Hello my Genes!

This is the first entry in the “Norwegian Norms” series 😊. To make you understand how ‘special’ Norwegians are, I will today introduce you to the word Dugnad.

My husband gets shivers every time the word Dugnad is mentioned. And no, it’s not because he doesn’t like the pronunciation. The problem for Norwegians (who are a bit like Gollum) is that dugnad means having to participate in an unappealing, social act with people who, in the majority of cases, they rarely talk with or don’t really care about… And that is difficult for a lot of Norwegians.

Participating in a dugnad is not just tedious, but it says a lot about people. For you to better understand what I mean, I’m going to give you an example:

I used to play in a marching band when I was little (very typisk norsk) and my parents had to participate in a dugnad to raise money for the marching band.

None of the parents try to miss dugnad dagen, despite the dugnad supposedly being a volunteer activity, since they didn’t want to end up like the father of one of the kids that played in the band.

This parent was not famous among the other parents for being a well-known TV presenter, but infamous for never participating in the day of the dugnad. My husband



What you can deduce from my example is that, despite dugnad describes a voluntary activity, it is in reality more obligatory than feeding your cat or dog every day. For Norwegians, if you don’t answer the call to dugnad… Bad, bad, bad, terrible. It’s a word used for saying, in a politically correct way, “It’s a voluntary activity to the 99%”. If you miss the dugnad without a serious justification, you should be ready to receive bad looks or have people talk badly about your lack of responsibility.

So now you know that if at some point you are required to join a dugnad in your neighborhood community or school… You have to present yourself with rakes, books, or anything that is required that day. Remember, you can protest at home or with your friends (something we all do), but never with strangers. Appearances are very important in Norway!

How much will Norwegians get irritated if you don’t follow this Norwegian Norm?: 🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶 (5/5 spicy chilies)

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