[Aaron]:Helloandwelcometoanewpodcastseriesentitledcultureinconversation.

MynameisAaronCargileImprofessorofinnerculturalcommunicationstudies
hereinCaliforniaStateUniversityLongBeach.Idliketobeginourfirstepisodeby
talkingtotheMelingfamilyfromOslowNorway.WellstartwithTostenMeling.
Torsten,welcome.Whydontyoutalkalittlebitaboutyourself?

[Torsten]:Yeah,mynameisTorstenMeling,uhm..IliveinOslowNorway,Norway
is..partofScandinaviauhmm..ofEurope,em,northernpartemm..Norwayfacing..
EnglandinthesouthwestandDenmarktothesouthandum,IcelandandGeenland
upnorth,em..itsashorecountry,verylongshorelineuh,verystretchedoutandif
you,ehh..pinitdownonthesouthernwestandflipitaround,youendupwaydown
inItalysomewherebetweenVeniceandRome.Uhmm,beingcoastal,fishingisabig
partof..ofumboththeeconomybutalsouhm,ourfood,uhm,beingrelativelyabig
countrywithrespectstopopulationof4.5millionpeople,italsooffersalotof
nature,uhm,sowehaveaclosecontactwithuhm,boththeseaandtheforests.

IworkasaneurosurgeonattheNationalHospitalinOslow,uhm..,currentlyheadof
braintumorsectionuhm,butalsodoalotofcraniofacialworkwithuhm,
deformities,congenitaldeformitiesonchildren,anduhm,skullbasetumors.

Well,IworkedbothinNorway,IworkedinEngland,andIve,uhm,visiteduhm,the
States,uhm,spentamonthinNewYorkandspentamonthinDCduringmy
training.Uhm,Ithink,ouruhm..Socializedmedicinesystemdoesinfluenceour
clinicalpractice.Uhm,theyalsohadthatinEnglandbuttheyhadmuchmore
stretchedonresources,uhm..soIthinkwetendtooperateuhm..olderpeople,uhm..
wetendtostretchthelimitsandcountsthepatients,uhm,Iwouldreoperatethree,
fourtimesbraintumorcasesthatinEnglandprobablywouldnthavebeenhadthe
biopsy.Uhm,withrespecttoAmerica,I..whenIworkedinDC,I..bothatGeorge
WashingtonandattheVAhospital,uhm,anditwasuhm..quitetroublesometosee
howdifferentthosetwohospitalswere,uhm,theVAbeinguhm..lesswellequipped,
uhm..moreinto..welltheyprobablystretchforresourcestoo,sotheywilldothe
minimumtheycangetawaywith,uhm..whereasGeorgeWashingtonbeingprivate
and..and..havetoensurepatientsuhm,wouldbemoretoplineandhightech.
Withinmyfield,neurosurgeryforinstance,mostofthedevelopmentduringthe
pastten,twentyyearshaveactuallycomefromFranceandGermany,uhm,both
respecttouhm,innovationsuhm,andalsorespecttouhm..clinicalstudiesuh..
perspectiverandomizecontroltraceuhm,thatarenotconductedonthelargescale
intheUnitedStates.

[LittleGirl]:Whatwereyourpres
[Man]:Impression
[LittleGirl]:impressionwhenyoucametoAmerica?

[Torsten]:Uhm,becausemymyimpressionmyimpressionthenwasthatthe
Stateshasalotof..optimism,alotofenergy,alotoffriendlinessandopenness
towardsuhm,newcomersatleastto..toacertainlevel.Theyrefriendlyneighbors

andtheywillhavehaveparties.Itsslightlymoredifficulttogodeeperthanthat.
Uhm,butIlikedtheoptimismandtheenergyandtheselfbelieve.

[Aaron]:okay,initthisisaninterviewwithuhm..TrimMeling.Trim,wouldyou
likewouldyoumindexplainingtousuhm,howAmericanseat?

[Kidslaughing]

[Trim]:Well,theyeatveryuncivilized.HowtheAmericansuhm,startedtoeatwith
theirhands,thatsamirthatsamystery.HowthewhytheAmericansstartedto
eatwiththeirhandsandbeingsouncivilizedwhenbeforetheywere..they
(unintelligible)withaknifeandfork,alwayswenttoSundaychurches,sowhy
theyreeatingwiththeirhandsnow,Ihavenoidea.

[Aaron]:Yes,Stuard,whatdoyouthink?

