Comment on Anon is an introvert
LH0ezVT@sh.itjust.works 3 days agoAs someone from the northern European countryside, you’ll never fully fit in. You need to have at least several generations of incest family ties to be seen as a true native. Best you can hope for is “they’re alright for outsiders, I guess”.
What helps, if you want to fit in better, is joining the usual clubs. At my place, that meant (for men at least) things like voluntary firefighters, men’s choir, and tennis/football clubs. Also, show up on traditional festivities and events, and be prepared to drink. Functional alcoholics are suspicious of people who don’t drink with them, so if you cannot or don’t want to keep up with them, excuse yourself early and say you need to drive/take care of your kids/work tomorrow early.
Actually, half of that advice goes for any context, not just rednecks.
Nangijala@feddit.dk 3 days ago
I’m not sure if I communicated things properly in my first comment, but based on yours, it almost sounds like you think I’m a foreigner, which I’m not! :D I’m Danish born and bred. Sorry if I was unclear, but that was kind of the point of my original comment, that I’m somewhat of an outgoing person in a hyper introverted society.
I will also say that while I do crave social connections, I’m not interested in meeting new people just for the sake of it.
I have plenty of good friends and a nice social network. The thing is that the closest friend to me lives an hour away. The furthest one lives on a different continent. I have often joked that the closer friend I am to someone, the further away they live.
So for me, the goal is to just become friendly with neighbors. Not to go out and join a bunch of clubs or festivals or go to pubs and meet people there.
When it comes to alcohol, I would be cool with having neighbors over for a beer in the garden or something like that, but I’m not going partying with people who are “functional” alcoholics. I have seen my fair share of people who’ve ended up on that trajectory, and that’s not the type of mess I want to invite into my life.
As for joining clubs and such, there isn’t a lot of interesting clubs in my area and those that seem interesting are at least an hour away. And that’s part of the problem, because the people I’d potentially meet there, will most likely also live far away and then I have done nothing but add to the list of friends who live too far away for casual, neighborly relationships.
I think your suggestions are fine for someone who just moved to Denmark and have zero network and just needs to get out there and look for anything and everything to build a foundation on. That’s not me, though xD
LH0ezVT@sh.itjust.works 3 days ago
This is all from my experience as someone who moved to the countryside as a kid, so, feel free to disregard anything that does not match your situation. I am writing this in the hope that it’s useful, but knowing that it might not apply. I have never lived in Denmark, and if the people are similar to Frisians, I can imagine how it is.
I am not sure if I misunderstood you or not. I am born in this country as well, as are my parents and their parents, we all look clearly European, speak the regional dialect and so on. But we made the mistake of moving from a city to a village about 60km away. That already means we count as foreigners in the minds of many people.
If your family does not have ties to the village you are in, or at least to the neighbouring villages, you are a foreigner. Of course, it is mostly old and grumpy people, but it is what it is, sadly. It’s even more stupid than the “normal” racism.
No, my point was this: if you want to be part of the “in group”, join the local club. Even if you don’t like it, if you think the people are stupid or if you are not interested in the topic. The goal is not to find new friends, the goal is to be seen as “Nangijala from the tennis club” and not “Nangijala who just moved here, 20 years ago”. Even then, some particularly stupid people will barely tolerate you, be prepared that they’ll still do some things without you because your parents did not go to the same primary school.
Then, of course, there is the whole idea about not having the same interest. Narrow-minded people are narrow-minded, and with the local club or tradition, the goal is to be part of the group. It’s fine to have weird interests, as long as you have some things other people and you can connect on.
Your mileage may vary, and certainly, things are moving in the right direction even compared to 10, 20 years ago. Over here, heavy drinking is quite socially accepted, because many people are unable to have a genuine conversation or be interesting while sober. A few permille of beer, and they will be more accepting, open, and “funny”. Unfortunately, it is the great social lubricant, and some people never learned to enjoy company while sober. I also don’t really see the point in that, I am not against alcohol and the effects of a beer or three in good company, but I’ve seen it being pushed to another level in village festivities.