Meeting the Parents
Before I made my move to the UK, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t aware of the archetypal British guy: the Phil Foden haircut and the skinny ripped jeans are merely a couple of the numerous stereotypes I familiarised myself with prior to my international move.
That being said, I never came to the UK with a checklist – despite my hinge profile preferences being awfully specific…
Yet, during the first two years of university, I felt no desire to involve myself in the dating scenery except for a few exclusive appearances here and there. I had no interest in spending time on various dating apps answering the same ‘ol boring questions.
My life took a pretty drastic turn however, when I met my current boyfriend at a house party right before summer in second year. The same house party in which I was considering leaving after 20 minutes due to the awful tunes and my gorgeous mix of lemonade and vodka getting nicked.
But as I was making my way towards the door, there he was. The birthday boy. Holding a measuring cup with Captain Morgan in it and wearing a black and red striped polo shirt with a fresh new *gasp* Phil Foden kinda haircut.
Considering I have major beef with the Phil Foden cut, it must have been his accent that swept me off my feet – the truth is I don’t remember much from our first meeting because, despite my vodka mix getting nicked, I still managed to neck half of it.
Upon meeting him, I didn’t think there were any major differences between the dating scene in the UK and Norway. However, it is when we became exclusive that the cultural differences became more apparent, at least in my boyfriend’s opinion.
Thing is, my family knew of Dan long before we made it official, and less than two months of knowing each other my dad was persistent in asking for his shoe size so he could sort out some ski boots for when he would finally make his trip to Norway.
And earlier this year he did.
I had already met Dan’s family, and I remember being extremely nervous in the days leading up, therefore, I hoped this time around he would be the one bricking it.
“Meeting your parents was kind of like a scene out of ‘Meet the parents’.” says Dan Lecoutre, 21.
“Despite your dad not being a secret agent, he is an ex military man so I was definitely a bit nervous upon meeting him.
“Nah actually, not even just a bit. I was shitting it.”
When we got out of the airport and continued on our 2hr long journey back home, he wouldn’t stop mentioning the wooden houses, electrical cars and the “fuckload of space.”
I was under the impression Dan thought Norway was ruled by vikings and that the only reason he even knew about the country was because of Haaland and Ødegaard.
I had told him before that the language barrier wasn’t something that he should be worried about, but we were both caught by surprise when it seemed to be a bigger challenge than first expected.
“The first couple of days were probably the most challenging in terms of the language barrier.
“It’s quite hard to make a first impression when you can’t have a free flowing conversation.
“But all your family were proper nice and welcoming towards me and it was funny after a few days of getting used to it.”
We came up to Norway at the perfect time as it was Easter holidays, which in Norway is quite a significant time of the year considering it only lasts for a week and everyone takes time off work to be with family.
And what better way to introduce him to Scandinavian culture than to take him along to the cabin, a good 4 hour long journey up to the mountain.
Not only was he mesmerised by the amount of snow which reached up to his chest, he was also convinced he would nail the cross country sport of skiing. I would be lying if I said it wasn’t incredibly satisfying seeing him break my dads skis as well as one of his poles.
“From the moment I got there, I loved it.
“And I can now proudly call myself a Scandinavian.”