Comparing Cultures

As written previously on the blog, the modernization in Oman keeps increasing. Moreover, there are still many differences comparing the Omani and the Norwegian culture.

Factors	Oman	Norway
Family	Extended family, nuclear family	Nuclear family
Major religions	Islam (generally more religious)	Christianity
Holidays	Ramadan, Eid Fitr and Eid al Adha, New Year (Al Hijra) October 25.	Christmas, Easter
Music	Arab music	Modern European and American inspired music.
Climate	Hot and humid (often leads to hospitable people)	Cold and dry (reserved people)
Clothes	Dishdash and abaya (modern clothes under)	Different clothes, modern
Economy	Oil. Good infrastructure in the large cities, worse in rural areas, relatively good education system, not banks everywhere, corruption, on its way to become a welfare state.	Oil. Good economy, education system, infrastructure, health and so on. Welfare state.
Language	Arabic, English	Norwegian

 

First, in Oman it´s still common to live in an extended family, however, more and more people decide to live in the nuclear family, as in Norway. Men having more than one wife still happens, but that is also changing as the years go by. Second, the majority of the population in Oman are practicing Muslims. While, the majority in Norway are Christians, but a lot are only members of the Norwegian Church, not practicing Christians. Due to different religions, the two countries celebrate different holidays. Omanis celebrate Ramadan (fasting month), Eid al Fitr, Eid al Adha, and New Year (Al Hijra), which is October 25. Furthermore, the music is quite different in the two countries. By listening to Omani radio channels, you´ll hear that Arab music is the most popular in the country. Norwegians, on the other hand, tend to listen to modern European and American inspired music. The climate in Oman is hot and humid, which often, according to many researchers, lead to hospitable personalities. On the contrary, the climate in Norway is cold and dry, which some people believe is the reason why Norwegians often are considered as reserved. In Oman most women wear their abayas and men their dishdashes. Most Norwegians wear all types of western clothes. Similarly, most Omani women wear modern western clothes under their abaya. The economy of Oman is quite good, particularly because of the oil. The infrastructure is excellent in the large cities, moreover, worse in rural areas, they have a relatively good education system, but not banks everywhere, corruption does happen, however Oman is on its way to become a welfare state. Norway, on the other hand is a welfare state, which has a lot to do with the oil. The official languages in Oman are Arabic and English, while in Norway Norwegian is spoken. To conclude, Oman and Norway are two very different countries in many ways, however, there are some similarities as well.