won its independence in 1905. This in itself testifies how healthy profession it is. He is also the first monarch since the Middle Ages born in Norway and having a Norwegian born wife. When Harald V as the then successor to the throne insisted upon marrying a shop-owner’s daughter it caused a considerable stir. The two had to wait many years with “the world’s most denied romance” before receiving permission to marry. However, Haakon, the present Crown Prince did not have to face his parents’ long waiting term when he made up his mind (and not only that) to marry Metta-Merit who had fully enjoyed the advantages of permissive youth culture and, as a result, had a son out of wedlock.Norway is the only European monarchy with the newest imported Royal Family but without the Royal Court due to the absence of the aristocracy. It is being served by members of the Royal Household, i.e. civil servants wearing old-fashioned civil or military uniforms.

On balance, the Royal Family holds a special place in the hearts of Norwegian people. Partly, because it is the symbol of the national unity which passed very well the test of loyalty to freedom and survival during WWII. Partly, because of beloved King Olaf who acted like the Simple Norwegian, and died not in the Palace (called “living over the shop” by Prince Philip) but in a sports lodge, otherwise called the Royal Chalet. However, the nation’s respect for the crown is, above all, due to the fact that the monarch entertains neither political power and, recently, nor a significant moral authority over the emancipated subjects.

The Constitution and Government

The Norwegian Constitution was written in 1814 by 121 representatives of the assembly in the building of the Eidsvoll Iron Works during a record period of six months. It proclaimed that Norway was free and sovereign although this became a reality 90 years later. Three months after its completion, Norway became part of the Union with Sweden, but the Constitution held throughout the times of the Swedish rule and thereafter. It was one of the most progressive constitutions of those times, however, it made religious intolerance the law. Not only did it specify Evangelical Lutheranism as the State religion and ordered immigrant parents to bring up their children in that faith, but it also barred Jesuits, monastic orders and Jews from the country. After fierce debates, the ban on Jews rescinded in 1851, religious freedom was granted in 1897 and 1964. The ban on Jesuits was lifted in 1956, ironically, because it was incompatible with Norwegian compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights, which Norway had already helped draft, and had ratified. By the way, the Church of Norway is still a fully intact and privileged state church. Schools have the legal obligation to provide to all pupils “a moral and Christian education”, only pastors from the Church of Norway are employed in the military, in state hospitals, prisons and graveyards. Half of the cabinet must be members of the state church.

Norway is a parliamentary monarchy, but surely the adjective “parliamentary” is much more important here than the noun it describes. For it is the parliament (Storting) which dominates two other branches of the government system. In contrast to other countries, Storting cannot be dissolved, and elections cannot be called outside its term. It means that Storting can pass a motion of non-confidence to make the cabinet resign, but the cabinet does not even have the right to dissolve the Storting. At the same time, Norway is among the countries in post-war Europe that have been led by minority governments the longest. Surely, the chief reason for this unique state of affairs is that the Norwegian government is known to be decided to be undecided and to be all-powerful to be impotent.

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Politics in Norway has been extremely consensus oriented, based on a political culture that does not promote drastic change. This is a question of means rather than ends. The people have grown used to the government solving all problems. They see their welfare benefits as basic rights not just when they need them, but whenever they qualify for them. However, increasing value incompatibilities, due among others, to militant environmentalists, immigrant groups opposing assimilation, or conflicting interests concerning Norway’s foreign policy, may change basic features of the nation’s political life.If there is one thing the world can agree on about the Norwegian State is that it is intolerably rich. Alas, the Norwegians do not share this certainty. What is more, living in the richest state in the world and having no other problems, they are all the time worried about their future, international threats, economic crisis and other catastrophes. Thus, whereas the rest of the world looks at the Norwegians as winners, they themselves often act as whiners.

Svalbard otherwise called Spitsbergen

A group of islands lying between the Barents Sea and the Artic Ocean bears a Norwegian name Svalbard but is internationally recognised as Spitsbergen. It is a curiosity not merely in a linguistic sense. Although Norway claims it is part of the Kingdom, the territory of the archipelago cannot be used for „belligerent purposes”, and the Norwegian law does not fully apply here. Neither is it a county nor has it the normal system of local self-rule. It is administered by the Governor chosen by the Ministry of Justice, who combines the functions of police chief, revenue officer and district judge. In Svalbard no pets are allowed, neither serious medical treatment nor burials. The Norwegian nationals are registered as residents in the municipalities they had lived before moving to Svalbard. Since the islands are open to economic activity of the other countries, there are here two Russian coalmines: one in operation and the other abandoned serving as a ghost-skansen to the lost Soviet empire.

SYSTEMS

For the latest consecutive years, the UN has ranked Norway as having the highest standard of living in the world, based largely on average levels of education and income, combined with length of life time, human safety and cultural freedom. On the other hand, Norway continues to claim the dubious honour of having the highest prices in all Europe. The gross national product per person has amounted to 36,600 USD, beaten only by Luxembourg. Norway has been lauded for its high literacy rate in addition to educational levels and material wealth. Faced with such world’s recognised praise one finds it difficult to discuss, not to mention critically evaluate, Norwegian social systems.

