Norway is a member of the EEA and Schengen, which allows Norwegians to travel freely throughout the EU, and other EU citizens to travel to Norway. This basically means that there are no border crossing to think about really between Norway and Sweden. You might drive through a border crossing on the way back to Norway and go through a customs check, but that usually only takes 5 minutes as long as you aren't stopped (they don't stop most people). The reason for this is because Norway has free movement of people, but not free movement of goods.
@@QazwerDave Yep that is what it is 99.99% of the time. Been traveling to Sweden and back for a day of shopping multiple times a year my whole life + numerous roadtrips through Europe(from Norway to Italy, France and all the countries around and between). I have never been stopped, and a lot of times missed the bordercrossings. And considering most people don't really have anything to hide in their cars, most controls takes like 5 minutes as someone else mentioned. It is very freeing being able to do that and experience so many countries, people and cultures around you
@@MrMafiks The open borders was between Norway, Sweden and Denmark.. Although Skagerrak crates a natural barrier, but from a legal point of view Norway-Denmark is the same as Norway-Sweden...
I have been in Norway when they have their Russefeiring and it looks so fun, you can see those red overalls everywhere and it seems like they buy vans and busses they paint red and use to party in when they are going between different events. For an outsider, it seems to be really fun and strong culture.
There's also other colours. The colour depends on the subject they're graduating in. Academics tend to go red. Blue collar workers black or blue I believe. Agriculture green. There might be other colours I'm not aware of.
@@ahkkariq7406 Yeah, earlier blue used to be what was called "handelskolen" (trade school). I know, because I was a blue russ (blåruss) in '93. As far as I know, "handelsskolen" doesn't exist anymore, at least the way it used to be, no idea how this works today.
@@johnnymartinjohansen I was a blåruss, too, in '86. I am pretty sure my children have told me you still can be blåruss if you choose the same subjects now, even if "handelsskolen" doesn't exist anymore.
"How long does it take to drive from Norway to Sweden"? It depends on where you live, Tyler. Just like in the US. It takes longer to drive from Florida to Canada than from Wisconsin to Canada.
Norwegians are quite fond of foreign-ish foods, it really started in the 90s, although things like Pizza had made it here in the 70s I believe. I actually remember when "Tacos" became a thing. It was never really a restaurant thing, it was something you made at home. It was simple and tasty, and very practical for families because the way we prepare it is: Have minced meat with seasoning. Chop up all sorts of vegetables. Warm up the shells (later on also tortillas and other forms of "vessels") Get some sauces, sour cream and guakamole etc. Put it all on the table and let people fill their own shells. It's easy to make, very social to eat, and well it was a "new thing" back in the 90s. Being so easy to make its very suitable for Fridays after work. Not everyone eats it every Friday, but it's common enough to have become a "thing." (My local supermarket even has discounts on the sauces and seasonings etc on Fridays and Saturdays.) The word "Tacos" is more or less the common name for anything within the "Tex-Mex" genre of food, and not really just Mexican Tacos.
Russ ends on the national day which is the 17th of May each year. Our national day is very big. Kids can eat as many hot dogs and ice cream as they want. Each school in Norway got its own musical band and they celebrate it by walking in musical queues on the 17th of May. Either locally or in the city centers of the bigger cities in Norway. People also tend to drink from 12 o'clock that day and in the evenings around 17.00 (5pm), you gather with family and walk to the nearest school for lots of fun activities. Its a celebration of Norway day but it is also a celebration of Spring and warmer weather if it doesn't rain ;) Also, the 17th of May is a day off for many.
Russefeiring (graduation celebration) happens in the 3-4 weeks prior to exams and graduation from high school. About 40% of the population of Norway live less than a 3-hour drive from the border to Sweden. Generally things like meat, dairy, candy, alcohol and tobacco are cheaper in Sweden than in Norway.
Our drinking age is 18 for beer and wine and 20 for hard liquor. Also given that we border Sweden, how long it takes varies heavily on where you are in Norway, but it's about 1,5 hours from Oslo all on good highway.
Us people on the west coast rarely go shopping in Sweden, it's too far away. The people on the other side of the mountains forget that not everybody easily can go 🙃
Yes, that's one of the sacrifices one has to make if you move to Vestlandet. No cheap Swedish food. But there's still many who make it, even though there's a distance. If they know someone who lives close to the Oslo or Trondheim regions, they can hire them to drive that food to Bergen. That's what I did
@@mar754 I didn't move here, I was born here 😅 And I don't really feel it is a sacrifice ❤Bergen But hey, if you hired someone to drive stuff to you, did you actually save any money at all?
I live in Norway, 20 minutes away from Sweden and it’s sometimes there are these customs but not all the time where I live☺️I’m in Sweden like once or twice a week I guess
Just remembered a funny story about public transport and Norwegians. A guy was traveling central/south America where he was taking a bus. He was the only passenger when a woman came onboard, sat RIGHT NEXT TO HIM, and began a conversation. This was apparently a culture schock as this would not happen here. If there are two people on the bus, how far away they are from eachother only depends on how long the actual bus is. Edit: Grammar
If you live in the capital (Oslo) the border shopping at Sweden is just over 1 hour away. Pro tip after seeing your Chrome lol, You can remove the name from the bookmarks if the icons is easy recognizable like Netflix, Twitch, Facebook.....it will save a lot of space for more bookmarks :) I usually have all my no named icons on the far left, as long as they have a logo/favicon.
I was just going to say the same. Even the less recognizable links you can usually shorten a lot, "News Site A - your daily source for all things news" down to just "news site A".
Tacos history. You Americans brought this fantastic cuisine to our country at the start of 1970, when you came to Stavanger to help us developing oil platforms/rigs, and all that other oil stuff (I don't know much about oil, but food I do). The American workers wanted something not as bland as typical traditional Norwegian food as well as being a bit homesick, so they imported tacos. And invited Norwegian coworkers to share the experience of the magical taste of tacos. But it didn't fully kick off as a mainstream dish until the 90's. And by the early 2000's it was a Friday dinner staple in many Norwegian households. Now a days it can be seen as a bit "harry" (a word you learned in another of your videos) a word I would describe as being a "simple" person, a person who live their lives in their own bubble - a person who are not a cultivated person. A specially if it's just the store bought tex-mex kit's. It's now more popular to make it the traditional Mexican way rather then the "Taco Bell" style, and the tacos Friday trend is fading a bit, but still many eat tacos every Friday as a tradition. Before the tacos, we had Friday pizza. 😅 Norwegians do like the comfort of familiarity and traditions, so we took our time importing and appreciating foreign exotic foods. Some Norwegians has been exploring different foods long before other fellow Norwegians. But compared to other Scandinavian countries our food travel has been slow and taken it's time. Since the mid 2000 and the start of 2010 we have changed our food ways drastically and are in fact catching up to food trends fast. ☺
Russ is the best ever. Every country should have high school graduation like they do. Painting up a van and driving around in it for weeks straight is the best idea ever. They even have a handbook where you can hang things on a hat they wear that demonstrate things they have done during Russ (i.e. running across town naked at 2 am means maybe you can hang a cork on your hat or staying up three nights drunk without sleeping you hang an acorn off your hat). They have a handbook that tells you what is what. It is freakin awesome. I went to U.S. and Canadian schools and detested our graduation rites - the Prom being the worst where everyone feels they need to find a girl.
It would have been very interesting to see what you found about the Sami people of Norway! There are indigenous people who live in Norway and have their own language, own flag and national day.
Concerning the first bit, it's not so much that we ignore acquaintances in random public settings because we don't want to talk to them, it's more about not bothering them. There's a pretty huge underlying thing among us to not be a bother to other people. Stopping someone to force them into a conversation out of politeness, when they might be tired from work, or on the way somewhere, would probably make a lot of us feel like we might be bothering them, even though that's most likely not the case.
If we want to go to Sweden, we just drive there, no border patrol or anything, only customs might stop you once in a while to check if you smuggle :) Also, depending on where you live, you can easily get to Sweden and back in a day, unless maybe if you live all the way west in Norway.
Up in North we drives to Finland to shop. Sweden is further away up here. Depends were you live in North Norway, but takes about 2,5 hours from my home. Took 1 hour were I lived before.
Fun fact, a russ have to buy everything and in my city the Russ use in average 6.000 USD. Ofc you have those that only spend 2-3K USD during this period.
It takes me an hour from Norway to Sweden. If you live in Oslo, it takes two hours to get to Sweden. All Norwegians go shopping there, because it is too expensive in Norway. Russefeering is big on 17 May and recommends everyone to experience it. This was a fun video
Not all of Norway live on the eastern side near Sweden. It would take me 8-9 hours of driving to get to the swedish border. I would say most people living on the west coast would rather buy a cheap ticket (or get one for free) and take the overnight ferry to Denmark. You can stay on the boat all the time and only buy the tax-free onboard, or walk on land in Hirtshals, stay there for the day (or take the bus to Aalborg), and then jump on the boat again in the evening when it returns from Langesund.
@@Andre1980stavanger Yes, I made a slight mistake in writing that all Norwegians travel to Sweden. Because it depends on where in Norway you live. So you're absolutely right.
I think the Taco thing is kind of a stereotype... I'd say it's more, Norwegian tradition is Friday and/or Saturday night you eat a nice dinner wirh your family (Pizza, pasta, tacos, nachos, or even fish or whatever the family all loves). For a lot of families that might be tacos, but for most I would say they probably have another meal. But it usually stays the same every week or maybe rotate between a few meals, again depending on the family. Taco Friday is more of a "joke" here too. Interesting a Norwegian said that, maybe her meal of choice is tacos. Russefeiring: I was bullied all the way through school, so some of your comments there def rings true. Its not something for everyone, and kids who are bullied/not included for whatever reason (don't drink, can't afford all the activities) will kinda be isolated socially during this time
Travelling to Sweden is basically free where i come from if you take the ferry, the boat takes 2.5 hours and i can easily get my hands on free tickets in less than 10 minutes. Noone from around here pays for the ferry, but lot of people take a car with so we can drive back and smuggle alcohol across the border.