[Stuard]:uhm,wellyouknow,youhavetomakeknifeandforkoutofmetal.Then
they,dontusetheydontusemetal,theydontusethemetaltomakeaknifeand
fork,theyusethisonotherthings.

[Aaron]:SowhatareyourimpressionsaboutbeinghereinAmerica?

[Trim]:Well,itsnice.ImeanthewayAmericaneattheirfood,thatdoesnt..like
wellsortof,itdoesntmakethewholebigdifference.SoImhavinganicetimehere.

[Aaron]:well,whathaveyounoticedaboutAmericathatsdifferentfromNorway?

[Trim]:thereareverymanyfatpeoplehere.Theyspeakdifferentlanguagetoo,butI
meanwecanunderstanditsowedontthinksoweird,andtheydriveverybigcars.
InNorwayyouwouldneverseethatbigcarstheyhave.Anditsliketheyhaveits
morecheaperinheretoo,muchmuchcheaper.Theyplaymuchmoretennis,and
theyhavedifferentsportshere,andtheyandonthesortofallthisthingsyoucan
dohere,theresquitealotofthingsyoucandoherethatyouwouldvebeabletodo
backinNorway.

[Aaron]:Forexample?

[Trim]:SeaWorld,forexample,DisneyLand,umm,AdventureWorldPark

[Aaron]:WhatdoyouthinktowardaboutbeinghereinAmerica,whatsdifferent
aboutAmericathanbackhomeinNorway?

[Stuard]:Well,youknow,itsuhm..inNorwaywejustnormallyhavetwouhm..car
fieldswherethecarscandrivein,andhereitssortofnormaltohavefouroneach
side,andthatsuhm,sortofuhm..anditssortofstandsheltonlyrightandonlyleft
andonlyforwardsandsortof..yeah,okaythankyou!


[Aaron]:SowewereconductingthisinterviewinEnglishanduhm,Englishismy
nativelanguagebutisnotyournativelanguage,sohohowisthatwevecometo
thisplace?Inotherwords,youknow,wwhereisthestatusofEnglishinNorway?
AndwhywhyisthatyouspeakEnglishandIdontspeakNorwegian?

[Torsten]:(laughs)yeah,well,inNorway,uhm..peoplehavetolearnEnglishfrom..
usedtohavefrom,from,yearfouranotherstartyeartwoorthree.Uhm,Norways
alsoveryclosetoEnglandandandEnglandhasalwaysbeentheclosestally.Uhm,
bothinrespecttotoofcoursemilitaryandandandpolitical.Uhm,butalsouhm,
theroyalhousesareyouknowtheircousins,ehm,andEnglandisourmost
importanttradingpartner.SoEnglishforNorwegiansisveryimportantuhm,thats
probablywhyinNorway,SwedenandDenmarkarethecountries,theScandinavian
countrieswiththehighestproportionofEnglandspeakingEnglishspeaking,uhm,
people.Uhm..so,comingfromasmallnationwithasmalllanguage,anddealingwith
Englandasamainindustrialpartneruhm,Englishhasalwaysbeenum,oorwell,
sinceweweretwobeenbeenimportant.PreWorldWarII,uhm,everyNorwegian
wouldspeakGermanandsomehowthatwentoutoffashionafter1945.

[Aaron]:Whatisitabout,uhm..Scandinaviancultures,whywhydoyouthinkthese
threenationalculturesarearearelumpedtogether?Whatisitwhatisitthatyour
nationalculturehasincommonwiththeseothercultures?Inininwhatrespectsis
itverydifferent?

