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Part of traveling and seeing new places is the thrill and excitement of finding out how people live in other countries. And the more drastic the difference is in culture, the more exciting it is.

Meet Jorie, a Chicago creative who has moved to Norway to live together with her husband, family, and pets, and who has also turned her TikTok channel into a platform to broadcast all of the interesting things she as an American found foreign in Norway.

In her running series of videos, appropriately titled “Things In Norway That Are Foreign To Me”, she points out things like bread cutting machines in grocery stores, leaving baby strollers with babies outside, packing your own groceries, and the like.

This, and other videos on her channel, have drawn in nearly 24,000 followers and almost 800,000 likes.

So, we’ve turned her intriguing points into a curated list that you can vote and comment on below. So, get cracking, and if you’re an international living in another country, why not share your biggest culture shocks in the comment section below!

More info: TikTok

#1

Dogs Are Allowed On Public Transport

Dogs Are Allowed On Public Transport

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sharonfaust avatar
Kookamunga
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Dogs should be allowed everywhere. Church, restaurants, theaters, schools, hospitals, nightclubs, prisons, trampolines, TV studios, nuclear substations.....all things better with dogs.

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Bored Panda got in touch with the face behind the channel, Jorie, for an interview on her Things In Norway That Are Foreign To Me video series and all things Norway.

In the beginning, Jorie thought of creating these videos for an American-only audience as a way of informing them about the Norwegian culture. But she quickly understood that Norwegians like to see their culture reflected back at them, so the audience grew rapidly.

"Of course, it’s a small country in population and representation is exciting. I also think they enjoy explaining (as much as I enjoy reading it) why these differences are the way they are," elaborated Jorie.

So as my audience arose, I now try to point things out to Norwegian viewers of things here in Norway that are not common in other countries, especially the Americas, that they might not realize (like how much they add canned corn to, its not something they notice until they realize many other places don't have it as a common pizza topping!)."

#2

Grass On Roofs

Grass On Roofs

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trond avatar
Trond Hermansen
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The turf was traditionally used to hold birch bark in place thus creating a leak proof roof.

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#3

Stop Light Buttons That Actually Make Drivers Stop

Stop Light Buttons That Actually Make Drivers Stop

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Now, it's not all culture shock, as there are also "spot the difference" videos. Sure, some can be a tad bit shocking, like the idea of the government having to agree on a baby's name, but the latter category would involve things like date format differences and, according to Jorie, they are more for the sake of discussion.

And speaking of videos in general, Jorie used to keep a running list of things to discuss in them, but it changed a bit when the audience got involved:

"Now I read heavily through the comments, and just note things as I experience them. Again, there are 2 categories in the series: the ‘culture shock’ which doesn’t have many items left on the list as I’ve been living here a while; and the 'basic-known differences', those I have a few more on the back burner about. I’m also highly sensitive to all the things that will be misinterpreted as 'stupid American' so I try to stay always from those… or at least give a very thorough brainstorm of how to communicate it in a video."

#6

Leaving Babies In Strollers Outside

Leaving Babies In Strollers Outside

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Ozacoter
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I would be so afraid that somebody would take the baby. Its pure paranoia but I cant even leave our dog outside of a store just in case.

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#7

Colorful Houses

Colorful Houses

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(T)reacherou(S)
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What colours do they use in usa if not blue and red (not trying to be mean, honestly curious)?

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#8

Recycling Bottles And Cans

Recycling Bottles And Cans

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loopyli
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We have this in the US. You take them to the recycling center to exchange

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There are, however, videos that Jorie decided not to post, or there are videos that were posted despite it not really being "new" information at this point. She elaborates:

"Like I just mentioned, I hate the 'stupid American' comments. Of course, I know in Europe the dates are D/M/Y vs M/D/Y, or that the power outlets here were different, but I still want to post these small differences for Norwegians and other Europeans that don’t know how America does it."

"I also get a lot of comments telling me how America works (in a negative cliche light) from people who definitely have never been. Mind you, we are made up of SO many states that are SO different culturally than one another. So videos that bring up politics, I’ll stay away from as I don’t like feeling any personal association with those cliches.

"On the other end, I’ll get comments from people who studied abroad in the states telling me I’m wrong about my comparison (roundabouts are not common in the US, period, end of story!)."

#9

Bread Slicers In Grocery Stores

Bread Slicers In Grocery Stores

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#10

Clean Drinking Water From Faucets

Clean Drinking Water From Faucets

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#11

Packing Your Own Groceries At Checkout

Packing Your Own Groceries At Checkout

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yottskry avatar
Fat Harry
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The whole of Europe (that I know of) does this. Again, the US is the odd one out.