Like, that first point, to make it a bit more clear what it was about, is that in many other countries it is usual to recognize others on the streets, either smile or a simple greeting, here in Norway that is not the case, here most just walks minding their own business and looks straight forward or down into the pavement unless you meet someone you actually know. BUT, this changes very quickly if you go hiking here in Norway. When you go hiking, this entire thing changes, and it becomes very common to greet other people you meet while hiking, either just saying hello or just simply smiling, and sometimes stopping and just having a little chat about the weather or something like that, kinda related to hiking, even though it is someone you don't know at all. :)
I was actually shopping in Sweden today before watching this video. It's a 3 hour drive one way for me, but it's worth it. The prices are lower and the products are different, so I do it around 3-4 times a year. The place I go to is a huge shopping centre on top of a mountain, like 5 minutes from the border (that you barly even notice crossing). Very few swedes live on this mountain, so they build the centre basically for us norwegians. Oh, and I actually ate taco last friday too!
I was a Russ in the year of 2000, and boy what a celebration it was. Natural ly, I dont remember MUCH of it, but I do remember some of the things I did for my hat knots. Like having sex with witnesses, spending the night in a sleeping bag in a round about, pulling a teddybear through the center of the City on a leash, drinking a litre of Milk in 3 minutes, eating a 2 litre box of icecream in 10 minutes, eating a burger in 4 bites.... There's Just a ton of different challenges you could do.... X) I still have my hat. Oh memories :p
Regarding the first point: If you're strangers, you jut ignore each other in almost every situation. If you kinda know each other (classmate/colleague, but not really friends), it's common to ignore/pretend you don't recognise them when meeting them randomly. If it's close family or friends, it's optional, depends on your mood. Regarding the 2nd point: I was technically a Russ this year, but didn't really do any partying or wear the overalls. Partially due to my class also being a bit of a special case (We belonged to one school that was in the process of moving, but had all our classes at another school close by, we were a 2-year class as opposed to the "usual" 3-year, as well as the pandemic still being a thing) 3rd: There used to be a free bus ride back and forth, you just had to reserve seats. However, they recently started charging for it, so the bus-ride is not *as* popular anymore. As for the traveling time, it of course varies. From Trøndelag and north, it's usually less than 3h (Unless you go really far north). Further south, Norway gets a bit wider, so there it might take like 7 hours. 4th: ... I feel very called out... 5th: Taco Friday/Tacofredag is a common term, and a lot of people abide by it for sure. However, a lot of people (in my experience) just eat regular food as well. As for the tacos themselves, it varies a lot when it comes to what people put in them. Some prefer tortillas, others prefer shells, and some toppings I've seen mentioned are lettuce, cucumber, corn, red pepper, onion, jalapeños, avocado, pineapple, and even banana. 6th: No comment necessary. 7th: I have no idea how I am when I'm drunk, as I haven't gotten to that point yet, but I'm definitely an introvert indeed, as are most people I've met. Extroverts exist, but even those might seem like introverts at first.
Russefeiring is usually right before final exsams. The dares are set by a comity of russ, and are the same for everyone in your school/area so no terrible/illigal dares. That being said, they still go quite far.
I moved to norway from sweden 22 years ago. The first spring here I woke up at 3 am and thought someone was having a party in my flat. It was a bus passing my house with huge speakers in the top, pumping out music 😀. Nowadays I never see the buses but once in a while I see russ sitting in the middle of the roundabouts waiting for cars to honk the horns so the russ can take a drink of the alcohol they brought 😄. One honk =one sip, two honks= two sips...love all this ❤
"Harryhandel" the name for going to Sweden to buy cheap(er) alcohol, food (mostly meat) and candy is very common. But not everyone does it. Those who live east of Oslo and closer to the border further north do it quite regularly. I grew up slightly west of Oslo and it was not something my family did often at all and not something most of my friends families would do that often either. People who live in western Norway do not go to Sweden to shop, those who live in the south I believe are more likely to take the ferry to Denmark/Germany rather than Sweden. There is a funny joke how Norwegians go to Sweden for cheap goods (mostly alcohol in this scenario), Swedes go to Denmark, Danes go to Germany and the Germans go to Poland.
Oh, we do share our opinions, we just don't do small talk. You won't achieve the level of social cohesion we have in the Nordics without opinions being shared and corrected, freedoms of speech and the press is not just considered a right, but to a certain extend a shared responsibility. Therefore we generally appreciate that opinions are rooted in objective rationality or experience more than subjective emotions, and expect to be bluntly corrected if your opinion isn't "educated" enough, lol.
That's how it was 20 years ago. Today, only those who read Norwegian mainstream media and nothing else are included in the debate. If you are rude enough to investigate the facts yourself, and discover that Norwegian media are covering things up, or even worse, engaging in outright lies, then you will be seen as a twisted fool. Therefore, the country is going to hell if people don't wake up soon and realize that the media is in the pockets of a corrupt world elite.
I go to Sweeden every week. We have a summer cabin there, and it’s just a 30 minutes drive to Sweeden. The prices are almost 50% lower (most things). Also the variery of food is much wider👍
I hate the "ITS SNOWING ALL THE TIME!".. no it isnt. I had 3-5 days of snow this winter. Hoping next one will give me proper snow for atleast 1 week. These last 20 winters have hardly even had any frost.
Noooo, she's not talking about ignoring friends or acquaintances :) It's about not nodding, not saying hi and not smalltalking to strangers on the bus. Which is more common in some countries. It can happen in Norway too, mostly when the bus or train is full so you're forced to sit next to someone, but we don't seek out strangers on an almost empty bus.
Was surprised by that too, where I'm from that is not the case atleast. Cant speak for everyone but I've never felt ignored nor has it ever crossed my mind to hide from anyone either
A note on "Russefeiring" is that graduation from "vidergående skole" eller "Gymnas" is for most when they are 18. In Norway legal age for drinking bear and wine is 18 so for many of them it is OK, but many that are only 17 and will also drink and the main problem with that is that many have not yet learned their own limit. Maybe a "good" thing is that many learn just that in this period. 🙂
@@peacefulminimalist2028 Had two in my class that was 17. Since they was born in late December they started at 6 and was not 18 before late in the year. (This was in the old time when we did not start school before we where 7). 🙂
No, we don't ignore people we know, unless it's someone we really don't like that much. (My best friend's ex, who treated her horribly, for instance.) If it's an acquaintance, I nod and smile or say hello if I meet them on the train. Driving to Sweden can take anything from 10 minutes to several hours, depending on how far away from the border we live.
Our tacos often contain cucumber, corn, not so often beans. The pre-grinded meat usually has a spice mix added, so it's seldom grilled meat. I like the more Mexican tacos better
Border hopping, usually to buy cheaper booze, is definitely a thing if you leave somewhat close to the borders. Norwegians goes to Sweden or Denmark. Swedes goes to Finnland. Finns goes to Estonia. Estonians goes to Poland. Polish people go to Russia (well, probably not nowadays). Danes goes to Germany. Germans goes to Poland and so on.
Skis were actually not inveted for sports, but for transport. As for the russefeiring, it gets worse every year. It started as a more sober and for a few days, now it costs a fortune and is terrible
It's decided by LAW that the exams can't be done during the russefeiring, so before 17th of May. And that's kinda wierd about it too, cuz we celebrate for a month. Before we know if we actually pass and graduate. Haven't had a single exam by the time you begin the russetid.
Every American middle school has a Football team,but in Norway we dont have skiing,or soccer team in the schools. They must enroll in sports team not connected with any schools.
Only the people living 1-2 hours from the border goes to Sweden (the border is massive/long with many border crossings). But to go to Sweden from for example Bergen or Stavanger would take 10-12 hours one way - not really an option 😅
As a Norwegian I need to clarify, it's not sanctity that we all eat tacos on Fridays, I don't. I mean I might be the odd one out here, but I always felt it was more like a gimmick thing made by commercial companies to try and sell more taco products. And whenever I eat taco I do it when I want it... which is once every blue moon, or very rarely. Think it's been a couple of years now since last I ate tacos. Perhaps I'll need to go to the store tomorrow, a Monday, and buy myself some taco ingredients and make it.
The border crossing i the North between Norway and Sweden are easy to miss if you blink... but there are som differences in the road signs that can give you hint if you missed it. The shopping mal in Svinesund (Sweden) is aprox. 1½ hour with buss/car from Oslo.
You have already reacted to Norwegian drinking laws: 18 years for wine and beer, 20 for spirits. Guess you forgot. When I was a "russ" almost 30 years ago, the celebration started the night to May 1st, and ended on our natinal day, the 17th, so not a month. But there were "pre-arrangements" much earlier, like the "grisefest" ("pig party" - don't ask...) near the beginning of the school year. Yes, it's easy to drive to Sweden. We don't need a passport and don't get stopped at the border, but may be when returning, to check if we only have the quotas, not more, and are not smuggling illegal substances. You ask how long a drive it is to Sweden - of course that depends on where you live, some live near the border, some not. Personally I have a 3 hour drive to the border, then almost 1 hour more to nearest Swedish store large enough to matter. In the north, many lives near the border to Finland, Sweden is far away for them.
I've now watched a lot of your videos, as they are so entertaining and interesting. I've watched a lot of similar content of people reacting to nordic countries, but your content is among the best! If you like music, I'd love to see some reactions of the history of Norwegian music. I'm sure there's at least one you've heard from Edvard Grieg
I come from Hamar in Norway, which is the largest town/city of "Innlandet" county with 30 000 inhabitants, and it's the only one without a coast. We are known for lots of moose, forests, agriculture, our relaxed lifestyle and funny dialect, among other things. Opera singer Kirsten Flagstad is probably our city's most famous person, even featured on our 100 kroner bill. Also, Sweden is just 1,5h of driving away for the lower prices, especially candy, snus (tobacco), beer, bacon, etc., because we have a high sugar tax. Cola zero is more popular than regular coke hahaha
And most Norwegians aren’t introverts. Not even rude or shy. It’s just the culture, mindset and janteloven which isn’t a positive thing! We like to blame it on personal space, boundaries and privacy, but if an introvert you wouldn’t seek human interactions on purpose or put your self in the limelight when drunk… If you need alcohol to dare to be you, and be more social or even have fun, I’d call that a flaw!!
I live 30 minutes away from Sweden. So we shop there a lot. We have our camping trailer there too. Camping is big in Norway/Sweden/Germany etc. Not just tents. But camping trailers. I could write so much about this to explain it. 😂
aside from tacos just tasting good, there's also a practicality aspect to it. because on friday, it's the end of the week, you're tired, so you want something that everyone likes, and tacos happen to be very easy to prepare. just throw some taco shells in the oven, microwave a pack of soft tortillas, put the different veggies in bowls and fry up some ground beef with a packet of taco spice and some water. quick and easy, everyone likes it because they construct the taco themselves, so the kids can just choose to not have corn or pineapple or whatever other people usually put in their taco.
