Growing up I can always remember hearing from my Mother or Father, after given anything or after anyone ever did anything specifically for me, "Now what do you say Mary?" and of course, like any other American kid that didn't want a timeout or "THE LOOK" from my parents immediately replying with, "Thank you" and the same with any other kind of social etiquette we identify in The States. That's just what we do.
In contrast though, I have not once seen any parent or guardian say that to any child in Norway. In fact, there is actually no direct translation for the word please. But, not saying please and thank you for everything here in many instances is simply just not considered rude the way we think of it in The States. Instead of saying "Excuse me", most people will usually just go on their way around you without a word and after bumping into someone in a hallway most people will just reply with more of a "Oii" instead of an, "Oh I'm sorry" like we would in the US. That's just what they do.
After living here of course I'm not drawn back by someone quickly replying "HA?!" when they don't understand me instead of an "Excuse me", but at first I won't lie it was tough to get used to. I had to kind of come to a realization though that not everyone thinks the same way as I do and in a different culture people are raised differently as well.
People do still say please and thank you of course, but its just not held the same importance. There may be absolutely nothing wrong with that though. Maybe we use words like "Please" and "Thank you" too often. But, maybe in Norway we use it too little. I think on this topic though there is really no black and white decision that can actually be made. Its just cultural differences, but to me that's one of the things that makes this world that we live in and this experience to be able to see these differences first hand and broaden my view, so very cool.
