Integrating into the Faroese society

A study of the cultural challenges for foreigners and how these challenges can be prevented

Kirstin Joensen Master’s Thesis│MA in International Business Communication Academic Supervisor │ James Menzies Characters: 154007 (68 pages) 2015/08/12 Copenhagen Business School 2015 Resumé Denne afhandling undersøger de kulturelle udfordringer hos udlændinge, når de prøver at integrere i det færøske samfund, og hvordan disse kulturelle udfordringer kan forhindres.

14 udlændinge, der bor på Færøerne, er blevet interviewet for at finde frem til de kulturelle udfordringer, og hvordan de kan forhindres. Det teoretiske grundlag for denne afhandling fokuserer på kultur, kulturelle forskelle og interkulturel kommunikation.

I afhandlingen er der fundet fem kulturelle udfordringer. Den første er udfordringen i at immigrere til Færøerne, som inkluderer, at den formelle immigrations proces tager for lang tid til at blive godtaget, og at det er svært at få svar på spørgsmål vedr. immigrationspapirer. Den næste er udfordringen i at tilpasse sig en ny kultur, som består af udfordringer vedr. det at opleve kulturelle forskelle og kultur chok. Den tredje er udfordringen af sproget som en barriere, og den fjerde er udfordringen i at finde et arbejde. Den femte og sidste er udfordringen i at socialisere med færinger. De tre sidste udgør en Catch 22 (en ond cirkel), som gør det svært at integrere i det færøske samfund, da det er svært at finde et arbejde og socialisere med færinger, hvis man ikke kan det færøske sprog. Desuden er der svært at lære det færøske sprog, hvis man ikke har et arbejde eller socialiserer med færinger.

Afhandlingen indikerer, at disse kulturelle udfordringer kan forhindres, hvis både det færøske samfund og udlændinge, der bor på Færøerne gør en indsats. Dette betyder, at det færøske samfund bliver nødt til at komme med en integrationsplan, der optimerer hjælpemidler og ressourcer tilgængelige for udlændinge, som f.eks. flere timer til at lære det færøske sprog. Desuden skal udlændinge forberede sig inden de immigrerer til Færøerne ved at læse om den færøske kultur samt være opsat på at gøre sit til at integrere i det færøske samfund ved at lære det færøske sprog og socialisere med færinger.

Alt i alt, giver denne afhandling svar på hvilke kulturelle udfordringer udlændinge har, når de immigrerer til Færøerne. Desuden gives der forslag til, hvordan disse kulturelle udfordringer kan forhindres. Content

Chapter 1: Introduction ...... 3 1.1 Research aim and research statement ...... 3 1.2 Scope and chapter overview ...... 4

Chapter 2: Reflections on methodology and theory ...... 5 2.1 The qualitative research method ...... 5 2.2 What is ethnography? ...... 6 2.2.1 The ethnographic interview...... 6 2.2.2 The research design ...... 8 2.3 The interviewees ...... 9 2.4 Theory ...... 13 2.4.1 What is culture? ...... 13 2.4.2 Cultural Differences ...... 13 2.4.3 Intercultural communication ...... 17 2.5 Validity ...... 18

Chapter 3: Analysis ...... 19 3.1 Facts about the Faroe Islands ...... 19 3.2 The Faroese culture ...... 20 3.2.1 The Faroese cultural history and the culture today ...... 20 3.2.2 The Faroese people ...... 21 3.3 Immigrating to the Faroe Islands ...... 23 3.3.1 The Alien Act ...... 23 3.3.2 Family reunification ...... 24 3.4 Immigration in the Faroe Islands today ...... 25 3.5 Integration in the Faroe Islands ...... 26 3.6 Findings on the challenges when integrating into the Faroese Society ...... 28 3.6.1 Becoming Faroese ...... 28 3.7 The cultural challenges when integrating into the Faroese Society ...... 31

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3.7.1 The challenge of immigrating to the Faroe Islands ...... 32 3.7.2 The challenge of adjusting to a new culture ...... 36 3.7.3 The challenge of the Catch 22 ...... 37 3.7.4 The challenge of language as a barrier ...... 39 3.7.5 The challenge of finding a job ...... 44 3.7.6 The challenge of socializing with Faroese people ...... 47 3.8 How can these cultural challenges be prevented? ...... 50 3.8.1 The cultural challenges ...... 50 3.8.2 What the interviewees propose ...... 51 3.8.3 What the foreigners can do to prevent the cultural challenges ...... 54

Chapter 4: Discussion ...... 58 4.1 The importance of letting the foreigners speak ...... 58 4.2 Discussion interesting aspects in the findings ...... 59 4.2.1 National cultural identity vs. individual cultural identity ...... 60 4.2.2 Hofstede’s dimensions – a failure of analysis? ...... 62 4.3 Discussion on how to prevent the cultural challenges ...... 63 4.4 How this study contributes to further research ...... 66

Chapter 5: Conclusion ...... 68

References ...... 72

Appendices...... 75

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Chapter 1: Introduction Integration of foreigners is a subject that is slowly emerging in the Faroe Islands. The reason for this is that more and more immigrants reside in the Faroes (Figure 1) and the need for exposing the subject on integration is seen as an important issue in the Faroese society.

In 2011 the Faroese Ministry of the Interior presented a report, which contained examples on how and why integration plans should be put in force for the foreigners residing in the Faroe Islands (Innlendismálaráðið, 2011). However, this project was not granted the necessary funds, and the integration plans were therefore set aside.

This results in the fact that the Faroese society still awaits an integration plan to be implemented, which also means that foreigners in the Faroe Islands are still waiting for further help in order to integrate into the Faroese society. As of now foreigners are granted a 20 hours language course to learn the Faroese language (Útlendingastovan, 2015). However, as this study will present, that alone is not enough for the foreigners to be integrated into the Faroese society.

But what do the foreigners need to integrate into the Faroese society? What are the challenges that they have to meet?

1.1 Research aim and research statement This study investigates the process of integrating foreigners into the Faroese society, which is investigated with the help from the interviews with the fourteen foreigners. Furthermore, this study also investigates the more or less unexplored subject on the culture of the Faroese society in order to give an insight into the cultural differences that the foreigners have to understand and adapt to.

Furthermore, this study focuses on letting the interviewed foreigners speak their mind, and it focuses on the findings that the interviewees have underlined in the interviews. This gives a good insight into the foreigners’ thoughts, experiences and most importantly challenges while undergoing the process of integrating into the Faroese society.

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The research statement in this paper is:

What are the cultural challenges for foreigners when integrating into the Faroese society and how can these cultural challenges be prevented?

This research statement’s aim is to point out all the cultural challenges presented by the interviewed foreigners with quotes and experiences explained by the interviewees. Furthermore, the aim is to present solutions on how to prevent these cultural challenges presented by the interviewees and also by using cultural theories.

All in all, the research aim and the research statement’s focus is to present a view on the integration process in the Faroe Islands, which is presented by the interviewed foreigners with a cultural focus on the challenges and how to overcome them.

Next, the scope of the paper will be presented as well as an overview of the chapters to give you an idea of what to expect.

1.2 Scope and chapter overview This study builds upon interviews with fourteen interviewed foreigners living in the Faroe Islands (Appendix 2.1) and an interview with a Professor in Faroese Ethnology and Cultural History called Jóan Pauli Joensen (Appendix 2.2). Furthermore, this paper attempts to investigate perspectives introduced by the interviewees. This also means that the aim is to voice shape the aspects that are presented by the foreigners living in the Faroe Islands.

First of all, I want to introduce the methodology, which gives an introduction to the ethnological aspect of this paper, and furthermore introduces the method used to collect the findings. In addition to this, I want to dive briefly into the theoretical aspects on cultures that are used as a tool to analyze the findings. Furthermore, I want to take a look at the history and cultural history of the Faroe Islands to give an idea of how it is to live in the Faroese society. In addition to this, I want to analyze the findings regarding the cultural challenges and on how to prevent these cultural challenges. Moreover, I want to discuss essential points presented in the study to critically examine and contemplate all aspects. In addition to this, I want to propose how this study contributes to improving any possible further research.

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Lastly, I want to conclude and reflect on the findings and conclusions that have been made throughout the paper.

Chapter 2: Reflections on methodology and theory This paper takes the methodological approach of social science since the overall research aim is to figure out what the cultural challenges are for foreigners when integrating into the Faroese society. This leads to a social research and therefore sets the methodological approach in a social context (Lungholt & Metelmann, 2013, p. 14).

Furthermore, the methodological approach taken in this paper is the ethnographic research approach. But what is ethnography, and how is this research approach used to conduct the needed data?

This is what I will present next to give an insight into the methodological approach taken. I will give a brief explanation on what ethnography is and state the importance of the qualitative research method and the ethnographic interview. Furthermore, I will explain the research design, which involves the interview guide and the importance of it. Moreover, I am going to take a look at the theories used throughout the paper and mention some important elements, which this study relies on.

2.1 The qualitative research method The research method for this paper has been to conduct data through qualitative research. This qualitative research has been done through interviews or more precisely ethnographic interviews.

But what is qualitative research?

According to Kvale et al. the qualitative interview tries to understand the world from the interviewee’s perspective and also tries to explore the meaning connected to the experience of the interviewee. In other words, the purpose is to see the world of the interviewee and see the world through the interviewee (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009, p. 18).

The difference between the qualitative research and the quantitative research method (e.g. questionnaires), is that qualitative research provides detailed answers that give deeper insight

5 into the interviewee’s perspective. Furthermore, certain types of questions asked during a qualitative interview allow the interviewee to open and elaborate his or her answers (Lungholt & Metelmann, 2013, pp. 42-43).

However, there are certain disadvantages concerning the qualitative research method, which includes the fact that there are usually fewer respondents, and this therefore makes it more difficult to generalize. However, if the qualitative research method, in this case the ethnographic interview, is pursued the right way, the qualitative research method can be very successful in collecting the needed data (Lungholt & Metelmann, 2013, pp. 42-45).

Now that we know what the qualitative research method is, I want to elaborate on what ethnography is, and explain how the ethnographic interview is to be undertaken.

2.2 What is ethnography? Ethnography is simply put the method of studying human races and cultures (Blommaert, 2006, p. 2). However, ethnography is also described by Blommaert as more than a method and therefore also ‘a perspective on language and communication.’ (Blommaert, 2006, p. 2). This states that ethnography is both a method and a perspective. Furthermore, ethnography is an inductive method, since it begins with the data and works towards a hypothesis (i.e. you follow the data) (Lungholt & Metelmann, 2013, p. 50). In addition to this ethnography focuses on complexity, which means that its purpose is to describe what is messy and complex. This is done by paying attention to the small details that are observed through the ethnographic fieldwork. Ethnographic fieldwork includes everything that is observed out in the field and also includes the ethnographic interviews (Blommaert, 2006, p. 3).

2.2.1 The ethnographic interview The ethnographic interview is ‘a particular kind of speech event’ (Spradley, 1979, p. 55) since it is a communicative situation where an ethnographer interviews an interviewee to collect ethnographic data.

Spradley also underlines that it is important to think of the ethnographic interview as a friendly conversation, which starts out with a friendly ‘get-to-know-you’ talk and later evolves to asking ethnographic questions.

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According to Spradley there are some aspects that need to be taken under consideration for the ethnographic interview to be successful. These aspects include the choice of questions for the interview, the role of the ethnographer and the setting of the interview.

The questions for the ethnographic interview are very important for the interview to be successful, and for the necessary data to be collected. An interview guide, which consists of all the questions, is therefore recommended for the ethnographer to have prepared prior to an ethnographic interview. Furthermore, Spradley introduces the three most important questions when conducting an ethnographic interview, and they are: the explicit purpose, the ethnographic explanations and the ethnographic questions.

The explicit purpose states that it is important for the ethnographer to tell the interviewee the explicit purpose of the interview, i.e. let the interviewee know what the ethnographer wants to know. This gives the interviewee an idea of where the conversation is going, and how it is pursued.

The ethnographic explanations state that it is important that the ethnographer provides explanations throughout the whole interviewing process, and also before and after the interview has been made. The reason for this is to give the interviewee the necessary knowledge which provides trust and assurance. There are several forms of explanations set forward by Spradley, which includes project explanations, recording explanations, native language explanations, interview explanations and question explanations (Spradley, 1979, pp. 59-60).

The ethnographic questions include three main types of questions that should be asked by the ethnographer. The first type of questions is the descriptive questions. These questions give the interviewee a chance to describe a situation (e.g. ‘could you describe your culture?’). The next type of questions is the structural questions. These questions are asked to find out how the knowledge of the interviewee is organized (e.g. ‘what was it like for you to integrate into the Faroese society?’). The last type of questions is the contrast questions. The purpose with these questions is to discover meaning by looking for contrasts (e.g. ‘what is the difference between the Faroese culture and your own culture?’) (Spradley, 1979, p. 60).

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These three types of ethnographic questions are a crucial component when undergoing an ethnographic interview with an interviewee.

It is also important to consider the role of the ethnographer prior to conducting the ethnographic interview. First of all, it is important that the ethnographer expresses interest in what the interviewee is saying. Furthermore, it is also important that the ethnographer expresses cultural ignorance. This gives the interviewee the opportunity to explain and describe his or her own knowledge on the subject without any inputs from the ethnographer (Spradley, 1979, p. 61).

In addition to this, the role of the ethnographer is to pursue a friendly conversation, which also leads to retrieving the necessary data. This friendly conversation is pursued, when the setting is carefully considered. This means that it is important to arrange the interview in surroundings that makes the interviewee comfortable. An example is to do the interview in the home of the interviewee or in familiar surroundings (Spradley, 1979, p. 61). Another aspect that leads to a friendly conversation is for the ethnographer to speak the interviewee’s native language or a language that the interviewee feels comfortable speaking. This will make the interview more relaxed and gives the interviewee the opportunity to say what he or she wants to say without any linguistic obstacles (Spradley, 1979, p. 55).

To conclude, all of these important aspects presented above are important for the ethnographic interview to be successful – both for the interviewee and the ethnographer.

2.2.2 The research design The research design for this paper has been to use the qualitative research method by undergoing ethnographic interviews with interviewees. The interviewees were contacted through Facebook and also through people who knew foreigners. My goal was to reach as many interviewees as possible, but since the interviews were very time consuming, I was able to undergo fourteen interviews. Each interview took about 45 minutes to 1 hour, and the interviews took place either at the interviewee’s home or at my home to create a homely setting for the friendly conversation (Spradley, 1979, pp. 55-57).

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Before conducting the interviews I made an interview guide. According to Lungholt et al. the interview guide helps the ethnographer to prepare successfully for the interview. It helps the ethnographer structure the questions in a way that will make the interview go as planned (Lungholt & Metelmann, 2013, pp. 56-57).

For the interview guide (Appendices 1.1 and 1.2) I decided to divide the questions in themes starting with ‘Background questions’ and moving on to ‘Living in the Faroe Islands’ and ending with ‘Future aspects’. Furthermore, I started the interview by asking closed questions such as ‘where are you from?’ and ‘How old are you?’ to state some facts about the interviewee. However, I focused on using open and interrogative questions (what, why, when etc.) to give the interviewees the opportunity to reflect and go into details when answering questions (Lungholt & Metelmann, 2013, p. 57). In addition to this, the choice of language for the interviews was to keep a simple and easy communicative language to keep any misunderstandings from happening (Lungholt & Metelmann, 2013, p. 58).

2.3 The interviewees When I contacted and met the interviewees, I assured them that the interviews would remain anonymous and were conducted for the sole purpose of academic research for my master’s thesis. This gave the interviewees a sense of relief to say whatever they wanted to say, when they were asked questions.

The interviewees are:

Interviewee 1:

- Female in her early 30’s from Slovakia. She moved to the Faroe Islands 8 years ago and now lives in Tórshavn with her Faroese boyfriend and their two children. She has an academic degree in Fashion and Design from Slovakia, but currently works as a kitchen manager at a restaurant.

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Interviewee 2:

- 36 years old male from Slovakia. He moved to the Faroe Islands 15 years ago. He currently lives in Tórshavn with his wife and newborn baby. He has two other children from a previous marriage. He has an academic degree from Slovakia as a land surveyor, and he also works as a land surveyor in a Faroese company today.

Interviewee 3:

- Female in her early 30’s from Slovakia. She moved to the Faroe Islands three years ago after meeting her husband. She has an academic degree in finances and accounting and has a job as an accountant in a Faroese shipping company.

Interviewee 4:

- 51 years old female from India. She moved to the Faroe Islands 24 years ago and lives in the capital with her Indian husband and their two children. She holds a master’s degree and PhD in English and teaches at the Faroese College.

Interviewee 5:

- 26 years old female from the United States. She moved to the Faroe Islands one year ago. She lives with her Faroese husband and is expecting their first child. She has an academic degree in Television and Media, but currently works in the kitchen at hotel.

Interviewee 6:

- 56 years old male from England. He moved to the Faroe Islands 6½ years ago. He lives with his Faroese wife and her children in Tórshavn. He has an academic and professional background in Shipping and Logistics. He has worked as a night watch at a hotel since he came to the Faroes.

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Interviewee 7:

- 51 years old female from the United States. She moved to the Faroe Islands 19 years ago. She lives in Saltangará with her Faroese husband and their children. She does not have an academic background, but has worked at fishing factory for many years. She also works as an English teacher at an evening school teaching foreigners English as a lingua franca.

Interviewee 8:

- 29 years old female from Poland. She moved to the Faro Islands six years ago. She lives in Klaksvík with her husband, who is from Russia. She has an academic degree in Scandinavian Studies. She currently runs a B&B with her husband and teaches Russian 3 hours a week in an evening school.

Interviewee 9:

- 37 years old female from Togo, Africa. She moved to the Faroe Islands five years ago and lives with her Faroese husband in Tórshavn. She does not have an academic background, but has worked as a cleaning lady and at a day care for some time. She is on a sick leave at the moment.

Interviewee 10:

- 45 years old female from Romania. She moved to the Faroe Islands 13 years ago and lives with her Faroese husband in Tórshavn. She has an academic background in mechanical engineering. She currently works as a trainee at a Faroese shipping company.

Interviewee 11:

- 28 years old male from Russia. He moved to the Faroe Islands 10 years ago with his family. He now lives by himself in Tórshavn. He does not have an academic background, but works as a translator/mediator at a Faroese shipping company.

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Interviewee 12:

- 43 years old female from England. She moved to the Faroe Islands three years ago and lives in Tórshavn with her Faroese husband and their daughter. She has a professional background as a manager in a center similar to the Danish Job Center. She currently works as a cleaning lady at her husband’s company and is a stay-at-home mom for the rest of the time.

Interviewee 13:

- 38 years old female from Thailand. She moved to the Faroe Islands 10 years ago and lives in Tórshavn with her Faroese husband and their three children. She has an academic background in hotel management from her home country, but currently works in the kitchen at a Faroese hotel.