8:14 yeah it's quite easy, I'm norwegian and it takes around 7-8 hours to drive, fortunatly there's no border security and just a straight forward roadtrip.
Another thing an American might find weird is how long the public offices take for service. My friend was here for a prolonged sabbatical and had to make an appointment with UDI (government department for dealing with foreigners). He phoned me and was worried they weren't picking up the phone. I asked him, how long did you let it ring? 'Oh, I let it ring for like 10!' Was that 10 rings or 10 minutes? '10 rings.' he answered. Oh, you sweet summer child. I explained to him that he had to call and set the phone on speaker and just let it ring until they picked up. He rang back about a half hour later and told me they picked up in minute 12. We still laugh about that.
@@johnbattle7518 No, it's YOUR corporations that are costing YOUR system more money than any other system in the world. You've got it backwards. UDI is our immigration and visa service, not our healthcare system. UDI has no use for MRI machines , hahaha... also, Watch the Harold Eia series, ffs, instead of saying such ignorant things. ua-cam.com/video/PguJ-lm4uLg/v-deo.html
@The Accidental Viking No, I don't, I know all about the burden the Norwegian government puts on its people. There's a government agency for everything, a tax for everything from restaurant utensils to napkins. I've spoken to many expat Norwegians, it's no utopia, and the US is not even close to comparable, yet you idiots do it anyway. You're high horse is made of plastic!
Danes drive to Germany to buy beer and sweets. Its takes just over an hour so no problem. We do do Sweden too if we live near enough. Taking the train from Copenhagen to sweden is 20 minutes and you dont tend to have any interaction with anybody. If a cop ask you, he will look at your passport and leave within 10 seconds. So no hassle at all... Everything is clise in Europe. We tend to take a 2 hour flight on holiday to anywhere in Europe in Denmark. And it cost about 20-30 dollars return by plane. Going abroad is like taking a cab downtown for a new yorker its dead easy and fast. 😎
I was Russ in 1999, and I didn't like it at all, so I stayed home most of the time. I'm really an introvert. LOOOVE tacos. We have tacos, nachos, fajitas or even burrito's several times a week. LOL Often I mix my own spices to get it perfect. I make my own re-fried beans and guacamole, we have to have guacamole! Sadly I find it hard to find tomatillos to make really good salsa, but when I do find it I make that too. The one thing I don't make is the wraps or the tortilla chips from scarps.
and us in sweden we dont go to norway to buy stuff, we go there just to work since they get a lot of money in norway and then we go back to sweden just to like live there and buy stuff
"How long does it take to drive to sweden?" Well, it depends on where in Norway you live. It's like an american driving to Canada. If you live in Chicago, it's shorter than driving from Miami :P I live on the southwest coast of Norway, and have about 8-9 hrs drive to the swedish border. As we're both part of the Schengen agreement, we can travel across the border without worry. Russefeiring is the last weeks of High School BEFORE graduation. It's BEFORE the exams. Schools have different coloured outfits, where red and blue are the most common, and you have some shcools with black or green aswell. Might be more these days though. I was Rødruss ( red ) 20 years ago, and we we're out just about every weekend from the last year started, till it ended. Last month were even more :P
Norway with stranger makes you understand the definition of: cold shoulder 😂 If you walk past someone or sit next to someone we do not talk to you or look at you. If you make a game out of looking into peoples eyes as you walk by, you will notice almost all of them will avert their eyes. We do not look your way. 🤣 We are ridiculously polite IF we do talk to you, but give you the cold shoulder vibe until you actually ask need to ask something. Small talk with strangers on the buss is not normal at all. We will even look for a seek out a seat away from you or stand if you have to sit next to someone. We dont always look pleased if you do random small talk with a stranger BUT we are very polite of you ask for help or need to ask a question. So despite how cold we look, it is perfectly safe to ask for help if you are unsure about something.
Many pointed out the border rules EEA/Schengen thing Other thing is also the distance, many like me. Live close to the boarder. I travel longer to get to work, than to a Swedish mall.... So travel cost to and back work 1 time. Costs me more than travel cost to and back from Swedish mall does.
Yes it is easy to go to the neighbour countries. But we have Toll system that follow up that you do not bring wrong things. Look at the border from Oslo to the Swedish border. It is not fare
Some details about the Russ thing 1: t's been around for more than a century. every currently living Norwegean has either particpated in it or knows someone who did, so it's normalized 2: It reached it's peak insanity level in the 60s and at one point the russ in Oslo kidnaped the prime minister, served him beer, had him pose and dance with a russ before releasing him 3: The russ are color-coded. Red is the most common and is for people graduating academical high school. Blue is for people graduating economics, black is for people graduating agricultural studies 4: While the celebration lasts for 3-4 weeks, the planning and financing for those 3-4 weeks often starts at the beginning of high school and lasts 2-3 years. This is probably only possible since college is free. 5: The customary russ business cards are supposed to be silly/crude/provocative, and it's customary for kids to collect them. 6: Norwegean pop artists make custom-crafted songs for russ season. they're generally supposed to be extremely crude 7: While the Russ celebration originated as a celebration of graduating, it is now done before the final exams. meaning it's entirely possible to fail and have to repeat the final year (quite possibly because you were too focused on the Russ celebrating) The thing with the dares is kind of like merit badges. the 2022 list had 130 different ones including: Be handcuffed to another (consenting) russ for 12 hours- Pretend to be a tourguide while on public transportation Buy a frozen fish and pretend it's your pet for a day Exercise (safe and consentual) sex with 5 different fellow russ Have (safe and consentual) sex in the woods Do something nice for an elderly person Hang up posters of yourself on school Only say nice things to everyone you meet for an entire day Get vaccinated Stay in a committed relationship the entire period.
Weiderst things Norwegians do 1. Yes, we are not people of small talk/chitchat. We can ask people small questions, like Excuse me, do you know where …. Is? Or did you see buss number….leaving? That’s it. If we do get eye-contact with people we know, we sometimes stop and ask how they are doing, or what they are upto these days, or whatever, other times we have eye-contact, we just acknowledge each other, smile to each other , say hei and just keep walking. Its mutual and normally no hard feelings on either side. We reckon the other side is busy or going somewhere within a timelimit, so we dont want to stop and bother them. This way we acknowledge that other person is busy, and that’s ok. Yes, not wasting each others time. So talking to strangers on bus, train or whatever isn’t that normal, unless you have a small question to ask, or something. 2. Russe-fering (russ-celebration) During senior yr of high school. Party time, woohoo. Party month, getting drunk month. Yes, its part everything. The best part? Its normally expected and accepted you to be this kind of lunatic behavior. Not allowed is to do something illegal or vandalizing and so on. Even some things that you are not actually allowed to do, ex. alcohol drinking in public, if a russ drinks in public, they do get reprimended, but get away with it. Its like forgive them, they are russ, so they are drunk and not know any better. :D Most of the high schools, you become red-russ, who wears red russe-dress, but there are blue-russ, and few black-russ. You dont get to choose the color individually. What ever color your high school has, is the russ you get to be. 3. Shopping trip to Sweden At least those who live close to the Swedish border. Food and groceries are cheaper in Sweden, so its cheaper to go there and do you everyday shopping. Our borders are open, so no hassle to go to Sweden. Yes, it does cost extra in fuel and stuff, but a lot of us do it also for the trip/road trip and having a day out. 4. How are you? Kind of the same here in Norway. We ask each other not how are you, but how are you doing. Meaning what’s going on, what are you up to these days……… Not for a life story, but as a small talk, with an acquittance. 5. Friday Tacos Every family has their own traditions when it comes to food. So Taco-Friday is indeed a thing. A lot of people do that, save up taco eating to Friday. Or maybe pizza-Friday or what ever tradition they have. And some eat what ever, and don’t have any special Friday night meal. In Norway Taco is ALSO Mexican food, its not Norwegian speciality. So taco-Friday is not a joke here. It’s a real deal, for a lot of people. 6. Born with ski-s Yes, this is a Norwegian saying, something we joke about, since Norwegians are great winter sportsmen/women. People take their kids skiing from a very young age, like maybe even as a one yr old, first cross-country, later down hill… I firmly bealive that going skiing from young age is only part of the reason Norwegians are so good. The other reason is that in Norway Olympic level (and some lower level) sports athletes do get sponsored, have excellent places to like train, or whatever its called. Norwegian state invest in sports in various ways. Normal people have snow right outside their door, and Norway is a country with lots of mountain, so perfect conditions for their training. 7. Yes we Norwegians are one drunk people, and that is perfectly ok.
When it comes to norwegians and food, it doesnt really matter where it originates from as Norway is a multicultural country we see food as food ( as other cultures kinda of intergrates with our own ). Some examples of this is tacos, wok and pizza ( we have a brand called grandiosa in Norway which is pizza that some might eat at christmas or just in general ). In America you probably have to go to a shop stand with mexicans to get good tacos ( maybe ), but in Norway most people probably can make good tacos themselves. I myself ( 20 year old male ) learned to make taco when I was 14-ish without problems and still do today. Same with pizza, enchilada and tapas. Probably one of the reasons norwegians integrate other cultures food is probably cause most food originating from Norway is either wierd or pretty boring compared to other countries ( example fårikål, lapskaus, kjøttkaker med brunsaus, and one of the wierdest smalahove aka a cooked sheep head ).
Where I live now it takes me a whole day getting to sweden and back. Absolutely horrendous. Where I lived before I could be in Sweden, shop and be back home in an hour. Most border crossings are not operated by people, and there are no restrictions for Scandinavians traveling between countries except for the limit of how much stuff you can take with you across without smuggling. I have crossed the border 1000 times in my life and have spoken with border control less than a handful of those.
2:00 If they are a good friend, or family you might talk to them, but if it is some random person you have never seen before, or maybe seen but not talked to, you just ignore them... but you still sometimes ignore people you know, or just wave at them, then just continue with your day.