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#12

Different (Consecutive) Date Format

Different (Consecutive) Date Format

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nathaniel avatar
Nathaniel
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Why the Americans have it different I do not know, it makes sense day, month then year.

ampa_adler avatar
Jagerzamo
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Whenever there's a date between 1st and 12th I have to guess what's the day and what's the month because I have NO F** IDEA if the person that wrote it is from the US or a normal person.

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olgadremina avatar
Olga Dremina
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's not just... I mean, that's everywh... I mean, the whole world, except... You know, what, forget it.

yottskry avatar
Fat Harry
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Literally no one else (apart from Canada?) uses the stupid American format.

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marcoconti avatar
Marco Conti
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I adopted YY-MM-DD because it works great for naming computer files. It beat both the US and EU system by a long shot for clarity and usefulness. Especially with photos, the yymmdd format is a life saver because it pouts your photos in chronological order, instead of having all your Christmases bunched up together in the same place.

navneethkrishnan09_1 avatar
ᴠᴀ̈ɪɴᴏ
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Even though some of the Finns tend to use YYMMDD I use DDMMYY only. Everyone is fine with this

jamesarvidson avatar
James Arvidson
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In America it is annoying because dd/mm/yy makes sense but all of our systems want mm/dd/yy. Then, if you work with people in other countries at all. Or need to convert in your head and the date is the first twelve days of the month.... Which is it???

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An Co
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

REALLY bad with an international company, especially with computerized forms. Half the dates are entered or stored incorrectly.

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Karina Carr
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

No, no, no. Norway doesn't have the different format. The US does. The entire world does Day, Month, Year. Only the US does the month first.

anitarose avatar
Anita Rose
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Here in Australia we have the same as Norway. It makes so much more sense. Especially if the date is 3/7/22 which can be read in the USA as 7 March 2022 but here it would read as the 3rd July 2022. I worked in a profession that needed exact dates and traded with the US. It was a nightmare.

jeannedarc avatar
Jeanne d'Arc
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Because a date gives no information - it is epistemologically dependent. The 27th means nothing. June, or February, gives immediate context. The month actually contains the most useable situational information. You get a sense of time-space. It’s actually more important than the year, which is most often self evident.

geraintdavies avatar
Geraint Davies
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The USA has used the month/day format since they became an independent country, and will stick to it, no matter what. Hooray for the fourth of July. :)

andy_hinds avatar
Andy Hinds
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's only America that's different. In the UK we also use day/month/year.

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Susie Swearingen-Kamachi
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In the USA military they use day, month, year. Sometimes written like 6 Jan 1967 or regular way 1/6/1967.

atlmainiac avatar
Martha Higgins
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not sure why the U.S. does it differently from most of the rest of the world. I find it odd, too.

evelyn_haskins_7 avatar
Evelyn Haskins
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Apart from the triple e, I thought bother were correct OR Write it 7/3/22 and say it the 7th of March 22 Just do NOT say March 7

wordyone avatar
Ann Daley
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

wreaks havoc with genealogy reports from different countries.

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Elsie
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

No one writes it out this long so what we put the month first Christmas.. 12/25/22

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Wang Zhuang
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I don't understand why people are confused by Americans when we do this. We just write the date the way we speak. June 5, 1980 = 6/5/80. What's wrong with that?

shadowsign45 avatar
Londo Cotto
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

DAY. MONTH. YEAR !! THATS HOW TIME WORKS AMERICA, THATS HOW TIME WORKS !! . . . when was the last time a cashier said "That will be 54 cents and 4 dollars please" . . . . .

pom avatar
humdrum
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's the same lady twice. Apparently not understanding her own format.

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Rijkærd
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Thats the normal way of writing a date worldwide except for some folk I've heard like having everything contrary to everyone...

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Peter Trudell Jr
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Logically, I go year-month-day, the most significant into on the right. It also helps when organizing chronologically. 2022.02.11, increment from the right to the left.

miajrodriguez avatar
Enby.Minecraft.Bee.
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I write it the same way as they do in norway than. I always forget the months and numbers and it easier.

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Russian Otaku
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Should be no surprise to anyone that every other nation ain't a idiot that does dates out of order

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Iseefractals
Community Member
2 years ago

This comment has been deleted.

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Michael Sanders
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yeah ok. US way is dumb I agree. Like not adopting metric system. Got us there.

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Brafne Heiwer
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

But does the metric system have a cool name? No, no they don't. The Imperial system is so much cooler sounding. And if you like the metric system so much you should create a time format that has 10 hours in a day, with minutes consisting of 100 seconds and hours being 100 minutes long. Have fun, and make sure to name it something cool.

