r/interesting • u/SuspiciousLow3062 • May 13 '26

NATURE Would you trade city life for this?

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u/[deleted] May 13 '26

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u/[deleted] May 13 '26

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u/juanzy May 13 '26

I was on a thread last month about Sweden's new "good faith immigrant standards" and so many people, most self-identifying as progressive, couldn't see the issues with subjective standards for immigrants.

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u/ChilliiKitty May 13 '26

It’s so sad to me that this is EVERYTHING my soul yearns for on a daily basis (every time I seea picture of Switzerland or Norway I feel myself reacting like a kid in a candy shop. Awestruck) but being black means I’ll never experience the actual peace that it promises because any place like this, anywhere in the world, holds people with prejudices against those who are different. I’ve never committed a crime in my life, work hard, and am so introverted that I wouldn’t bother anyone and STILL can’t just enjoy it simply because of someone’s opinions or “cautions” because of what they’ve possibly seen in media.

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u/World_of_Warshipgirl May 13 '26

I am Asian my wife is African.

Never experienced any racism in Norway. Everyone is kind and friendly. Whether I live in small villages like Bardufoss or Egersund. Or larger cities like Alta or Stavanger.

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u/Aethermancer May 13 '26

Maybe they would stand 8' away instead of 10' away from you at the bus stop ;)

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u/pinkmarsh99 May 13 '26

Norway is fine. And Iceland isn't bad. I had a good time in Greece as well.

The biggies (England, France, Spain) suck.

Denmark, Finland, and Hungary=Never Again

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u/FlapsNegative May 13 '26

Go to Norway or Sweden. i think you'll enjoy it more than Switzerland or Austria.

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u/SalvatorePogo May 13 '26

Hi, I am from the US and black, and I live in Switzerland and have travelled back and forth for months at a time over the past 5 years. My mom, 4 of my aunts, and 3 of my cousins have all come to visit in that timespan. I have never had an issue with racism/bigotry/prejudiced attitudes while there, and neither has my family.

In some of the more remote towns/villages (like pictured above), I have experienced some uncomfortable looks, but it is no different than what I receive if in a rural town in the American South or, quite frankly, any majority white suburb.

Go to Switzerland, Norway, wherever– I guarantee you that you won't experience anything out-of-the-ordinary for a black person living in the US, and that people will receive you warmly.

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u/Ok_Actuary8 May 13 '26

it's not that bad. You have racists everywhere but also lot of open minded folks, and you def can find your bubble of peace. It's like hoping for a world without assholes, it will never exist, but you can still work around it and enjoy life for the most part.

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u/exodiantez May 13 '26

I live in a place like this. And you’re right. The experience depends on who I meet in daily life and how educated/aware they are about our shared history. It changes the experience 380

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u/Figgywithit May 14 '26

Try Malasia. When I was there, no one gave an F about anyone else as far as I could see.

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u/str8upblah May 13 '26

Canada is the place for you then.

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u/fongsaiyuk May 13 '26

I hear the Congo is beautiful and worth checking out.

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u/qtx May 13 '26

but being black means I’ll never experience the actual peace that it promises because any place like this, anywhere in the world, holds people with prejudices against those who are different

Talk about prejudice on your part.

You've never been to these places so how would you know? You're assuming a whole lot for no apparent reason other then your own prejudices.

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/least-racist-countries

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u/ChilliiKitty May 13 '26

You’re right. That was slightly prejudiced. But it comes from me asking around. These are places I would LOVE to go and experience. And according to other commenters, it’s not really much different from American racism, maybe less aggressive, which is great.

Maybe it’s the current language barrier and the fact that none of my friends and family want to travel to these places, so I would be alone, but that hasn’t taken it off my list. We ‘hear’ things all the time.

I just meant that it sucks to have to deal with in general because of an opinion some douche had a long time ago.

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u/anfornum May 13 '26

What are you even talking about. Something like 30% of the population in Oslo is immigrants, many of whom are so-called "visible minorities". Next to nobody cares about colour, national origin or anything else (like everywhere else in the world, there are idiot racists, but there's almost none of them). Mostly we are all too busy minding our own business.

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u/eveningberry- May 13 '26

Are you just assuming that they’re demons because they’re white or is there an actual incident that happened where everyone there was acting like racist demons?

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