Adopting culture

Alright, so this is the first day in a couple of weeks I’ve had any opportunity to get online. I just returned from vacation in Albania, and it was some holiday! I’ve been to all kinds of places around the world, but the warm greeting I got from the people in that country really took me by surprise. I guess it’s something within the culture, hard to say. It made my mind ponder on some things though, and on the plane home I figured that the warm greeting I got over in Albania isn’t something I’ve received only there. The more I thought about it, thus better did I realize that this kindness is a part of their culture. Not only in Albania, but in lots of places all around the world! The Norwegian Media always seems to give us Norwegians an impression that we are some of the most perfect people in the world, and the only ones we should look up to in terms of social quality is either from America, the Central Parts of Europe, and maybe, just maybe in the overpopulated country that is China. Could it be possible that we cold, tough people from the North could learn something from the poorer parts of the world? Well, why not?

As one of the most wealthy and advanced countries in the world, it’s not too difficult getting cocky! We live our lives with a solid foundation and if there is a possibility that we will f**k up something, there is always that belief that there is someone to help us, whether it’d be the government or some supportive organization. We are somewhat spoiled aren’t we? It’s not weird then that we look at ourselves as the greatest in the world, and denying the fact that we may be able to learn something from people in less perfect conditions than we are. Let’s take Albania for example! One of the poorest countries in Europe, with a unstable economy, corruption within the ranks of the leading powers, decades of difficulties and having a culture which reminds you more of India than Italy. Still, there is that little difference. It seems that all the years of having less freedom than a Tiger in a Circus-cage have made them somewhat protected from all the harm and negative aspects of life. There is of course a lot of criminality going on in the country, but the majority of the people make you feel safe and comfortable. Maybe their “ignorance”, if you can call it that, has helped them become such friendly people? If the government over there doesn’t give you any space and freedom, the people do. Every time someone visits, they have to bring something, whether it’ll be a cake or curtain. You can buy things on the cheap because it makes them feel good about themselves, because when you’ve got the point of view that they’ve got, that everyone is poor, letting you buy something for less than it costs is a good deed. There are lots of stuff like this they do, because they’ve been brought up to it by their surroundings.

It’s not only making you feel good about yourself that matters either, being somebody for someone is vital. It doesn’t matter if you are family, friend, or a random dude in the street, if you need help, you get it. If you need to get somewhere, you can just ask for a ride and you’ve got it, and if you need someone to walk you home, you’ll find it. This does of course also add to the criminality in the country, but if you could manage to keep a solid balance between these two things it could only be a good thing. And when it comes to family, deary me, have we got a lot to learn! While we here in Norway argue with our parents and seem to lose more and more contact as each day passes, you see 29 year olds live with their families without complaining! Did you know that it’s actually supposed to be that when a couple get married, the parents of the daughter are going to move in and live with them? It sounds crazy for us, but there it’s freakish if you live for yourself as a couple. But hey, it’s part of their culture! Solidarity is vital, family is vital, being a supportive character is vital. Doesn’t sound too bad if you ask me!

I’m not saying they are perfect, and I’m not saying we are perfect. Far from it, but if we could add some of their culture to our own we could have been in a socially better position. I don’t think we should let randoms into our cars just because they are late for a meeting, but we should maybe me more helpful towards the unknown people who seek support, rather than just give them a condescending glance and walk away. We can be kind of cold sometimes… Emulating some of their kind culture could be helpful in making us more respected as a people. The world looks at us as cold, tough, and wealthy, maybe adding some warmth and kindness to it could make this country more attractive. It would be some progress!