Why keeping your distance matters more in Nordic culture

There's a bit of joke in Scandinavia that started back in 2019 when we had to keep our distance from one another. The joke was that people would be glad when social distancing was over because Scandinavians could go back to keeping 3m apart instead of just 2m. Although it's supposed to be funny there is a strong element of truth to it.

When I first moved to Norway I found the distance that people kept from each other slightly baffling. Coming from a small seaside town in southern England that sees lots and lots of tourists I was used to being close to people and having them constantly around. England is heavily populated and it's not easy to keep away from others especially when you are out and about, so the idea of giving people space was very refreshing.

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