6 things female tourists are shocked when they first come to Norway

Monique Ceccato, Australian travel blogger, lived in Norway for a year, said the life here went smoothly. Most people can communicate in English as well as the system of education and public health “nothing to complain.” However, many habits in the Norwegian lifestyle and culture still shocked her when she first visited.

Do not talk to strangers

Monique is familiar with “hello” when gliding through the pedestrians in the morning because this is considered a “unwritten law” in Australia. But Norway does not have this culture. During a walk, she stopped stroking a dog and started talking to the owner. However, her boyfriend reminded her immediately, preventing Monique from continuing to get acquainted. The female tourist was shocked to not receive the same conversation in Australia but instead were strange eyes.

“The Norwegians are not not friendly. They are not just friendly to strangers,” Monique said after receiving the lesson. One of the few cases they proactively responds to the greeting of strangers is that when walking long distances and accidentally meeting someone.

No shopping on Sunday

Sunday is considered a true holiday of local people when most stores stop trading or selling, from grocery stores, clothes, books to household appliances. Monique commented that this is a great thing for workers, but a nightmare for tourists. It is very rare for female tourists to find a stall on this day but the area and scale of goods are small.

There is no bad weather concept

Norway is located in Northern Europe, there are many narrows, glaciers, nearly 50,000 islands large and small; Bordering Sweden, Finland, Russia and 4 seasons with cold winter because nearly 50% of the area is located near the North Pole. Monique said “really reckless” when saying Norway does not exist the concept of bad weather but in fact, people here are very happy when faced with extreme weather.

For more than a year living in Norway, she has never heard any comments about the cold or cold rain. When she complained this issue to the people, they only responded with a smile. “They often tell me there is no bad weather, only bad clothes,” she said. That is also the reason Norwegian is considered the “paradise” of anti -cold clothes. Pot jackets, waterproof pants, heat -keeping sweaters often dominate in the stores and wardrobes of the people.

People like to eat pizza

Salmon, lamb stew cabbage are famous dishes of this country. But those are only famous dishes for visitors, according to Monique. When living in Norway, she was surprised to know that people like to eat pizza with the covered with minced beef, bell peppers, cheese. Restaurants and pizza stalls here are also more than other items.

Appreciate fresh air with health

For the people of Norway, no matter what the weather, they still spend time outdoor activities such as hiking, skiing, cycling to breathe fresh air. Monique once lived in Norway during the pandemic period, when the whole world limited the crowd, it was recommended that people should stay indoors, the government still called on people to go out for a few hours a day to stay healthy. . “It was the most nonsense when I was isolated,” Monique said. She also added that people “have strong beliefs in the healing power of nature”.

Nude in public dressing room

In spa dressing rooms, sauna rooms and swimming pools, Monique was shocked many times when pushing the door in and saw everyone standing there completely naked. However, people did not react or shouted when they were naked and had strangers coming in. The people’s view that the dressing room is the same place, and they do not need to be shy to shield their bodies and do not care about what the person next to him is doing.

In addition to the cultural shocks, with Monique, Norway is a place worthy because there are many unique experiences such as hunting the optical artery, boat to watch the narrow bay and surfing under the sun at midnight.