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Norway and Namibia is very different in many ways. I hope reading this can be both fun and maybe also give you new ways of seeing things bringing more understanding when meeting other cultures.
Norway is extremely egalitarian. We say “you” when we adress someone and we use the given name tlking to or about anyone, teacher, boss og primeminister. It’s only to the king it is rude to say “you”, but I have heard it used serveral times. For me to be called “Sir” or “Mr.” feels uncomfertable. To me it feels like someone is saying I’m worth more than them. It’s the same if someone wants to carry my bags or open the entrance door at a hotel. To a Norwegian it almost feels like having a slave. It is very different for us to see that this is a way of employing more people sharing the money to more families instead of only the owner of the hotel.
An African might be seen as selfish if he has a garden at his house, but have not hired a gardener, a security guard or a maid. This is a way of sharing wealth giving work and an opportunity for more families to earn money keeping dignity, not having to ask for money. In Norway people are seen as pompous and spoiled if they hire someone to do what they could have done themself.
In Norway the bus come and go on an exact time. People wait at the bus station one by one, one meter apart from each other (even before Corona Virus) and when choosing a seat it’s a thorough consideration on where to sit furthest apart from most people. We say “hei” to people we know and strangers if we are in a place were it takes more than 5 minutes since we last saw a person (in the forrest or in the mountains). We say how are you if it’s a good friend or if we are in a place were it’s more than an hour since we met someone (deep in the forrest or on a remote mountain trail).
In Namibia you might wait for days for transport, and it’s so crowded you will not find a quiet seat. When you see someone you greet them and ask how are you even if you just see someone on the other side of the street. For me it usually stopped there. Most people in town didn’t know more English than “How are you?” and I didn’t know more Damara than “Matisa?” (How are you?) and I tried to reply “!Gaia” (I’m fine), but think I used to say “!Naia” or something similar meaning “I’m cold” ( I was definitly not cold. A Norwegian living in the Namibian desert didn’t freeze except when taking a shower in the morning during cold season).
Singing and dancing in public is close to absent in Norway, but in Namibia it is done by everyone and everywhere. When warming up for a football game you sing and dance, when waiting 20 hours for a bus to take you to a tournament in another town you sing and dance without stop and I don’t think there is any situation it’s not appropriate to sing and dance.
But despite all this differences the most difficult thing for me to adapt to was to see poverty. The people have the same needs in life as anyone else, but not knowing if you have something to eat tomorrow is a difference it’s impossible to understand. I can go hungry for a long time, I can work hard for long time or I can eat only the same thing for weeks, but I will always know that I can buy food or go to hosptial if sick. I can not experience the everlasting strugle.