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Hugh Walter
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's the exact reverse of money, measurements and time, smallest to the left (day) largest to the right (year), the rest of the world does it!

davogifman avatar
Davo gifman
Community Member
2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I live in the U.S. an I don't get this one either. Perhaps it's a government thing??🤔 But also I guess if you don't live here; don't worry about it.

yaojielun avatar
Jay Son
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Gotta love that. As well as F/C, inches/cm, lbs/kg etc. And the more interesting part is that they actually use the metric system as well as European date format in several professions in the US, like the military or healthcare. I mean, why not just make it easy on everyone and just switch already lol

matthewmikell avatar
Yoinks!
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

To put anything in searchable order, you go biggest unit to smallest unit. Year, month, day or GTFO.

septembermeadows avatar
September
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm comfortable with either. In the military it was 07MAR91. Whatever is in use isn't really all that difficult.

thatepiclyfe09 avatar
Will.
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It’s kinda the same with the metric system. The us is the odd one out.

wbrameld4 avatar
Walter Brameld
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Always write out the month, or at least the first 3 letters of it, to disambiguate. I guess the date she's trying to say is 3 Jul 1991.

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Pernille Dyre
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Normal. We boycot the american layout if someone has bought american software...

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BenMaharaj
Community Member
2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I’ll never understand why the rest of the world rags on America for doing things it’s own way. Who cares as long as it works for them? Every nation has their own quirks

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marianne eliza
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I like MONTH/DAY/YEAR. Knowing the month right off tells you what to wear, what to carry, and what you can leave home. And it lets you picture in your mind what the weather is/was/will be like for any event. You can picture it in your mind. The day just refines the month.

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Karis Ravenhill
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The whole rest of the world works this way, and you knew it. FAAAAKE

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Taibhse Sealgair
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Would actually be better if YYYY/MM/DD as it would then sort properly.

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InfectedVoice
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The American date format is honestly so stupid, just doing it to be different.

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#13

Smaller Milk Packaging With Shorter Expiration Periods

Smaller Milk Packaging With Shorter Expiration Periods

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trond avatar
Trond Hermansen
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Norwegian scientists recently clarified that milk can be perfectly good for way longer than what is printed on the carton.

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Jorie continued:

"My biggest takeaway on it is that these videos are not 'who’s right and wrong', and no, I personally don't think the world revolves around the US, and many try to declare that. It’s just a fun note on how different countries and cultures can be. Although I find my commenters can be a very literal bunch! So I also try to put out as many disclaimers as I can to avoid all these types of comments."

"Sometimes my videos are dramatizations (I added canned corn to everything I ate that week of shooting, I do know Norwegians don't add it to those specific items). And some of my videos are more based on my experience coming from Chicago, not just the general US. But no matter how hard I try, no one reads captions and they will still find a point of contention. I do have a huge experience I plan to talk about in the very near future that I’ve been eager to share on social. So those will maybe become a sub-series to this series very soon. Stay tuned!"

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#14

Smaller Fridges

Smaller Fridges

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Pat Bond
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's a good size fridge freezer. Won't be too hard on the electrics and no plumbing required.

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#16

Standing Rather Than Sitting Next To A Stranger On Public Transport

Standing Rather Than Sitting Next To A Stranger On Public Transport

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#18

Roundabouts

Roundabouts

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May
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Studies have shown that these are much better for traffic flow than traffic lights - don't know why everyone doesn't use them

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"Norway is a beautiful, safe, and lovely place to be! Posting videos and interacting with so many Norwegians via TikTok has been a great microscope to even more of their culture than I could experience alone. The biggest challenge was trying to explore my new home during Covid times. I hope to keep it up throughout my time living here," concludes Jorie.

Stay tuned for more videos from Jorie, which you can check out on her TikTok channel. But don't leave just yet, as there are more things to see by scrolling below, and why not leave a comment with some of your culture shocks in the comment section!

#19

Flexible Shower Doors

Flexible Shower Doors

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arianna
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The author of this topic seems to live in a world apart! I am impressed! Foldable barriers are normal in Europe!

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#20

Blinds Outside Windows

Blinds Outside Windows

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Cambree
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I don't mean to sound stupid, but how do you lower the blinds? Do you go outside each time?

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#21

Windows Open In Multiple Directions

Windows Open In Multiple Directions

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Olga Dremina
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You mean, it is different in the US? I thought, windows are the same everywhere?

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#22

More Laid-Back Airport Security

More Laid-Back Airport Security

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#23

Separating Beer Packs

Separating Beer Packs

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#24

Canned Corn In Almost Any Dish

Canned Corn In Almost Any Dish

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Nathaniel
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I add canned corn to so many things, salads, beans on toast, pizzas, stews etc. Not tried it with ice cream yet though.

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#25

Different Electrical Outlets

Different Electrical Outlets

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