NORWAY - TRONDHEIM
Trondheim - The dark side of life? Arriving in Trondheim in January is a bit of a shock. You are entering one of the most beautiful countries in the world with an incredible landscape, if it was not so dark... How much the environment and the harsh conditions influence one's mind and how much this explains the behaviour of the locals is reflected in the following.
How the conditions are On the day of my arrival on the 3rd of January, the day length was a crisp 4h 49min (sunrise at 09:58 and sunset at 14:47). One month later, on the 3rd of February, the day was already 7h 26min (sunrise at 08:49 and sunset at 16:16). What for me is an exciting and at the same time physically challenging new experience, the Norwegians have had to withstand since at least November. There is a constant cold of around -10 degrees, there is snow everywhere and it is dark. These conditions have an impact on the body as well as on social behaviour. On the one hand, the body is forced to jump into sleep mode early in the afternoon. On the other hand, this physical condition has a resonance on social behaviour, which suffers at least at this time of the year.
How they affect the behaviour of the people At the beginning of my stay the typical Norwegian seems rather reserved, cool and distanced. The typical facial expression is always depressed and eye contact is strictly avoided. What at first sight does not seem very welcoming and rather frightening, changes immediately when contact is made. The typical Norwegian answers in perfect English in a polite and helpful way - no more and no less. As long as you keep the conversation going and take the initiative, Norwegians are very sympathetic. As quickly as the daylight, the Norwegian fades away. This is by no means a sign of disrespect or unfriendliness, but rather a sign of respect for privacy. In Norway, correctness and trust are very important. Therefore, it is only understandable that personal distance wants to be maintained. The climatic conditions support this behaviour to a certain extent, as the cold and the length of the day show the boundaries in the social structure.
How the people fight against the conditions There is only one situation in which the typical Norwegian behaves atypically. This is when he has been drinking. The contrast could not be larger, because the typical Norwegian suddenly becomes a funny, open and communicative Norwegian. The only constant is the time aspect: since the day ends early, Norwegians also start partying earlier, which gives them the advantage of finishing earlier. A typical Friday looks like this: Friday is "Taco Friday". There is no logical explanation for this for this national-wide developed phenomenon, Norwegians just seem to like Mexican food. People get together in a group of friends at someone's house to eat tacos and get in the mood for the party. Since alcohol is extremely expensive in Norway, everyone buys what they want to drink themselves at Vinmonopolet, a state-owned company in Norway that is under the supervision of the Norwegian Ministry of Health and Welfare and has the national monopoly on the sale of drinks with an alcohol content of more than 4.75 per cent by volume. The evening usually ends in a club or bar at 12 o'clock in the evening, so that one does not completely sleep through the next day. However, the answer to the challenge of the climatic conditions clearly seems to be sport. Everyone is very sporty and the fitness centres are always full. Norway's national sport, cross-country skiing, is at its peak at this time of the year. Trondheim alone offers a network of 250km of trails, making it one of the three largest cross-country skiing areas in Norway. The trails are freshly groomed every day and there are countless lights that illuminate the trails even at night. The typical Norwegian, however, naturally makes his own way across the forest. And he usually does it alone - the likeable Norwegian way.
By now it is already April and since the time has changed, the length of the day is increasing rapidly. The low position of the sun allows for a wide variety of colours and makes what are initially short days into infinitely long sunset moods. You can already feel the energy in your body reaching new highs that were not reached with two bottles of vitamin D even during the period of darkness. Norwegians are gradually coming out of their shells more and, as much as I learned to love the darkness, I am happy to experience the turnaround and enjoy endless days.