In Norway people are usually 18/19 when graduating high school and the drinking age is 18, so it works out. The only Russ that could be potentially underage are those graduating from trade school as they only have 2 years of school, making some of them 17 (some of them would be 18, though) when they would initially be a Russ, which is why a lot of trade school graduates choose not to be a Russ. Being a Russ is really whatever you make out of it. There can be a lot of fun dares, a bunch of them are pretty innocent, like pretend to be a dog on a leash in public, or cruising around a parking lot in a shopping cart, some dares take place in school itself, like not speaking for a full school day (did that one, had to be creative to participate in class discussions, wrote my arguments on paper and held them up for people to read, lol), or speak a foreign language a whole day (did that one as well) or sit through a class in just your underwear (did that one, too, and followed up by asking the teacher to sign my underwear - another dare). There's a bunch of alcohol related ones, I didn't really do any of those, and a bunch of intimacy ones (did some of the kissing ones, and one public nudity one, but stayed clear of the rest). It definitely sounds insane, and I get people wondering how on earth this is even allowed, but Russefeiring is actually a pretty long standing tradition. It obviously wasn't as racy when our parents/grandparents did it, that kinda evolved over time, but the celebration itself has been a thing for a very long time, and we all know to expect it. If you want to see examples, there's a reality show over here about Norwegian-Americans competing to meet their Norwegian relatives and one of the seasons had a Russ- episode, where they tried being Russ for a day and doing some of the dares we do. ua-cam.com/video/1mEEzsTnf50/v-deo.html
If you live around the Oslo area, it generally will take you 4 hours for a round trip to Sweden. Stop for some shopping and a bite to eat, and you'll use about 6 hours. Passenger vehicles are rarely inspected at the border. And even if it is mandatory to stop and you're over your tobacco and alcohol quota, just lie about it and you'll have a 95% chance of getting off scot-free. As long as it's not clearly visible you exceeded your quota. Smugglers beware, they track you all through Europe and will single you out for inspection.
Taco friday - not all do this. It is just since it is so normal to have potato for dinner, it is not normal to have take-away and “crap food” so indulging on friday or the weekend with something like restaurant food, take away, pizza, taco, etc. it’s because we eat home made dinner usually meat, potatoes, veggies and sauce. We do eat rice and pasta too, but point is we treat ourselves with more greasy food or fancy food on fridays or the weekends.
As you saw in your other video on Stavanger, you learned that it is the Oil-Capital of Norway. Well in 1965, a wave of Americans came to Norway because of the oil boom. A 16 year old working in his fathers store, asked the wives of these Americans what they were missing most from home. One of the answers was of course, Taco. Then it spread all over Norway from there.
2:12 while our impressions of citizens from USA are more talkative and extroverted I guess it's a very common thing that she's talking about all around the world. But it seems to us and what at least I've been told trhough videos where American citizens talk about this subject it's like it's more of an extroverted society in USA. It's more accepted when one is approached by strangers on the bus stop or other situations like this for a simple small talk. The problem I have never seen put forward as to why I.e norwegians seems more close minded is that in general whe do not have as much smalltalk. Often you will find yourself in longer more meaningful conversations with a norwegian. At first we of course opens the conversations with a easy and less personal topic like the weather, car jams, or other correlating topics to your surroundings. Then after probing and fighting in the minds of each other the conversations always find it's way into more heavy topics. Politics, economy, philosophy or education...it doesn't matter. That's also why I've heard from especially Foreigners from USA say "they seems very closed and have strong intimate zones, but when you get to know them as friends you will have a very open and deep conversation. They will make great friends" I of course write this from memory after a long time so I most likely have misplaced some words or remembered wrong.. but it something like that. Well, so what I am trying to say is that we may not want to talk to strangers on the bus or busstop and any places where one person or you can't leave because you MUST get that bus. Because if I was clear enough in my comment to now you will find that we have a bigger culture on the conversations and communication/interactions being more than just being polite. It is good to have a foundation of reasons for the conversations as a deeper one would have. Smalltalk is more correlated woth superficial charm and not so honest to what your intentions are. We are a smaller country with fewer people and thus meaningful relationships matters more than the need for human interaction. This is also something you will observe in say school, especially in middle and high-school and universities. Students will often have their first day meeting up and sitting by themselves. The awkward silence, and us being us we also usually choose the one seat and place we will use for the whole year and the same will the person sitting next to you that first day.. and because we are who we are we first begin the with the one "hello, mulig name is ..." and after 1 to 2 weeks one becomes friends. The kids starting roaming around talking to everyone meets their counterpart for sure, but it's not as accepted and thus they can be seen as a nuisance to others. Sorry for the long post, but even this is a simplification of the topic as you would really delving into a book sized research subject that would explain this by pointing to much more that could attribute and explain this. I'm not going further with this because of that problem. So, hope I could clear something up instead of the regular "we are introverts for the most part"... it's so much more and huge part is culture, climates, population etc. Jeez, this got longer and deeper than I anticipated 🤭 Well, wish you a good day 😅
You have to look at it like driving from one state, to the next state. I live 3 hours from Trondheim (senter capital of Trøndelag), and 1,5 hour from a small Swedish town.. so, yeah. But i only buy tobacco and beer.. but our bordercontroll is mostly trustbased
Dude. Russefeiring is strange to me too. I don't know, but apperantly every high school graduate takes their exam hangover from 4 weeks. I never was involved in that
there's a russeknute where you suppose to sit under your desk for the whole class x) or atleast it used to, they change almost every year depending on feedback from teachers and public, but Russetiden is only one time in your life aka you last year at high school, the year you either turn 18 or 19 depending on what you study, she was "rød Russ" which is basically academic school studies I think like alot of math, me I was Svart Russ ( Black cloths )
"The very first skis date back to 8000 years BC and were found in Northern China. They were made of 2-metre-long pieces of wood and were covered in horsehair"
If you want to see more of the party side of it, reacting to "LS2019 Official Aftermovie!" is an idea. Best festival for russ which really kicks it off.
At 10:20. You wouldn't think it, but Norway is one of the countries that have have placed #1 worldwide in several yearly culinary championships. So she is not completely wrong here,..Which is kind of weird considering traditional norwegian dishes is not known for a broad selection of spices and taste....Peronally I can understad why. Spice is not meant to enrich the taste of food. It to preserve food from bacteria. In cold countries they use ice, in warm counties they use spice. Neighter of them add flavor to food. The flavor of food is not from either of them. Why do think the words are so similar? Ice is cold water. Spice is burning water...Ice and spice are conservativrs
Personally whenever me and my family go to sweden (only to shop, not visiting family or anything) it ranges from taking 3 hours there and back, to sometimes spening the night there camping
Many Canadians who live right on the border do this with america since getting candy and chocolate right after a holiday is insanely cheap compared to canada. And since the bored is basically nothing, half the time they don't even check you car, let alone look in your windows. Many american's do it too, although it's more expensive,the candy quality is genurally higher than americas. Aparently it was enough of a quality difference that a couple decades ago a bunch of americans were constantly buying and smuggling over candy from canada to sell in america. That lasted until government shut it down
As a non-smoker and non-drinker, the best part of Sweden shopping is that they have quotas on how much of both you can take across the border. Which allows me to travel for free because people gladly accept me not contributing to paying for gas as long as I give them my alcohol and cigarette quotas instead.
How long it is to travel to Sweden depends from where you live in Norway and withc border you cross. For traveling from Norway to Sweden, you dont need any passport or identification of any kind. The people living near the border can often go shoping there weekly. Norwegian taco is not that much different from typical american taco, but american taco and mexican tacos are not allways allike either. Typical taco is with minced beef with taco seasoning, lettuce, tomato, cheddar, cucuber, onion, corn, tomato salsa, guacamole topped with sour cream. . .in a tacoshell or "wheat tortilla". And one more thing, not all norwegians are introvert, not more than other people, I think. And the culture is verry different in different parts of the country. It tends to be that the more south you come, the more introvert, and the other way in the north. The thing that people , especially in citys, do not talk to other people the do not know in busses or other places, is a cultural thing, not directly related to that people are introvert.
Hey Tyler! Just wanted to say that I'm really enjoying your videos. I wanted to offer my help if you have any questions regarding Norway (daily life stuff, translations, whatever you might need help with or info about). I'm also an English-Norwegian translator, so yeah, could be helpful. :)
I work as a teacher in upper secondary school (high school equivalent) and have been invited by students to "roll with the bus" during russ celebrations. Thanks, but no thanks! Partied hard enough in my own russ celebration :D
Norway and Sweden are part of the EEA and Schengen, and that means that Norwegians can travel to Sweden without any border security. It's just a normal road, and you see a sign saying "Sweden", and suddenly you are in Sweden without even stopping.
Watching foreigners finding out about russ for the first time is always delightful.
🤣🤣🤣🤣true story
Norway is a member of the EEA and Schengen, which allows Norwegians to travel freely throughout the EU, and other EU citizens to travel to Norway. This basically means that there are no border crossing to think about really between Norway and Sweden. You might drive through a border crossing on the way back to Norway and go through a customs check, but that usually only takes 5 minutes as long as you aren't stopped (they don't stop most people). The reason for this is because Norway has free movement of people, but not free movement of goods.
I just saw a video of a Swedish couple going to Norway, and they didn't even notice they crossed the border !
@@QazwerDave Yep that is what it is 99.99% of the time. Been traveling to Sweden and back for a day of shopping multiple times a year my whole life + numerous roadtrips through Europe(from Norway to Italy, France and all the countries around and between). I have never been stopped, and a lot of times missed the bordercrossings. And considering most people don't really have anything to hide in their cars, most controls takes like 5 minutes as someone else mentioned. It is very freeing being able to do that and experience so many countries, people and cultures around you
Except the border between Sweden and Norway was open long before EEA or Schengen, but for the rest of Europe yes
@@MrMafiks The open borders was between Norway, Sweden and Denmark..
Although Skagerrak crates a natural barrier, but from a legal point of view Norway-Denmark is the same as Norway-Sweden...
@@MichaelEricMenk Probably all of the Nordics? Or?
I have been in Norway when they have their Russefeiring and it looks so fun, you can see those red overalls everywhere and it seems like they buy vans and busses they paint red and use to party in when they are going between different events. For an outsider, it seems to be really fun and strong culture.
There's also other colours.
The colour depends on the subject they're graduating in.
Academics tend to go red.
Blue collar workers black or blue I believe.
Agriculture green.
There might be other colours I'm not aware of.
As a Norwegian i can confirm.😂
@@Luredreier The blue color is for educations in trade and economics. Though they can choose red if most of their friends are studying academics.
@@ahkkariq7406 Yeah, earlier blue used to be what was called "handelskolen" (trade school). I know, because I was a blue russ (blåruss) in '93. As far as I know, "handelsskolen" doesn't exist anymore, at least the way it used to be, no idea how this works today.
