What causes the Irish to be SO FRIENDLY and the Scandinavians so chilly? (country, people)
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I know... Many of you will reject all stereotypes of people from a certain country because it is not true 100% of the time.
But after spending a significant amount of time in Scandinavia (Especially Sweden and Finland) and then in Ireland I felt like I was in a different world. My ancestry is Swedish, and experienced the outgrowth of the Swedish culture growing up in Iowa and Minnesota. But I could not get over the differences in the social culture between the various Scandinavian Countries and that of Ireland.
Any feedback? Or will you reject my conclusions because you know someone from Ireland is not so friendly and a super friendly person from Finland.
The Irish are friendly because they want you to buy them a drink, the Scandinavians aren't friendly because they think you want them to buy you a drink !
Any feedback? Or will you reject my conclusions because you know someone from Ireland is not so friendly and a super friendly person from Finland.
Are you fluent in Finnish or Swedish? Can you follow conversations and interact on their terms? Otherwise it's very hard to make a believable judgement on how people are in certain countries as I'm sure you can with the Irish.
Are you fluent in Finnish or Swedish? Can you follow conversations and interact on their terms? Otherwise it's very hard to make a believable judgement on how people are in certain countries as I'm sure you can with the Irish.
I don't speak Greek but know they by nature are more outgoing than people from Finland, MOST OF THE TIME!
I thought the stereotype was that Scandanavians were very nice. Maybe not outgoing, but welcoming and kind etc.
Actually. I met a Swede in Spain and she was quite friendly. She went to school with a German friend of mine (Erasmus) who told me that while everyone else in Spain, Spanish or otherwise, seems to want to go out, she is always inviting people to her flat for coffee and stuff like that instead. Maybe it's a northern climate thing. I know Ireland is northern, but my impression of Scandanvia is that it's probably generally harsher and less dense.
Frankly, I guess you had false expectations. Iowa and Minnesota are nothing like Scandinavia and most people probably didn't care that you are an eighth Swedish.
In Ireland they did at least speak your language.
Personally, I met nice people in both regions... Hard to think of any social interactions out of the ordinary...
Last edited by viribusunitis; 03-11-2014 at 01:28 AM..
I don't speak Greek but know they by nature are more outgoing than people from Finland, MOST OF THE TIME!
Well have you spent a prolonged time in Greece? Where and when in Finland did you visit? Especially if it was like 30 years ago, the proficiency in English was not on the same level as it is today. Even if people would've want to, the language could've been a barrier, and the Irish have a huge advantage in this.
Give me a bunch of examples and I'll see if there's point wasting any more time on this. The Opening post was at least weak as hell and nothing but old stereotypes being thrown once again.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jesse44
I thought the stereotype was that Scandanavians were very nice. Maybe not outgoing, but welcoming and kind etc.
Well visit as a tourist and if you need help on the street reading a map or something, there's immediately someone there to help you. I find that a thousand times more genuinely friendly than a fake smile and some American shallow compliments.
People in Iowa and Minnesota are americans whereever their ancestors may come from.
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