Our first weekend back in Norway and we travelled to Myrkdalen for a friends 30th birthday party. Vibeke 'the birthday girl' had arranged 3 cabins next to the slopes and she had invited a mixture of British and Norwegian friends from work and home. Myrkdalen is 130km from Bergen and takes approximately 2 hours to drive. It has a new chair lift, 4 button lifts and boasts the most reliable ski conditions in the area.
John and I were one of the first to arrive on the Friday and with the staggered arrival of different groups of people to the party it allowed me to observe the polite and endearing manner in which Norwegians arrive at a social gathering...
A Norwegian entering a party will first greet the host/hostess and then make their way around the gathering and acknowledge every person present - with no exception. If the people are known to them they will normally greet them with 'Takk for siste' which directly translates to 'Thanks for the last time' and if they are unknown to them then they will introduce themselves and indulge in a few minutes of small talk. It is so ingrained into their 'party culture' that you can see the people sat down become agitated if the person is distracted from doing the rounds.
The 'arriving at a party culture' that I'm used to involves rocking up and putting your drinks in the fridge, finding your mates and maybe saying hi to the host/hostess if you know them.
I think the Norwegian do it pretty well.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment