I want go studying to Norwegian university, but afraid what they think about Russian people. I’m not interested in politics, only want know what I must expect. Help me please 🙏
Not going to comment on people in general, but I’ll offer some personal experience as a Norwegian. Had a russian colleague a while back. She was hard working, smart, lovely and kind. Don’t have a single negative thing to say about her. However, when the subject of her origin came up things was a bit weird. It was hard to talk about. Not because of the talking, but more because of fear of not knowing what she would be willing to talk about. It’s also a bit scary because depending on what our stances on things were, it could easily turn into a conflict.
I also remember thinking to myself that no matter how good and honest she was as a person, she is still a security risk. Her connections to her country, i.e. friends and family, can be used as leverage to have her do things she doesn’t want to.
That said; if you are willing to get through those hurdles and understand/agree with the general Norwegian perspective on the Ukraine situation, I think you’ll be alright
I have a few Russian acquaintances here in Scandinavia. They are well accepted and appreciated.
But they also fly the Ukrainian flag and are politically very opposed to Putin, the Russian regime and their foreign policies.
It will not work coming to countries that are constantly being probed and provoked by the Russian military, intelligence and politics and claim you don’t care so it’s ok.
They do that in public. In private, who knows? Could be either way. That’s the quandary.
Dude…
As far as I can tell, most Norwegians know the difference between Kremlin and the Russian people. Nevertheless, in a teaching environment it might be particularly difficult to navigate given the political picture. What subject, may I ask? If it’s a subject like history or philosophy, that can be pointed in a direction of “swaying people’s opinions”, you might be in for a hard denial.
I think the best you can do is simply get in touch with the university; send them an email, and be transparent and honest. You won’t lose anything from humble requests.
Can confirm. Am Norwegian. Have a Russian friend at work, and he’s an overall great guy. Slava Ukraini, heroyam slava.
As long as you avoid “I’m not interested in politics” as a cope out.
I think this is pretty key. If the topic ever does come up and OP will use that line, it might not go over so well. Showing disinterest in politics may be a good survival tactic in Russia, but in the West many people will understand it as not wanting to publicly admit your support of Putin.
It’s interesting. When speaking locally (at least in Canada and I’d wager the US as well), “not being interested in politics” is probably equally likely to mean:
- I have unpopular political opinions
- I don’t want to find out if you have unpopular political opinions
But yeah, when speaking with those from other countries, I can definitely see it meaning "I support what my country is doing that’s in opposition to your country.
I hadn’t realised how that differing context makes it so much more obviously one way.
Thanks! I’ll remember that I have to speak plainly!
Well guess what, politics is interested in you. You gotta have a plan
Generally speaking, as long as you don’t push any National Pride, you will be included and treated as a normal human being by everyone (barring some absolute nutcases).
E.g. at the University in Bergen, there are multiple long-time professors from countries that are or were heavily contentious and loudly hated as countries by large portions of the Norwegian populace at multiple times in the past 30 years: Russia, Turkiye (murdering kurds), China (don’t get me started), USA (horrific war crimes and torture camps), Israel (the usual), majority muslim countries (blamed for all terrorism in early 2000s). And of course immigrant or exchange students that are getting along fine.
Some places may have problems of course, but in general you can feel confident that it will not be a problem.
Norway - Great choice.
You have to just stop caring. Not to the point of not being vigilant but you can’t let yourself be “followed” by that fear over how people see you. It will affect how you see others and the confidence with which you interact with other people.
This is the kind of struggle that lots of people have to face in regards to immigration status, ethnicity, being mixed race. But if nobody made the brave choice to overcome that fear and study abroad, there’d be a lot less foreign students and the world would be a less interesting place. And also would snowball into being less safe for the smaller number of foreign students left who do make the trip.
It’s a leap of faith, but you have to ask yourself “Would I treat someone with suspicion if they were from an ‘enemy’ country?” If the answer is yes, you yourself need to work on being more trustful of others. Then at last you can assume that people will think the same way as you; people are more similar than you might think.
I’m British and my parents, the news media, my education and my government as a whole has spent so much effort trying to paint russians negatively, but people my age don’t seem to have prejudice against the Russians we meet. I think Norway is a lot less extreme than the UK in this regard, as they’re a bit more detached from conflicts. Despite being a core NATO member.
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Are you Russian? The solution is to become Norwegian.
That is honestly not helpful. When has that ever protected immigrants from attack/scrutiny? Differences in appearance, language and cultural norms still show through.
When has that ever protected immigrants from attack/scrutiny?
A few times, I’d argue. Citizenship does come with protections you don’t have as an immigrant, like the state not being able to deport you or decide not to renew your visa.
You claim you want to teach, yet no interested in politics? What is you teaching subject? Educated yet apolitical? You are party of the problem.
I want to study engineering
