Anyone find the continentals strange?

topper75 · 05-04-2019 2:16pm

Greentopia wrote: »

...
They're also a nation of introverts and can be quite shy so don't mistake that for being boring or uninteresting.
...

There was nothing introverted about these Scandie sorts 1000 years back! Laughing to myself now picturing these boatloads of lads in chainmail and colourful shields landing on Iona all walking up towards the abbey not talking to each other and just staring at the ground. Monks would have kicked them back into the sea.

James Brown · 05-04-2019 2:16pm

Deebles McBeebles wrote: »

They terk er jerbs!!!

Took ta dooooo!!

James Brown · 05-04-2019 2:17pm

Culchies though, am I right?

Greentopia · 08-04-2019 6:17pm

zapitastas wrote: »

Are you sure about the confrontation part? Maybe not confrontation but I had always found that they can be blunt to the point of being insulting. A lot like the Dutch in that respect. On the one hand you know their opinion on something, on the other hand it can come across as abrasive

Very sure about the confrontation part. I lived there for 8 years. They're conflict averse and will always try to find a consensus of opinion and sort out any problem diplomatically. They use their brains, not their fists.

Definitely blunt, same as Germans (who are even more so in my experience with less tact), same as the Dutch yes, but so what? I like that personally, at least you know where you stand with them and yes you know their opinion of you then. They see it as a virtue to speak their mind and honesty and truthfulness is expected in all areas of life. Again something I really like. It means they have low tolerance for corruption and the Nordic countries consistently score as the least corrupt in the world. Finland is number 1.
We could learn a thing or two here!

They're simply bluntly honest. Being blunt is not rudeness in my opinion, they just say what they mean without beating around the bush and being polite in the British/Irish way of apologising for every minor indiscretion or error (e.g they wouldn't say sorry if they bump into you slightly on the street like here and definitely wouldn't do the Irish thing of apologising even if you're the one doing the bumping

Greentopia · 08-04-2019 6:28pm

Wibbs wrote: »

Sounds like somewhere I'd love to visit, but to live there would be a purgatory for me. Too much introversion does my head in. I'm definitely more "Latin" in that regard and feel far more comfortable around them.

It's the opposite for me, I love Italy and Spain for a holiday and I have some Italian friends but the Latin character is too extrovert and loud for me to move there. And the levels of corruption...no way.

I think you would really enjoy Sweden, but make sure you go in the Summer or Spring at least when you get long bright days. Stockholm is gorgeous, rightfully called the Venice of the North.

Of course not all Swedes are introverted, but the general character is. If they know you're Irish they will love you and open up to you and be chatty. They're not dour or unfriendly, just very private and quiet generally. Not as much as the Finns mind you :pac:

When they have alcohol in them though all bets are off and they can be the life and soul of the party. It really changes them and they come out of their shell.
A bit like me... :P

Greentopia · 08-04-2019 6:44pm

storker wrote: »

I watched a YouTube video recently of a Swedish lady listing some things that are weird about the Swedes. One of them was that they don't do small talk and she claimed that a Swede intending to go out of their apartment will check the door peephole first to see if any neighbour is already waiting for the lift...so they can wait until the neighbour is gone so they don't have to talk to them.Sounds like my kind of place - apart from the cuisine (Ikea meatballs excepted) - that's where my Latin side comes out.

That's a bit of a cliche and joke in Sweden, they don't really look out the peephole before leaving their apartment to avoid the neighbours.

Well maybe some do but most wouldn't I don't think! Never seen any friends do it.

The lack of small talk is 100% correct. They don't really see the point. But again Germans are the very same. My fiancee is German and it's taken him two years to get used to me chatting about the weather

they just see it as too shallow and a waste of time usually. If they want to talk about something they will, if not they keep their mouths shut.

storker wrote: »

And speaking of Latins, I never saw beauty spots littered in Italy the way you so often see it in Ireland. This country is a disgrace in many ways.

I know, don't get me started on littering here. It's the only country I've been to where you see rubbish dumped all over the beautiful countryside. Was mortified when my fiancee was here last year and we were driving in Wicklow and some guy pull over ahead of us, got out of a car and proceeded to tip a small bag of rubbish onto the side of the road into a forested area like it was nothing! My partner was shocked because you would never ever see that in Germany.
He was also horrified to hear how much rubbish goes into landfill here.
"The Green Isle" it's a joke...:rolleyes:

Greentopia · 08-04-2019 6:48pm

topper75 wrote: »

There was nothing introverted about these Scandie sorts 1000 years back! Laughing to myself now picturing these boatloads of lads in chainmail and colourful shields landing on Iona all walking up towards the abbey not talking to each other and just staring at the ground. Monks would have kicked them back into the sea.

They're the strong silent type

No many really are tall big guys (ever see how many are on the World Strongest Man competition?), which is enough to intimidate the enemy if our Viking ancestors looked like modern day Scandinavians.

