When we visited my hostmum’s sister, her husband asked me what the differences were between Norway and the Netherlands. Of course I couldn’t really think of anything special then. So I thought I would make a list of the things I’ve experienced, so I won’t forget it😅
Food
- Kveldsmat
In the Netherlands it’s normal to have three main meals. You’d have breakfast, lunch and dinner. But in Norway you’d eat breakfast, lunch, dinner and kveldsmat. Kveldsmat translates to ‘eveningfood’. So in my hostfamily we eat dinner quite early, at 16:30. And then you’d have kveldsmat at around 20:00. So most of the time it’s a slice of bread with something or sometimes it’s some leftovers from the day before. I think it’s quite a nice thing. The only thing is, when you have a child that doesn’t want to eat it’s dinner, you can’t tell them that they won’t have anything else because they always have the kveldsmat🤔
- Taco Friday
In the Netherlands a lot of people will have Friday/Saturday ‘patat dag’. But the Norwegian national food is taco’s and especially on Friday. Every Friday.
- Candy on Saturday night (lørdagsgodis)
I didn’t actually realise this was a Norwegian thing until one of the people in my Norwegian course asked me if we did this too. So on Saturday night the kids both get their own little bag of about 7 candy pieces. That’s also pretty much the only time they eat candy, so that’s really good!
- Baconost
I guess we have something similar in the Netherlands. It’s cheese from a tube, but we put it on crisps. Well, I don’t, but other people do. But the Norwegians have baconost which is cheese from a tube with bits of bacon inside and they put it on a piece of bread. It doesn’t really sound appetising, and I also don’t think it is appetising.
- Cafés and restaurants
So in my experience in Norway I’ve noticed that in all the cafés and lunchplaces I’ve been, you have to order your food at the counter. For dinner I’m not quite sure, I ate dinner at a burger place so maybe that’s not the most reliable source😅 While in the Netherlands it is more than common to sit down and have a waiter come and ask you what you want to drink and eat. That will happen in cafés and restaurants where there’s enough tables for some people to sit down.
- Grandiosa
Grandiosa is a frozen pizza. Of course we have frozen pizza’s in the Netherlands, but most of us don’t eat that on Christmas Eve. Here in Norway it’s the most eaten meal on Christmas Eve…
- Norwegian arms
In Norway it’s quite normal to reach all the way across the table to get something. Honestly, I really like it :’) Feels like you’re in control hahah (but sometimes it’s really not possible and you still ask someone…)
Customs/culture
- Leaving your stuff on the street
In the Netherlands you keep your stuff close to you. You might even check if everything is still in your bags and pockets while you’re walking in the street. In Norway you can leave the buggy on the street while you walk into the magical pathway😅 or you can eat lunch in a café and leave the buggy outside. And after an hour it’s still there😱 I also saw some people put their bags on chairs in the train, and then they went back outside to eat something. And I just sat there like, ‘are you sure?’…
- Taking shoes off
In the Netherlands it’s maybe an even split of houses where you have to take your shoes off, and where you can leave your shoes on when you go inside. Maybe even keep your shoes on most of the time. In Norway you always take your shoes off inside. Also in the kindergarten. And also… in schools, so all the kids in school are walking on their socks.
- The language… obviously
Another difference is the language. In the Netherlands we speak Dutch, quite a monotone language with choking sounds, like when you say ‘goochelen’. In Norway, people talk… Norwegian😱 The language sounds more like singing. And it has an awful lot of vowels, a, e, o, u, i, y, æ, ø, å. Don’t even get me started on the difference between i and y… The whole meaning of the word changes…
- Hei!
When walking on the streets in the Netherlands, you’d probably say ‘hoi’ to someone that lives in your street or that you see on the street regularly. Probably not in the big cities like Rotterdam, but more in the suburbs. In Norway that’s not the case. You don’t talk to anyone while walking on the street, or it must be a really good friend. But to make this very logical, you say ‘hei’ to everyone you see while you’re hiking🤔
Other
- Talking when breathing in
I’m guessing it’s a Scandinavian thing, because I’ve heard the Finnish do it as well. But for some reason they can talk on the inhale. But only like one word, so for example if they say ‘ja’. I can’t do it at all. But the thing is, they all don’t know that they do it… So when I tell them this, they have no idea what I’m talking about🤷🏻♀️
- Changing rooms
For example in a swimming pool. In the Netherlands you’ll find all these stalls where only one person fits, and that’s where you change your clothes into swimwear. In Norway that’s a little different. There is one big changing room where all change in the same place. A little bit uncomfortable at first, but when I realised I was probably the only one, it felt a bit more normal. And of course it’s separate for men and women.
Au pair in Norway 