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gian custom is to walk by without saying a word or exchanging a glance. Even clerks and waiters - to make a broad generalization - rarely go out of their way to chat with their customers. But it's not that Norwegian society is unfriendly, it's that the standards of when it's appropriate to be friendly are a little different. If you meet an acquaintance on the street in Norway, the general expectation is to stop and have a fairly involved conversation. For Americans, to tell a friend "we should get together some time" doesn't necessarily call for making a plan. For many Norwegians, it sounds like an invitation. Friends and family are treated with special attention in Norway, and if you've ever spent a holiday with Norwegian relatives, you know what that means. And that's not nærgående at all.
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nærgående (adjective) nair-GO-en-eh
There's no way to sum up the meaning of the Norwegian adjective nærgående with just one word in English. To say that someone is nærgående is to say that they are a little obnoxious, too personal, or too interested in other people's business. The person who tells you their whole life story in line at the supermarket? You could call them nærgående. The nosy neighbor who asks how much you paid for your new car? Nærgående again. Translated literally, nærgående means "close-going" and the fact that it's used to describe such people shows that in Norwegian culture, it's polite to maintain a little more personal distance than what most Americans are used to.
While Americans are generally accustomed to making small talk with total strangers, that's much less common in Norway. For example, while many Americans (especially Midwesterners) are known for greeting strangers passing on the street, the Norwe
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show off when back at work are popular things to do during the vacation.
The daffodils are usually blooming around Easter, and that's how they got their Norwegian name "Påskeliljer" - or "Easter lilies" as that would be in English.
CREDITS: This article was taken from the internet from "The Global Gazette" an international newspaper focusing on culture. It was created by three girls who live in Norway, TheUnited States and Hong Kong, China.
© 1998 ThinkQuest team 18802
This is a fun site, stop in and visit to learn more!
Main site
http://library.thinkquest.org/18802/
Easter article
http://library.thinkquest.org/18802/symeaste.htm
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EASTER IN NORWAY
Easter in Norway is dominated by Easter chickens, Easter eggs in all colors and occasionally Easter bunnies. Yellow chickens are everywhere at Easter time. Drawn chickens, plastic chickens, cotton chickens, chickens made of all sorts of materials can be seen in private homes, shop windows, newspapers and magazines, on plastic bags and on television. It's no wonder yellow has become the color of Easter in Norway.
Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Monday are national holidays in Norway. School children however have 6 days of Easter vacation (not counting the weekends).
The Norwegians in general do not pay much attention to the religious aspect of Easter. Of course they know the story, but only some will go to church services.
At Easter there are more religious programs on TV than usual, but there is another genre that dominates far more: detective series.
Nobody quite knows why, but for some reason Easter is the high time for reading crime stories and detective novels in Norway. The TV stations all have at least one detective series going at Easter. The series and the books are referred to as "Easter-crime".
Going skiing in the mountains is for many Norwegians what Easter holidays are all about. Getting away from the city, enjoying the snow and the weather and not to mention getting a tan to
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