@@johnnymartinjohansen I was a blåruss, too, in '86. I am pretty sure my children have told me you still can be blåruss if you choose the same subjects now, even if "handelsskolen" doesn't exist anymore.
"How long does it take to drive from Norway to Sweden"? It depends on where you live, Tyler. Just like in the US. It takes longer to drive from Florida to Canada than from Wisconsin to Canada.
Norwegians are quite fond of foreign-ish foods, it really started in the 90s, although things like Pizza had made it here in the 70s I believe.
I actually remember when "Tacos" became a thing. It was never really a restaurant thing, it was something you made at home. It was simple and tasty, and very practical for families because the way we prepare it is:
Have minced meat with seasoning.
Chop up all sorts of vegetables.
Warm up the shells (later on also tortillas and other forms of "vessels")
Get some sauces, sour cream and guakamole etc.
Put it all on the table and let people fill their own shells.
It's easy to make, very social to eat, and well it was a "new thing" back in the 90s. Being so easy to make its very suitable for Fridays after work. Not everyone eats it every Friday, but it's common enough to have become a "thing." (My local supermarket even has discounts on the sauces and seasonings etc on Fridays and Saturdays.)
The word "Tacos" is more or less the common name for anything within the "Tex-Mex" genre of food, and not really just Mexican Tacos.
Russ ends on the national day which is the 17th of May each year. Our national day is very big. Kids can eat as many hot dogs and ice cream as they want. Each school in Norway got its own musical band and they celebrate it by walking in musical queues on the 17th of May. Either locally or in the city centers of the bigger cities in Norway. People also tend to drink from 12 o'clock that day and in the evenings around 17.00 (5pm), you gather with family and walk to the nearest school for lots of fun activities. Its a celebration of Norway day but it is also a celebration of Spring and warmer weather if it doesn't rain ;) Also, the 17th of May is a day off for many.
In my area its normal to eat hot dogs in waffles
It used to end 17th og May. But after covid they are partying all summer to
Russefeiring (graduation celebration) happens in the 3-4 weeks prior to exams and graduation from high school.
About 40% of the population of Norway live less than a 3-hour drive from the border to Sweden. Generally things like meat, dairy, candy, alcohol and tobacco are cheaper in Sweden than in Norway.
Our drinking age is 18 for beer and wine and 20 for hard liquor.
Also given that we border Sweden, how long it takes varies heavily on where you are in Norway, but it's about 1,5 hours from Oslo all on good highway.
Us people on the west coast rarely go shopping in Sweden, it's too far away. The people on the other side of the mountains forget that not everybody easily can go 🙃
Sure. And we who live on the south coast can as well go to Denmark on a ferry trip - just for the fun and of course the shopping.
Yes, that's one of the sacrifices one has to make if you move to Vestlandet. No cheap Swedish food. But there's still many who make it, even though there's a distance. If they know someone who lives close to the Oslo or Trondheim regions, they can hire them to drive that food to Bergen. That's what I did
@@mar754 I didn't move here, I was born here 😅 And I don't really feel it is a sacrifice ❤Bergen But hey, if you hired someone to drive stuff to you, did you actually save any money at all?
@@SipTea Atleast it's possible for those who want. And no, I didn't save money...
Up north it's Finland, and that's not as cheap
I live in Norway, 20 minutes away from Sweden and it’s sometimes there are these customs but not all the time where I live☺️I’m in Sweden like once or twice a week I guess
Norwegian tacos do not taste like Mexican tacos. 'Norwegian Tacos' is a standalone dish with its own unique taste.
Just remembered a funny story about public transport and Norwegians. A guy was traveling central/south America where he was taking a bus. He was the only passenger when a woman came onboard, sat RIGHT NEXT TO HIM, and began a conversation. This was apparently a culture schock as this would not happen here. If there are two people on the bus, how far away they are from eachother only depends on how long the actual bus is.
Edit: Grammar
If you live in the capital (Oslo) the border shopping at Sweden is just over 1 hour away.
Pro tip after seeing your Chrome lol, You can remove the name from the bookmarks if the icons is easy recognizable like Netflix, Twitch, Facebook.....it will save a lot of space for more bookmarks :) I usually have all my no named icons on the far left, as long as they have a logo/favicon.
I was just going to say the same. Even the less recognizable links you can usually shorten a lot, "News Site A - your daily source for all things news" down to just "news site A".
Tacos history. You Americans brought this fantastic cuisine to our country at the start of 1970, when you came to Stavanger to help us developing oil platforms/rigs, and all that other oil stuff (I don't know much about oil, but food I do). The American workers wanted something not as bland as typical traditional Norwegian food as well as being a bit homesick, so they imported tacos. And invited Norwegian coworkers to share the experience of the magical taste of tacos. But it didn't fully kick off as a mainstream dish until the 90's. And by the early 2000's it was a Friday dinner staple in many Norwegian households.
Now a days it can be seen as a bit "harry" (a word you learned in another of your videos) a word I would describe as being a "simple" person, a person who live their lives in their own bubble - a person who are not a cultivated person. A specially if it's just the store bought tex-mex kit's. It's now more popular to make it the traditional Mexican way rather then the "Taco Bell" style, and the tacos Friday trend is fading a bit, but still many eat tacos every Friday as a tradition. Before the tacos, we had Friday pizza. 😅
Norwegians do like the comfort of familiarity and traditions, so we took our time importing and appreciating foreign exotic foods. Some Norwegians has been exploring different foods long before other fellow Norwegians. But compared to other Scandinavian countries our food travel has been slow and taken it's time. Since the mid 2000 and the start of 2010 we have changed our food ways drastically and are in fact catching up to food trends fast. ☺
Americans know genuin Mexican food and Tacos,and tacos in a Mexican restaurant in USA taste so much better -cant compare at all.
Russ is the best ever. Every country should have high school graduation like they do. Painting up a van and driving around in it for weeks straight is the best idea ever. They even have a handbook where you can hang things on a hat they wear that demonstrate things they have done during Russ (i.e. running across town naked at 2 am means maybe you can hang a cork on your hat or staying up three nights drunk without sleeping you hang an acorn off your hat). They have a handbook that tells you what is what. It is freakin awesome. I went to U.S. and Canadian schools and detested our graduation rites - the Prom being the worst where everyone feels they need to find a girl.
It would have been very interesting to see what you found about the Sami people of Norway! There are indigenous people who live in Norway and have their own language, own flag and national day.
ayy, I'm part coastal Sámi. Fascinating group to learn about i imagine.
I would also love to see a reaction to Sami cultures!
They live In Norway, Sweden, Finland and part of Russia.
yes this!
Jævla nordlendinger 🤣
Concerning the first bit, it's not so much that we ignore acquaintances in random public settings because we don't want to talk to them, it's more about not bothering them. There's a pretty huge underlying thing among us to not be a bother to other people. Stopping someone to force them into a conversation out of politeness, when they might be tired from work, or on the way somewhere, would probably make a lot of us feel like we might be bothering them, even though that's most likely not the case.
If we want to go to Sweden, we just drive there, no border patrol or anything, only customs might stop you once in a while to check if you smuggle :) Also, depending on where you live, you can easily get to Sweden and back in a day, unless maybe if you live all the way west in Norway.
Up in North we drives to Finland to shop. Sweden is further away up here. Depends were you live in North Norway, but takes about 2,5 hours from my home. Took 1 hour were I lived before.
Fun fact, a russ have to buy everything and in my city the Russ use in average 6.000 USD. Ofc you have those that only spend 2-3K USD during this period.
I think you are a a gentleman....as always.
I understand your love for Norway
I love it too 🇧🇻
It takes me an hour from Norway to Sweden. If you live in Oslo, it takes two hours to get to Sweden. All Norwegians go shopping there, because it is too expensive in Norway. Russefeering is big on 17 May and recommends everyone to experience it. This was a fun video
Not all of Norway live on the eastern side near Sweden. It would take me 8-9 hours of driving to get to the swedish border. I would say most people living on the west coast would rather buy a cheap ticket (or get one for free) and take the overnight ferry to Denmark. You can stay on the boat all the time and only buy the tax-free onboard, or walk on land in Hirtshals, stay there for the day (or take the bus to Aalborg), and then jump on the boat again in the evening when it returns from Langesund.
@@Andre1980stavanger Yes, I made a slight mistake in writing that all Norwegians travel to Sweden. Because it depends on where in Norway you live. So you're absolutely right.
It only takes me 4 hours each way, but i live in the north by the coast.
It's always delightful to be left out of "all Norwegians" when you don't live near the Swedish border.
Not only is it cheaper in Sweden, but there's a larger variety of food aswell. I wish Norway had that, there's nothing new here, ever
I think the Taco thing is kind of a stereotype...
I'd say it's more, Norwegian tradition is Friday and/or Saturday night you eat a nice dinner wirh your family (Pizza, pasta, tacos, nachos, or even fish or whatever the family all loves). For a lot of families that might be tacos, but for most I would say they probably have another meal. But it usually stays the same every week or maybe rotate between a few meals, again depending on the family. Taco Friday is more of a "joke" here too. Interesting a Norwegian said that, maybe her meal of choice is tacos.
Russefeiring:
I was bullied all the way through school, so some of your comments there def rings true. Its not something for everyone, and kids who are bullied/not included for whatever reason (don't drink, can't afford all the activities) will kinda be isolated socially during this time
I'm sorry you were bullied in highschool, hope you're doing great now.
Travelling to Sweden is basically free where i come from if you take the ferry, the boat takes 2.5 hours and i can easily get my hands on free tickets in less than 10 minutes. Noone from around here pays for the ferry, but lot of people take a car with so we can drive back and smuggle alcohol across the border.
Hei, tar du ferge fra Sandefjord? Horten? gratis billett for gående?
@@Gullvivas Hei! Ferge fra Sandefjord, men om du ikke kjenner noen som jobber på båten så er billett 30 kr hver vei, 160kr om du kjører.
ÅH Takk for kvikt svar og oppklaring! Høres bra ut! ;)
@@Gullvivas No problem!:)
Like, that first point, to make it a bit more clear what it was about, is that in many other countries it is usual to recognize others on the streets, either smile or a simple greeting, here in Norway that is not the case, here most just walks minding their own business and looks straight forward or down into the pavement unless you meet someone you actually know.
BUT, this changes very quickly if you go hiking here in Norway. When you go hiking, this entire thing changes, and it becomes very common to greet other people you meet while hiking, either just saying hello or just simply smiling, and sometimes stopping and just having a little chat about the weather or something like that, kinda related to hiking, even though it is someone you don't know at all. :)
What we call Tacos in Norway is what you would consider to be TexMex in the US. btw.
