Several thousand young people have now moved to new places in the country to study. It can lead to culture shock: – A poorly communicated topic, says the social anthropologist.
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Ida Ystmark (20) moved from Oslo to Volda on Sunnmøre to study journalism in mid-August. She experiences several positive differences living in a smaller village.
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In Oslo he had no particular contact with his neighbors, but here he has contacts with everyone.
– This applies to both students and the population. I was about to run around Rotevatnet and it was quite natural to ask a local if the route went all around. Population is open and you can have a chat with the lady behind the counter without it looking weird, she says, and she adds:
–– I think it has something to do with the fact that here they are generally more open, you are used to your neighbor knowing your neighbor, when you walk down the street it is more natural for someone to smile at you than they would have been in Oslo.
He can understand that many students may experience culture shock from moving to a smaller village.
– But I haven’t heard from it so far.
On the other hand, she felt unsure about how to dress.
– I’m a little unsure how to dress – because in Oslo you’re used to being so many people and everything is so acceptable, but here you think more about it because it’s smaller, she says.
Norwegians think they are just like other Norwegians
OsloMet social anthropology professor Thorgeir Kolshus says Norwegians experiencing culture shock in Norway are a poorly communicated topic.
– We like to talk about ourselves as culturally homogeneous or very similar, and that cultural differences were almost something that appeared with immigration in the 1970s.
He says there are many things that are different from different places in Norway. There is coastal culture, inland culture and the difference between east and west, north and south.
– It’s easy to believe that everything is the same. Expectations that everything should be the same make the culture shock so great, she says.
He says you can get the same shock as when you move out of Europe and uses Bergen as an example. There it is perhaps more common to say things directly, while in Oslo, according to Kolshus, it is more common to end words.
–– When students from Oslo move, or when students come to Oslo, they are characterized by the social codes of the place they are in.
It is easier to find a place in small-scale environments. In the capital it’s easy to disappear into the crowd, he says.
– Being just a student is not enough if you are a student in Oslo and have no friends here before. It takes more effort to get a network and a circle of friends in Oslo, he says and adds:
– In small towns, being a student is an established role that you can largely get into right away, but in big places, it’s something you have to fill with content on your own, he says.
The climate can also affect: if the weather is bad and you are used to being inside when it rains, it can lead you to isolate yourself more than others who are used to bad weather.
–Joakim Feet Wold (19) moved to Trondheim to study sociology for a year. He comes from the village of Gausdal, north of Lillehammer.
He has lived in the city of study for a week and already feels a sense of freedom.
– Gausdal is a much smaller place, you know a lot more people and there is less that is “law”. There are many tractors in the village and you must be a special type, she thinks.
He says it’s hard to stand out.
– It’s much harder to wear different clothes or be different in the country than in the city, he says, but adds:
– I am very happy and grateful that I grew up in the village, but there is something else in the opportunities and diversity of the city. I feel that I am just one of many and that I can do more of what I want without thinking about what people will think of me or Janteloven.
He created a TikTok user where he wants to help people have a better life:
Same challenges as foreigners
– Many of the challenges foreigners face when moving to Norway are very similar for people from Tromsø who come to Trondheim or Bergen, says author Julien S. Bourrelle.
He is the founder of Mondå Forlag, which has published several books on Scandinavian culture. Through the project, he has worked with hundreds of Norwegians and other foreigners who have shared experiences.
–– When we go far, we are prepared for things to be very different. It is a kind of protection mechanism that we did not activate when we are in Norway, because we expect everything to be the same. Then it is easier to achieve success.
Bourrelle believes it can be particularly challenging for those moving from small places to large cities.
– Those who will fight the most are those who have a hard time getting involved in things. Although there are often people from smaller places who can struggle, as you don’t always have to take that initiative there.
–Highlight the social groups we have in Norway. When everyone already has their friends, it can be difficult to get involved in the new place you move to.
Father’s week is therefore very important.
– Organized activities are crucial for all friendships later in life. You see it to a much greater extent in Scandinavian countries than in the rest of the world, Bourrelle says.
–He lived in six different countries. There she worked to integrate into society and research how the population communicated. Also, she has learned languages.
The experience in this country was different.
– In Norway it was more difficult to be invited. You had to be in an organized business to make friends.
–A report of Status Young, released in May, showed that more than four out of five young people had felt alone in the past 12 months. It may be related to the pandemic, but it may also be difficult to make friends.
VG spoke to other students who say they think it was a transition to moving to bigger cities. And she writes, among other things, that she has lived her whole life in a place where everyone knows everyone, and that she has never felt alone or alone. She was therefore a big transition when she moved to a bigger city.
– Even though there were many people I knew and who already lived in this city, I felt I had no one to meet with during the day or to go to events, writes the student who wishes to remain anonymous.
She sat a lot alone in the house. She eventually went home, as the loneliness became too great.
Bourrelle thinks both foreigners and Norwegians should think differently when moving to a new city. There are solutions: volunteering, starting a business you enjoy, or becoming a member of a student community for fun.
– Then you create new social bubbles, he says.
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