Health

It is said that Norwegians are so healthy and fit – due to the cult of sports and nature – that they can risk maintaining a state run health service. On the other hand, from the point of view of well-paid physicians the common definition of a healthy man is that it is someone who has not been well enough examined by the doctor.

Certainly, the health system in Norway has its significant advantages. For example, as motherhood is out of fashion and birth rates are plummeting in much of the developed countries, Norway seems to have cracked the secret of persuading modern women to have kids. The only inhabitants of this country

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discouraged from procreation are cats and dogs. For human parents, Norway is a paradise, boasting the second highest birth rate of children in Europe. Two reasons make Norway different from the other developed lands. Firstly, Norway’s awesome, high-tax welfare system makes children a lot less a financial burden. Secondly, the men do a lot more around the house. Mothers are allowed to take a year’s maternity leave, and when the year is up, the father can take the four weeks of paid leave that the state allocates specifically to fathers. In addition, kindergarten fees are tax-deductible, and each parent can take 10 days off work a year when their children are sick. No wonder then that this is a country where you can see a group of men sitting at a pub table, each rocking a pram.

Yet, Norway is becoming a nation of complainers. Despite good working conditions, health and environmental programmes, they are nonetheless “sicker and sicker”. Norway has an absentee rate that is still going up. As the head of the country’s largest employers’ group claimed, “Never have we been so healthy, but nonetheless felt so poorly. Never have we lived as long as we do now, and never have we quit work so early”.

Education

For the Norwegians education, very much as culture for that matter, is a collective good of society rather than a personal perquisite for the individual citizen. Its gradual spread and eventual universalisation is seen as victory of democracy, a transfer from the rich, who traditionally had education, to the poor, who traditionally, had not. As do a majority of nations, Norwegians claim they are one of the best-educated people on earth. In fact, it may be true on paper since the educational system is almost totally public and centrally governed. Norway spends more on education (some 3, 6% of its GDP) than most countries do, and has developed well-advanced and popular courses for adults at all three levels. In 2002-2003 academic year about 20, 5 thousand young Norwegians studied abroad in 60 countries worldwide, the most frequented destination being Australia (4, 5 thousand students). Out of 12 institutions of higher learning, the universities in Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim and Tromsø offer fully-fledged MA and PhD programmes.

One of the most interesting aspects of the Norwegian system is the extent and variety of it available north of the Arctic Circle. A shining (24 hours a day in summer) example is UNIS, the University Centre in Arctic Studies in Svalbard. All courses are in English and half of the student and teaching body come from abroad.

Needless to add, education in Norway is free and offers a vast system of scholarships and stipends. Teachers are well paid and enjoy a high status and respect. Thus, if they complain it is only because of hard work since the notion of “lazy students” has disappeared from the vocabulary of equal opportunity education.

LAW AND ORDER

If you are not caught at over-speeding under the influence, or at a high-scale fraud in private business, or at exercising discipline towards your children by means of physical punishment, you are on safe grounds and should not worry. Recently, smoking in public has entered the list of non-disputable crimes, but, fortunately, a high percentage of smoking women helps to reduce the scale of this unpardonable legal and social condemnation.

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Drinking alcohol is regulated by one exceedingly tiresome institution called “Vinmonopolet”. An equally irritating law is the one that forbids the sale of beer in shops after 8 p.m. However, drinking (even if it leads to drunkenness) is considered just the sort of a disreputable thing a hardworking Norwegian would be given license to do. However, the Norwegians have to rely either on import beaverages or home made spirit since their aqua vita and beer are so weak that you can see a priest through the bottle. For the same reason, most Norwegians see nothing wrong in bringing more tax-free tobacco and alcoholic beverages into the country than they are legally allowed. A majority is eager to dodge Norway’s sky-high taxes aimed at reducing consumption.

Norway does not have a culture of corruption. What they have is corruption in spite of their culture. In daily life the Norwegians do not encounter expectations or demands for palm greasing or bribes (grafts), nor do they take the initiative to offer inducements to obtain unlawful gains. Slowly, however, the recent reported cases make it difficult to deny that Norway, too, has its own problems of corruption, particularly, in the area of governmental activities that create a fertile ground for such kind of improprieties. Perhaps, it had been a collective myth up until recently that the Norwegian society was corruption-free. Now they are losing their innocence and become much more aware of it.

It is forbidden to physically punish children in Norway. Adults, who violate this law by smacking, spanking or hitting a child, whether at home, outside, or in school, can be imprisoned. A child who feels threatened or stressed by a real or potential misbehaviour of his/her parents or teachers has the right to inform either the police or the children’s ombudsman and ask for protection. Parents who come from different cultures and who try to observe their own customs are not excluded from this law. In this way, a right of cultural diversity is violated by the rule of law.

