Photo: Simone Burkhart / www.youthmedia.eu

Smile!

Norwegian chat: Vienna- Munich

A young girl steps into an occupied railway carriage on the train going from Vienna to Munich. She sits down on the seat nearest to the door. Inside the carriage there are two boys. Tall, blonde, blue-eyed and speaking in a language she doesn't know, but which she can place somewhere in the Scandinavian area. Suddenly, another boy enters. Time passes, surroundings changed and the three boys start chatting. As it turns out, the two blond boys are from Norway and the latecomer from Germany. They talk in English and obviously don't mind that there's a lady present as the conversation changes from everyday life and university to - what else? - girls. And suddenly both of the Norwegians, who up until now have more or less just been listening to what the German boy has to say, come alive, as they obviously see this as their topic. They accompany every word with a bold look in the girl's direction. One-night stands seem to be their style. They claim that having a steady girlfriend is boring and one-night stands are the best thing in life, beaten only by their favourite Formula 1 team winning in Monaco. The German boy nods silently to everything they say. As they cross the Austrian-German border, one hour away from Munich, they all establish that they are young, good-looking and free and that there are so many desperate girls who are boyfriendless that after a few drinks they are bound to get lucky every night they go out. The German boy asks the two »masters« if they ever stay in touch with any of the girls, and is told, with a quick glance in the direction of the girl, that only if the girl is really hot or if they know she is »easy« when she has had a few drinks, would they consider taking her number in case maybe one night they don't feel like going out, so they can call her to come over for - as they put it - a night of pleasure. Finally the girl stands up, leaves the carriage and stays in the dining carriage drinking a bottle of water for the remaining hour until the train arrives in Munich.

I recently read some research about young European couples. Interestingly, results showed that out of all the nationalities across Europe, young Norwegians are the least likely to have a steady relationship, and also top the chart when it comes to the number of sexual partners. But the really interesting part is that they also have the lowest percentage of divorces.

Photo: Ben Foertsch / www.youthmedia.eu

Cool Norwegian guys!

In the end it doesn't really matter whether the situation described above was all words of

bravado or machismo or the actual truth. Either way, it's worrying that today's Norwegian boys consider such behaviour to be cool or acceptable. Especially if the purpose of talking about it is to make a girl interested in them.

But it does make you wonder whether the fact that these boys or girls have no limits will affect them throughout their whole life or whether it will fade once they have met »the one«; »the one« who will make them change their mind. All in all, the number of intact marriages does give hope. A relationship can truly be complicated and maybe not the best thing in the world but, in my humble opinion, definitely better then Formula 1.

But just in case: girls, if you are dating a »Nordic« guy with a passion for Formula 1, just this once watch it alongside him, even if you do think that looking at little cars driving around the same circle for sixty or more laps is rather foolish..