Interviewee 14:

- 44 years old female from the United States. She moved to the Faroe Islands 8 years ago and lives in Vestmanna with her Faroese husband and their two children. She has attended the Faroese College Fróðskaparsetrið where she has studied to become a nurse and now works as a nurse at the hospital in Tórshavn.

Ten of the fourteen interviews were recorded, while the remaining 4 were hand-written during the interview since the interviewees did not want to be recorded.

Moving on to the next section we will take a look at the theoretical aspect in this study.

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2.4 Theory The findings that have been retrieved through the ethnographic interviews have been analyzed and interpreted with the help of various readings.

In addition to this, the theoretical foundation for this study has been drawn from the fields of culture, cultural differences and intercultural communication.

These three fields of foundation have proven to be the most important according to the retrieved findings.

Let us start by taking a look at the theory of culture, which is an important aspect in this study.

2.4.1 What is culture? Culture is a widely known phenomenon and has been defined by many theorists. In the book Managing Cross-Cultural Communication written by Barry Maude it says that,

‘Culture is like a kaleidoscope. You look through the eye-piece and if you’re a socio-linguist you see that culture indistinguishable from language and that no two languages can mirror the same reality. If you’re a social psychologist you perceive culture as a lens determining what people see in a situation and how they respond to it. From the anthropologist, culture is an engine driving a society’s beliefs and traditions forward from generation to generation’ (Maude, 2011, p. 4).

This passage states that the definition of culture depends on the person defining it, which also means that there are various definitions of culture. However, there are some definitions of culture that are better known than others. Among these is Edgar H. Schein’s, who defines culture as ‘a set of basic assumptions – shared solutions to universal problems (Maude, 2011, p. 4). Furthermore, Geert Hofstede explains culture as ‘A collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one culture from another’ (Maude, 2011, p. 4).

2.4.2 Cultural Differences Since this paper strives to investigate the cultural challenges for foreigners when integrating into the Faroese society, it is significant to investigate cultural differences, and what they can lead to. According to the book Managing Cross-Cultural Communication - Principles and Practice written by Barry Maude it is ‘the basic cultural differences’ that cause cultural challenges (Maude, 2011,

13 p. 300). These cultural differences are clearly portrayed when a foreigner from one distinct culture enters the Faroe Islands, which has another distinct culture.

One way to explain cultural differences is presented by Geert Hofstede.

2.4.2.1 Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Hofstede put forward 5 dimensions of culture after doing an extensive research on intercultural differences in the multinational corporation IBM. These dimensions were put forward as a framework to assess and differentiate national cultures (French, 2007, pp. 38-40).

These dimensions include:

Power distance – the degree of inequality that exists and is accepted among people with power and with no power.

High power distance countries are for example France, India, and Russia which all value hierarchy and avoid conflicts with their superiors. Low power distance countries are for example Israel and the Scandinavian countries, where people feel more equal and the communication at work has a higher degree of informality.

Uncertainty avoidance – to which extent rules are being followed or not.

Strong uncertainty avoidance countries are for example Greece, Portugal, and Japan, and in these countries there is a need for formal rules, and there is a dislike of uncertainty and ambiguity. Countries with low scores on uncertainty avoidance are for example Britain and China, which are known for being innovative and do not follow the rules by the book.

Individualism/collectivism – individualism indicates how a person focuses on his or her own interests, while collectivism is focused on group-oriented people and their interest in the collective.

Individualist countries are for example those in North America, Europe and Australia where the individual and independence is more in focus than the collective or the social group. The collectivist countries are located in Asia, Africa, South America and the Middle East, and they are characterized by a tight social network where family relations are very close.

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Masculinity/femininity – this is the degree to which a culture focuses on the masculine values (performance etc) or the feminine values (soft issues).

The ‘masculine’ countries are for example Japan and Italy where the focus is on competitiveness, and they strongly distinguish between male and female roles. The ‘Feminine’ countries, such as Scandinavian countries, focus on the quality of life, concern for people, and sexual equality.

Long-term/short-term orientation – long-term oriented countries define success over a long time horizon while short-term oriented countries want to achieve quick results.

The long-term orientation countries are for example China and other Asian countries who think of the future and perseverance, while the short-time orientation countries are for example Scandinavian countries and the US that live in the present and believe that things can change

(French, 2007, pp. 38-40).

By keeping these five dimensions in mind, it is possible to understand and point out the differences between various cultures.

2.4.2.2 High-context and Low-context cultures Another way to understand and explain cultural difference is presented by Edward T. Hall, who is an American anthropologist and cross-cultural ethnographer.

This theory put forward by Hall refers to a culture’s tendency to use high-context messages over low-context messages in routine communication or vice versa (Schneider & Barsoux, 2003, p. 44).

In low-context cultures communications are expected to be clear and direct or explicit. It is expected that people get to the point instead of ‘beating around the bush’. In low-context cultures it is also expected that everyone should be able to understand a message and have equal access to information. Furthermore, it is common for people in low-context cultures to state what is on their mind as soon and clearly as possible (Schneider & Barsoux, 2003, pp. 44- 45). Examples of low-context cultures are the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia (Maude, 2011, p. 13).

Furthermore, in high-context cultures communication is implicit and is highly dependent upon the person and the situation. Information is shared amongst people, and some people have

15 more privileged access to the information than others. In addition to this, people in a high- context culture think before they speak and are hesitant when it comes to giving explicit details, since they want to be sure of what is to be said before saying it (Schneider & Barsoux, 2003, pp. 44-45). Examples of high-context cultures are Latin American countries, Southern Europe and Asia (Maude, 2011, p. 13).

This theory presented by Hall gives another way to understand cultural differences.

2.4.2.3 Trompenaars’ view on time Another theory that looks at cultural differences is presented by Fons Trompenaars and Charles Hampden-Turner in the book Riding the Waves of Culture – Understanding Cultural Diversity in Business.

Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner propose that we see time in two ways. The first one is the sequential time orientation and the second one is the synchronic time orientation. The sequential time orientation represents cultures that undertake one activity at a time, and where punctuality is important. Examples of such cultures are for example the United States and countries in Northern Europe. The synchronic time orientation represents cultures that juggle multiple projects and activities at the same time and they do not think too highly of punctuality. Examples of synchronic cultures are Latin American cultures and Southern European cultures (Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner, 1997, pp. 123-125).

These aspects on time presented by Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner give a good example of cultural differences.

2.4.2.4 Shifting focus from national cultural identity to individual cultural identity Daphne A. Jameson focuses on individual cultural identity in the article Reconceptualizing Cultural Identity and Its Role in Intercultural Business Communication. Here she shifts the focus from understanding others to instead focusing on oneself, and how you react in certain cultural situations.

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The components of cultural identity are:

- Vocation: What you do for a living. - Class: Which class you are from (economic class, social class etc.). - Geography: What your nationality is. - Philosophy: Religious identity, political identity or other philosophies. - Language: Your first language, dialect. - Biological traits with cultural aspects: Your race ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, health and age. (Jameson, 2007)

This theory is interesting to take a look at, since it raises a discussion between national cultural identity and individual cultural identity, which suits well to look into in this study.

2.4.3 Intercultural communication The last theoretical foundation for this paper is intercultural communication. These theories derive from various textbooks and academic articles. One important book that has been very helpful in investigating intercultural communication such as stating the importance of learning the local language, finding information on cultural adjustment and furthermore, learning about culture and communication overall is Managing Cross-Cultural Communication – Principles & Practice written by Barry Maude. In addition to this, various articles are presented in the study such as Edgar E. Schein’s Organizational Culture and the article concerning The Importance of Language written by Austin E. Fife.

All in all, these various theories on culture, cultural differences and cultural challenges are presented in this study and are used to investigate and provide an answer for the research aim and research statement.

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2.5 Validity Validity is a matter of the extent to which the researcher’s observations and interpretations reflect the social phenomena being studied and its research question (Lungholt & Metelmann, 2013, pp. 109-110).

Validity may therefore be seen in terms of the quality of the study, in the encouraging to a continuous critical reflection and a critical assessment of the findings (Lungholt & Metelmann, 2013, p. 111). Furthermore, the validity of the research is based on the researcher’s integrity, knowledge and experience (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009, p. 194).

In this study a total of almost fifteen hours of conversation was recorded and written down, while further twenty pages have been written to sum up the interviews with the fourteen foreigners (Appendix 2.1) and Professor Jóan Pauli Joensen (Appendix 2.2). The validity comes primarily from the interviews themselves, where I was able to uncover the necessary findings on the cultural challenges and how to prevent them, as well as information on the Faroese culture (Joensen, 1987).

Another source of validation comes from cooperating with my academic supervisor, who is a representative of the research field which the study ascribes to. By using ethnography as a point of departure in this research, the tendency to jump to any first hand conclusions has been constrained, and instead focus has been on analyzing and discussing the findings (Spradley, 1979).

All in all, the validity in this study is based on the fourteen interviews with foreigners who live in the Faroe Islands, and as well as, the interview with Professor Jóan Pauli Joensen where all the findings were retrieved.

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Chapter 3: Analysis This study investigates the cultural challenges for foreigners when integrating into the Faroese society and strives to give the foreigners a chance to state their point of view on this matter. Furthermore, this paper makes an attempt to offer solutions to how these challenges can be prevented to ease the integration process for the foreigners residing in the Faroe Islands.

As previously mentioned the data is retrieved by conducting interviews with fourteen foreigners that come from various cultural backgrounds. Furthermore, the data will be analyzed with the help of a variety of cultural theories.

Before analyzing the findings that have been collected through interviews, I want to give a short overview of the Faroe Islands and of the Faroese culture. Additionally, I want to elaborate on the formal integration process when entering the Faroe Islands, and I also want to take a look at how many foreigners live in the Faroe Islands today and present the view on integration in the Faroese society today.

3.1 Facts about the Faroe Islands The Faroes Islands consist of 18 Islands and are situated in the North Atlantic between Iceland and Norway and the Northwest of Scotland. The Faroe Islands are a part of the Danish Kingdom, but is self-governing with its own parliament and national flag. The population in the Faroe Islands is around 49,000 people, and around 20,000 people live in the municipality of Tórshavn, which is the capital (Faroe Islands). Furthermore, the spoken language in the Faroe Islands is the native language called Faroese (Visit Faroe Islands). However, the Danish language is also a big part of the Faroese society, since it is a mandatory subject from primary school and onwards. Moreover, the Danish language is visible in all aspects of the Faroese society since Danish products are imported and sold, which includes foods and Danish clothes brands. Moreover, Danish television channels are also available in the Faroes, which exposes the Faroese people to Danish on a daily basis (Faroe Islands).

In addition to this, Faroese people know various Nordic languages (i.e. Norwegian and Swedish) very well, and English is also a well known language, especially amongst the young people and is taught in primary school as well (Faroe Islands).

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Besides this, the Faroe Islands have a longstanding history of being isolated from the outside world for many centuries, which also leads to an interesting cultural history, which will be explained next.

3.2 The Faroese culture It is important to first take a look at the Faroese culture to be able to find the cultural challenges for foreigners when moving to and integrating with people living on the Faroe Islands. First I want to examine the Faroese cultural history and the Faroese culture today. After that, I want to look at the personal culture of the Faroese people, which includes values and ways of being and behaving in order to give an idea of what the Faroese people are like.

3.2.1 The Faroese cultural history and the culture today The Faroese cultural heritage originates from the exploring Vikings and the Irish monks who resided on the islands 900 A.D. For centuries the islands were isolated, and therefore the country bred self-supplying people that had a lot of respect for nature. Nature has always been the foundation for the Faroese people and fishing has been the main income for living for many centuries. However, many contacts and collaborations have been made over the last 100 years now that the Faroes are connected with the rest of the world and are a part of the Kingdom of Denmark. Fishing has also been a major export during the last century, and is also still a big part of the everyday life and food in the Faroes. In addition to this, pilot whales and wild birds are also a great part of the Faroese cuisine alongside the Faroese sheep (Visit Faroe Islands).

The Faroe Islands also have a rich artistic culture, which includes storytelling, music and the national Faroese dance. In the old days it was very common to hear stories told from mouth to mouth, since this was the only way stories could be spread. Another big part of the Faroese culture, which also derives from the cultural history, is the traditional Faroese chain dance, which is danced while singing folklore ballads (Joensen, 1987, pp. 188-191). This dance is still a big part of the Faroese culture, and is present at Faroese weddings and traditional gatherings. In addition to the Faroese chain dance, it is common to wear the national Faroese clothing, while dancing and singing the folklore ballads (Joensen, 1987, pp. 171-172). The interesting fact is that these traditions that are more than 100 years old are still a very big part of the Faroese culture today, which also shows the patriotic side of the people in the Faroe Islands.

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Religion has also been a big part of the Faroese cultural history for many years, and the majority (about. 85%) of the Faroese population is a part of the Faroese Evangelical Lutheran Church (Faroe Islands). Religion has for many centuries been the foundation of the Faroese people, since it is taught in school and is a large part of the society as a whole (Joensen, 1987, pp. 181-182). There is a church in almost every village and city on the islands, which also symbolizes the importance of religion in the Faroese society (Faroe Islands). Today, however, the religion is not found to be as important as it used to be, but it does however have its impact on various matters, and especially when it comes to politics, such as when the subjects of homosexuality and abortion are discussed (Miðflokkurin, 2015). All in all, religion has for many centuries been a large part of defining the Faroese culture, but its importance is restricted when it comes to the younger generations and their view on the matter.

Now that you have an idea of the Faroese cultural history, let us take a look at the personal culture of the Faroese people.

3.2.2 The Faroese people Jóan Pauli Joensen, who is a professor of Ethnology and Cultural history at the Faroese University called Fróðskaparsetrið (Fróðskaparsetrið, 2015), explained some interesting aspects of the personal culture of the Faroese people.

First of all, Professor Joensen states that the Faroe Islands is a society that shows traits of having a cultural history deriving from being isolated from the world for many centuries. He further explains that this is seen in the way Faroese people behave. An example is that Faroese people are very family oriented and think highly of family bonds and values. In addition to this, Faroese people value friendships, and it is common to find friendships that have lasted a whole lifetime. According to Professor Joensen, this is because a personal trait of the Faroese people is that they are very loyal and stick to their own people, and once you are a part of a close friendship or family you are 100% in. This leads to a very tight-knit society, which according to Professor Joensen is due to the fact that when the Faroese society was isolated from the world, the people only had each other, and therefore this lead to a society with tight relationship bonds, and it has therefore been a part of the culture ever since (Appendix 2.2 p. 23).

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Heritage is also seen as an important matter in the Faroe Islands. It is common that, when speaking with an elder Faroese, a young Faroese is asked who his or her father or mother is. This is due to the fact that the people know each other and are interested in knowing what kind of people you come from. However, this particular cultural trait is not as common today with the younger generation. This has slowly tended to become less important for them, but the Faroese people still have an interest in knowing where a certain person is from and so on (Appendix 2.2 p. 23).

Professor Joensen also states in addition to being family-and-friendship oriented the Faroese people are laid back and easy going. According to Jóan Pauli, this is due to the nature of the Faroe Islands, which includes the fresh air, green mountains and beautiful wildlife surrounding the islands, which in itself is soothing (Appendix 2.2 p. 24).

Furthermore, it is very common that young people go abroad to travel and study, which also indicates that the longing to go abroad weighs heavily in the younger generation. According to Professor Joensen, this is also due to the cultural history of the Faroe Islands of being isolated from the outside world (Appendix 2.2 pp. 24-25).

However, today Faroese people have several options for leaving the country and exploring the world as compared to many years ago, and this is definitely something that is very popular amongst especially young people. However, the problem in this case is that some of the people leaving the country to explore the world and study never come back, and this leads to a decline in the Faroese population, which is a subject that has been widely discussed in Faroese politics and the media (Reistrup & á Rógvi, 2012, pp. 73-74).

Another personal trait in the culture of the Faroese people is patriotism. Since the Faroe Islands have a very strong national culture, which includes the wildlife of birds, sheep, the green mountains and the whale hunting and not to forget the Faroese chain dance and the national dress, the Faroese people are also very patriotic. According to Professor Joensen the patriotism is portrayed in the way the Faroese people want to preserve the whale hunting, think highly of the national holiday at the end of July called Ólavsøka, and more importantly it is also seen in how important the family values are to the Faroese people (Appendix 2.2 p. 23).

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All in all, these aspects portray the Faroese people and give an idea of the values and what is important for the Faroese people.

3.3 Immigrating to the Faroe Islands The Danish legislation on immigration is set in force in the Faroe Islands. It is, however, altered for the Faroese society and excludes some paragraphs that are not valid for the Faroese society to enforce.

First, I will present some important matters in the Alien Act, which includes a description on how the applications are processed, and how foreigners are to obtain a residency and work permit. Furthermore, I want to comment on immigration in the Faroe Islands today, and I also want to reflect on how integration of foreigners is seen in the Faroe Islands and describe the importance that it has today in the Faroese society.

3.3.1 The Alien Act Since the Faroe Islands is an independent country within the Kingdom of Denmark, it also means that the Danish Immigration Service receives all applications for residency and work permits. However, these applications are processed with consultancy from the Faroese immigration office called Útlendingastovan, while the Faroe Islands do have an impact on the matter, the Danish Immigration Service has the last say in whether or not the applications are accepted or not (New to Denmark).

There are different regulations that apply to foreign nationals who want to obtain residency or work permits in the Faroe Islands. These regulations are set out by the Alien Act (Legislation, 2001, pp. 1-29), which states that:

If you are a Nordic citizen, you are free to live, study and work in the Faroe Islands. These countries include Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark. Since the Faroes is not a member of the European Union (EU), the EU rules do not apply. However, there is a scheme which applies for EU citizens who want to reside or work in the Faroes. This scheme sets out that the unemployment rate in the Faroe Islands has to be less than 3.5% for EU citizens to achieve residency and/or work permit. However, when the unemployment rate is less than 6% in the

23 construction industry, residence and work permit is granted to foreigners seeking employment as a skilled worker (New to Denmark).

In addition to this, foreigners who originate from a country which is a part of the Schengen agreement1 are free to travel to the Faroe Islands without any further limitations. This applies even though the Faroe Islands is not a part of the Schengen Agreement. The Faroe Islands use the same conventions as the Schengen Agreement does without officially being a part of the agreement, e.g. to let residents of Schengen countries travel freely to the Faroe Islands.

Therefore, foreigners who originate from visa free countries can travel to and live in the Faroe Islands for up to three months. Foreigners from visa bound countries have to have a visa to enter and live in the Faroe Islands (Legislation, 2001, pp. 1-5).

