{"id":6,"date":"2008-11-05T17:46:25","date_gmt":"2008-11-05T21:46:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/norwegian\/?p=6"},"modified":"2010-07-15T13:59:14","modified_gmt":"2010-07-15T13:59:14","slug":"its-not-all-blond-hair-and-blue-eyes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/norwegian\/its-not-all-blond-hair-and-blue-eyes\/","title":{"rendered":"It’s not all blond hair and blue eyes"},"content":{"rendered":"

I come from a part of the country that is full of\u00a0norsk<\/strong> heritage.\u00a0 I grew up in Northfield, MN, attended St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN, and currently reside in Northfield, MN.\u00a0 St. Olaf College was founded by Norwegian immigrants for the purpose of educating Norwegians.\u00a0 Although St. Olaf prides itself on other things things now, including it’s\u00a0internationally renowned\u00a0musikk<\/strong> department and fantastic study abroad programs, the\u00a0norsk<\/strong> influence is still very apparent.\u00a0 There is a\u00a0norsk<\/strong> department that teaches beginning to advanced\u00a0norsk<\/strong> language and litteratur<\/strong>, as well as\u00a0kultur<\/strong> and historie<\/strong>.\u00a0 Approximately 50% of the student body hails from MN and probably about that very percent has blond hair, blue eyes. (lyst h\u00e5r and\u00a0bl\u00e5 \u00f8yner<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

I went out east to New York to visit my brother at college once and all of his friends from the east coast couldn’t believe that I had real blond hair and blue eyes.\u00a0 There are very few people from that part of the country relative to the midwest that have these features (that aren’t fake, that is).\u00a0 Whenever I would talk about going to Norway, guys would always ask about the blond haired, blue eyed girls.\u00a0 I think most people assume that all Norwegians have blond hair and blue eyes.\u00a0 In fact, I thought so too prior to my first trip there.<\/p>\n

Much to my surprise, there were many nordmenn<\/strong> (general term\u00a0 used for Norwegians, haven’t quite hit the point of political correctness concerning such words) with very dark hair and dark eyes.\u00a0 This is especially true of the coastal areas, specifically along the western coast.\u00a0 When I was in Bergen for the first time I saw a lot of people with dark features and initially assumed that they were foreigners.\u00a0 After talking to them, I realized that they were indeed natives.<\/p>\n

I didn’t think much of it at the time until I took a\u00a0Scandinavian history class and learned about the Hanseatic League or League of the Hansa.\u00a0 The Hansa was an alliance of trading cities spanning much of Northern and Eastern Europe.\u00a0 Bergen was one of the primary cities in the Hansa.\u00a0 It is my understanding that the influx of people from different parts of Europe are partially responsible for the greater number of dark haired, dark eyed nordmenn<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Of course there are still lots of blond haired, blue eyed Norwegians in Norway, but the stereotype is not completely accurate.\u00a0 Another common assumption is that Norway is an ethnically homogenous population.\u00a0 Although this was true until recently, there is actually quite a large immigrant population in Oslo.\u00a0 I’ll share more about this another day though!<\/p>\n

Happy Halloween!\u00a0 I happen to be the only one at my work that is dressed up…..I guess everyone else was joking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I come from a part of the country that is full of\u00a0norsk heritage.\u00a0 I grew up in Northfield, MN, attended St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN, and currently reside in Northfield, MN.\u00a0 St. Olaf College was founded by Norwegian immigrants for the purpose of educating Norwegians.\u00a0 Although St. Olaf prides itself on other things things…<\/p>\n

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