BUSINESS

Norwegian businessmen are, on the whole, trustworthy and reliable but more cautious and often distrustful at the negotiating table with foreigners. They are also quite rigid with little sophistication in the art of contact gaining for future references. Therefore, never approach businessman with the idea of influencing him with a presentation of a gift. They feel very confused when offered a gift not on their confirmation or a birthday. It is also not recommendable to bargain since stubbornness and inflexibility are seen here as a virtue and not an obstacle in doing business. Although Norwegians are easily accessible and open, they feel uncomfortable about small talk, gossiping or any hints of extra insights. They generally like to keep private lives and business lives separate and see their work associates making friend-like requests as unsettling.Their favourite line of policy is a long and detailed briefing followed by coming straight to the point.Primarily, most businessmen in Norway work hard and diligently and as short as possible to get off to their hytter, away from people. It is perhaps not suprising that thanks to their present wealth and State protection Norwegian business community can now fully display their traditional features of the rural culture without the feeling of inferiority.

If you happen, however, to depend on Norwegian services, choose a private firm over a state-owned. In either case, be careful about the terms of the contract and about monitoring the progress of work in question. Above all, never count on their innovation, improvisation or skipping a lunch in order to have work done on time. However, it will be a grave exaggeration to suggest that the Norwegians act in due conformity with the recent slogan “Workers of the world unite and don’t work”.

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LANGUAGE

It was Joseph Stalin who confused the world by stating in his 1913 ”Marxism and the National Question” that “the Norwegians and the Danes speak one language”. Unfortunately, it was perhaps the only case in which Stalin was not much wrong in his opinion. Throughout the union with Denmark (until1814) Danish was the official written language in Norway. Even the Constitution was written in Danish, although it had provided that all laws thereafter would have to be written in “the Norwegian language”. Out of those efforts two official written languages have emerged and are used today: “Bokmål” and “Nynorsk”, both belonging to the Germanic language family. Bokmål (book language) was in the past strongly influenced by Danish and has become the language of the government, urban areas and mass media, although it is spoken in a variety of dialects. Nynorsk (new Norwegian) was formed on the basis of 19th century rural dialects and is now taught to roughly 15% of pupils. Traditionally, nynorsk was associated with the pietistic tradition that fought against alien influences including such controversial pleasures as smoking, drinking, partying and European novelties. So, one is a language of culture but not yet independently Norwegian, the other is Norwegian but not fully a developed language of culture.From 1917 until 1970’s, several attempts were made to merge the two into one official language – samorsk – an unsuccessful policy that was described by Norwegians as “stupid” or by foreigners “in bad taste”.

Conversation

Two sets of opinions co-exist here. The Swedes are annoyed by the fact that it is impossible to imagine a verbal fight between two Norwegians because when they speak it sounds as if they were singing cheerful songs rather than having a serious conversation. Continental foreigners, on the other hand (and ear), think Norwegian conversation is not accompanied by excess of gestures but rather by excesses of uncontrollable laughter. Sometimes the pitch tone and intonation of the conversation may scare those ignorant foreigners who unnecessarily expect a pending fight. Sometimes the repeated cases of short breath can be mistakenly taken for a symptom of asthma. All the above should, however, easily be accepted as merely peculiarities of the Norwegian pronunciation.

Teach Yourself

If you happen to express an interest in learning the language, do not expect that most Norwegians will oblige.They are so fond of speaking English that any attempt to torture them with your broken Norwegian will be promptly declined. However, if your command of the language can be compared with the perfection acquired by their first King (whose mother tongue was Danish) and his successors, you will be given a rare opportunity of admiration and a privilege to be spoken back in Norwegian.

INSTEAD OF A SUMMARY

If you happen to belong to the privileged class of ordinary people, living away from metaphysical questions, European high culture and the pressures of financial show-off; if you trust in nature, the power

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of the state and social equality, come to Norway. But, be aware: times they’re a’changin’. Norway is quickly following the global culture of imitation and ersatz. New generations instead of hiking or skiing drive Porches or suffer in gyms or golf fields. More and more Norwegians have enough of Norwegian ways and spend their holidays abroad, work less and rest more. Above all, they catch up with others in crime, drugs and corruption. So, if you want to experience a true old Norway, come here at once and ... go up far north.

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CONTENTS

HISTORY AND IDENTITY . . 1How they see themselves . . . 2How they see others . . . 3How others see them . . . 5And EU . . . 6

CHARACTER . . . 6

BELIEFS AND VALUES . . . 8Obsessions: Equality . . . 8 Nature . . . 9 Internationalism . . . 10

BEHAVIOUR AND MANNERS . . . 10Norwegian Women . . . 10

LEISUE AND PLEASURE . . . 12

EATING AND DRINKING . . . 13

SENSE OF HUMOUR . . . 14

CULTURE . . . 15Literature and Theatre . . . 15Music . . . 15Architecture and Oslo . . . 16Film . . . 17

CUSTOM AND TRADITION . . . 17Constitution Day . . . 17Russ ... 15Religion ... 16

GOVERNMENT ... 17The Monarchy ... 17The Consitution and Government ... 14Svalbard ... 18

SYSTEMS ... 18HealthEducation ... 18

LAW AND ORDER ... 19

BUSINESS ... 20

LANGUAGE ... 20Conversation ... 20Teach Yourself ... 21

INSTEAD OF A SUMMARY ... 21

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