3.3.2 Family reunification Family reunification can be granted to spouses and partners, children under the age of 18, parents over the age of 60 and other relatives or similar of a Faroese resident. The granted residency permit is temporary, and if the foreigner meets the above mentioned family reunification terms, the permit can be extended. However, if the foreigner has lived in the Faroe Islands for more than three years, he or she will be able to apply for a permanent residence permit, if he or she still meets the mentioned conditions. Furthermore, when a foreigner holds a residence permit on the grounds of family reunification, he or she is allowed to work in the Faroe Islands (Legislation, 2001).

All in all, the Faroese immigration is processed by Denmark, which handles all the papers, but the Faroe Islands do have some insight in the matter, since Útlendingastovan is in close contact with the Danish Immigration Service and offers help if needed.

1 The Schengen agreement is an agreement made between 26 countries to allow free movement of their citizens within the area of these countries as if they are one country (New to Denmark).

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3.4 Immigration in the Faroe Islands today Immigration in the Faroe Islands has evolved vastly over the past years. Each year more foreigners settle down in the Faroe Islands and according to The Statistical Bureau in the Faroe Islands there are 5,517 foreigners living in the Faroes (Appendix 3.5). This means that around 9% of the Faroese population is foreigners2. These 5,517 foreigners are from 115 different countries. This means that the foreigners living in the Faroe Islands are from all over the world (e.g. Australia, Chile, Argentina, China, Cambodia, Southern Africa and many more).

To give an idea of how immigration has evolved over the past years, it is interesting to take a look at the statistics from the previous 30 years.

Immigration flow 6000

5000

4000

3000

Foreigners 2000

1000

0 1985 1995 2005 2015 Year

Figure 1 - Immigration flow

2 These statistics are based on which country the foreigners are from. The number of foreigners was updated in April 2015. The statistics are retrieved from the Statistical Bureau in the Faroe Islands (http://www.hagstova.fo/fo/hagtalsgrunnur/ibugvar-og-val/folkatal).

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For example in 1985 there are documented 3,457 foreigners to live in the Faroe Islands (Appendix 3.1). In 1995 the number decreased to 2,900 foreigners living in the Faroes (Appendix 3.2), which is most likely due to the financial crisis that occurred in 1992 and left many people moving abroad – both Faroese people and foreigners (Hansen, 2007). Furthermore, in 2005 the number of foreigners living in the Faroe Islands increased to 4,583 (Appendix3.3), which shows a vast change in the immigration flow. The number of foreigners immigrating to the Faroe Islands is still increasing, and this is clearly seen in the immigration statistics from 2014 where 5,309 foreigners lived in the Faroe Islands (Appendix 3.4), while 5,517 foreigners live in the Faroes today (Appendix 3.5).

All in all, these statistics show an increase in the immigration flow in the Faroe Islands, and since the immigration is increasing there are several factors that need to be taken under consideration.

One important factor is the integration process for foreigners when immigrating to the Faroe Islands. But what is integration and why is it so important?

This is what I will analyze next.

3.5 Integration in the Faroe Islands Integration is an important matter when foreigners reside in the Faroe Islands.

But what is integration?

According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary integration is ‘the act or process of combining two or more things so that they work together’ (Hornby, 2005, p. 807). In other words the integration of foreigners is ‘a complete cross-cultural adjustment’, which means that the foreigners fully participate in the new society, while they still have their own cultural background as a standing point (Maude, 2011, p. 186).

However, the integration of foreigners in the Faroe Islands is a new phenomenon that has recently become an important topic in the Faroese society. The Faroe Islands do not yet have any specific integration guidelines on how foreigners are to be integrated into the Faroese society

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(Innlendismálaráðið, 2011), and this matter causes various cultural challenges for the foreigners living in the Faroese society (Appendix 2.1).

The Faroese Ministry of the Interior put forward an integration report in 2011 with suggestions on integration guidelines for foreigners when entering the Faroe Islands (Innlendismálaráðið, 2011). However, this report did not get the financial support needed, so the subject on integration still lingers in the Faroese society as something unknown. In addition to this, there is no Faroese term for the word integration (Innlendismálaráðið, 2011, p. 1), which also underlines that the aspect of integration is still foreign to the Faroese society.

Moreover, since the immigration flow has increased over the past years, the aspect of integration seems to become more and more important. However, many questions arise on how the process of integrating foreigners into the Faroese society is to be put into effect.

However, before offering any answers to such speculation, I find it important to reach out to the foreigners to get their view on the matter and let them explain the challenges they experience when trying to integrate into the Faroese society. Lastly, it is appropriate to come up with solutions on how these challenges can be prevented.

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3.6 Findings on the challenges when integrating into the Faroese Society The data retrieved from the fourteen interviews with various foreigners from different cultural backgrounds offered results on several challenges when integrating into the Faroese society.

The overall challenges that stood out in each interview were the cultural challenges, and it is therefore interesting to take a look at these specific challenges.

These cultural challenges all derive from the personal challenge that the interviewees had and some still have in the process of becoming Faroese and becoming a part of the Faroese society. These cultural challenges were underlined as so significant in each interview that the need for analyzing and interpreting these cultural challenges is particularly important.

However, before analyzing these cultural challenges, let us first take a look at what causes these cultural challenges.

3.6.1 Becoming Faroese When integrating into the Faroe Islands there are many cultural challenges that the foreigner has to overcome before feeling like a part of the Faroese society and eventually becoming Faroese.

But what is that causes these cultural challenges and why do they appear?

First of all, it is important to understand that every culture is unique. Edgar H. Schein, who is a well-known cultural theorist, proposes that culture can be divided into layers. He proposes the outer layer to be the artifacts, which is everything you can see, hear or feel about the culture. An example of this is how people in a given culture dress, talk to each other, their food culture and so on. The second and middle layer explained by Schein is the values of the culture. These values include norms, ideologies and philosophies of the culture. The inner and last layer is the basic assumptions of the culture. These basic assumptions are the unconscious assumptions that determine thought processes, perceptions, feelings and the behavior of people in the culture (Schein, 1990, pp. 1-5).

All of these layers constitute a culture, according to Schein, and they are very important to keep in mind when interacting with different cultures, since they portray the uniqueness in each culture.

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So what is it that causes cultural challenges for foreigners when integrating to the Faroe Islands?

According to Maude it is ‘the basic cultural differences’ that cause cultural challenges (Maude, 2011, p. 300). These cultural differences are clearly portrayed when a foreigner from one distinct culture enters the Faroe Islands, which have another distinct culture.

One good way to take a look at cultural differences is to use Geert Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. As previously mentioned, Hofstede did an extensive research on intercultural differences in the multinational corporation IBM, where he used 5 dimensions as a framework to assess and differentiate national cultures (French, 2007, pp. 38-40).

By using this framework set forward by Hofstede, it is possible to point out cultural differences amongst the various cultures.

Since the Faroese culture has not been analyzed by Hofstede, it is interesting to give an example on how the culture could be analyzed. This is done with the help from the interview with Professor Jóan Pauli Joensen including literature on the Faroese culture. However, this is only a suggestion with the help from professional data to how the Faroese culture could be presented if analyzed by Hofstede.

So let us take a look at the Faroese culture analyzed by according to Hofstede’s cultural dimensions.

3.6.1.1 The Faroese culture according to Hofstede’s dimensions In the dimension Power/Distance the Faroe Islands are most likely to score fairly low, since it is not common for the Faroese society to be built on hierarchy. This is portrayed in how the Faroese society strives for everyone to have the same opportunities and work together as seen in the history of the Faroe Islands (Joensen, 1987, pp. 11-12). In addition to this, the Faroe Islands are very likely to score high on the collectivist dimension. This is portrayed in how family bonds and friendships are of big importance to the Faroese people and also due to the fact that the Faroese society is very small, and therefore people tend to rely on each other as a group (Appendix 2.2 pp. 23-25). Furthermore, in the Masculinity/Femininity dimension the Faroe Islands are proposed to score high on the Feminine dimension. This can be stated due to the fact that the Faroese society tends to focus more on the soft values such as taking care of each other

29 and showing solidarity (Joensen, 1987, pp. 208-210). In addition to this, the feminine dimension is also seen in how the Faroese society focuses on balancing work and family life and giving employees the opportunity to have flexible work hours.

The next dimension of Uncertainty/Avoidance is proposed to have a low score since the Faroese people does not tend to plan too much, and therefore change of plans are not seen as a big deal. To give an example, this is portrayed in the history of the Faroe Islands. Since the Faroe Islands for many years were dependent on the weather conditions, it was very difficult to make any plans when going hunting for food or fishing. Therefore, the Faroese people have relied on taking each day one at a time and arranging plans as the circumstances have allowed for the plans to be fulfilled (Joensen, 1987, pp. 69-75). Another example is portrayed in the whaling culture of the Faroe Islands. Whenever a flock of pilot whales emerges ashore, the Faroese people are ready to go hunting, and this is no matter what they are doing before or what kind of plans they have. People set everything aside and hurry to the shore to hunt the pilot whales. This gives a good insight in the culture of the Faroese people when it comes to the relaxed outlook on the unknown and everything that is uncertain (Appendix 2.2 p. 24).

In the last dimension called Long-term Orientation the Faroe Islands are most likely to score low, according to the retrieved data. This means that the Faroe Islands is a normative culture, which focuses on traditions and emphasizes quick results compared to results over a long period of time. This is also portrayed in the tradition for the Faroese people to dance chain dances at special occasions and also wear the national costume, which emphasizes the importance of the historical culture for the Faroese people (Joensen, 1987, pp. 162-165).

This example of the Faroese culture analyzed according to Hofstede’s dimension gives an insight in how the culture in the Faroese society is, and it is also presented as a tool to further analyze the cultural challenges presented by the interviewees.

So let us take a look at the cultural challenges for the foreigners when integrating into the Faroese society.

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3.7 The cultural challenges when integrating into the Faroese Society As previously mentioned, Geert Hofstede defines culture as ‘A collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one culture from another’ (Maude, 2011, p. 4). Keeping in mind that culture is something that distinguishes people from each other, it is likely that a cultural challenge can appear when a foreigner from one distinct culture moves to another different culture such as the Faroe Islands.

The cultural challenges presented by the interviewees are:

- The challenge of immigrating to the Faroe Islands - The challenge of adjusting to a new culture - The challenge of language as a cultural barrier - The challenge of getting a job - The challenge of socializing with Faroese people

The first cultural challenge that I want to analyze according to my findings with the use of theories is the challenge of immigrating to the Faroe Islands. Here I want to go into the process of immigrating to the Faroe Islands, and how it has been for the foreigners according to the interviews. Next I will analyze the challenge of adjusting to a new culture. Here I want to analyze how the foreigners have experienced the cultural adjustment. In addition to this, I want to analyze the Catch 22, which consists of the next three presented cultural challenges, and how they are connected.

Furthermore, I will analyze the cultural challenge of language as barrier and look into the importance of language, and what the language barrier can lead to. In addition to this, I will analyze the challenge of getting a job and investigate the hardships that the foreigner can experience in the process of finding a job. Finally yet importantly, I will analyze the challenge of socializing with Faroese people and look into what causes this challenge. Lastly, I want to give some examples on how these cultural challenges can be prevented.

So let us take a look at the first cultural challenge.

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3.7.1 The challenge of immigrating to the Faroe Islands ‘My paperwork took ages to be processed. Finally, after approx. 8 months it came through long after due. It was very frustrating.’ (Appendix 2.1.1).

One challenge mentioned by many of the interviewees is the challenge of immigrating to the Faroe Islands. This challenge is both a cultural and societal challenge that revolves around the fact that the formal immigration process takes too long to be completed, and that it is difficult to be provided with an answer for questions concerning the immigration papers.

Seven out of fourteen interviewees had problems concerning this matter (Appendix 2.1 pp. 5- 21).

Interviewee 10 from Romania experienced that it took 1½ years to achieve her residency permit in the Faroe Islands. She was told that this was due to the fact that the papers were lost and then later found due to miscommunication This lead to the fact that interviewee 10 was not allowed to work in the Faroe Islands for 1½ year, and she also had to travel back home to Romania every three months, since she was not legally allowed to stay in the Faroe Islands for a longer period of time due to the lack of her residency permit (Appendix 2.1 p. 15).

According to the regulations, the paperwork concerning residency should not take more than 3 to 6 months (Politi, 2015).

But what is it that causes this paperwork to be delayed and take so long to be processed?

The cultural and societal challenges concerning the immigration papers taking too long to be processed are various. One theory that is interesting to take a look at in connection with the immigration papers taking too long to be processed is a theory concerning the aspect of time, which is set forward by Fons Trompenaars and Charles Hampden-Turner. In the book Riding the Waves of Culture it is explained that ‘Just as different cultures have different assumptions about how people relate to one another, so they approach time differently.’ (Trompenaars & Hampden- Turner, 1997, p. 120). These lines state that the aspect of time is different from culture to culture.

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According to Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner’s dimensions there are two ways of defining time in a cultural context. The first is a sequential time orientation, where an activity is undertaken one at a time, and punctuality is valued. Another way of seeing time is the synchronic time orientation where in this case it is possible to juggle many projects at a time, and punctuality is not important (Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner, 1997, pp. 123-125).

By keeping the interview with Professor Jóan Pauli Joensen in mind, it is possible to mention that the Faroese society has a synchronic time orientation, which means that making plans, being on time and scheduling is not of big importance. This is especially portrayed in the way Faroese people walk into each other’s houses without knocking or planning on beforehand (Appendix 2.2 pp. 23-25). This synchronic view on time can therefore also be a reason for the formal immigration process taking too long. This can be due to the fact that the Faroese society has a synchronic time orientation and therefore juggles many projects and assignments, which in turn leads to various matters such as immigration papers to take a longer time to be processed than they supposedly should.

All in all, it is important to keep the synchronic time orientation of the Faroe Islands in mind as a major factor for the immigration process being a challenge for foreigners when immigrating to the Faroe Islands.

Another challenge that has been pointed out by the interviewees when immigrating to the Faroe Islands is the fact that the foreigners are sent back and forth between the immigration offices, and this causes a difficult experience for the foreigners.

First of all, there is the Danish Immigration Service, where all the paperwork is originally sent to when foreigners apply for a residency permit , and it is also the Danish Immigration Service who decides whether or not the papers or approved (New to Denmark). In addition to this, there is Útlendingastovan (the Faroese Immigration office), which the Danish Immigration Service consults with when conducting the various immigration cases. Following this, the immigration papers are forwarded to Útlendingastovan when they have been approved, and then it is their responsibility to forward the approval to the foreigners (New to Denmark). Lastly, it is the Faroese police, which provide help for foreigners when they have any questions concerning immigration and residency permits (Politi, 2015).

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All in all, the foreigners in the Faroe Islands have three different options when they want to retrieve information concerning immigration.

Interviewee 13 from Thailand explains that when she contacted Útlendingastovan concerning her immigration paperwork, she was told to contact the Danish Immigration Service, since Útlendingastovan was not able to provide her with an answer. However, when she called the Danish Immigration Service she was told that they did not have an answer to give her, and then they told her to call Útlendingastovan one more time. This left interviewee 13 very frustrated, and she felt that this was a waste of her time (Appendix 2.1 p. 19).

According to Interviewee 12 from the UK it is the fact that there are three places that the foreigners can contact when they immigrate to the Faroe Islands, and this can cause a problem.

In addition to this, interviewee 12 has also had problems with being sent back and forth in the process of contacting the immigration offices for answers. She was also told by the Faroese police to call the Danish Immigration Service, which then asked her to call Útlendingastovan (Appendix 2.1 p. 18). She underlined in the interview that she was missing someone who was in charge and took the responsibility to give her a precise answer for her questions, but this did not happen (Appendix 2.1 p. 18).

According to the experiences that interviewee 12 and 13 have been through, it is clear to mention that there is a lack of structure and communication when it comes answering question that the foreigners ask.

In this case it is interesting to take a look at the theory presented by anthropologist Edward T. Hall on high-context and low-context cultures, since it may have an effect on why there is thought to be a lack of communication and structure in the processing of the immigration papers (Maude, 2011, p. 13).

This theory put forward by Hall refers to a culture’s tendency to use high-context messages over low-context messages in routine communication or vice versa (Schneider & Barsoux, 2003, p. 44).

In low-context cultures it is expected that people come to the point instead of ‘beating around the bush’. It is also expected that everyone should be able to understand the message and have

34 equal access to information. Furthermore, it is common for people in low-context cultures to state what is on their mind as soon and clearly as possible (Schneider & Barsoux, 2003, pp. 44- 45).

Furthermore, in high-context cultures communication is implicit and is highly dependent upon the person and the situation. In addition to this, people in a high-context culture think before they speak and are hesitant when it comes to giving explicit details, since they want to be sure of what is to be said before saying it (Schneider & Barsoux, 2003, pp. 44-45).

According to the interview with Professor Joensen, the Faroese culture can be classified as a high-context culture. This is due to the fact that he explains that the Faroese people ‘think before they speak’ (Appendix 2.2 p. 24). This gives an example of the Faroese people being hesitant when it comes to giving a message right away, since they want to be sure of what to convey.

This is therefore a good example of how the Faroese people interact when communicating with other people. In addition to this, it can be a reason for Útlendingastovan not giving the interviewed foreigners the answers to their questions, since the people at Útlendingastovan may be hesitant on what answer to provide, and therefore their solution is to tell the foreigners to call the Danish Immigration Service for answers.

Another problem, which is a societal challenge, is also that there are three offices instead of one office to contact when concerning the immigration papers and process, and this does of course lead to confusion for the foreigners in who to call for the right answers.

All in all, the challenge of immigrating to the Faroe Islands consists of the immigration process taking too long to be processed, which is due to the Faroese culture having a synchronic time orientation, which means that there are many assignments juggled at the same time and therefore some assignments are processed later than others. In addition to this, a societal challenge concerning the immigration process is the fact that there are three different offices for the foreigners to contact, which includes the Faroese Útlendingastovan, the Danish Immigration Service and the Faroese police. Another cultural challenge for the foreigners concerning the immigration process is that the foreigners find it difficult to get their questions answered by the immigration offices, which in this case is due to several factors involving both the societal barrier

35 of having too many offices available to provide an answer and also due to the cultural differences of the Faroe Islands being a high-context culture.

However, when the foreigner moves to the Faroe Islands, i.e. a new country and a new culture, there are other challenges that arise and in this case other cultural challenges.

The challenge that I want to look into now is the challenge of adjusting to a new culture.

3.7.2 The challenge of adjusting to a new culture ‘I had a complete culture shock when I moved to the Faroe Islands. Everything was different from what I was used to back home’ (Appendix 2.1.1).

One challenge that many foreigners face when entering a foreign culture is the overall challenge of adjusting to a new and unknown culture. Adjusting to a new culture is everything from adjusting to the culture and norms in the new society to living an everyday life and trying to socialize with people in the society (Schneider & Barsoux, 2003, p. 188).

