Riffs

Riffs exist everywhere and slowly but surely I'm starting to understand a lot of the ones that seem to be roaming the streets over here. People at the uni are a collection of folk from all around Norway and so in a conversation with a few of them there always tend to be some sort of joke thrown out about a region.




To start off, the north is by far the easiest to make fun of. They have a different accent and are perceived as hill-billies by the rest of the country. Ironically enough, the north views everyone else as a little too pompous. When I was talking with a couple of people, one of which was from the north, they were trying to help me out with my not so good accent. It was a joke between the two in "this is how you say it in the north, but this is how you should really say it."

Other than the north it’s just small "I'm better than you" between coasts and regions. For instance some in the middle area view the southern part as the rich folk with a little bit of snob. Soccer also seems to be quite good at creating tension between regions. I was introduced last night to the fact of just how important soccer really is to Norway. Of course the people I was talking with supported different teams, one from Bergen and one from somewhere further north. It was a fun jousting session of “bahh Bergen” and “don't be jealous about the best team.” That, of course, quickly evolved from just the teams to which region is better and no one cares for this coast because you should like this area.

Riffs are always quite entertaining to listen to especially since they really want you to understand where they are coming from. They are always in good fun too and help give context to how people perceive each other. *If I have misunderstood any of the riffs and if you want to add any, please just leave an comment correcting me.