[Torsten]:WelltheScandinaviancountriescompriseDenmark,Sweden,Norway,
andFinlandispartoftheNortherncountriesincludingIcelandbutFinlandis
culturallyandandlinguisticallycompletelydifferent.Uhm..theonlyothercountry
thatFinishissimilartoororlanguageisisHungarian.Uhm,buttheScandinavian
countries,umNorwaywasthecolonyunderDenmark,uhm,foralmost400years,
uhm,andthatwasfromthe14thtoupto18th,uhm,c18thcentury.Uhm,sothe
whole,uhm,bureaucracyuh,andwrittenlanguagewasestablishedinthatperiod,
Uhm,thelawsforinstance,uhm,sowewerebasicallyonenation.After1814when
Denmark,NorwaysidedwhenthePolandandlost,uhm,topunishDenmark,
NorwaywashandedovertoSweden,uhm,butremainssortofseparate,wehadour
ownconstitution,butwehadthecommonkingandwehadthecommonuh,foreign
policy.Uhm,sothatbutthatwasnotendeduntil1905sonearlyuhm,100years
lateruhm,soyouhaveyouhavethefactthattheytheyouknowwehavebeen
colonyeh,acolonyunderDenmarkandSwedenwassortofinbetweenthetwoand
wealsohavethegeographicuh,closenessandthelanguageandsosincuhm,
culturallyuhm,therearemoresimilaritiesthandifferences.Uhm,wetendtobeuh,I
guesstimidinasenseuhm,notterriblyoutspoken,notaggressive,uhm,but
resilient,uhm,strongwills,uh,interestingthingaboutuh,othoneofthe
differencesisbeliefinauthority.Norwaybeingthecolonystate,uh,wewohave
almostnorespectforauthorityatall.Thekidsdonthavethesamerespectfor
teachers,uhm,astheywouldinSweden,forinstance,uhm,studentswouldnothave
itfortheirprofessors.Uhm,wedonttendtoinhierarchiesandandandrunninga

business,runningahospital,forinstance,iisisuhm,isveryflatorganizationuhm,
wehavetouseargumentsuh,toconvincepeople,andnotmerepower,powerwill
oorbruteforcewillwillnotleadyouanywhere.Uhm..uh,andIguessthatswhy
Norwayininsomerespecthavebeenhasbeensuccessfulasannegotiatorinin
differentconflicts.
Uhm..wehaveawelldevelopedsocial,uhm,securitysystemandandandand
benefitsforpeopleuh,withoutworkuhm,andusuallyinabeforeelectionsan
employmentcareforunemployeduhm,carefoforforuhm,uh,thepoorioften
comeupasasasabigissuesuhm,alongsidewithhealthcareinschool.Uhm,those
aretheissuesthatarebeingdebatedandandthosearethethingsyouyouwinor
loseintheelectionforinstance.Uhm,soyes,IthinkisIthinkiscentralwithrespect
totouhm,touhm,worktolive,IthinkIagreewiththat,uhm..maynotbemy
personaluh,wayonlifebutuh,mostpeoplewillwilluhm,worktoliveuhm,wit
withaverageuhm,uh,weekofof37andhalfhoursuhmweekendsoff5days
holydayperyear.

[Aaron]:Itsoftensaidthatculturesareliketheself,youcantneverseeyourself
directly,youcanonlyseeitreflectedbacktoyouonamirrorifthatsthecase,uh,
whatcanyoutellusaboutUSAmericanculture?Whatcanyoureflectbacktous?

[Torsten]:uh,Iwishhadmoremoretimetothinkabouttheanswerbecauseiithas
youknowyouhavemanylevelstoit,youhaveUnitedStatesasaasa..supernation,
youknow,theonlytheonlybignationleftwithwithuh,uhm,economicpower
andandmilitarypower,andanddominatedtheworldscene,uhm,butyoualso
haveamoreeverydayAmericaandandthissuperpoweruhm,youknow,uhm,
lookingfromfromasmallcountryinEuropeuhm,itssuperpowerattimebullying
smallernationsuh,usingitspowertotoobtainitsowngoals,uhm,andalotof
inconsistenciesinthepoliciesuhm..soyouyouyouknowyouhadthatlevelofthe
answerandalsoyouhadamoredowntoearth,everydaylifeAmericanculture.
Withrespecttoeverydaylife,IIIIfoundCalifornialifequitebusyuhm,alotof
drivinguh,largedistancesuhm,whereasImusedtowalkintouniversity,ridemy
bike,kidsgotoschooluh,probablydifferentpaceofofoflifeintheweliveinthe
capital.
Ithinkoneoneonethingthatreally,reallystruckedmewhenIstartedhigh
schoolwastoseehowmanyofthestudentsthathaveneverbeenoutsideUS
borders,uhm,andyouhaveapresidentnowthatneverhadbeenoutsideborders
beforebecamepresidentprobablyyouknowhavepossibleuhm,Iwouldliketo
encouragepeopletotravelmore,Americanpeopletotravelmoreuhm,tosee
differentcultures.Uhm,AmericaisbigcountryandI,youknowthereslotsofthings
toseeanddouhm,buttravelingintheworldiseasynowadays,easyaccessto
everythingandandinalmostanycountrythatyoucangetbywillspeakinEnglish.
Uhm,sotheresnobigreasonwhynottouhm,thatwouldbebeprobablybethe
numberoneuh,less,uh,focusedonAmericaandmoreontheworld.