In the book Managing Across Borders written by Schneider and Barsoux, a model called the U- curve describes the three phases of adjusting to a foreign culture. The first phase is described as the initial stage of elation and optimism. This phase is often referred to as the ‘honeymoon phase’, since the newcomer to the country often experiences a sense of euphoria when first arriving in the unknown country. Then after a few weeks the second phase sets in and is described as a period of irritability, frustration and confusion and is often referred to as ‘the morning after’. This phase usually lasts 3-4 months. This phase does in many cases lead to a cultural shock, which will be discussed later on. The third phase is in many cases followed by a gradual adjustment to the new environment and is also referred to as ‘happily ever after’ and is the phase when the foreigner is integrated into the new society. This final phase is when the foreigner is able to function and feel at home both in the new culture and the original culture (Schneider & Barsoux, 2003, pp. 188-189).

If all of these phases are successfully overcome, and the foreigner reaches the third phase of being able to integrate into the new society, the cultural adjustment is successful. But what happens if the foreigner is unable to adjust according to these three phases?

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As it was explained earlier, the second phase or the so-called ‘morning after’ phase is described as the period when the foreigner is in a state of being irritated, frustrated and confused. In addition to this, this phase can, as earlier mentioned, lead to a cultural shock. According to the book Managing Cross-Cultural Communication – Principles & Practice this cultural shock derives from the severe stress that some foreigners undergo and is caused by various factors such as different cultural practices in the new country, difficult job conditions and also the absence of family and friends. All in all, cultural shock is caused by the fact that the foreigner is taken out of his or her normal life and is in a new and foreign setting where everything is unfamiliar (Maude, 2011, pp. 188-189).

Furthermore, the process of undergoing a cultural shock is also described as a rite of passage (Schneider & Barsoux, 2003, p. 189), which means that this is something that has to be undergone in order to come to the next phase of accepting and embracing the new society.

However, according to the fourteen interviewed foreigners there are different cultural challenges that make it difficult to adjust to the Faroese culture and therefore make the process of integrating into the Faroese society difficult.

These cultural challenges include the language as a barrier, the challenge of finding a job and the challenge of socializing with the Faroese people. All of these challenges have turned out to be a significant barrier for the interviewed foreigners when trying to integrate into the Faroese society.

However, let us first take a look at how these three cultural challenges are connected.

3.7.3 The challenge of the Catch 22 ’It is a dangerous cycle, because since I do not have a job amongst Faroese people, and since I do not have any Faroese friends, I do not use the Faroese language, and therefore I do not learn it. And if I do not learn the Faroese language, I will not get a job, so you see it is a vicious cycle.’(Appendix 2.1.1).

According to interviewee 7 there is ‘a vicious circle’ that circulates at play when a foreigner does not know the Faroese language (Appendix 2.1 p. 11). This vicious circle can also be referred to as a Catch 22.

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According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary Catch 22 is ‘a difficult situation from which there is no escape because you need to do one thing before doing a second, and you cannot do the second thing before you do the first’ (Hornby, 2005, p. 232).

The challenge of language as a barrier

The challenge of The challenge of socializing with finding a job Faroese people

Figure 2 – The Catch 22 of the cultural challenges

By taking a look at the cultural challenges of language as a barrier, the challenge of finding a job and the challenge of socializing with Faroese people, a Catch 22 takes place. This is due to the fact that if the foreigners do not know the Faroese language, they will have a hard time finding a job, and if they do not have a job, they will not be able to socialize with Faroese people, and if the foreigners do not socialize with Faroese people, they will not learn the Faroese language. This pattern also goes the other way, which means that if the foreigner does not know the Faroese language, he or she will not be able to socialize with Faroese people, and if the foreigners do not socialize with Faroese people, they will also find it difficult to find a job.

All in all, this Catch 22 has a common pattern where one challenge cannot be resolved without the others being resolved. However, there is one challenge that dominates more than the others and it is the challenge of language as barrier.

So let us take a further look at the cultural challenge concerning language as a barrier.

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3.7.4 The challenge of language as a barrier ‘Not knowing Faroese has been a big challenge for me since entering the Faroe Islands. It has made it difficult for me to communicate with Faroese people.’ (Appendix 2.1.1)

According to Interviewee five and all the other thirteen interviewees, one cultural challenge that has had a big impact on their integration process is the language barrier (Appendix 2.1 pp. 5-21). This language barrier has caused various challenges for the interviewees and has made it difficult for them to integrate into the Faroese society.

But why is language a barrier?

This is a question that I want to answer and analyze in the following section to get a deeper look at the importance of language and the further challenges of language as a barrier.

3.7.4.1 The importance of language In the article ‘The Importance of Language’ Austin E. Fife explains how the use of verbal and written language has evolved over the past centuries. He explains how language provides humans with the opportunity to communicate what they want. In summation, his article concludes that the knowledge of a language is important for the human species to survive (Fife, 1949, p. 3). By concluding that the use of language is essential for survival, he also underlines the omnipresent centrality of language in our lives. The article further reiterates the utmost importance of the use of language – whether it is verbal or body language.

However, when a person does not know the language – verbal or body language – in a society that he or she resides in, a language barrier is created.

The language barrier derives from the fact that the person does not know the local language and therefore is not able to communicate effectively with his or her surroundings (Maude, 2011, pp. 58-59).

Barry Maude states that ‘Each language is a lens which offers a unique world view’ (Maude, 2011, p. 61) which underlines that every language is individual. In addition to this, Maude also says that ‘The words, grammar, and expressions of each language reflect the perceptions and biases of the underlying culture’ (Maude, 2011, p. 58), which also states that each language is intertwined with its cultural inheritance. These statements underline the individuality of each

39 language and show the importance of knowing the language in the society in order to be able to communicate fully.

Furthermore, since the importance of language and knowing a specific language is this important, it is interesting to take a look at how the language barrier of not knowing Faroese has been a challenge for the interviewees when residing in the Faroe Islands.

3.7.4.2 Findings on the challenge of language as a cultural barrier ‘It has been difficult for me to be a part of a Faroese neighborhood and the Faroese community, since I do not know the Faroese language that well´ (Appendix 2.1.1).

All fourteen interviewees emphasized the Faroese language as a big cultural challenge when coming to the Faroes Islands, and the language barrier was the challenge that stood out the most when the interviews were conducted (Appendix 2.1 pp. 5-21).

But why is the Faroese language a cultural challenge?

As previously mentioned the language barrier is a big challenge due to the fact that it further makes it challenging for the foreigners to find a job, and it also makes it challenging for them to socialize with Faroese people. In addition to this, it also sets back the adjustment to the new culture, since the foreigner is unable to integrate into the Faroese society by getting a job and socializing, which are two major factors when trying to integrate hence the previous mentioned Catch 22.

Interviewee 10 from Romania emphasized the language barrier during the interview and said that ‘I did not know that much English when I came to the Faroe Islands, so to be able to communicate with Faroese people I had to learn proper English while also learning Faroese.’ (Appendix 2.1.1). The fact that she did not know English well or Faroese caused her a serious challenge when trying to integrate into the Faroese society. In addition to this, she said that she felt excluded from the society in many ways due to the language barrier, and in the end she only had her Faroese husband to talk to (Appendix 2.1 p. 15-16).

Interviewee 4 from India also focused on the language being a big cultural barrier. She stated that when she came to the Faroe Islands 24 years ago, she did not speak any Faroese. She,

40 however, spoke English very well, but she experienced that the Faroese people were almost too afraid to speak English (Appendix 2.1 p. 7).

Moreover, interviewee 3 from Slovakia mentioned the challenges concerning the language barrier and said that, ‘The language is a big barrier, since the Faroese people are very fond of their own language, and hesitate when they are asked to speak English’ (Appendix 2.1.1).

But do Faroese people hesitate when they are to speak English?

This specific case on Faroese people hesitating when asked to speak English was found in numerous interviews, and raised the question on why Faroese people hesitate when asked to speak English.

According to Professor Jóan Pauli Joensen, Faroese people think before they speak (Appendix 2.2 p. 24), and since the Faroes is a high-context culture, where the unspoken word is equally important to convey meaning as the spoken word, a reason for the Faroese people holding back when trying to speak English may be due to the fact that they are not completely confident in themselves to speak this foreign language.

However, Interviewee fourteen from the US does not agree that the Faroese people are too afraid to speak English. She has only experienced that the Faroese people are more than happy to speak English to include her in various occasions. She does, however, underline that knowing the Faroese language is a huge advantage when trying to integrate into the Faroese society (Appendix 2.1 p. 21).

All in all, there were many findings concerning the Faroese language as a challenge for the foreigners when trying to integrate into the Faroese society.

However, not knowing the Faroese language has also lead to different experiences concerning miscommunication for some of the interviewees when trying to communicate with Faroese people.

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3.7.4.2.1 Miscommunication due to the language barrier ‘I called the Faroese Immigration office and told them that I was still waiting for my residency papers. They repeatedly told me that they did not understand me, so I had to ask my husband to talk to them’ (Appendix 2.1.1).

People from the same cultural background tend to think, communicate and reason in similar ways. However, when people from dissimilar cultural backgrounds communicate, they tend to misinterpret each other’s meanings (Maude, 2011, p. 64), and this is where miscommunication happens. Miscommunication occurs due to the language barrier, which is caused when two people speak two different languages and try to communicate in each other’s language or in a lingua franca (Maude, 2011, p. 65).

In addition to this, miscommunication occurs when there is a mismatch between what the speaker intends his words to mean and how the hearer hears them. This is due to the fact that people from different cultures send and interpret in different, culturally influenced ways.

Interviewee 1 from Slovakia gave a very interesting example when interviewed. He told that he had been interviewed by a local Faroese newspaper to talk about being a foreigner in the Faroe Islands. He told his story to the reporter and said all good things about the Faroe Islands and about the Faroese people. He told the reporter that he did not have any problems living in the Faroe Islands, but he felt it a bit difficult to find Faroese friends. Since he does not have any problems speaking Faroese, the whole interview for the news paper was conducted in Faroese. However, Interviewee 1 does have a thick Slovak accent and can be a bit difficult to understand fully at times (Interviewee 1 – listen to recorded interview to hear).

When the interview for the local newspaper was released and printed the headline stated that ‘Faroese people do not know how to integrate foreigners’ (Grótinum, 2015), Interviewee 1 was completely stunned that this phrase was the headline of the paper, and he also felt very misinterpreted, since he did not say that phrase, but merely stated that he found it difficult to find Faroese friends. In his opinion, this was a matter of miscommunication between him and the reporter, since his meaning was misunderstood.

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This example with Interviewee 1 is an example of language as a barrier with the challenge being that a miscommunication occurred between him and the reporter from the local Faroese newspaper.

Another effect caused by the language barrier and therefore can result in miscommunication is cultural noise.

Cultural noise is according to Maude ‘impediments to communication that occur when people from different cultures interact.’ (Maude, 2011, p. 71). This cultural noise leads to misunderstandings and miscommunication.

In this case the example of miscommunication between interviewee 1 and the reporter from the Faroese newspaper can also be analyzed as a result of cultural noise, since interviewee 1 has a thick Slovak accent that can have lead to this miscommunication.

Another example of cultural noise was portrayed by Interviewee 7 from the United States. During the interview she emphasized how her culture is different from the Faroese in the way that she is more outgoing and uses big gestures when talking compared to the Faroese people who tend to hold more back and not be as outgoing (Appendix 2.1 p. 11). She also explained that one time she was advised by one of her Faroese friends to be less flirtatious. She was told by her Faroese friends that she acted flirtatious in the way she presented herself when meeting new Faroese people, where she for example gave too many hugs or too many kisses that seemed inappropriate (Appendix 2.1 p. 11-12).

This is a good example of cultural noise, since interviewee 7, who comes from an outgoing culture, greets a foreign culture with her own cultural ways, and it is seen by the foreign culture as something inappropriate even though interviewee 7 only wanted to say hi and welcome the person. This is where the background culture clearly is portrayed and comes forward as cultural noise.

This example can also be explained as a meeting between a low-context culture, which in this case is represented by the American interviewee, and a high-context culture, which is presented by the Faroese people. Since the interviewee is from a low-context culture where people are more explicit and tell things as they are, it is stumbling for a person a high-context culture like

43 the Faroese culture, where everything is portrayed more implicitly and where people tend to hold more back (Schneider & Barsoux, 2003, pp. 44-45). In this case it is not surprising that a challenge concerning cultural noise is happening.

Furthermore, as earlier explained in the Catch 22, the challenge of language as a barrier also leads to other cultural challenges for the foreigners when trying to integrate into the Faroese society.

The first important cultural challenge that is caused by the language barrier amongst other factors is the challenge of finding a job.

3.7.5 The challenge of finding a job ‘I think that nepotism is too much in control over the Faroese jobs. I have experienced it myself.’ (Appendix 2.1.1).

Another cultural challenge that was pointed out in the interviews as an important challenge is the challenge of finding a job. As earlier explained the challenge of finding a job also comes from the challenge of language as a barrier, i.e. the Catch 22.

Furthermore, the challenge of finding a job is also due to other circumstances according to interviewee 8 from Poland. She feels that nepotism3 has too much control over the jobs in the Faroe Islands. She once applied for a job to which she had all the right qualifications, and in addition to this the employers were seeking a person with good English skills, which she has. She went to the interview with all the right papers and right qualifications, but was not granted the job in the end. She later found out that a cousin of one of the employers got the job (Appendix 2.1 p. 13).

But is it true that the Faroese society executes nepotism?

According to Professor Joensen, nepotism is a common practice in the Faroe Islands, and he says that it is not surprising that nepotism is carried out in a small society like the Faroes. He states that this is due to the fact that the Faroese people know each other, what heritage you have and what kind of reputation you have, and if e.g. a foreigner and a Faroese apply for a job, where the

3 Nepotism: Giving unfair advantages to your own family if you are in a position of power, especially by giving them jobs (Hornby, 2005, p. 1021).

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Faroese has all the qualifications and has a good reputation, he or she will most likely be preferred.

In addition to this, Professor Joensen states that the language barrier also has a major influence when it comes to job positions. However, he underlines that personality traits are also crucial when a job interview is conducted (Appendix 2.2 p.25).

The analysis of the Faroe Islands according to Hofstede’s dimensions portrays that the Faroese culture is a collectivistic culture, which means that the Faroese people are family oriented and prioritize family and friends. This may as well be a reason for why nepotism is carried out in the Faroese society.

Furthermore, another point that is interesting is the fact that interviewee 8 from Poland, who underlined the nepotism in the Faroese society, comes from an individualistic culture according to Hofstede (Appendix 4 p. 35). This means in contrast to the Faroese culture it is common to rely and depend on oneself. This can also indicate that nepotism is not an existing phenomenon in the culture of Poland, where interviewee 8 is from, which also leads to the surprising fact of the existing nepotism in the Faroe Islands.

Another challenge that is underlined when foreigners are searching for a job is that their education or qualifications are not approved in the Faroe Islands.

Interviewee 6 from the United Kingdom explained his difficult process when trying to find a job in the Faroe Islands. Since he has an academic degree in shipping and logistics and has an extensive training and experience in this field of work from his home country, he applied for similar jobs in the Faroe Islands before moving to the country (Appendix 2.1 p. 10).

Since the Faroe Islands have an important position in the shipping industry (Visit Faroe Islands), interviewee 6 did not think that it would be a problem for him to find a job in the Faroese shipping industry. However, even though he applied for several jobs in the industry, where he was qualified and had the right academic background, he was not even contacted by one of the companies. He found this to be very frustrating, since he wanted a job and the security that comes with it before moving to the Faroe Islands with his Faroese wife. After a period of time he was eventually offered a job as a night watch at a hotel in Tórshavn, and at this point interviewee

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6 explained that he was just happy to get any kind of job (Appendix 2.1 p. 10). This also shows how the Faroese society hesitates to hire foreigners even though they have all the right papers and qualifications, which again refers to the collectivistic Faroese culture.

Furthermore, interviewee 1 from Slovakia also explained her difficulties in finding a job in the Faroe Islands. She has a long academic background in designing and producing clothes. However, since the designer market in the Faroes Islands is very small due to the small society, she found it very difficult to find a job suited to her experience and background. Instead she settled with working at a fish factory the first few years, and later she was hired as a kitchen manager at a restaurant after thorough experience as a help in the same kitchen for a long time (Appendix 2.1 p. 5).

But why is it difficult for the foreigner to find a job that he or she is suited to do both academically and experience wise?

First of all, the language barrier plays a major role, which again refers to the Catch 22 mentioned earlier. In addition to this, it reflects the Faroese culture of being a collectivistic culture. According to Hofstede’s dimension a collectivistic culture is a culture that thinks very highly of family bonds and friendships, and this matter is very important to the Faroese people (French, 2007, p. 38).

As earlier analyzed, nepotism does exist in the Faroe Islands, and this is also due to the fact that the Faroese society is a collectivistic culture that sticks to its family and friends.

However, it is not only due to the fact that the Faroe Islands is a collectivistic society. In addition to this, the Faroese society also shows traits of being a short-term orientation culture, which means that the focus is on traditions and achieving goals on a short-term basis. This also means that when a company wants to hire a new colleague, the company is more likely to choose someone who can complete work related tasks and assignments right away, which then means that Faroese companies are less likely to hire a foreigner, who they know nothing about, and who possibly does not know the Faroese language.

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All in all, it is a challenge for foreigners in the Faroe Islands to find a job that suits their qualifications and experience, since the Faroe Islands is a collectivistic and short-term oriented culture.

3.7.6 The challenge of socializing with Faroese people ‘I do not have any Faroese friends. I do not know if it is because of the language, or if it is because they do not want to get in contact with foreigners’ (Appendix 2.1.1).

Another challenge which also derives from the language barrier is the challenge of socializing with Faroese people. Several foreigners find this to be an important challenge. Furthermore, this challenge also derives from the challenge of the language as a barrier as the Catch 22 has pointed out.

Interviewee 12 from the UK explained an incident that occurred, when she was trying to socialize with Faroese people in her neighborhood. She was invited by her to join a so-called ‘knitting club’, which loosely translates to be more of a social gathering for female friends. She went to the event with a positive mind, since she is a very outgoing and social woman. When she arrived she was greeted by all the other women in both her native language, which is English, and also Faroese, since she at that time understood some basic words. As the evening progressed she found herself to be excluded from the whole event since all the other women communicated in Faroese, even though she told them a few times that she did not understand, what they were saying. Interviewee 12, however, underlined that they were all very apologetic and then switched over to English, which, however, was soon forgotten as time went by. This made interviewee 12 feel excluded and unwelcome (Appendix 2.1 p. 18).

In this example it is again portrayed how the language barrier is a challenge for the foreigners, and in this case it is a challenge for the foreigners when trying to socialize with Faroese people.