Seanachai · 09-04-2019 8:59am

Greentopia wrote: »

They're the strong silent type
No many really are tall big guys (ever see how many are on the World Strongest Man competition?), which is enough to intimidate the enemy if our Viking ancestors looked like modern day Scandinavians.

I think ongoing studies are showing that we're more Scandinavian than previously thought, I never bought the whole, 'vikings kept to themselves' line. You can see it in the features and blondism where I'm from in the SE.

chrissb8 · 09-04-2019 9:32am

Alot of people are saying here about the quietness of the people in the Scandi countries. Same in Germany as well. I love it, I think Irish people talk too much. I'm a firm believer if you have nothing to contribute say nothing.

Irish people tend to equate silence to a social situation gone wrong or someone is a lack of craic. No, if anything they don't want to talk about boring topics like the weather for the umpteenth time today. They want to talk when there's something to talk about. There's nothing more boring than filling a room with inane conversation about nothing really and going in depth to it.

But I do think we're the best people in terms of warmness and welcoming others. I just think we could all realise that just because you can say something doesn't mean you should. Words become more valuable when you use them wisely.

topper75 · 09-04-2019 10:18am

Greentopia wrote: »

They're the strong silent type
No many really are tall big guys (ever see how many are on the World Strongest Man competition?), which is enough to intimidate the enemy if our Viking ancestors looked like modern day Scandinavians.

Too true. My first encounter with that part of the world was Copenhagen airport in 1999. I thought when I landed and saw people streaming through the corridors that some sort of basketball tournament was being hosted there that weekend. After a point it dawned on me that they were just locals arriving home from somewhere.

Seanachai wrote: »

I think ongoing studies are showing that we're more Scandinavian than previously thought, I never bought the whole, 'vikings kept to themselves' line. You can see it in the features and blondism where I'm from in the SE.

I think one DNA investigation showed that your average west of Irelander aligns more with modern Norwegian DNA than east coasters. Something to do with commonality before a split several thousand years back rather than a viking thing. The viking thing might be overplayed here. I don't think they came in huge numbers (even to Annagassan/Dubhlinn/Vadrfjordr/Hlymryckr) but their influence was massive and game-changing (militarily, politically, technologically, economically; but not so much socially as they married in and came to adopt Gaelic ways).

There are many references to fair-haired people in pre-invasion Gaelic lore. So it wasn't unknown here at all. Fionn McCool's very name was a reference to his fair hair supposedly. Many fair-haired Irish of today could also easily be descended from Saxon or Cambro-Norman or indeed Flemish.

Greentopia · 09-04-2019 2:18pm

Seanachai wrote: »

I think ongoing studies are showing that we're more Scandinavian than previously thought, I never bought the whole, 'vikings kept to themselves' line. You can see it in the features and blondism where I'm from in the SE.

I'm from the SE too. Anglo-Norman descent so some Viking blood there also.

Where are all these tall blonde square jawed handsome Vikings walking around here? because 99% of guys I see don't look like the average Swede to me :pac:

Yes they've found out through recent studies that we have more Viking DNA (West Norway settlers) than they previously thought but it's still quite small compared to our Celtic DNA.

Seanachai · 09-04-2019 2:34pm

Greentopia wrote: »

I'm from the SE too. Anglo-Norman descent so some Viking blood there also.

Where are all these tall blonde square jawed handsome Vikings walking around here? because 99% of guys I see don't look like the average Swede to me :pac:

Yes they've found out through recent studies that we have more Viking DNA (West Norway settlers) than they previously thought but it's still quite small compared to our Celtic DNA.

They aren't in abundance, but the type does crop up in pockets in the SE, most of the Scandinavian guys I've worked with don't fit the square jaw profile, they're tall but they tend to have the receding chin more so. I wouldn't see many Swedish types in Ireland either, off the Scandis I've met I think we're a lot more similar to Norwegians.

I'm fascinated to know where the darker featured Irish people really come from, leaving aside the debunked Spanish Armada theory.

Greentopia · 09-04-2019 2:44pm

chrissb8 wrote: »

Alot of people are saying here about the quietness of the people in the Scandi countries. Same in Germany as well. I love it, I think Irish people talk too much. I'm a firm believer if you have nothing to contribute say nothing.

Irish people tend to equate silence to a social situation gone wrong or someone is a lack of craic. No, if anything they don't want to talk about boring topics like the weather for the umpteenth time today. They want to talk when there's something to talk about. There's nothing more boring than filling a room with inane conversation about nothing really and going in depth to it.

But I do think we're the best people in terms of warmness and welcoming others. I just think we could all realise that just because you can say something doesn't mean you should. Words become more valuable when you use them wisely.

