.
I was asked yesterday what my impressions of Norway were following our short cruise to the fjords last week.
Norway ranks highly on our list of annual cruising choices and we have been going there for more years than I care to remember. My impressions from last week are the same as on all past visits to this and other parts of Scandinavia - the country is spotlessly clean, most of the people speak English and are mainly polite and courteous. There will always be exceptions of course but, in the main, that has been my experience.
Norway has a population of around 4,500,000 and occupies an area of around 125,000 square miles. This compares with, say, Greater London which has a population of around 7,000,000 and occupies just 600 square miles. You can’t really compare the two except in some respects.
For example, why is it that Norway’s streets and pavements are so clean when there are so few people to cover such a large area when London’s streets (and many other places) are so dirty, graffiti-ridden and litter-strewn when there are so many folk around and employed to keep it clean?
One of the answers to this question must have something to do with self-respect, respect for others and respect for one’s surroundings. Other factors will undoubtedly be at play, but respect has much to do with it I am sure.
Secondly, head for head, how many of us can converse with a foreigner in their own language? Very few I fear and, in truth, I am no exception.
The answer can only lie with the quality of education, a sadly failing system in this country after so many governments have tinkered with it over the years. How many British ten-year olds can converse fluently with, for example, a French visitor in his/her own language? Very few indeed. But on a visit to one Norwegian port and passing a junior school (without the need for fences against paedophiles and others peddling drugs and knives, by the way), a ten-year old schoolboy held a fluent conversation with me in perfect English.
As for politeness, I fear we have fallen way behind some of our Norwegian cousins for whom courtesy seems a virtue to be cherished. Rude drivers, parking wardens (now called Civil Enforcement Officers!), shop assistants, officials and a multitude of others daily exhibit tendencies that would not have been tolerated in my youth, and I am in no way a Methuselah yet!
I don’t know what the answers are to my own questions and there will be many, many more than I’ve mentioned here. Nonetheless, some of the answers must lie with respect and education and, that very unused word these days, discipline.
This blog is not a whinge but a comment in response to the question put to me yesterday. But I have to say that the comparison makes me very sad nonetheless.
.
I was asked yesterday what my impressions of Norway were following our short cruise to the fjords last week.
Norway ranks highly on our list of annual cruising choices and we have been going there for more years than I care to remember. My impressions from last week are the same as on all past visits to this and other parts of Scandinavia - the country is spotlessly clean, most of the people speak English and are mainly polite and courteous. There will always be exceptions of course but, in the main, that has been my experience.
Norway has a population of around 4,500,000 and occupies an area of around 125,000 square miles. This compares with, say, Greater London which has a population of around 7,000,000 and occupies just 600 square miles. You can’t really compare the two except in some respects.
For example, why is it that Norway’s streets and pavements are so clean when there are so few people to cover such a large area when London’s streets (and many other places) are so dirty, graffiti-ridden and litter-strewn when there are so many folk around and employed to keep it clean?
One of the answers to this question must have something to do with self-respect, respect for others and respect for one’s surroundings. Other factors will undoubtedly be at play, but respect has much to do with it I am sure.
Secondly, head for head, how many of us can converse with a foreigner in their own language? Very few I fear and, in truth, I am no exception.
The answer can only lie with the quality of education, a sadly failing system in this country after so many governments have tinkered with it over the years. How many British ten-year olds can converse fluently with, for example, a French visitor in his/her own language? Very few indeed. But on a visit to one Norwegian port and passing a junior school (without the need for fences against paedophiles and others peddling drugs and knives, by the way), a ten-year old schoolboy held a fluent conversation with me in perfect English.
As for politeness, I fear we have fallen way behind some of our Norwegian cousins for whom courtesy seems a virtue to be cherished. Rude drivers, parking wardens (now called Civil Enforcement Officers!), shop assistants, officials and a multitude of others daily exhibit tendencies that would not have been tolerated in my youth, and I am in no way a Methuselah yet!
I don’t know what the answers are to my own questions and there will be many, many more than I’ve mentioned here. Nonetheless, some of the answers must lie with respect and education and, that very unused word these days, discipline.
This blog is not a whinge but a comment in response to the question put to me yesterday. But I have to say that the comparison makes me very sad nonetheless.
.
No comments:
Post a Comment