According to the above mentioned example, the Faroese women spoke English at first, but then they switched over to speak Faroese, which made interviewee 12 feel excluded.

But why do they speak Faroese when they know that interviewee 12 does not speak Faroese that well?

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According to Professor Jóan Pauli Joensen this is not something that is unusual. He states that it is common nature for people to want to speak their own language when they are in social gatherings, because it is something that comes naturally. He does, however, agree that it makes foreigners feel excluded, but he thinks that it should not be seen as something negative that people want to speak their own language. He further states that it is an underlying mechanism that makes people speak their own language in gatherings, where most of the people are Faroese. Furthermore, it comes naturally, so they may not be aware of the fact that they are speaking Faroese and not English (Appendix 2.2 p. 24-25).

In addition to this, when people speak in a lingua franca such as English, and especially if they do not feel comfortable speaking the lingua franca, many people find it to be an unnatural situation and therefore feel uncomfortable speaking the foreign language (Maude, 2011, pp. 63-64).

Another example of feeling excluded is presented by interviewee 8 from Poland. She has experienced that she and her husband, who is from Russia, have been excluded from a social gathering in their neighborhood.

She stated that she once invited her neighbors over for dinner, which they did accept and attend. After having them over for dinner, she found it very surprising that her neighbors never invited her and her husband over for dinner.

In addition to this, she and her husband experienced that their whole neighborhood was gathered at another neighbor’s house for a barbeque, where they were not invited, and she further explained that, ‘They even waved at us in their Faroese sweaters, and they saw that we were sitting all by ourselves’ (Appendix 2.1.1). This statement shows a great feeling of exclusion by interviewee 8, and she truly feels that the Faroese people that she has met and tried to socialize with do not want to have anything to do with her and her husband.

Does this mean that the Faroese people are xenophobic?

According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary a xenophobic is a person who has ‘a strong feeling of dislike or fear of people from other countries’ (Hornby, 2005, p. 1771). This also states that if the Faroese people are xenophobic, they try to do everything in their power to avoid foreigners that live in the Faroese society, but is this so?

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According to Jóan Pauli Joensen Faroese people are not xenophobic, but they may however be a bit insecure of changes. Furthermore, he refers to the history of the Faroe Islands when the Faroes were isolated for many years and states that even though this isolation from the world was many years ago, the Faroese society still shows traits of being happy with what they have and not needing more (Appendix 2.2 pp. 24-25). This view on the Faroese society presented by Professor Joensen again shows the traits of the Faroese society being a collectivistic culture, where people focus on their families and friendships.

However, according to interviewee 5 from the US, the Faroese people are very welcoming and interested when meeting her. She states that she has not had any problems socializing with Faroese people and further states that she already has several Faroese friends even though she has only lived in the Faroes for about 1 year. However, she also says that this can very well be due to the fact that her husband is a Faroese musician and meets people regularly, so they often attend various social gatherings, e.g. concerts and parties, where it is easy to meet and talk to people. Interviewee 5 also contemplates that since she usually meets young Faroese people who are in their 20’s or 30’s, it may very well be a factor that the younger generation is more curious and interested when meeting foreigners (Appendix 2.1 p. 10).

This experience portrayed by interviewee 5 further states that the Faroese people are not xenophobic, but they may be reluctant to change and meeting new people. They may also be happy with what they already have, which may be a reason for not engaging with foreigners.

After analyzing these cultural challenges it is interesting to propose how these cultural challenges can be prevented. This is what we will take a look at next.

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3.8 How can these cultural challenges be prevented? This section proposes solutions to how the cultural challenges can be prevented. This is pursued with help from the interviewees and cultural theories. Furthermore, this section takes a look into what the foreigners themselves can do to prevent these cultural challenges from happening.

3.8.1 The cultural challenges According to the fourteen interviewed foreigners, the cultural challenges are:

- The challenge of immigrating to the Faroe Islands - The challenge of adjusting to a new culture - The challenge of language as a cultural barrier - The challenge of getting a job - The challenge of socializing with Faroese people

All of these challenges have one thing in common, which is that they are culturally challenging for the foreigners when trying to integrate into the Faroese society.

Now that these challenges have been analyzed and investigated, it is appropriate to come up with solutions to how these cultural challenges can be prevented.

As earlier mentioned the cultural challenges are caused by ‘the basic cultural differences’ (Maude, 2011, p. 300). Furthermore, the cultural challenges are put to test when one person from a distinct culture enters another distinct culture, which is when the cultural differences are clearly represented (Appendix 2.1).

But what can prevent these cultural challenges from happening?

Let us take a look at what the interviewees propose.

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3.8.2 What the interviewees propose Since the challenge of language as a barrier constitutes the Catch 22 and is presented as the biggest cultural challenge by the interviewees, it is important to propose a solution to the cultural challenges, which we will take a look at next.

3.8.2.1 Language matters ‘The courses that are meant to teach foreigners Faroese should be more structured and teach the foreigners everyday phrases instead of grammar’ (Appendix 2.1.1).

During the interviews there was a big focus on language as a barrier. Moreover, several of the interviewees stated the fact that the opportunities for learning the Faroese language are very limited in the Faroese society (Appendix 2.1).

According to Útlendingastovan there are Faroese language courses offered by the evening schools in the various municipalities in the Faroe Islands. The first 20 hours are free of charge, while the subsequent 20 hours the foreigners have to pay themselves (Útlendingastovan, 2015).

However, according to interviewee 1 from Slovakia the language courses offered by the evening schools are too limited and not well-structured (Appendix 2.1 p. 5).

In addition to this interviewee 2 from Slovakia further stated that the language courses are not fit to educate such diverse cultures in the Faroese language, because not all foreigners are suited to learn the Faroese language on the same level. She also thinks that some of the courses are too expensive compared to what they offer (Appendix 2.1 p. 6).

However, Interviewee 7 from the U.S. stated that she attended evening school to learn the Faroese language, but since she knew some Faroese due to the help from her husband’s family, she found it too simple and on a very low level (Appendix 2.1 p. 11).

Additionally, interviewee 9 from Togo also found the classes to lack structure, and that Faroese was only taught three hours every week, which was not enough for her to learn the language (Appendix 2.1 p.14).

All in all, the language courses did not get a good recommendation from the interviewees. According to the interviewees the offered Faroese language courses lack structure, are not

51 suited to everyone since some people learn faster than others, and the municipalities offer too few hours on learning Faroese.

Moreover, the interviewees propose that to prevent the challenge of language as a barrier, the Faroese society should take into account all of these above mentioned factors presented by the interviewees.

In addition to this interviewee 8 proposes that the language classes should be divided into beginners and advanced to be more suited to the specific target group of foreigners and their level of understanding of the Faroese language (Appendix 2.1 p. 13).

Besides improving the Faroese language classes, several of the interviewees proposed that there should be more focus on the English language in the Faroese society.

‘English should be on the same level as Faroese and Danish if the Faroe Islands want to integrate more people’ (Appendix 2.1.1).

As the above mentioned quote states, some of the interviewees want more focus on the English language in the Faroese society to ease the integration process for the foreigners immigration to the Faroe Islands (Appendix 2.1).

Interviewee 8 thinks that the Faroe Islands should embrace the English language and put more focus on it (Appendix 2.1 p. 13). Furthermore, interviewee 4 states that the Faroese people should not be afraid to speak English, but instead speak to make the foreigner feel welcome (Appendix 2.1 p. 8).

In conclusion, interviewees propose that to prevent the challenge of language as a barrier, the Faroese language courses should be more structured, divided in beginners and advanced, and furthermore, there should be more hours offered by the Faroese government. In addition to this, some of the interviewees propose that the Faroese people should not be afraid to speak English, and also that there should be more focus on the English language in the Faroese society to ease the integration process for the foreigners.

As well as these propositions on how to prevent the challenge of language as a barrier, the interviewees also proposed solutions to the other cultural challenges, which we will look at next.

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3.8.2.2 Structure and preparation is needed ‘There is a need of a better structure in the processing and managing of knowledge concerning important information to the foreigners’ (Appendix 2.1.1).

The propositions presented by the interviewees on the other cultural challenges more or less revolve around the fact that structure and preparation is needed.

For the challenge of immigrating to the Faroe Islands several of the interviewees proposed that there is a pressing need of structure when it comes to processing the immigration paperwork and also in regards to providing the foreigners with answers. In addition to this, interviewee 12 proposed that it would be much more structured if there was only one office instead of three offices that the foreigners could contact for information (Appendix 2.1 pp. 18-19).

Another important matter presented by the interviewees in regards to preventing the cultural challenges, is that the Faroese society needs to be more prepared when welcoming immigrants.

Interviewee 7 proposed that the foreigners immigrating to the Faroe Islands should receive a brochure with all the necessary information. They should also get all the necessary information on the Faroese culture, how to behave, what to understand and so on (Appendix 2.1 p. 11). Interviewee 5 also proposed that there should be some kind of welcoming package for foreigners when they enter the Faroe Islands. In addition to this, she proposed that there should be some kind of arrangement for the foreigners to have a contact person they can reach out to if needed (Appendix 2.1 p. 9).

However, since it is a long process for the government and the municipalities to optimize their Faroese language courses for foreigners, the focus should also be on what the foreigners can do themselves to learn the language better.

But what can the foreigners do themselves to prevent these cultural challenges from happening?

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3.8.3 What the foreigners can do to prevent the cultural challenges Since many of the cultural challenges for the foreigners when integrating into the Faroes Islands are also presented as societal challenges where the offered Faroese language courses are not good enough and where the immigration process and service takes too long and is too complex, it is a very good idea for the foreigners evaluate what they can do themselves to prevent these cultural challenges from happening.

3.8.3.1 When moving to a foreign culture… One way for the foreigner to prevent cultural challenges and minimize a culture shock when immigrating to the Faroe Islands is to prepare prior to moving. This means that the foreigners should focus on preparing themselves for the new culture and prepare for the un-known. This is also referred to as the preparation-and-interaction model, which is based on the assumption that ‘adjustment largely depends on the individual’s willingness and ability to communicate with members of the culture in accordance with their cultural norms and conventions’ (Maude, 2011, p. 184).

According to Maude, the adjustment starts before a foreigner arrives in a new culture and is called the anticipatory adjustment, which also continues after arrival. Furthermore, this anticipatory adjustment involves adequate preparation based on pre-departure information about the new culture and can be very helpful in helping the foreigner to cope with uncertainty and confusion about the new society that he or she is about to enter. All in all, the foreigner is advised to keep an open mind (Maude, 2011, p. 184).

Besides adjusting the anticipation prior to moving to a foreign culture, it is also necessary for the foreigner to interact with the foreign culture. Here the preparation-and- interaction model focuses on the fact that if the foreigner makes a conscious effort to communicate regularly with the local people and an effort to become familiar with their beliefs and values, he or she accelerates his or her cross-cultural adjustment (Maude, 2011, p. 184).

However, there are four types of cross-cultural adjustment outcomes for the foreigner when entering a new culture.

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The first type is segregation. This is when the foreigner remains detached from the culture of the new society and maintains close ties with the culture of origin. This also means that the foreigner is excluded from the new society – by choice or not by choice.

The second type is marginalization, which is when the foreigner is being indecisive between the norms and the values of the original and new culture as a result of loss of identification with both the original and new society.

The third type is assimilation, which is when the foreigner abandons his or her original cultural identity and becomes a part of the new society. This also includes that the foreigner accepts the mainstream cultural elements of the host society.

The fourth and last type is integration. This is when the foreigner manages to undergo a complete cross-cultural adjustment, which includes a full participation in the host society. However, the foreigner manages at the same time to maintain a positive relationship to his or her original culture (Maude, 2011, p. 186).

As explained above integration is the type that shows a complete cross-cultural adjustment, and this is also why integration is such an important matter. The cross-cultural adjustment process is complete when the foreigner becomes socially acceptable and when the outcomes include successful social interactions and psychological well-being.

In addition to this, foreigners who have achieved a complete cross-cultural adjustment are able to manage stress, manage everyday social interactions, are able to communicate effectively at work and in the society as a whole, and they are able to maintain cross-cultural relationships (Maude, 2011, p. 186).

Furthermore, the cross-cultural adaptation theory argues that when foreigners first arrive in a new culture, they often struggle to cope with the new experience. However, these struggles often result in new learning and growth, which is called acculturation. Acculturation is in other words ‘the adoption and retention of a language, identity, behavior and values as a result of coming into contact with another culture’ (Maude, 2011, p. 184).

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In addition to this, there are two distinct dimensions involved in the gradual process of acculturation, which is maintaining the original cultural identity and learning the cultural norms and behavior patterns of the new culture, which in other words also refers to integration where the foreigner undergoes a complete cross-cultural adjustment, while at the same time keeping a positive relationship with his or her original culture as mentioned earlier (Maude, 2011, p. 186).

The cross-cultural adaptation theory is based on the assumption that:

- Human beings have an inherent drive to adapt and integrate to their environment. - They adapt their social environment through communication - The adaptive process is multi-faceted – that is change in one part may cause changes in other parts. Improved local language skills, for instance, bring about better understanding of cultural practices.

(Maude, 2011, p. 185). Both the preparation-and-interaction model and the cross-cultural adaptation theory underline the importance of communicating with people from the local culture. This also means that learning the spoken language in the local culture is crucial for the foreigner’s adaptation process.

So how can the cultural challenges be prevented?

According to the interviewees and their experience, the Faroese society should invest more in the Faroese language classes for foreigners. This includes offering more hours paid by the Faroese government, a better structure in the language classes and also a variation of classes i.e. different classes offered according to how well the foreigner knows the Faroese language. In addition to this, the interviewees propose that the Faroese people should not be too afraid when they are to speak English. Furthermore, the interviewees also propose that the Faroese society should offer a welcome package for immigrants when entering the country.

As mentioned earlier, since all of these propositions are in regards to what they Faroese society can do, it is also important to take a look at what the foreigners themselves can do.

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This includes, first of all, that it is important that the foreigner makes use of the above mentioned preparation-and-interaction model (Maude, 2011, p. 184), which focuses on the fact that the foreigners should prepare prior to departure and also interact with local people in the society once they have arrived. In addition to this, the foreigner should do everything in his or her power to try and learn the Faroese language, which is the key to achieve a total cross- cultural adjustment. This will also lead to the foreigner having a better chance at getting a job, and furthermore it will enhance the foreigner’s ability to socialize with Faroese people.

All of these aspects will help the foreigners when immigrating to the Faroe Islands since it includes both what the Faroese society, and what the foreigners can do to prevent the cultural challenges from happening.

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Chapter 4: Discussion This chapter discusses various important aspects presented in the paper. First of all, this chapter discusses the importance of letting the foreigners speak and state their opinion. Moreover, this chapter discusses the findings on the cultural challenges for the foreigners when integrating into the Faroe Islands. In addition to this, a critical look at the propositions for preventing the cultural challenges will be presented.

All in all, this chapter takes a critical dive in all the findings that have been retrieved according to the research statement and research aim.

Finally, this chapter comments upon how this study contributes to its field of research.

4.1 The importance of letting the foreigners speak One overall aim in this paper has been to let the foreigners speak and state their opinion concerning the integration process in the Faroe Islands.

But why is it interesting to let the foreigners state their opinion?

As earlier presented around 9%4 of the Faroese population is foreigners. These 9% represent a growing minority that is in the need of exposure and wants light shed on the integration process in the Faroe Islands.

Furthermore, since the immigration flow is increasing in the Faroe Islands it becomes more and more important to focus on the integration process when immigrating to the Faroes.

By giving the foreigners a chance to speak, the Faroese society gets an insider view on how the integration process is experienced and what the challenges are.

The process of finding foreigners for the interviews was no problem, since many volunteered as the search for interviewees began. This also shows that the foreigners find it interesting to talk about and discuss the integration process in the Faroe Islands.

4 These statistics are based on which country the foreigners are from. The number of foreigners was updated in April 2015. The statistics are retrieved from the Statistical Bureau in the Faroe Islands (http://www.hagstova.fo/fo/hagtalsgrunnur/ibugvar-og-val/folkatal).

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However, due to the limited time and resources only fourteen interviews were conducted even though more people had volunteered (Appendix 2.1). Nevertheless, these fourteen interviewees had many similar subjects that they wanted to underline during the interviews i.e. the cultural challenges. This indicates that it is likely that many other foreigners than the fourteen foreigners that were interviewed experienced the same cultural challenges or similar challenges.

Furthermore, when conducting the interviews, the interviewed foreigners were very interested in answering questions concerning the integration process. In addition to this, the interviewed foreigners did not hesitate to answer any questions that they were asked, and they were happy to offer their help.

Several of the interviewees emphasized that there was a big need of recognizing and exposing the life of a foreigner in the Faroe Islands and state the challenges that he/she has to endure, and in this case specify the specified cultural challenges. However, some interviewees were glad to participate in the interview to state their happiness and positive outlook concerning the Faroe Islands and the Faroese society (Appendix 2.1).

All in all, the interviewees for this paper have contributed with their outlook on the cultural challenges when integrating into the Faroese society, and they have also proposed how these challenges can be prevented. With their help the Faroese society has an insider look on how these cultural challenges are experienced.

4.2 Discussion interesting aspects in the findings The challenges that were found to be very important were the cultural challenges presented by the fourteen interviewees. These cultural challenges are as previously mentioned:

- The challenge of immigrating to the Faroe Islands - The challenge of adjusting to a new culture - The challenge of language as a cultural barrier - The challenge of getting a job - The challenge of socializing with Faroese people

All of these cultural challenges have one thing in common, which is the fact that they all derive from the aspect of culture as a challenge.

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However, during the analysis, focus is set on national culture and the overall culture of a group or a society, and in this case, the national culture of the Faroe Islands. The cultural theories used in this paper are Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, Hall’s high-context and low-context cultures, Trompenaars’ cultural theory concerning time and other cultural aspects presented by the textbook Managing Cross-Cultural Communication – Principles & Practice written by Barry Maude.

All of these presented in the study have one thing in common which is that they focus on national cultural identity. It is therefore interesting to take a look at the aspect on individual cultural identity in contrary to national cultural identity.

4.2.1 National cultural identity vs. individual cultural identity Many theories on cultural differences i.e. Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and Hall’s cultural theories represent national cultural identity. In other words these national cultural theories on cultural differences give examples of how a group of people or a nation differs culturally.

National culture is according to Daphne A. Jameson ‘the narrow concept of cultural identity’ (Jameson, 2007, p. 205). This means that the national cultural identity is ‘the most central factor in an overall sense of identity’. The keyword in this phrase is ‘overall’, since national culture gives an overall representation on defining cultural identity. In other words national cultural identity also generalizes people’s culture, and it is therefore assumed that all people in a national culture act, react, feel and see things the same ways (Jameson, 2007, pp. 205-206).

