Norway Belonging To American Culture

The history books tell us that Norway has been ruled first by the Danes for about 400 years and then by the Swedes for another century. Being ruled for about 500 years took a toll on the country and these implications can be seen in the culture today. Norway is a very proud country and the people are almost stubborn or single minded. Norwegians are still wary of strangers after their history of being ruled. The past affects the present and because of the county’s history, Norwegians value safety and security. Tradition is seen as safe and secure without any surprises. Therefore, Norwegians do everything the same way every time. This makes them somewhat suborn, not wanting to change their ways. Norwegians also believe

There are three stages of cultural identity including unexamined identity, search for identity, and identity achievement. An example of unexamined cultural identity is how children take many things about their culture for granted. They believe whatever their parents, the media, or anyone else tells them. The search for identity is the questioning of one’s culture in order to learn more about it. It also includes understanding the implications of belonging to the culture. Identity achievement means that one has a clear sense of their cultural identity. During our site visit to McDonalds we learned how they achieved cultural identity. The Senior Communications Consultant of McDonalds, Katherine, used the quote “McDonalds was born in the states but raised in Norway”. McDonalds would not have survived in Norway as an American company. They had to shift and change things to appeal to the culture of Norway. Norwegians are stubborn, doing things their own way. Katherine stressed that it is essential to let the public know that McDonalds uses local Norwegian meat. Norwegians like to know where the products come from and the closer, the better. The site visit to McDonalds reinforced the idea that the people of Norway like the Norwegian way and that they believe their culture is superior. The people of Norway cannot accept McDonalds as a company unless it reforms to the Norwegian

Language is an important part of any culture. According to the sapir whorf hypothesis, the structure of a language affects the way in which one conceptualizes the world. (Wikipedia). Living in Norway, knowing the language becomes very important and immigrants are now required to learn Norwegian. Emilie Bruchon, Deputy Public Affairs Officer at the US Embassy in Norway, reinforces the fact that knowing the language is relevant. She stated that, even though most Norwegians know English, speaking and learning the language still has value. Emilie said that knowing the language was necessary in her job because she was better able to relate with people and she needs to communicate with everyone, even the few people that do not speak