My experience in Norway has broadened my perspective on multicultural relationships, cultural enrichment, and my worldview in general. Getting to interact with people from all over the world allowed me to understand how significant cultural differences are in a relationship. From language barriers to differing cultural norms, I found a lot of exchange students sticking with other students from their home country. Not because they didn’t want to branch out, but because it was harder from some cultures to stray away from the safety of the relationship dynamics that they felt comfortable with. I also got to learn a lot about how different cultures have been diluted or enriched overtime. It was also cool to hear exchange students talk about their views of America and the assumptions they have about Americans. My initial impressions were pretty accurate. Norway is big on welfare for its people, resulting in a very minuscule gap in income amongst citizens. This is why the majority of its citizens live comfortably. Norway is also very economically cautious, as almost everywhere there is recycling options rather than huge trash cans. Norwegians are very “to themselves” and hate small talk, but if you build a relationship through a class or organization, they’re a lot more likely to open up and start a conversation. Overall, my initial impressions stuck throughout the semester. To describe Norway as beautiful physically and culturally would be an understatement.
