| Trondheim Travel Guide | ||
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TrondheimianWho is Trondheimian? Who is a Typical Norwegian? Many foreigners may wonder about Norwegian Characteristics. Can there be a degree of being Norwegian?
People celebrate the Norwegian independent
day May 17th in Trondheim
If i choose the easiest way, I
may answer, a Norwegian or a Trondheimian is a person who has a
Norwegian citizenship, speaks Norwegian or Trøndesk as their native
language and celebrate May 17th (Norwegian independent day). Some may
say Norwegians are a nation of fisherman and farmers who live close to
nature and love simplicity. If you would have asked 40 years ago “who
is a typical Norwegian” He might have replied : someone who has a fair
skin, born with ski on his feet, eat waffles and drinks like a Viking!What about ethnic Norwegians such as: American-Norwegians, African-Norwegians, Asian-Norwegians, or those who were born in the other countries with Norwegian background? Will exotic foreign element such as Norwegian- Pakistani( a Muslim) create a Norwegian identity in this Christian country? How can a Norwegian identify himself or herself a Norwegian if s/he gets much of their identity from American movies, pop music and foreign foods such as: spaghetti, Pizza, Chinese food that is more often on their dinner plates than fish balls or meat balls?!  May 17th the Norwegian independent day in Trondheim The typical questions about national identity are not limited to Norway. There have been many debates around such topic on TV and newspapers in Norway. Is nationalism as important as decades ago in Norway? The answer is “No” despite of what politicians and power thirsty individuals may think of or talk about, people are very open- minded. How is that, you may ask. There are many reasons to prove the fact that we are going toward globalization! We outsource our projects, we immigrate to the other lands. This is not just happening in Norway, it is everywhere! Our planet has become a smaller place since Internet, Television and satellite broadcasting became popular. The food chain of well-known companies have been running their business around the world such as: Chinese foods, Hamburger, Kentucky fried chicken, Burger king etc. One of the important reasons for the interest of national identity is the fact that we have accepted some common goals in terms of hating wars, renovation, economic and scientific improvements. People around the world connect to each other through various chat rooms, travel blogs, dating websites and knowledge communities. They make a plan for a romantic trip or even marry to each other and have families without paying attention to one another’s ethical and cultural backgrounds. The boundaries between countries, nationalities and cultures are eradicated. The differences in life style are not as accentuated as in the past! We have a common goal, to fight against terrorism, poverty, diseases and stupidity. The truth is that Norwegians are proud of living in a free land and care about the other human beings. We send a part of our Oil money to the under development countries in order to help them to improve their hospitals, schools and assist them with medical cares and food. The truth also indicates the multi-Ethnic Norway care about freedom of speech, peace and better health. The rate of crime and traffic accidents are lower than the other countries and we hope that it stays that way. There are many people in Africa who suffer from HIV positive, especially children! How wonderful it would be if we, people around the world have offered some financial assistance in order to help them to buy medicine against AIDS. Although Norway is experiencing a mixed culture and our Norwegian language has become a mixture between Norwegian and American English! One thing is for sure that there are still people walking around on this planet who call themselves Norwegian... and.... know what that means! |
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