However, one theory set forward by Daphne A. Jameson is presented in the article Reconceptualizing Cultural Identity and Its Role in Intercultural Business Communication. This article focuses on the unique individual culture of a person, and therefore shifts the focus from national cultural identity to individual cultural identity. Jameson proposes that the individual cultural identity is represented by using the schemata on individual cultural identity (Jameson, 2007, pp. 209-2011).

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The components in the schemata of individual cultural identity are:

- Vocation: What you do for a living. - Class: Which class you are from (economic class, social class etc.). - Geography: What your nationality is. - Philosophy: Religious identity, political identity or other philosophies. - Language: Your first language, dialect. - Biological traits with cultural aspects: Your race ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, health and age.

By filling out the details for this schemata, the individual cultural identity is described and assessed (Jameson, 2007, p. 211).

So what is better? Analyzing cultures according to national or individual cultural identities?

As previously mentioned, national cultural identity gives a narrow view on cultural identity (Jameson, 2007, p. 205), which means that an overall assessment of a group’s culture is pointed out. This leads to a generalization of people in a given culture, which also leads to stereotyping and the assessment that everyone in the culture is the same. The disadvantage is that national cultural identity oversimplifies and does not take into account that people have multidimensional backgrounds. In addition to this, national cultural identity focuses on the overall nationality and ethnicity instead of all the above mentioned components i.e. class, vocation, gender, religion and so on (Jameson, 2007, p. 206).

However, assessing national culture is more accessible and less time consuming than assessing individual cultural identity, since a group of people are evaluated instead of each individual. In addition to this, it is easier to obtain information about people’s national identity than about their socioeconomic class, ethnicity, religion and other elements of cultural identity. Thus narrowing a study to one component, e.g. nationality, instead of focusing of all the above mentioned components, gives the researcher a less work and time consuming outcome.

On the other hand, Individual cultural identity gives a broad look on the cultural identity of a person and therefore represents a more explicit and precise view on the culture of a person. In

61 addition to this, the focus is more on the person than on the group, which gives a deeper insight into who the person is (Jameson, 2007, p. 207)

On the other hand, the disadvantage concerning individual cultural identity is that it takes extensive research to assess each person’s individual identity. This means that the research needs many resources which include a vast amount of time to undergo an assessment of people’s individual cultural identity. However, an advantage of assessing people’s individual cultural identity instead of assessing the national cultural identity is that stereotyping is non- existent since ‘few others could have exactly the same cultural identity. Thus cultural identity differentiates individuals from another as much as does personality, style, or other element.’ (Jameson, 2007, p. 228). Finally, individual cultural identity focuses on that each person is different and has his or her own individual culture, which also reflects how he or she acts in certain situations.

All in all, both aspects on cultural identities i.e. national cultural identity and individual cultural identity have both advantages and disadvantages. Even though this study uses national cultural identity as a point of view, it does not mean that the assessment is invalid. It merely states that this study gives an overall view on the Faroese culture and cultural differences. Furthermore, discussing this matter is important, since it is imperative to keep in mind that not all Faroese people are the same. In this case it is important to keep in mind the aspect on individual cultural identity to keep a critical view on the mentioned cultural theories.

In addition to keeping a critical view on the mentioned cultural theories, it is also interesting to discuss whether or not Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, which have been used in this study are valid to use or not.

So let us take a look at critique on Hofstede’s cultural dimensions.

4.2.2 Hofstede’s dimensions – a failure of analysis? Geert Hofstede’s cultural dimensions are used as a ground breaking theory in many studies including this study in analyzing the Faroese culture. However, Hofstede’s cultural dimensions have also received critique from Professor Brendan McSweeney.

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To some examples McSweeney proposes that Hofstede generalizes about the entire national population in each country solely on the basis of an analysis from a few questionnaire responses. In addition to this, McSweeney proposes that it is not an efficient study presented by Hofstede, since all questionnaire responses came from the company IBM, which has an individual company culture. All of these critical examples are presented by Brendan McSweeney in the article Hofstede’s model of national cultural differences and their consequences: A triumph of faith – a failure of analysis (McSweeney, 2002, pp. 89-118).

Does this mean that Hofstede’s cultural dimensions are invalid?

Hofstede’s cultural dimensions are according to McSweeney misleading and outdated since the original study is from the late 60’s and early 70’s (French, 2007, p. 37). However, Hofstede’s cultural dimensions have been a groundbreaking study for cultural theories such Trompenaars’ and Hampden-Turner’s seven cultural dimensions (Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner, 1997). This also shows the importance of the cultural dimensions set forward by Hofstede, and it also underlines the fact that Hofstede’s cultural dimensions are not invalid. They may be outdated and over generalizing, but they are valid to use as a ground study on assessing cultural differences.

All in all, Hofstede’s cultural dimensions lack certain aspects such as the fact that they are too generalizing, but on the other hand Hofstede’s cultural dimensions are a crucial part in the history of assessing cultural differences.

In addition to discussing national cultural identity vs. individual cultural identity it is interesting to take a look at the proposed solutions to prevent the cultural challenges. Nonetheless, this is what will be discussed next.

4.3 Discussion on how to prevent the cultural challenges Various solutions to the cultural challenges have been proposed in this study. The interviewed foreigners have stated their propositions, and it has also been proposed what the foreigners themselves can do to prevent the cultural challenges.

However, can these cultural challenges be prevented?

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First of all, let us take a look at the propositions from the interviewed foreigners.

The proposition presented by the interviewed foreigners for preventing the cultural challenge of immigrating to the Faroe Islands was that there is a need for structure when it comes to processing the immigration paperwork and also in regards to providing foreigners with answers. Furthermore, it was also proposed that it would be more structured if there was only one office instead of three offices for foreigners to contact in order to get information (Appendix 2.1).

However, this proposition for preventing the cultural challenge of immigrating to the Faroe Islands is not as straightforward to implement as some of the other propositions may be. Since the Faroe Islands do not administer the immigration process, it is difficult for the Faroese society to prevent this cultural challenge. Furthermore, the subject on the jurisdiction of immigration has been a widely discussed subject in the media for the past years (Bláberg & Johannesen, 2013). Here the discussion has been on whether or not the jurisdiction should be transferred from Danish authorities to Faroese authorities. However, this is a political question that has both pros and cons, and therefore it is not yet clear what the future will bring on the matter. As of now the jurisdiction is still in the hands of the Danish Kingdom.

However, the Faroese society does have an impact on how the immigration matters are structured in the Faroe Islands, since it is up to Útlendingastovan and the Faroese police station to structure and improve how they communicate with the foreigners. It is furthermore up to these offices to improve how they work and act to provide a better service for the foreigners immigrating to the Faroe Islands.

In addition to suggesting how the cultural challenge of immigrating to the Faroe Islands should be prevented, the interviewed foreigners also proposed solutions to other cultural challenges.

Much of the focus was on how the challenge of language as a barrier should be prevented, since the language barrier was found to be the underlying factor for the Catch 22 presented in the analysis. The interviewees proposed that the Faroese language courses should be structured better, and that the courses should also be divided in classes for beginners and advanced learners. The interviewees also proposed that the Faroese municipalities should offer more free classes than the 20 hours already offered to give the foreigners a better chance at learning

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Faroese. Last but not least, the interviewees proposed that the Faroese people should embrace the English language more and not be afraid to speak it (Appendix 2.1).

These propositions from the interviewees on how to prevent the challenge of language as a barrier give the Faroese society a good general view on what can be done to help the foreigners learn the Faroese language better. However, it does demand more resources from the Faroese society to comply with the propositions set forward by the interviewed foreigners, which can in many cases take a while to be put into action.

In addition to this, as the challenge of language as a barrier constitutes the Catch 22, learning the Faroese language is to prevent the cultural challenge of finding a job and the challenge of socializing with Faroese people, which at the same time would help the foreigners adjust to the Faroese society hence the challenge of adjusting.

However, preventing all of these cultural challenges is not something that the Faroese society can accomplish alone. This aspect was clearly underlined in the analysis, and it was suggested what the foreigners themselves can do to prevent the cultural challenges.

It was proposed in the analysis that the foreigner should prepare prior to moving to the Faroe Islands, and that he/she also should try to interact with the Faroese people when entering the Faroese society i.e. the preparation-and-interaction model (Maude, 2011, p. 184). In addition to this, the foreigners are advised to adjust their anticipation when moving to the Faroe Islands by keeping an open mind. Furthermore, the cross-cultural adaptation theory (Maude, 2011, p. 185) suggests that the foreigner should, in order to achieve a complete cross-cultural adjustment, focus on interacting with the people in the Faroese culture. In addition to this, the foreigners should do everything they can to learn the Faroese language, which is the key to achieving a complete cross-cultural adjustment i.e. to be fully integrated into the Faroese society.

So does this mean that the cultural challenges can be prevented?

Yes, if both the Faroese society and the foreigners residing in the Faroe Islands do what is proposed in the analysis, the cultural challenges can be prevented in the long run. However, cultural challenges are bound to happen sooner or later. As earlier described by Barry Maude it is the ‘the basic cultural differences’ that cause cultural challenges (Maude, 2011, p. 300). This also

65 means that when a foreigner with one distinct culture enters another distinct culture a cultural challenge is bound to happen whether it is not knowing the language or having problems adjusting. However, these cultural challenges presented by the interviewees can be made easier if the foreigner prepares prior to departure, has his or her mindset on wanting to prevent the challenges and receives the needed help from the Faroese society.

Moreover, it is important to remember that it is easier for the foreigner entering the Faroe Islands to do something about the matter on preventing the cultural challenges, since it is easier for one person to prepare and change his or her mindset than it is for a whole society to implement various tasks to prevent the cultural challenges. Furthermore, it is explained in the analysis that ‘Human beings have an inherent drive to adapt and integrate to their environment’ (Maude, 2011, p. 185). This also underlines the importance of the foreigner integrating into the Faroese society to act and make an effort to prevent or in other words overcome the cultural challenges to achieve a complete cross-cultural adjustment.

4.4 How this study contributes to further research This study is presented as a stepping-stone for the Faroese society to take a closer look at the integration process for foreigners when entering the Faroe Islands.

Since the focus in this study has from the beginning been on letting the foreigners speak and state their opinion, it also portrays what the foreigners experience when residing in the Faroes Islands i.e. the cultural challenges. As earlier mentioned in the introduction and the chapter on methodology and theory, the main topic in the interviews was integration and the integration process for foreigners when entering the Faroe Islands. In addition to this, the focus was to let the interviewed foreigners give their insight into what they wanted to underline concerning the integration process. This resulted in the findings of the cultural challenges. This specific idea of letting the foreigners control the focus of the interview lead to the fact that the foreigners were given a chance to talk about what they felt was important.

This focus on letting the foreigners in the Faroe Islands state their point of view on the integration process in the Faroe Islands is very interesting to look at since there is little information found concerning this issue. This also contributes to a larger study, which may involve more interviewed foreigners that can give more extensive findings.

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Moreover, the subject on challenges for the foreigners when integrating into the Faroese society is a new field that has not been investigated yet. This field of research is, however, achieving more interest now, since Útlendingastovan is looking for people who can mend and investigate the area (Útlendingastovan, 2015).

Nevertheless, the need for further investigation in this topic area is crucial. It will provide the foreigners entering the Faroe Islands with the best possibilities to integrate into the Faroese society. It will furthermore provide the Faroese society with various possibilities in achieving qualified and diverse applicants for job positions that are in need to be fulfilled, i.e. specified doctors for the national hospital in Tórshavn and other places in the Faroe Islands. In addition to this, the University of the Faroe Islands will have the opportunity to offer their students qualified and specialized teachers in international subjects.

Further research into the subject on the integration process for foreigners when entering the Faroese society provides many benefits for the Faroese society and also for the foreigners immigrating to the Faroe Islands. It gives the Faroese society a chance to welcome the foreigners on a level where nothing is lacking, while the foreigners feel more welcome and important.

All in all, further research into the subject on the integration process for the foreigners when entering the Faroe Islands is very important, and contributes to the Faroese society in a positive way while at the same time achieving the optimal integration factors for the foreigners.

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Chapter 5: Conclusion Throughout this study light has been shed on the subject matter of integrating into the Faroese society. This subject has been the main topic in the interviews with the fourteen foreigners living in the Faroe Islands. Furthermore, this subject led to the research statement, which was as following:

What are the cultural challenges for foreigners when integrating into the Faroese society and how can these cultural challenges be prevented?

This research aim and research statement presented by the interviewees led to a focus on culture, cultural differences and intercultural communication. From these aspects the cultural challenges were found and turned out to be the challenge of immigrating to the Faroe Islands, the challenge of adjusting to a new culture, the challenge of language as a barrier, the challenge of finding a job and the challenge of socializing with Faroese people.

All of these challenges were analyzed with help from the cultural theoretical foundation as well as the findings collected on the Faroese culture presented by Professor Jóan Pauli Joensen and external readings on the Faroese culture.

The focus in the challenge of immigrating to the Faroe Islands was that the formal integration process takes too long to be completed, and that it is difficult to be provided with an answer for questions concerning the immigration papers. The reason for these factors was found to be that the Faroese culture has a synchronic time orientation, which means that being on time and scheduling is not of great importance (Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner, 1997, pp. 123-125). Furthermore, it was discovered that there is a lack of structure and communication when foreigners residing in the Faroe Islands want to find information about their immigration papers (Appendix 2.1).This is also due to the fact that there are three different places for the foreigners to contact, which includes Útlendingastovan, the Danish Immigration Service and the Faroese police station. In addition to this, another reason for the lack of communication and structure is that the Faroese culture is a high-context culture, which means that the Faroese people ‘think before they speak’, and therefore a lack of communication can be found (Maude, 2011, p. 13)(Appendix 2.2 p. 24).

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The next cultural challenge concerning the challenge of adjusting to a new culture was found to involve various elements, which include the U-curve presented by Barsoux & Schneider. This U- curve represented three phases of cultural adjustment, which include the first stage, i.e. ‘the honeymoon phase’, which includes the excitement to experience the new culture, the second stage i.e. ‘the morning after’, which includes the frustration and irritability of trying to adjust and integrate into the new culture also known as culture shock, lastly the third stage is i.e. ‘the happily ever after’ which is when the foreigner is able to function and feel at home both in the new culture and the original culture (Schneider & Barsoux, 2003, pp. 188-189). These stages clearly represent the challenge of adjusting to a foreign culture.

The last three challenges were found to be creating a Catch 22. This is due to the fact that if the foreigners do not know the Faroese language, they will have a hard time finding a job, and if they do not have a job, they will not be able to socialize with Faroese people, and if the foreigners do not socialize with Faroese people, they will not learn the Faroese language. Furthermore, this pattern also goes the other way around (Figure 2).

The dominant factor in the Catch 22 turned out to be the challenge of language as a barrier. This is due to the fact that not knowing the Faroese language has made it difficult for the interviewed foreigners to get a job and to socialize with Faroese people. In addition to this, the challenge of language as a barrier also sets back the cultural adjustment for the foreigners, since the barrier creates these above-mentioned obstacles that are crucial when adjusting to a foreign culture i.e. finding a job and socializing (Appendix 2.1) (Schneider & Barsoux, 2003, pp. 188-189).

Furthermore, the challenge of finding a job presented the fact that nepotism exists in the Faroese society. This was specifically pointed out by interviewee 8 from Poland, who had experience concerning this matter (Appendix 2.1 p. 13). It was also discussed whether or not nepotism does exist in the Faroese society and the conclusion was that since the Faroese society is a collectivistic culture, which means that Faroese people keep families and friendships close (French, 2007, p. 38), it is evident that nepotism is practiced (Appendix 2.2). Lastly, the analysis of the challenge of finding a job also emphasized that not knowing the Faroese language is a big factor to why the foreigners find it difficult to find a job that meets their requirements.

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The challenge of socializing with Faroese people was also found to derive from not knowing the Faroese language. It was also questioned whether or not the Faroese people are xenophobic. This, however, was later laid to rest, and rather led the focus to the fact that Faroese society is a collectivistic society, which also refers to the Faroese people being careful of when choosing friends. However, it was also argued that the Faroese people are very friendly and welcoming, but only to an extent. This again referred to the collectivistic culture in the Faroes.

After a thorough analysis of the cultural challenges the solutions on how to prevent these challenges were presented.

The interviewees proposed that the Faroese society should be more structured when it comes to conveying important information concerning the immigration papers, and they also proposed that the Faroe Islands should offer a welcoming package for the foreigners immigrating to the Faroes. In addition to this, the interviewees proposed that the Faroese should offer more free hours for the Faroese language classes to help the foreigners learn the Faroese language, which was found to be crucial. Some interviewees also proposed that the Faroese people should embrace the English language more to give the foreigners a better chance when residing in the Faroes.

However, it was also stated what the foreigners themselves can do to prevent the cultural challenges. This means preparation prior to moving to the Faroes, which includes reading about the culture and so on. In addition to this, the foreigners should try to interact with the Faroese people so as to have a better chance on integrating into the society i.e. the preparation-and- interaction model (Maude, 2011, p. 184).

Furthermore, it was proposed that the foreigner should do everything in his or her power to try and learn the Faroese language, which is the key to integration, which also in the end gives the foreigner a better chance of finding a job and socializing with Faroese people.

In addition to this, the discussion revolved around the importance to let the foreigners speak and state their mind, since they are the ones that have to undergo the integration process. Furthermore, national vs. individual cultural identity was discussed to shed light on the generalizing vs. non-generalizing view of culture.

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Moreover, it was discussed whether or not these cultural challenges can be prevented. Here it was concluded that the challenges can be prevented to some extent if both the Faroese society and the foreigners make an effort in doing what has been proposed.

Lastly, it was suggested how this study can contribute to further research. Since this study has investigated the immigration in the Faroe Islands, and found out that the immigration flow is increasing, it is the importance of focusing on integration of foreigners in the Faroe Islands and also further examining the subject matter.

All in all, this study has provided an answer for the research statement as well as discussing and evaluating the research aim.

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 Joensen, J. P. (1987). Fólk og mentan. Tórshavn: Føroya Skúlabókagrunnur.

 Kvale, S., & Brinkmann, S. (2009). InterView. Hans Rietzels Forlag.

 Legislation, T. D. (2001). The Aliens Act. Anordning ikrafttræden for Færøerne af udlændingeloven . Denmark/The Faroe Islands: The Danish Legislation.

 Lungholt, H., & Metelmann, P. R. (2013). Hvem spiser boller i karry? - En introduktion til samfundsvidenskabelig metode i teori og praksis. Gylling: Kommuneforlaget A/S.

 Maude, B. (2011). Managing Cross-Cultural Communication - Principles and Practice. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

 Reistrup, H., & á Rógvi, H. (2012). Exit Føroyar. Sprotin.

