Impressions

We just finished hosting a family of five from Norway for three weeks.  The youngest boy is a friend of my son, Kaleb, so we invited the whole family over for their first ever visit to America.  It was interesting to hear their observations of differences between our two countries.

Janne, the mom, said, “Everyone here greets each other with open arms and a big hug.”  That would never happen in Norway, where a polite handshake and a smile is the norm.  Janne practiced the American style of hugging on a few of my friends and it made her laugh every time.  It’s out of her comfort zone to give a hug.  She noticed how often Kaleb hugged me or sat on my lap and she commented several times she thought it might become a problem for Kaleb as he ages, that we are “so close.” 

Haavard, the dad, spent time talking politics with my husband, so he noted that Americans have more political choices than Norwegians do.  In Norway, no one but the politicians are allowed to vote on particular matters.  Norwegians can only vote in their politicians, but then have no voice on any issues.  They can call an election at any time, however, and vote out whoever they want.  Sweet.

Sondre, the 18-year old, said he liked how cheap the prices are in America.  Nearly every day he was here, he asked if we could stop by Wal-Mart.  He also liked Ross, where their family bought 21 pairs of shoes to take home.  A pair of name brand tennis shoes costs about $250 in Norway, but at Ross, they got them for about thirty bucks.

Haakon, the 15-year-old, noticed right away that the roads are so much bigger, with so many more lanes on each side.  We were stuck in traffic a few times, however, so he could see, they still weren’t big enough.

Andre, the 11-year-old, liked all the food.  He thought the candy and snack options were better, as well as the fast food choices.  Eating out in Norway is ridiculously expensive so Andre came to love Taco Bell, Subway and Costco pizza while he was here.

The whole family noticed we are on different time schedules.  Norwegians tend to stay up until the wee hours of the morning, then sleep til noon when they are on vacation.  One day they wanted to go to the beach but they weren’t ready to go until four.  They’re used to the sun never setting in the summer, so their days never end in Norway, but here, the days often ended shortly after we arrived at our destination.