Agree with all that. I loved how comfortable Swedes are with silence. And they never talk across you when you do speak which is very respectful. There you can just sit and berather than feeling the need to chatter and fill the silence. I love the quietness on the streets and in cities there-yes same in Germany. You never hear anyone trying to draw attention to themselves by being loud as it's frowned upon to be overly 'emotional' and Swedes even fear it a bit. It makes for a very relaxed and calm experience, even in the middle of a city.

I'm a very quiet reserved person and Dublin is a sensory overload for me in comparison as you have to be constantly vigilant and aware of your belongings because of thieves/scumbags/druggies, you're more aware of who is near you with people coming up looking for money or chuggers approaching or loud teenagers screaming somewhere. I find it more stressful walking around there than anywhere in Germany or Sweden so I avoid it mostly.

But yes it's only the warm and welcoming nature of people here and the friends I have (and the beautiful countryside) that makes it worthwhile staying here. For now anyway. Ideally I'd like to spend 3/4 months of the year here and the rest in Sweden where I could get back into the excellent social system and healthcare service there. That's the goal. My partner loves Ireland and the people here but he doesn't see the negatives on holiday, and no way am I pulling him away from the better health care system he has in his country (Germany) to come here and end up on a trolley for days on end if he was to get sick.

Electric Sheep · 09-04-2019 5:53pm

chrissb8 wrote: »

Alot of people are saying here about the quietness of the people in the Scandi countries. Same in Germany as well. I love it, I think Irish people talk too much. I'm a firm believer if you have nothing to contribute say nothing.

Irish people tend to equate silence to a social situation gone wrong or someone is a lack of craic. No, if anything they don't want to talk about boring topics like the weather for the umpteenth time today. They want to talk when there's something to talk about. There's nothing more boring than filling a room with inane conversation about nothing really and going in depth to it.

But I do think we're the best people in terms of warmness and welcoming others. I just think we could all realise that just because you can say something doesn't mean you should. Words become more valuable when you use them wisely.

I completely agree with this - I find the constant babble and "banter" in Irish social situations draining.

fryup · 09-04-2019 6:02pm

RobertKK wrote: »

it is not a party in Finland if there is no sauna involved. Strangers, men and women getting naked together for the sauna is normal he tells me, and yeah you sit still in the sauna, and you make sure not to get excited, that is a big faux pas...

i've just booked a ticket to Helsinki

(to hell with the faux pas)

Ipso · 09-04-2019 6:10pm

Seanachai wrote: »

They aren't in abundance, but the type does crop up in pockets in the SE, most of the Scandinavian guys I've worked with don't fit the square jaw profile, they're tall but they tend to have the receding chin more so. I wouldn't see many Swedish types in Ireland either, off the Scandis I've met I think we're a lot more similar to Norwegians.

I'm fascinated to know where the darker featured Irish people really come from, leaving aside the debunked Spanish Armada theory.

Like the rest of Europe Ireland is made up of three/ish genetic components; post ice age survivors, Mediterranean farmers and the Indo European/Bell Beakers/Yamnaya (the details on that one is still being hammered out).
So obviously you’d have some of the early farmer genes inockin around.
I’d say any Spanish genes could be from regular trading activity as there was a lot of back and forth around the 14th century onwards.
The romantic idea of the Armada is hilarious when you consider that at the time Spain was the biggest empire in the world and after invading Kinsale any deal with the Irish would have seen the Irish as vassals to the Spanish over lords.
https://eurogenes.blogspot.com/2013/12/ancient-human-genomes-suggest-three.html?m=0

Seanachai · 10-04-2019 11:10am

Ipso wrote: »

Like the rest of Europe Ireland is made up of three/ish genetic components; post ice age survivors, Mediterranean farmers and the Indo European/Bell Beakers/Yamnaya (the details on that one is still being hammered out).
So obviously you’d have some of the early farmer genes inockin around.
I’d say any Spanish genes could be from regular trading activity as there was a lot of back and forth around the 14th century onwards.
The romantic idea of the Armada is hilarious when you consider that at the time Spain was the biggest empire in the world and after invading Kinsale any deal with the Irish would have seen the Irish as vassals to the Spanish over lords.
https://eurogenes.blogspot.com/2013/12/ancient-human-genomes-suggest-three.html?m=0

A lot of Eastern European people I've met mention the similarities between the Irish and Spanish, it's the eyebrows I think :P

topper75 · 10-04-2019 5:49pm

Seanachai wrote: »

I'm fascinated to know where the darker featured Irish people really come from, leaving aside the debunked Spanish Armada theory.

Probably cattle farmers from the Pontic–Caspian steppe (way, way back, couple of thousand years BC). Not sure about the hunter gatherer people before them - some kind of generic western seaboard euro-people. Hard to tell who is who at this point.
Yes Armada talk is nonsense, where they survived the wrecks they were hanged.

Anyone find the continentals strange?

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