I was actually shopping in Sweden today before watching this video. It's a 3 hour drive one way for me, but it's worth it. The prices are lower and the products are different, so I do it around 3-4 times a year. The place I go to is a huge shopping centre on top of a mountain, like 5 minutes from the border (that you barly even notice crossing). Very few swedes live on this mountain, so they build the centre basically for us norwegians. Oh, and I actually ate taco last friday too!
I was a Russ in the year of 2000, and boy what a celebration it was. Natural ly, I dont remember MUCH of it, but I do remember some of the things I did for my hat knots. Like having sex with witnesses, spending the night in a sleeping bag in a round about, pulling a teddybear through the center of the City on a leash, drinking a litre of Milk in 3 minutes, eating a 2 litre box of icecream in 10 minutes, eating a burger in 4 bites.... There's Just a ton of different challenges you could do.... X) I still have my hat. Oh memories :p
Regarding the first point: If you're strangers, you jut ignore each other in almost every situation. If you kinda know each other (classmate/colleague, but not really friends), it's common to ignore/pretend you don't recognise them when meeting them randomly. If it's close family or friends, it's optional, depends on your mood.
Regarding the 2nd point: I was technically a Russ this year, but didn't really do any partying or wear the overalls. Partially due to my class also being a bit of a special case (We belonged to one school that was in the process of moving, but had all our classes at another school close by, we were a 2-year class as opposed to the "usual" 3-year, as well as the pandemic still being a thing)
3rd: There used to be a free bus ride back and forth, you just had to reserve seats. However, they recently started charging for it, so the bus-ride is not *as* popular anymore. As for the traveling time, it of course varies. From Trøndelag and north, it's usually less than 3h (Unless you go really far north). Further south, Norway gets a bit wider, so there it might take like 7 hours.
4th: ... I feel very called out...
5th: Taco Friday/Tacofredag is a common term, and a lot of people abide by it for sure. However, a lot of people (in my experience) just eat regular food as well. As for the tacos themselves, it varies a lot when it comes to what people put in them. Some prefer tortillas, others prefer shells, and some toppings I've seen mentioned are lettuce, cucumber, corn, red pepper, onion, jalapeños, avocado, pineapple, and even banana.
6th: No comment necessary.
7th: I have no idea how I am when I'm drunk, as I haven't gotten to that point yet, but I'm definitely an introvert indeed, as are most people I've met. Extroverts exist, but even those might seem like introverts at first.
You should look up "Janteloven". Captures the Norwegian spirit, though it has become better in recent years.
Russefeiring is usually right before final exsams. The dares are set by a comity of russ, and are the same for everyone in your school/area so no terrible/illigal dares. That being said, they still go quite far.
I moved to norway from sweden 22 years ago. The first spring here I woke up at 3 am and thought someone was having a party in my flat. It was a bus passing my house with huge speakers in the top, pumping out music 😀. Nowadays I never see the buses but once in a while I see russ sitting in the middle of the roundabouts waiting for cars to honk the horns so the russ can take a drink of the alcohol they brought 😄. One honk =one sip, two honks= two sips...love all this ❤
"Harryhandel" the name for going to Sweden to buy cheap(er) alcohol, food (mostly meat) and candy is very common. But not everyone does it. Those who live east of Oslo and closer to the border further north do it quite regularly. I grew up slightly west of Oslo and it was not something my family did often at all and not something most of my friends families would do that often either. People who live in western Norway do not go to Sweden to shop, those who live in the south I believe are more likely to take the ferry to Denmark/Germany rather than Sweden. There is a funny joke how Norwegians go to Sweden for cheap goods (mostly alcohol in this scenario), Swedes go to Denmark, Danes go to Germany and the Germans go to Poland.
Oh, we do share our opinions, we just don't do small talk. You won't achieve the level of social cohesion we have in the Nordics without opinions being shared and corrected, freedoms of speech and the press is not just considered a right, but to a certain extend a shared responsibility. Therefore we generally appreciate that opinions are rooted in objective rationality or experience more than subjective emotions, and expect to be bluntly corrected if your opinion isn't "educated" enough, lol.
💯
That's how it was 20 years ago. Today, only those who read Norwegian mainstream media and nothing else are included in the debate. If you are rude enough to investigate the facts yourself, and discover that Norwegian media are covering things up, or even worse, engaging in outright lies, then you will be seen as a twisted fool.
Therefore, the country is going to hell if people don't wake up soon and realize that the media is in the pockets of a corrupt world elite.
I go to Sweeden every week. We have a summer cabin there, and it’s just a 30 minutes drive to Sweeden. The prices are almost 50% lower (most things). Also the variery of food is much wider👍
I hate the "ITS SNOWING ALL THE TIME!".. no it isnt.
I had 3-5 days of snow this winter.
Hoping next one will give me proper snow for atleast 1 week.
These last 20 winters have hardly even had any frost.
Vi på vestlandet er storfornøyd når vi bare får en uke uten regn
Me too.
Noooo, she's not talking about ignoring friends or acquaintances :) It's about not nodding, not saying hi and not smalltalking to strangers on the bus. Which is more common in some countries. It can happen in Norway too, mostly when the bus or train is full so you're forced to sit next to someone, but we don't seek out strangers on an almost empty bus.
Actually I think she was, and people do that to a certain degree.
Was surprised by that too, where I'm from that is not the case atleast. Cant speak for everyone but I've never felt ignored nor has it ever crossed my mind to hide from anyone either
@@holtergeist That wouldn't surprise me to be honest kids grow up in a weird world
Not every Norwegian are anti social though,I talk to strangers too in a humble way
6:19
The dares used to be a lot weirder.
Including things like sex, theft even.
But things have been straightened up quite a lot since then...
"Dexpedition - S1E1" is a good video explaining Russefeiring, as well as constitution day celebration ;-D
Taco Friday is a big thing in Sweden too 😂🇸🇪
A note on "Russefeiring" is that graduation from "vidergående skole" eller "Gymnas" is for most when they are 18. In Norway legal age for drinking bear and wine is 18 so for many of them it is OK, but many that are only 17 and will also drink and the main problem with that is that many have not yet learned their own limit.
Maybe a "good" thing is that many learn just that in this period. 🙂
You’re actually 18 or 19 during the russefeiring.
@@peacefulminimalist2028 Had two in my class that was 17. Since they was born in late December they started at 6 and was not 18 before late in the year. (This was in the old time when we did not start school before we where 7). 🙂
No, we don't ignore people we know, unless it's someone we really don't like that much. (My best friend's ex, who treated her horribly, for instance.) If it's an acquaintance, I nod and smile or say hello if I meet them on the train.
Driving to Sweden can take anything from 10 minutes to several hours, depending on how far away from the border we live.
Our tacos often contain cucumber, corn, not so often beans. The pre-grinded meat usually has a spice mix added, so it's seldom grilled meat. I like the more Mexican tacos better
Border hopping, usually to buy cheaper booze, is definitely a thing if you leave somewhat close to the borders. Norwegians goes to Sweden or Denmark. Swedes goes to Finnland. Finns goes to Estonia. Estonians goes to Poland. Polish people go to Russia (well, probably not nowadays). Danes goes to Germany. Germans goes to Poland and so on.
Skis were actually not inveted for sports, but for transport. As for the russefeiring, it gets worse every year. It started as a more sober and for a few days, now it costs a fortune and is terrible
It's decided by LAW that the exams can't be done during the russefeiring, so before 17th of May.
And that's kinda wierd about it too, cuz we celebrate for a month. Before we know if we actually pass and graduate. Haven't had a single exam by the time you begin the russetid.
Every American middle school has a Football team,but in Norway we dont have skiing,or soccer team in the schools. They must enroll in sports team not connected with any schools.
Only the people living 1-2 hours from the border goes to Sweden (the border is massive/long with many border crossings). But to go to Sweden from for example Bergen or Stavanger would take 10-12 hours one way - not really an option 😅
As a Norwegian I need to clarify, it's not sanctity that we all eat tacos on Fridays, I don't. I mean I might be the odd one out here, but I always felt it was more like a gimmick thing made by commercial companies to try and sell more taco products. And whenever I eat taco I do it when I want it... which is once every blue moon, or very rarely. Think it's been a couple of years now since last I ate tacos. Perhaps I'll need to go to the store tomorrow, a Monday, and buy myself some taco ingredients and make it.
The border crossing i the North between Norway and Sweden are easy to miss if you blink... but there are som differences in the road signs that can give you hint if you missed it.
The shopping mal in Svinesund (Sweden) is aprox. 1½ hour with buss/car from Oslo.
You have already reacted to Norwegian drinking laws: 18 years for wine and beer, 20 for spirits. Guess you forgot.
When I was a "russ" almost 30 years ago, the celebration started the night to May 1st, and ended on our natinal day, the 17th, so not a month. But there were "pre-arrangements" much earlier, like the "grisefest" ("pig party" - don't ask...) near the beginning of the school year.
Yes, it's easy to drive to Sweden. We don't need a passport and don't get stopped at the border, but may be when returning, to check if we only have the quotas, not more, and are not smuggling illegal substances. You ask how long a drive it is to Sweden - of course that depends on where you live, some live near the border, some not. Personally I have a 3 hour drive to the border, then almost 1 hour more to nearest Swedish store large enough to matter. In the north, many lives near the border to Finland, Sweden is far away for them.
I've now watched a lot of your videos, as they are so entertaining and interesting. I've watched a lot of similar content of people reacting to nordic countries, but your content is among the best! If you like music, I'd love to see some reactions of the history of Norwegian music. I'm sure there's at least one you've heard from Edvard Grieg
I come from Hamar in Norway, which is the largest town/city of "Innlandet" county with 30 000 inhabitants, and it's the only one without a coast. We are known for lots of moose, forests, agriculture, our relaxed lifestyle and funny dialect, among other things. Opera singer Kirsten Flagstad is probably our city's most famous person, even featured on our 100 kroner bill. Also, Sweden is just 1,5h of driving away for the lower prices, especially candy, snus (tobacco), beer, bacon, etc., because we have a high sugar tax. Cola zero is more popular than regular coke hahaha
Do you have a plan to visit Norway? And btw you should do more videos of northern Norway, like Finnmark🥂
And most Norwegians aren’t introverts. Not even rude or shy. It’s just the culture, mindset and janteloven which isn’t a positive thing! We like to blame it on personal space, boundaries and privacy, but if an introvert you wouldn’t seek human interactions on purpose or put your self in the limelight when drunk… If you need alcohol to dare to be you, and be more social or even have fun, I’d call that a flaw!!