 Schneider, S. C., & Barsoux, J.-L. (2003). Managing Across Cultures. Essex: Pearson Education Limited.

 Spradley, J. P. (1979). The Ethnographic Interview. Belmont: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

 Trompenaars, F., & Hampden-Turner, C. (1997). Riding on the Waves of Culture - Understanding Cultural Diversity in Business, second edition. Boston: Intercultural Management Publishers NV.

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Research articles

 Blommaert, J. (2006). Ethnography as counter-hegemony: Remarks on epistemology & method. Working Papers in Urban Language and Literacies 34 , pp. 1-8.

 Fife, A. E. (1949). The Importance of Language. Western Speech , pp. 3-6.

 French, R. (2007). Cross-Cultural Management in Work Organizations. London: CIPD.

 Jameson, D. A. (2007, 7 2). Reconceptualizing Cultural Identity and Its Role in Intercultural Business Communication. Journal of Business Communication , pp. 199-235.

 McSweeney, B. (2002). Hofstede's model of national cultural differences and their consequences: A triumph of faith - a failure of analysis. Human Relations , pp. 98-118.

 Schein, E. H. (1990, February). Organizational Culture . American Psychologist . Massachusetts, USA: Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Websites and web articles

 Bláberg, S., & Johannesen, J. (2013, 7 10). Kringvarp Føroya. Retrieved 6 18, 2015, from www.kvf.fo: http://kvf.fo/netvarp/uv/2013/10/07/greitt-um-tlendingaml-vera-yvirtikin

 Faroe Islands. (n.d.). www.faroeislands.fo. Retrieved 2 27, 2015, from Faroe Islands: http://www.faroeislands.com/default.aspx?pageid=9706§ionid=295

 Fróðskaparsetrið. (2015, 06 12). www.setur.fo. Retrieved 06 12, 2015, from Fróðskaparsetrið: http://setur.fo/en/um-setrid/staff/joan-pauli-joensen/

 Grótinum, J. í. (2015). Tórsportal. Retrieved 05 22, 2015, from Tórsportal: http://www.torsportal.fo/tidindi/latid-utjadaran-doyggja-laerid-utlendingar-at-liva/

 Hofstede, G. (2015). http://geert-hofstede.com/. Retrieved 6 23, 2015, from Geert Hofstede: http://geert-hofstede.com/

 Miðflokkurin. (2015, 6 17). Miðflokkurin. Retrieved 6 17, 2015, from www.midflokkurin.fo: http://www.midflokkurin.fo/valskra/

 New to Denmark. (n.d.). www.nyidanmark.dk. Retrieved 2 27, 2015, from www.nyidanmark.dk: http://www.nyidanmark.dk/en-us/coming_to_dk/faroe- islands/work.htm

 Politi. (2015). Politi. Retrieved 7 3, 2015, from www.politi.fo: https://www.politi.dk/Faeroeerne/fo/Borgerservice/Udlaendinge/

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 Útlendingastovan. (2015). Útlendingastovan. Retrieved 07 17, 2015, from www.utlendingastovan.fo: http://www.utlendingastovan.fo/fo/kunning/tidindi/samskipari-a-utlendingastovuni/

 Visit Faroe Islands. (n.d.). Visit Faroe Islands. Retrieved 2 27, 2015, from www.visitfaroeislands.com: http://www.visitfaroeislands.com/en/be-inspired/in-dept- articles/culture/

Frontpage picture

 Photographer: Súsanna Smith Johansen

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Appendices Please see next page.

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Appendix content

Appendix 1: Interview guides ...... 2 Appendix 1.1: Interview guide for the interviewed foreigners ...... 2 Appendix 1.2: Interview guide for Professor Jóan Pauli Joensen ...... 4 Appendix 2: Interview data ...... 5 Appendix 2.1: Summary of interviews with the interviewed foreigners ...... 5 Appendix 2.1.1: Extracts from the recorded interviews with the foreigners ...... 22 Appendix 2.2: Summary of interview with Professor Jóan Pauli Joensen ...... 23 Appendix 3: Statistics of foreigners living in the Faroe Islands ...... 26 Appendix 3.1: Statistics of foreigners living in the Faroe Islands in 1985...... 26 Appendix 3.2: Statistics of foreigners living in the Faroe Islands in 1995...... 27 Appendix 3.3: Statistics of foreigners living in the Faroe Islands in 2005...... 28 Appendix 3.4: Statistics of foreigners living in the Faroe Islands in 2014...... 30 Appendix 3.5: Statistics of foreigners living in the Faroe Islands in 2015...... 32 Appendix 4: Interviewed cultures according to Hofstede’s dimensions ...... 34

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Appendix 1: Interview guides These interview guides were used as a tool to steer the interview in the right direction. They were also conducted in both English and Faroese all according to the preferred language chosen by the interviewee.

Appendix 1.1: Interview guide for the interviewed foreigners The purpose:

- Know more about integration in the Faroe Islands from the perspective of the foreigner - Positive and negative sides - Barriers (e.g. language barriers, cultural barriers, social barriers)

4 different kinds of questions – hence ethnology

- Interrogative questions (when, what etc.) - Open question (questions that do not answer yes or no).

Background:

Where are you from?

How old are you?

When did you move to the Faroe Islands and why?

Living in the Faroe Islands:

What was your first thought of the country? (Hvat var tað fyrsta tú hugsaði um FO)

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How would you describe the Faroese culture? (hvussu forklárar tú ta føroysku mentanina)

How is the Faroese culture different from your culture? (hvussu er tann føroyska mentanin øðrvísi frá tínari mentan).

- E.g. family matters, how Faroese welcome foreigners, laid back etc.

What was the first big difference that you came across? (Hvat var tann størsti munurin, sum tú legði merki til?)

- Social - Communicative: - Cultural:

What were the biggest challenges for you? (Hvørjar vóru tær størstu avbjóðingarnar hjá tær?)

- Good: - Bad:

What was not a challenge?

How has it been to integrate to the Faroe Islands? (hvussu hevur tað verði at blivið integreraður í FO?)

- Positive - Negative

Do you feel like you are a part of the Faroese society?

Why do you feel that?

What is negative?

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What is positive?

Future aspects:

What can be improved concerning the integration of foreigners in the Faroe Islands? (Hvat kann betrast tá tað kemur til at integrera útlendingar í FO?)

What is good as it is? (er tað nakað sum er gott nokk sum tað er?)

Appendix 1.2: Interview guide for Professor Jóan Pauli Joensen Professor Jóan Pauli was asked to state his opinion concerning various statements given by the interviewed foreigners.

The first statement:

Faroese people are difficult to befriend.

Faroese people do not integrate foreigners well enough.

The Faroese culture explained by Professor Jóan Pauli:

Does nepotism (favoring relatives in regard to work positions) exist in the Faroe Islands?

Does the Faroese culture resemble any other culture?

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Appendix 2: Interview data The retrieved data has not been transcribed. However, a summary has been made of every interview to highlight the important aspects presented by the interviewees.

Appendix 2.1: Summary of interviews with the interviewed foreigners Interviewee 1

Interviewee 1 is from Slovakia and has lived in the Faroe Islands for almost 8 years. She came to the Faroe Islands on vacation to visit her aunt from Slovakia, and she liked it so much that she wanted to try to live in the Faroes for one year. She got a job at a fish factory and met her boyfriend, who is half German, and now they have two children. Interviewee 1 has never had any problem with visa applications and so on. Everything has worked smoothly and without any problems. She now has a permanent residency, since she has applied for the family visa three times, and therefore you get a permanent residency.

Interviewee 1 is very outgoing and social and has never had any problems when getting in contact with Faroese friends. She does not socialize with many other foreigners, since she has enough with her own family and her boyfriend’s family. She does have contact with Interviewee 2 and Interviewee 3, who are also from Slovakia.

She has also lived abroad before in e.g. Germany, so she is used to being away from her home country, and her own family. Interviewee 1 did not speak English when she came here. She spoke Slovak and German.

 The Faroese culture:  People are more relaxed and do not think too much on the aspect of time

Barriers:

 The language (she knows Faroese and speaks it a little, but not fluently).  The fact that her education is no use in the Faroes

Improvements:

 Would have liked to learned Faroese better and faster

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 The courses were limited and not well structured in many cases.

Interviewee 2 from Slovakia

Interviewee 11 is from Slovakia and met his Faroese ex-wife there, and decided to move to the Faroe Islands with her in the year of 2000.

He liked the Faroe Islands from the beginning and did not have any problems getting a resident ship. However, he did find it difficult to figure out who he should ask for the right questions concerning the residency ship, work permit and so on. He also experienced that útlendingastovan, the police and the Danish immigration office said different things when he asked all of them the same questions.

Interviewee 2 has an educational background as a land surveyor, and he has not really had any problems finding jobs in the Faroe Islands. However, in the beginning he took whatever he could get, such as working in a hotdog stand and also other small jobs. After some time he got a job as a land surveyor. Interviewee 2 thinks that the language courses are not fit to educate such diverse cultures in the Faroese language, because not all foreigners are suited to learn the Faroese language at the same level. He also thinks that some of the course are too expensive compared to what they offer. He however thinks that it is very important to learn the language. He did so by talking Faroese to his colleagues.

Culture:

 The Faroese culture is very similar to the Slovaki culture – family is very important and the values are very similar

Barriers:

The language

 Difficult to get really close to the Faroese people – probably because of the cultural and linguistic barrier.

Improvements:

 A better structure in the processing and managing of knowledge concerning important information to the foreigners.

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Interviewee 3 from Slovakia

Interviewee 3 is from Slovakia and moved to the Faroe Islands three years ago (in 2012). She met her husband Interviewee 11 Sirkovsky in the Faroe Islands and decided to stay. She wrote her thesis the first year living in the Faroe Islands so she had a tourist visa, which meant that she had to travel back to Slovakia every 3 months. Interviewee 3 has an education in finances and accounting (similar to cand.merc.fir) and is therefore well educated. She did find it difficult to get a job in the Faroes, since she could not speak the language. However, she got a job at a Faroese shipping company as an accountant, and the company does not mind that she does not fully understand or talk Faroese.

Culture:

 Faroese people are very welcoming and warm people

Barriers:

 The language is a big barrier, since the Faroese people are very fond of their own language and hesitate when asked to speak English.

Interviewee 4 from India

Interviewee 4 is 51 years old and is from the southern part of India. She moved to the Faroes in 1991, because her husband, who is also from India, lived in the Faroe Islands. Interviewee 4 is very well educates and has a degree which is between a master and a PhD. in English, and she also has a master in Business Management and Teaching and Learning.

Her first impression of the Faroe Islands was the beautiful nature. The weather conditions in the Faroe Islands are similar to her home country (hence the weather changes all the time).

It took Interviewee 4 9 months to get her visa, and she achieved a permanent residency after two years. Since she is well educated, she assumes that she got her permanent residency early on due to that matter. She applied for citizenship after seven years and got it. Interviewee 4 does feel like a Faroes today.

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Interviewee 4 did not have that many problems with the Faroese language since she learned the language within 1 year, and did not have any problems communicating with Faroese friends and acquaintances.

The culture:

 The Faroese are shy and hold back compared to people from India  The family is important which is similar to the Indian culture  Patriotic country who wants to preserve the language and inbred culture  Was not that open towards foreigners when Interviewee 4 resided in the Faroes, however, she thinks this aspect has changed.  Felt that some Faroese people were racists. Told her to go back home where she came from

Barriers:

 When you do not know Faroese or Danish, the language is a big barrier.

Improvements:

 Interviewee 4 does not think that English should be minimized. She thinks that English could just as well be on an equal level with Faroese and Danish.  She thinks that there should be more structure in how information is managed and processed at útlendingastovan, at the police station and also by the Danish foreigners office.  Interviewee 4 thinks that the Faroese people should be more brave and open towards foreigners, and they should not be afraid to speak English.  She thinks that it is not only the foreigners that have to adapt to the Faroese culture. She does not however think that they should only focus on their own culture, but she sees it as a two way street – the foreigners should adapt to the Faroese culture and also preserve their own culture, and the Faroese people should also accept the foreigners as they are, and not only expect them to turn into native Faroese people. They should also remember to accept them as they are.

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Interviewee 5 from Los Angeles, CA, US

Interviewee 5 is 26 years old and is from Los Angeles in the United States. She met her Faroese husband Brandur Jacobsen at a concert in LA in 2012, and they ended up getting married in the beginning of 2014, and Interviewee 5 decided to reside in the Faroe Islands. She has a degree in Television and media, but does not have a job in this industry on the Faroe Islands, since it is very restricted in such a small society. Interviewee 5, however, is searching for a job (any job), and has also had a few temporary jobs as a waitress and bartender.

Interviewee 5 is very positive towards the Faroe Islands and does not find it too difficult to integrate. She underlines that it has been very helpful for her to have a Faroese husband that has been able to show her the Faroese culture and introduce her to Faroese friends. Brandur, Interviewee 5’s husband, is a musician and often plays at concerts during the weekends, which also means that they both live a very social life and meet people regularly.

Interviewee 5 is all in all very positive about her integration process after residing in the Faroes. However, she also states that she would have appreciated some sort of ‘safety net’ from the Faroese government in the means of a providing foreigners with a care package (e.g. introduction to the Faroese culture, regulations and rules and so on). Interviewee 5 thinks that this will help to make the integration process easier. Especially for the foreigners who reside alone in the Faroes.

Culture:

 A safe country with nice people and everyone knows each other

Barriers:

 The biggest barrier for Interviewee 5 is the Faroese language, since it is difficult to get a job and communicate with all Faroese people.

Improvements:

 Interviewee 5 thinks that there should be more information on the Faroe Islands, its culture and so on early on. This would help the foreigners to integrate.

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Interviewee 6 from Birmingham UK

Interviewee 6 s 56 years old and is from Birmingham in the United Kingdom. He moved to the Faroe Islands 6½ years ago, because he met his wife and decided to reside in her home country. Before he moved to the Faroes he searched for a job, and wanted this security before moving. Interviewee 6 has a degree in shipping and logistics, and has many years of experience in the shipping industry. However, it was difficult for him to find a job in the shipping industry on the Faroe Islands, since he did not speak Faroese. After applying for several jobs in the Faroese shipping industry and not getting any answer from the companies, he just wanted any job that he could find. He got a job at Hotel Hafnia as a nightwatch, and has worked there since he came to the Faroe Islands.

He did not have any problems getting a residency in the Faroe Islands, since he had a job before moving to the Faroes. As long as he has a working contract with Hotel Hafnia, he has no problems when renewing his resident ship every year. However, he will apply for a permanent residency in approx. six months, since it then will be seven years since he moved to the Faroe Islands.

Culture:

 The Faroe Islands is a small society and everyone knows each other  He thinks that the Faroese tend to be nicer to each other compared to people in the UK.

Barriers:

 The language has been a huge barrier, and it was also due to the language that is was a struggle for Interviewee 6 to get a job before moving to the Faroe Islands.  It is easier for him to socialize with non-Faroese because of the language barrier.  Improvements:  Thinks that the Faroe Islands should be better at integrating foreigners despite the language barrier.  Thinks that English should be on the same level as Faroese and Danish if the Faroe Islands want to integrate more people.

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Interviewee 7 from Long Beach, California, US

Interviewee 7 is 51 years old and is from Long Beach, California. She moved to the Faroe Islands in 1996 (19 years). She met her Faroese husband in her home town. They got married before she moved to the Faroe Islands. Interviewee 7 has been a housewife for the first many years in the Faroes raising her children, and when her children grew up, she took a job at the local fish factory. She has also had a job as an English teacher at the evening school.

Interviewee 7’s first thought of the Faroe Islands was that it was very beautiful. Interviewee 7 liked the small society and says that this is one of the reasons that she wanted to move to the Faroes.

Interviewee 7 says that it is an ongoing process for her to integrate into the Faroese society. Interviewee 7 learned the Faroese language fast since she was forced to learn it since her husband’s family did not speak English. Her husband and his family helped her. She attended an English course, but it was too simple for her since she knew all the basics, so she has learned the language by speaking it.

She once experienced that she was told by a Faroese friend that she acted too flirtatious, since she tends to give many hugs and kisses and is very outgoing.

Culture:

 The Faroe Islands is a small society with people that are very laid back.

Barriers:

In the beginning the language was a big barrier for Interviewee 7

 Interviewee 7 thinks that it is difficult to be herself in the Faroese society, since she comes from a culture that is very loud and speaks its mind. She feels like she has to fit into the Faroese society and not be herself, but act differently. She does however think that foreigners should do everything they can to fit into the Faroese society.

Improvements:

 Interviewee 7 states that it is very important to learn the Faroese language. If you do not know the Faroese language, you cannot find a job and if you do not have a job, you do not socialize

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with Faroese people and if you do not socialize with Faroese people, you will not learn the language. She calls it an evil circle.  Interviewee 7 thinks that foreigners should receive a brochure with all the necessary when entering the Faroe Islands. They should also get all the necessary information on the Faroese culture, how to behave, what to understand and so on. She feels like there is a lack of this matter.  All in all she wants foreigners to get more structured information.

Interviewee 8 from Poland

Interviewee 8 is 29 years old and is from Poland. She came to the Faroe Islands for the first time in 2008 for a project funded by the Faroese College Fróðskaparsetrið. She has a temporary residency and has to renew it every year. During this time she met a guy and later moved to the Faroe Islands in 2009. However she later moved to Denmark, since the relationship did not work out, and met her Russian husband Ivan while living in Denmark. Interviewee 8’s husband turned out to live in the Faroe Islands and this is how she ended up moving back to the Faroe Islands in 2012.

Interviewee 8 has a degree in Scandinavian studies, so she knew various facts about Scandinavia and also the Faroe Islands before moving to the Faroes. Interviewee 8 fell in love with the Faroe Islands from the first moment she came to the islands. She was however, surprised that the islands are not as bilingual as she thought. She knew Danish when she came to the islands, but she was also surprised of how the Faroese language does not resemble the Danish language. Interviewee 8 knows different languages which include Polish, Russian and Danish.

Interviewee 8 has not had any luck with finding jobs. She, however, has not applied for jobs below her professional degree such as work at a fish factory and so on, since she is in a comfortable situation as her husband has a good income. At the moment she and her husband have opened a B&B at their house, which has given her the opportunity to create her own job. In addition to this she teaches Russian at the evening school 3 hours a week.

Interviewee 8 has attended the evening school to learn the Faroese language, and she says that it is a disaster. Interviewee 8 says that the teachers have no idea of how to teach English as a foreign language and finds this very problematic.

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Interviewee 8 does have some Polish friends in the Faroe Islands.

