I have heard people from all over Scandinavia speak, and a blind and deaf man can see Aija's accent is not from that area. I have a soft spot for Scandinavians because I admire their attitude toward gender equality, work/life balance, and their commitment to doing good. For example, a Danish friend said that he rarely got girls' attention by dressing up. However, Danish women always wanted to hear what his work was doing to make the planet a better place.
While on one hand the flat social structure and equality is great, there is another side to the coin. Scandinavians feel the pressure to not stand out. In essence, to them the highest good is to just be "average" and blend in with their peers. So flashy clothes or status symbols are kind of frowned upon, to my knowledge. Which is anathema to shallow airheads like Aija with little education who just want to wear designer brands.
@JustVisitingAijaDarling what would your recommendation be for someone who wanted to date/move in higher social circles in your country?
Writing this while touring cambridge, so I hope it's understandable
To the thing about not standing out, there is something called "Jantelagen" (“Janteloven” in Danish and Norwegian, I think it was an author with a Danish-Norwegian Background who named it.) which have affected the entirety of Scandinavia to various degrees
Which basically boils down to "You are not better than everyone else". It is very effective at keeping others in their social class, but it also prioritizes collective achievements. So, in a work scenario the project succeeding would be attributed to teamwork and not the doing of one person. This have changed in recent years.
What you have done/are doing being prioritized over what you are worth monetarily: Yes, I can see this everywhere. People in the Scandinavian countries rarely lack the money for a comfortable life, and there are opportunities everywhere, so if you haven’t done ANYTHING for the good of the world or don’t have any achievements at all it would be rather unfortunate. Having the opportunity to help, but you choose to do nothing? What kind of scum are you? (Unless you prioritized something VERY important)
I also recall the public education system emphasizing charity, volunteering or ATLEAST donating money. As in I was in grade 1 collecting trash because my parents decided they would donate 1 goat/cow/whatever needed per kg of trash the school collected. (The goat going to a region where a disaster struck recently and killed a bunch of farm animals, cannot remember where QAQ) I also attended a kindergarten in Denmark where they had friendly relations with a village in Greenland and another in South Africa, raising money to improve the living conditions for those villages. (Didn’t attend kindergarten in Sweden, since I was under family education QAQ)
We also visited local elder homes, charity stores or homeless shelters every week to volunteer (Time was given in the school schedule). There were charity auctions and other events every quarter or month depending on how busy the students were.
Is the highest point being average? Oh, HELL NO! well, not in my generation because of the influence from other countries and cultures
But stand out with your achievements, and not the wallet, you will be respected a lot more. I often hide my name just because I can’t be bothered to go that extra mile to prove myself for others
What would your recommendation be for someone who wanted to date/move in higher social circles in your country? (Or Scandinavia in general)
I will first say I do not have any experience with this (I am 17
and I will have to marry into the royal family or something to get higher, and I don’t support incest
). But for those men and women who have moved/dated into me and my parent’s social groups, they have all been highly educated and something else going for them before they got in. They often have a lot of cultural capital, social capital and economic capital but lacking a little in the social status section.
They often “sneak” into the circle at open events where we get together because of common interests. Stereotypical, art events, charity events and so on
But you have to be an interesting conversation partner and be able to participate in a conversation about whatever the event is about. That would be the easiest, if you own a historical building or so on there are other opportunities.
But you need a foundation, and don't be a bloodsucker.
The admissions director who is showing me around showed me this section about Anna Bey's mentor when I mentioned her