I live 30 minutes away from Sweden. So we shop there a lot. We have our camping trailer there too. Camping is big in Norway/Sweden/Germany etc. Not just tents. But camping trailers. I could write so much about this to explain it. 😂
aside from tacos just tasting good, there's also a practicality aspect to it. because on friday, it's the end of the week, you're tired, so you want something that everyone likes, and tacos happen to be very easy to prepare. just throw some taco shells in the oven, microwave a pack of soft tortillas, put the different veggies in bowls and fry up some ground beef with a packet of taco spice and some water. quick and easy, everyone likes it because they construct the taco themselves, so the kids can just choose to not have corn or pineapple or whatever other people usually put in their taco.
8:14 yeah it's quite easy, I'm norwegian and it takes around 7-8 hours to drive, fortunatly there's no border security and just a straight forward roadtrip.
Another thing an American might find weird is how long the public offices take for service. My friend was here for a prolonged sabbatical and had to make an appointment with UDI (government department for dealing with foreigners). He phoned me and was worried they weren't picking up the phone. I asked him, how long did you let it ring? 'Oh, I let it ring for like 10!' Was that 10 rings or 10 minutes? '10 rings.' he answered. Oh, you sweet summer child. I explained to him that he had to call and set the phone on speaker and just let it ring until they picked up. He rang back about a half hour later and told me they picked up in minute 12. We still laugh about that.
Thats because of big government and red tape. You once outlawed skateboarding and have a grand total of three MRI machines, keep your utopia
@@johnbattle7518 No, it's YOUR corporations that are costing YOUR system more money than any other system in the world. You've got it backwards. UDI is our immigration and visa service, not our healthcare system. UDI has no use for MRI machines , hahaha... also, Watch the Harold Eia series, ffs, instead of saying such ignorant things. ua-cam.com/video/PguJ-lm4uLg/v-deo.html
@The Accidental Viking No, I don't, I know all about the burden the Norwegian government puts on its people. There's a government agency for everything, a tax for everything from restaurant utensils to napkins. I've spoken to many expat Norwegians, it's no utopia, and the US is not even close to comparable, yet you idiots do it anyway. You're high horse is made of plastic!
Danes drive to Germany to buy beer and sweets. Its takes just over an hour so no problem. We do do Sweden too if we live near enough. Taking the train from Copenhagen to sweden is 20 minutes and you dont tend to have any interaction with anybody. If a cop ask you, he will look at your passport and leave within 10 seconds. So no hassle at all... Everything is clise in Europe. We tend to take a 2 hour flight on holiday to anywhere in Europe in Denmark. And it cost about 20-30 dollars return by plane. Going abroad is like taking a cab downtown for a new yorker its dead easy and fast. 😎
as someone living near Trondheim, I could get to Sweden in like 1 hour and 30 minutes. there are also almost never border controls
I was Russ in 1999, and I didn't like it at all, so I stayed home most of the time. I'm really an introvert.
LOOOVE tacos. We have tacos, nachos, fajitas or even burrito's several times a week. LOL Often I mix my own spices to get it perfect. I make my own re-fried beans and guacamole, we have to have guacamole! Sadly I find it hard to find tomatillos to make really good salsa, but when I do find it I make that too.
The one thing I don't make is the wraps or the tortilla chips from scarps.
and us in sweden we dont go to norway to buy stuff, we go there just to work since they get a lot of money in norway and then we go back to sweden just to like live there and buy stuff
"How long does it take to drive to sweden?"
Well, it depends on where in Norway you live. It's like an american driving to Canada. If you live in Chicago, it's shorter than driving from Miami :P
I live on the southwest coast of Norway, and have about 8-9 hrs drive to the swedish border. As we're both part of the Schengen agreement, we can travel across the border without worry.
Russefeiring is the last weeks of High School BEFORE graduation. It's BEFORE the exams. Schools have different coloured outfits, where red and blue are the most common, and you have some shcools with black or green aswell. Might be more these days though. I was Rødruss ( red ) 20 years ago, and we we're out just about every weekend from the last year started, till it ended. Last month were even more :P
Norway with stranger makes you understand the definition of: cold shoulder 😂
If you walk past someone or sit next to someone we do not talk to you or look at you. If you make a game out of looking into peoples eyes as you walk by, you will notice almost all of them will avert their eyes. We do not look your way. 🤣
We are ridiculously polite IF we do talk to you, but give you the cold shoulder vibe until you actually ask need to ask something. Small talk with strangers on the buss is not normal at all. We will even look for a seek out a seat away from you or stand if you have to sit next to someone.
We dont always look pleased if you do random small talk with a stranger BUT we are very polite of you ask for help or need to ask a question. So despite how cold we look, it is perfectly safe to ask for help if you are unsure about something.
Many pointed out the border rules EEA/Schengen thing
Other thing is also the distance, many like me. Live close to the boarder.
I travel longer to get to work, than to a Swedish mall....
So travel cost to and back work 1 time. Costs me more than travel cost to and back from Swedish mall does.
Hi, I'm from Norway, and from where I live in Norway, it takes just over 1 hour to Sweden 😊 (Fri and back)
Yes it is easy to go to the neighbour countries. But we have Toll system that follow up that you do not bring wrong things. Look at the border from Oslo to the Swedish border. It is not fare
Some details about the Russ thing
1: t's been around for more than a century. every currently living Norwegean has either particpated in it or knows someone who did, so it's normalized
2: It reached it's peak insanity level in the 60s and at one point the russ in Oslo kidnaped the prime minister, served him beer, had him pose and dance with a russ before releasing him
3: The russ are color-coded. Red is the most common and is for people graduating academical high school. Blue is for people graduating economics, black is for people graduating agricultural studies
4: While the celebration lasts for 3-4 weeks, the planning and financing for those 3-4 weeks often starts at the beginning of high school and lasts 2-3 years. This is probably only possible since college is free.
5: The customary russ business cards are supposed to be silly/crude/provocative, and it's customary for kids to collect them.
6: Norwegean pop artists make custom-crafted songs for russ season. they're generally supposed to be extremely crude
7: While the Russ celebration originated as a celebration of graduating, it is now done before the final exams. meaning it's entirely possible to fail and have to repeat the final year (quite possibly because you were too focused on the Russ celebrating)
The thing with the dares is kind of like merit badges. the 2022 list had 130 different ones including:
Be handcuffed to another (consenting) russ for 12 hours-
Pretend to be a tourguide while on public transportation
Buy a frozen fish and pretend it's your pet for a day
Exercise (safe and consentual) sex with 5 different fellow russ
Have (safe and consentual) sex in the woods
Do something nice for an elderly person
Hang up posters of yourself on school
Only say nice things to everyone you meet for an entire day
Get vaccinated
Stay in a committed relationship the entire period.
Weiderst things Norwegians do
1. Yes, we are not people of small talk/chitchat. We can ask people small questions, like Excuse me, do you know where …. Is? Or did you see buss number….leaving? That’s it. If we do get eye-contact with people we know, we sometimes stop and ask how they are doing, or what they are upto these days, or whatever, other times we have eye-contact, we just acknowledge each other, smile to each other , say hei and just keep walking. Its mutual and normally no hard feelings on either side. We reckon the other side is busy or going somewhere within a timelimit, so we dont want to stop and bother them. This way we acknowledge that other person is busy, and that’s ok. Yes, not wasting each others time.
So talking to strangers on bus, train or whatever isn’t that normal, unless you have a small question to ask, or something.
2. Russe-fering (russ-celebration)
During senior yr of high school. Party time, woohoo. Party month, getting drunk month. Yes, its part everything. The best part? Its normally expected and accepted you to be this kind of lunatic behavior. Not allowed is to do something illegal or vandalizing and so on. Even some things that you are not actually allowed to do, ex. alcohol drinking in public, if a russ drinks in public, they do get reprimended, but get away with it. Its like forgive them, they are russ, so they are drunk and not know any better. :D Most of the high schools, you become red-russ, who wears red russe-dress, but there are blue-russ, and few black-russ. You dont get to choose the color individually. What ever color your high school has, is the russ you get to be.
3. Shopping trip to Sweden
At least those who live close to the Swedish border. Food and groceries are cheaper in Sweden, so its cheaper to go there and do you everyday shopping. Our borders are open, so no hassle to go to Sweden. Yes, it does cost extra in fuel and stuff, but a lot of us do it also for the trip/road trip and having a day out.
4. How are you?
Kind of the same here in Norway. We ask each other not how are you, but how are you doing. Meaning what’s going on, what are you up to these days……… Not for a life story, but as a small talk, with an acquittance.
5. Friday Tacos
Every family has their own traditions when it comes to food. So Taco-Friday is indeed a thing. A lot of people do that, save up taco eating to Friday. Or maybe pizza-Friday or what ever tradition they have. And some eat what ever, and don’t have any special Friday night meal.
In Norway Taco is ALSO Mexican food, its not Norwegian speciality. So taco-Friday is not a joke here. It’s a real deal, for a lot of people.
6. Born with ski-s
Yes, this is a Norwegian saying, something we joke about, since Norwegians are great winter sportsmen/women. People take their kids skiing from a very young age, like maybe even as a one yr old, first cross-country, later down hill…
I firmly bealive that going skiing from young age is only part of the reason Norwegians are so good. The other reason is that in Norway Olympic level (and some lower level) sports athletes do get sponsored, have excellent places to like train, or whatever its called. Norwegian state invest in sports in various ways. Normal people have snow right outside their door, and Norway is a country with lots of mountain, so perfect conditions for their training.
7. Yes we Norwegians are one drunk people, and that is perfectly ok.
When it comes to norwegians and food, it doesnt really matter where it originates from as Norway is a multicultural country we see food as food ( as other cultures kinda of intergrates with our own ). Some examples of this is tacos, wok and pizza ( we have a brand called grandiosa in Norway which is pizza that some might eat at christmas or just in general ). In America you probably have to go to a shop stand with mexicans to get good tacos ( maybe ), but in Norway most people probably can make good tacos themselves. I myself ( 20 year old male ) learned to make taco when I was 14-ish without problems and still do today. Same with pizza, enchilada and tapas. Probably one of the reasons norwegians integrate other cultures food is probably cause most food originating from Norway is either wierd or pretty boring compared to other countries ( example fårikål, lapskaus, kjøttkaker med brunsaus, and one of the wierdest smalahove aka a cooked sheep head ).
Yes, everyone or almost everyone is okay with this bc our parents have also done this
Where I live now it takes me a whole day getting to sweden and back. Absolutely horrendous. Where I lived before I could be in Sweden, shop and be back home in an hour. Most border crossings are not operated by people, and there are no restrictions for Scandinavians traveling between countries except for the limit of how much stuff you can take with you across without smuggling. I have crossed the border 1000 times in my life and have spoken with border control less than a handful of those.
2:00 If they are a good friend, or family you might talk to them,
but if it is some random person you have never seen before, or maybe seen but not talked to,
you just ignore them... but you still sometimes ignore people you know, or just wave at them, then just continue with your day.
In Norway people are usually 18/19 when graduating high school and the drinking age is 18, so it works out. The only Russ that could be potentially underage are those graduating from trade school as they only have 2 years of school, making some of them 17 (some of them would be 18, though) when they would initially be a Russ, which is why a lot of trade school graduates choose not to be a Russ.
Being a Russ is really whatever you make out of it. There can be a lot of fun dares, a bunch of them are pretty innocent, like pretend to be a dog on a leash in public, or cruising around a parking lot in a shopping cart, some dares take place in school itself, like not speaking for a full school day (did that one, had to be creative to participate in class discussions, wrote my arguments on paper and held them up for people to read, lol), or speak a foreign language a whole day (did that one as well) or sit through a class in just your underwear (did that one, too, and followed up by asking the teacher to sign my underwear - another dare). There's a bunch of alcohol related ones, I didn't really do any of those, and a bunch of intimacy ones (did some of the kissing ones, and one public nudity one, but stayed clear of the rest).
It definitely sounds insane, and I get people wondering how on earth this is even allowed, but Russefeiring is actually a pretty long standing tradition. It obviously wasn't as racy when our parents/grandparents did it, that kinda evolved over time, but the celebration itself has been a thing for a very long time, and we all know to expect it.
If you want to see examples, there's a reality show over here about Norwegian-Americans competing to meet their Norwegian relatives and one of the seasons had a Russ- episode, where they tried being Russ for a day and doing some of the dares we do.
ua-cam.com/video/1mEEzsTnf50/v-deo.html
up north we do the weird thing of driving to Finland to buy candy.. and no we ain't saving monet.. it's a 6 hour drive each way from where I live
If you live around the Oslo area, it generally will take you 4 hours for a round trip to Sweden. Stop for some shopping and a bite to eat, and you'll use about 6 hours. Passenger vehicles are rarely inspected at the border. And even if it is mandatory to stop and you're over your tobacco and alcohol quota, just lie about it and you'll have a 95% chance of getting off scot-free. As long as it's not clearly visible you exceeded your quota.
Smugglers beware, they track you all through Europe and will single you out for inspection.
Taco friday - not all do this. It is just since it is so normal to have potato for dinner, it is not normal to have take-away and “crap food” so indulging on friday or the weekend with something like restaurant food, take away, pizza, taco, etc. it’s because we eat home made dinner usually meat, potatoes, veggies and sauce. We do eat rice and pasta too, but point is we treat ourselves with more greasy food or fancy food on fridays or the weekends.
Check out May 17th in Norway 🇧🇻
As you saw in your other video on Stavanger, you learned that it is the Oil-Capital of Norway. Well in 1965, a wave of Americans came to Norway because of the oil boom. A 16 year old working in his fathers store, asked the wives of these Americans what they were missing most from home. One of the answers was of course, Taco. Then it spread all over Norway from there.
2:12 while our impressions of citizens from USA are more talkative and extroverted I guess it's a very common thing that she's talking about all around the world.
But it seems to us and what at least I've been told trhough videos where American citizens talk about this subject it's like it's more of an extroverted society in USA.
It's more accepted when one is approached by strangers on the bus stop or other situations like this for a simple small talk.
The problem I have never seen put forward as to why I.e norwegians seems more close minded is that in general whe do not have as much smalltalk.
Often you will find yourself in longer more meaningful conversations with a norwegian.
At first we of course opens the conversations with a easy and less personal topic like the weather, car jams, or other correlating topics to your surroundings.
Then after probing and fighting in the minds of each other the conversations always find it's way into more heavy topics.
Politics, economy, philosophy or education...it doesn't matter.
That's also why I've heard from especially Foreigners from USA say "they seems very closed and have strong intimate zones, but when you get to know them as friends you will have a very open and deep conversation. They will make great friends"
I of course write this from memory after a long time so I most likely have misplaced some words or remembered wrong.. but it something like that.
Well, so what I am trying to say is that we may not want to talk to strangers on the bus or busstop and any places where one person or you can't leave because you MUST get that bus.
Because if I was clear enough in my comment to now you will find that we have a bigger culture on the conversations and communication/interactions being more than just being polite. It is good to have a foundation of reasons for the conversations as a deeper one would have. Smalltalk is more correlated woth superficial charm and not so honest to what your intentions are. We are a smaller country with fewer people and thus meaningful relationships matters more than the need for human interaction.
This is also something you will observe in say school, especially in middle and high-school and universities. Students will often have their first day meeting up and sitting by themselves. The awkward silence, and us being us we also usually choose the one seat and place we will use for the whole year and the same will the person sitting next to you that first day.. and because we are who we are we first begin the with the one "hello, mulig name is ..." and after 1 to 2 weeks one becomes friends.
The kids starting roaming around talking to everyone meets their counterpart for sure, but it's not as accepted and thus they can be seen as a nuisance to others.
Sorry for the long post, but even this is a simplification of the topic as you would really delving into a book sized research subject that would explain this by pointing to much more that could attribute and explain this.
I'm not going further with this because of that problem.
So, hope I could clear something up instead of the regular "we are introverts for the most part"... it's so much more and huge part is culture, climates, population etc.
Jeez, this got longer and deeper than I anticipated 🤭
Well, wish you a good day 😅
You have to look at it like driving from one state, to the next state. I live 3 hours from Trondheim (senter capital of Trøndelag), and 1,5 hour from a small Swedish town.. so, yeah. But i only buy tobacco and beer.. but our bordercontroll is mostly trustbased
Dude. Russefeiring is strange to me too. I don't know, but apperantly every high school graduate takes their exam hangover from 4 weeks. I never was involved in that
there's a russeknute where you suppose to sit under your desk for the whole class x) or atleast it used to, they change almost every year depending on feedback from teachers and public, but Russetiden is only one time in your life aka you last year at high school, the year you either turn 18 or 19 depending on what you study, she was "rød Russ" which is basically academic school studies I think like alot of math, me I was Svart Russ ( Black cloths )
Welcome to Norway, we love to hear what foreigners think about us. We like to be the best in everything, but do not like to admit it 😀
"The very first skis date back to 8000 years BC and were found in Northern China. They were made of 2-metre-long pieces of wood and were covered in horsehair"
If you want to see more of the party side of it, reacting to "LS2019 Official Aftermovie!" is an idea. Best festival for russ which really kicks it off.
At 10:20. You wouldn't think it, but Norway is one of the countries that have have placed #1 worldwide in several yearly culinary championships. So she is not completely wrong here,..Which is kind of weird considering traditional norwegian dishes is not known for a broad selection of spices and taste....Peronally I can understad why. Spice is not meant to enrich the taste of food. It to preserve food from bacteria. In cold countries they use ice, in warm counties they use spice. Neighter of them add flavor to food. The flavor of food is not from either of them. Why do think the words are so similar? Ice is cold water. Spice is burning water...Ice and spice are conservativrs
Personally whenever me and my family go to sweden (only to shop, not visiting family or anything) it ranges from taking 3 hours there and back, to sometimes spening the night there camping
Many Canadians who live right on the border do this with america since getting candy and chocolate right after a holiday is insanely cheap compared to canada. And since the bored is basically nothing, half the time they don't even check you car, let alone look in your windows. Many american's do it too, although it's more expensive,the candy quality is genurally higher than americas. Aparently it was enough of a quality difference that a couple decades ago a bunch of americans were constantly buying and smuggling over candy from canada to sell in america. That lasted until government shut it down
I from Norwey and it`s essy to drive to sweden
I'm gonna be Russ next year, really excited. Nice that you cover, pretty accurate
When he said WIERD NORWEGIAN, i remembered the wierd norwegian UA-cam channel
As a non-smoker and non-drinker, the best part of Sweden shopping is that they have quotas on how much of both you can take across the border. Which allows me to travel for free because people gladly accept me not contributing to paying for gas as long as I give them my alcohol and cigarette quotas instead.
How long it is to travel to Sweden depends from where you live in Norway and withc border you cross. For traveling from Norway to Sweden, you dont need any passport or identification of any kind. The people living near the border can often go shoping there weekly.
Norwegian taco is not that much different from typical american taco, but american taco and mexican tacos are not allways allike either. Typical taco is with minced beef with taco seasoning, lettuce, tomato, cheddar, cucuber, onion, corn, tomato salsa, guacamole topped with sour cream. . .in a tacoshell or "wheat tortilla".
And one more thing, not all norwegians are introvert, not more than other people, I think. And the culture is verry different in different parts of the country. It tends to be that the more south you come, the more introvert, and the other way in the north. The thing that people , especially in citys, do not talk to other people the do not know in busses or other places, is a cultural thing, not directly related to that people are introvert.
Hey Tyler!
Just wanted to say that I'm really enjoying your videos. I wanted to offer my help if you have any questions regarding Norway (daily life stuff, translations, whatever you might need help with or info about).
I'm also an English-Norwegian translator, so yeah, could be helpful. :)
One time i was on a holiday in a city that was right beside Sweden. It took 15 minutes to drive
Some dears are sleeping with a number of people, walking on all four for a mile and eating 1/2 gallon of ice cream in an hour in a class time.
To answer his question, it depends on where you are in Norway, but where most people live, it will take about 30 mins to drive to Sweden.
I work as a teacher in upper secondary school (high school equivalent) and have been invited by students to "roll with the bus" during russ celebrations. Thanks, but no thanks! Partied hard enough in my own russ celebration :D
Norway and Sweden are part of the EEA and Schengen, and that means that Norwegians can travel to Sweden without any border security. It's just a normal road, and you see a sign saying "Sweden", and suddenly you are in Sweden without even stopping.