Culture:

 Interviewee 8 thinks that the Faroe Islands is controlled by nepotism (Nepotism is favoritism granted in politics or business to relatives http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nepotism), which she thinks has a lot to do with her not getting different jobs (example in interview  According to Interviewee 8 there are many similarities between the Polish and the Faroese culture. She however underlies that the nepotism is a huge difference.  Interviewee 8 feels that it is difficult to find Faroese friends. They are difficult to come close to. She describes the Faroese culture as a culture that is first and foremost for the Faroese people and is very much about preserving the culture, the language and the country as a whole.

Barriers:

 Even though Interviewee 8 has a skill when it comes to learning languages, she still finds the Faroese language to be a big barrier. At first it was difficult to socialize since she did not know the language at all, but now she can understand and speak the language a little, but not enough to be able to fully communicate in Faroese. She also finds it to be a dangerous circle because since she does not have a job amongst Faroese people and since she does not have Faroes friends, she does not use the Faroes language and therefore does not learn it on a regular basis.  Difficult to get to know Faroese friends.  Another big barrier for Interviewee 8 has been the fact that she or her husband does not have any family here.

Improvements:

 Interviewee 8 thinks that the Faroese people should embrace English more and put more focus on it. She thinks that the younger generation is more laid back when it comes to speak English, but the elder generation is more resistant.  The course that are meant to teach foreigners Faroese should be more structured and teach the foreigners everyday phrases instead of grammar. The classes should also be divided in to beginners and advanced to be more suited to the specific target group of foreigners and their level of understanding of the Faroese language.

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 Interviewee 8 also thinks that the Faroe Islands should take over all the paper handling and process handling when it comes to letting people in to the country.  Interviewee 8 also thinks that it should be more clear on who you are to contact to get information on integration and so on.

Interviewee 9 from Togo, Africa

Interviewee 9 is 37 years old, and she is from Togo in West Africa. She moved to the Faroe Islands five years ago. She came to visit the Islands and met her husband during her stay. She got married and then applied for family reunification. She did not work for the first two years, but then got a job at a day care.

When Interviewee 9 arrived in the Faroe Islands, she had a complete culture shock. Interviewee 9 says that everything was different from what she was used to back home. The climate, the people, the food – just about everything.

Interviewee 9 has attended many Faroese language courses. Interviewee 9 says that many of them lack structure and since they were only 3 hours a week, she did not find it enough for her to learn Faroese.

Culture:

 The Faroese culture is much different to Interviewee 9’s culture back home. Her own culture is very expressive and loud.  It is difficult to get close with the Faroese people.  It is a very small community and everyone knows each other or is family.

Barriers:

 The language was one of the biggest challenges for Interviewee 9. She could not speak English well or Faroese, so she felt like a complete foreigner.  She has no Faroese friends except the in laws. She feels like it is difficult to be close to the Faroese.

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Improvements:

 She thinks that the Faroe Islands should offer a daily course in Faroese.  Interviewee 9 thinks that foreigners should be allowed to attend public schools even though they do not know Faroese that well. She thinks that this will help their language skills.

Interviewee 10 from Romania

Interviewee 10 is from Romania, is 45 years old and moved to the Faroe Islands because she met her Faroese husband. She has lived in the Faroe Islands for 13 years. The process with getting a resident ship was long for Interviewee 10. It took her around 1½ year to get her resident ship, which was due to miscommunication and a wrong handling of the papers. However, Interviewee 10 received her permanent residency after 3 years.

Interviewee 10 has a master in mechanical engineering. She, however, found it difficult to find a job due to the language barrier and has therefore had some jobs, but not any jobs where she could use her education. At the moment she works as a trainee at a shipping company in Tórshavn.

Interviewee 10 does not have many Faroese friends. She thinks that this is due to the language barrier and also due to the fact that she does not have children, which she says is a barrier, since it is normal for women of her age in the Faroes to have children.

Interviewee 10 has attended evening courses in Faroes; however, she thought that these classes were too easy and on a very low level. She has also learned Faroese from a private teacher, and this is where she was forced to talk and also learned to speak Faroese to an extent.

Interviewee 10 also attended a course in Faroese at Fróðskaparsetrið where she paid for the class, but she felt that she did not get what she paid for, since the teachers only taught from the book and did not do anything else.

When Interviewee 10 was hired by the shipping company, she was told that she was more than welcome to speak English when she was at work. This gave Interviewee 10 a huge relief from the pressure of speaking and writing Faroese. However, she does speak Faroese and she also writes in Faroese.

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Culture:

 Interviewee 10 thinks that the Faroe Islands has a rich culture with the music, literature and so on.  She also thinks that the Faroese culture is very similar to her own culture, e.g. family is important, and everyone knows each other (or at least in the small towns in Romania).

Barriers:

 Interviewee 10 thinks that the language is a very big barrier. She did not know English well when she resided in the country, so she also had to work on her English to be able to communicate with the Faroese people. She has also felt embarrassed when she has tried to speak Faroese to Faroese people, since she has experienced that people have laughed when she tried to speak the language. At that time she only had her husband to talk to and therefore felt very excluded from the Faroese society.  Another barrier has been that she does not have any family here and also that her husband does not have.

Improvements:

 Interviewee 10 does not mind that Faroese is so important to learn in the Faroese society. However, she also thinks that the aspect on learning Faroes should be more laid back. She thinks that the Faroe Islands should welcome immigrants better by accepting the English language more than they do now – especially when it comes to getting a job and therefore also trying to integrate into the Faroese society.

Interviewee 11 from Russia

Interviewee 11 is 28 years old and is from Russia. Interviewee 11 came to the Faroe Islands in 2004 when he was 18, because his mother met a man from the Faroes and decided to move back with him. He did not know English on a communicative level or Faroes. Interviewee 11 was enrolled in the Faroese highs school when he came to the Faroes, but he found out after one year that he was not able to continue, since the language was such a big barrier.

Interviewee 11 did not know that he could apply for a family visa, because when he left school, his student visa was not valid anymore. So for over a year he did not work or got to school. However, he did

16 find a hobby in training at a fitness center. When he was around 21 years old he was offered a job at a shipping company and has worked there since. Interviewee 11’s job title is a ships agent, but he also works as a translator and uses his Russian language skills when talking to Russian buyers and so on.

Interviewee 11 describes himself as a very adaptive to his surroundings. He has never felt homesick, but has instead always felt at home where he has resided and has therefore adapted to the Faroese society.

Interviewee 11 has attended Faroese English courses, but he does not think that the courses are that helpful since the ones that he attended were only once a week.

Culture:

 Interviewee 11 thinks that Faroese people are very friendly compared to where he comes from in Russia.  The culture is more laid back, and he thinks that the country is safer to live in since there is no criminality.

Barriers:

 Interviewee 11 found the language to be a big barrier since he did not know how to speak Faroese, Danish or English when he arrived in the Faroe Islands.

Improvements:

 Interviewee 11 thinks that the information on residency and rules should be communicated more clearly to the foreigners. He thinks that it is difficult to get the right answers since there are three places to contact: útlendingastovan, the police and also the Danish immigration office.  Interviewee 11 thinks that there should be more options for Faroese courses.

Interviewee 12 from England (I12)

Interviewee 12 is 43 years old, and she is from England. Interviewee 12 moved to the Faroe Islands in 2011, because she met her Faroese husband and decided to move to his home country.

Interviewee 12’s residency papers took a long time to be finalized. Since she got pregnant almost right after she moved to the Faroe Islands, she had to have the P-tal (the Faroese CPR number), but due to the fact that the paperwork takes a while to come through, she did not receive her P-tal for a long time,

17 and therefore it also made the pregnancy checkups more difficult. Today she still has problems with her paperwork, since she states that there are unclear rules to whether or not she is allowed to apply for residency at the moment or not. She has contacted útlendingastovan for answers, but they have just told her that the answer is at the immigration office in Denmark.

In the UK Interviewee 12 worked as an office manager at a place similar to the Danish Job center and the Faroese ALS. At the moment she works as a cleaning lady at her husband’s company and is a housewife for the rest of the time.

Interviewee 12 and her family plan to stay in the Faroe Islands for some time, but she also says that it is possible that they will move to another country one day.

Interviewee 12 has attended various evening courses on the Faroese language. The last one that she attended was very intense and she had classes every day for five months. The course ended with an exam, which lead to a diploma for attending the class. Interviewee 12 feels like this is the first class where she has really learned how to communicate Faroese on a simple level.

Interviewee 12 thinks that English should be just as much in focus as Faroese and Danish are in the Faroe Islands. She thinks that it would definitely be a benefit for the foreigners entering the country.

Culture:

 Interviewee 12 finds the Faroese culture very different from her own culture, especially due to the fact that the Faroes is a very small society where everyone knows each other.  Another cultural difference is the food and the fact that it is difficult to find various merchandises in the Faroe Islands. Interviewee 12 feels like there is a lack of variety in the clothes and so on.  Another difference is the fact that there Faroese society does not have many cultures like the UK does, and that there are many underlying rules in the Faroes such as the fact that you are not supposed to do any labor on Sundays, that every shop is closed on Sundays and so on.  Another cultural difference is that people in the Faroes tend to just walk in the house without knocking on the door to be let in. In the UK they always knock on the door.  Interviewee 12 also mentions that the Faroes is a very safe place to live in, and this is something that she very much appreciates.

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Barriers:

 One barrier for Interviewee 12 is the paperwork concerning residency and the unclear structure and rules that are presented.  Interviewee 12 also finds it difficult to figure out who to contact whether it is útlendingastovan, the police station or the Danish immigration office.  Interviewee 12 thinks that they government tests foreigners too much hence the language barrier, residency rules and so on.  She also sees the language as a huge barrier since she finds it difficult to find Faroese friends and to be a part of a Faroese neighborhood or community.

Improvements:

 Interviewee 12 thinks that there should be one foreign office in the Faroe Islands where foreigners could turn to for questions instead of three (útlendingastovan, the police and the Danish immigration office).  Interviewee 12 also thinks that the information that is set out for foreigners should be more structured and precise compared to what it is now.

Interviewee 13 from Thailand

Interviewee 13 is 38 years old and from Thailand. She met her Faroese husband on the internet and decided to move to the Faroe Islands. She has lived in the Faroe Islands for 10 years, has three children and works in the kitchen at a hotel in Tórshavn.

It was a long process to get all the paperwork in order concerning residency. It took her approx. 9 months to get the papers in order, so that she could apply for jobs. She said that every time she contacted útlendingastovan, she was asked to call the Danish Immigration Service, and then when she called the Danish immigration Office, they told her to call útlendingastovan, which lead her to not be able to find the answer for her questions. This was a very difficult challenge and waste of time.

She has an education in hotel management, but found it very difficult to find a job in the Faroe Islands that matcher her educational background. She thinks that it is because of the language barrier.

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Culture:

 Interviewee 13 thinks that the Faroese culture different from her culture in some ways. She for example thinks that everything is very easy going and at a slower pace in the Faroes – especially concerning getting important paperwork done and also when making plans.  However, she also thinks that the Faroese culture is similar to her own culture, since family values are highly prioritized, which is also the case in her culture.

Barriers:

 One big barrier has been the language barrier. Since she did not know Faroese or any other Scandinavian language and since she knew very little English, the language turned out to be a very big barrier. She has attended evening schools to learn Faroese, but the educational level of the class has been on a too high level for her, since she is not fluent in English.  Another barrier has been the fact that she has found it difficult to get in contact with Faroese friends. She has many Asian friends, but she finds it difficult to really get to know Faroese people except for her husband and his family. She wonders if it s because of the language barrier (since she only speaks English and very little Faroese) or if it is because Faroese people do not want to get in contact with foreigners. She, however, thinks that the Faroese people are very welcoming and interested, but only to a certain point.

Improvements:

 She thinks that the integration process concerning paperwork and formalities should be optimized. She has some newly integrated Asian friends that have had similar problems with the very long process, so she definitely feels that it is important for the process to step up.  She also thinks that the Faroe Islands could improve their integration process by helping the foreigners become a part of the Faroese society- For example having introduction programs when the foreigners enter the country.

Interviewee 14 from the United States

Interviewee 14 is 44 years old and is from Massachusetts in the United States. She met her husband in her home town and moved to the Faroe Islands 8 years ago. They have two children and live in

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Vestmanna. She recently graduated from the Faroese College called Fróðskaparsetrið as a nurse. She works at the hospital in Tórshavn.

She did not have any problems when applying for a residency in the Faroe Islands since she married her Faroese husband before moving to the Faroes. Before attending college she worked at a fish factory.

Culture:

 Interviewee 14 finds the Faroese culture very different from her own, since the Faroese people are more introvert compare to her American culture. She feels like she is more loudly and attention seeking compared to the Faroese people who hold back more.  She also finds the Faroese culture very relaxing compared to her own, since people are very laid back and do not stress that much.  She likes the fact that family matters and values are highly prioritized, which is similar to her family values back home in the States.

Barriers:

 The biggest barrier was in the beginning the language. She did not know Faroese when residing in the Faroes. She, however, learned the language fast and after one year she could understand and speak some Faroese. Her Faroese has since progressed and now she writes and speaks Faroese almost fluently. She has not felt that the Faroese people are too afraid to speak English, but she also underlines that it is a huge advantage to know the Faroese language when trying to integrate.  She does not think that she has experienced that many barriers. Since she is a very open person and comes easily in contact with people, she has not found it difficult to get to know Faroese friends. She thinks that this is possibly due to the fact that she speaks Faroese.

Improvements:

 The biggest improvement should be a welcome package or introduction program or something similar for foreigners when entering the country. Since she had her husband and his family to rely on when she came to the Faroe Islands, she did not feel too lost, but she definitely would have, if she did not know anyone.

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Appendix 2.1.1: Extracts from the recorded interviews with the foreigners Extracts from the recorded interviews with the foreigners:

‘My paperwork took ages to be processed. Finally, after approx. 8 months it came through long after due. It was very frustrating.’ (Interviewee 12 from – 12:58)

I had a complete culture shock when I moved to the Faroe Islands. Everything was different from what I was used to back home’ (Interviewee 9 – Appendix 2.1 p. 14).

’It is a dangerous cycle, because since I do not have a job amongst Faroese people, and since I do not have any Faroese friends, I do not use the Faroese language, and therefore I do not learn it. And if I do not learn the Faroese language, I will not get a job, so you see it is a vicious cycle.’(Interviewee 8 - 14:52).

‘Not knowing Faroese has been a big challenge for me since entering the Faroe Islands. It has made it difficult for me to communicate with Faroese people.’ (Interviewee 5 – 10:39).

‘It has been difficult for me to be a part of a Faroese neighborhood and the Faroese community, since I do not know the Faroese language that well´ (interviewee 12 – 40:56).

‘I did not know that much English when I came to the Faroe Islands, so to be able to communicate with Faroese people I had to learn proper English while also learning Faroese.’ (Interviewee 10 – 19:17)

The language is a big barrier, since the Faroese people are very fond of their own language, and hesitate when they are asked to speak English’ (Interviewees, 2015, pp. 2-3) (Interviewee 3 – 55.36).

‘I called the Faroese Immigration office and told them that I was still waiting for my residency papers. They repeatedly told me that they did not understand me, so I had to ask my husband to talk to them’ (Interviewee 10 – 22:54).

‘I think that nepotism is too much in control over the Faroese jobs. I have experienced it myself.’ (Interviewee 8 – 32:17).

‘I do not have any Faroese friends. I do not know if it is because of the language, or if it is because they do not want to get in contact with foreigners’ (Interviewee 13 – Appendix 2.1 p. 20).

‘They even waved at us in their Faroese sweaters, and they saw that we were sitting all by ourselves’ (interviewee 8 – 18:02)

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‘The course that are meant to teach foreigners Faroese should be more structured and teach the foreigners everyday phrases instead of grammar’ (interviewee 8 – 31:45).

‘English should be on the same level as Faroese and Danish if the Faroe Islands want to integrate more people’ (interviewee 6 – 25:58)

‘There is a need of a better structure in the processing and managing of knowledge concerning important information to the foreigners’ (interviewee 2 – 50:48)

Appendix 2.2: Summary of interview with Professor Jóan Pauli Joensen Professor Jóan Pauli was asked to state his opinion concerning various statements given by the interviewed foreigners.

The first statement:

Faroese people are difficult to befriend.

He does agree with this statement. He says that due to the small society that the Faroe Islands is, you rely more on your family and current friends, and you do not really bother to find new foreign friends. He also thinks that Faroese people have very close family relationships and friendships e.g. childhood friends and once you are friends with Faroese people, and they therefore seek more close relationships than casual friendships. This can possibly also be due to the small society factor (02:50)

Faroese people do not integrate foreigners well enough.

Professor Jóan Pauli says that this depends on the person and the person’s personality. He again also focuses on the close relationships in the Faroese society amongst Faroese families and friends, and due to this matter, Professor Jóan Pauli says that it may very well seem like the Faroese society is not good at integrating foreigners. In addition to this Professor Joensen also underlines the language barrier, which he states is definitely a reason for the Faroese people not greeting foreigners with open arms.

Another interesting point that Professor Joensen mentions is that since the Faroe Islands is a very small society, the foreigner may seem more lonely and without friends when going to cafés and so on, but if the foreigner was in a bigger country e.g. at a café in Copenhagen, the foreigner might find himself or herself less lonely. This is due to the dynamic in the society and the way the society is built up, Professor Joensen says. He points out that the Faroese society has for many years been isolated from the outside

23 world and has always had a need to preserve the language and the culture of the country, and because of this, the Faroese society is also just now getting to know and open up to foreigners. Integration of foreigners is still an evolving process. He, however, also underlines that people are different and some people may be better at integrating foreigners than others (07:09).

Professor Jóan Pauli also talks about the common nature in wanting to speak one’s own language e.g. when you are at a gathering with other Faroese people and one or two foreigners who do not speak Faroese. He says that even though the Faroese people know how to speak English, it is an underlying mechanism that makes people want to speak his or her own language, so this should not be considered as a negative aspect, but as a natural and human instinct. However, he states that this of course excludes the foreigners, but then Professor Joensen underlines the importance for the foreigners to learn the Faroese language is they want to be integrated, since English is not used on a regular basis in the Faroe Islands (11:23).

The Faroese culture explained by Professor Jóan Pauli:

According to Professor Joensen the Faroese people is laid back and not as outgoing as some other cultures are. Faroese people think before they speak and do not use grand hand gestures when concerning the body language. Professor Joensen underlines the fact that the Faroese people are family oriented and have tight family and friendship bonds. Heritage is usually of big importance, and since it is a small society, a person is usually asked who his or her father or mother is (e.g. what kind of people are you from). This also indicates, according to Professor Joensen, that I you come to the Faroe Islands as a foreigner and you do not have any relatives or friends in the Faroe Islands, you are more likely to feel lonely, due to the close family and friendship bonds that are highly valued in the Faroese society (14:28).

In addition to this, Professor Joensen also states that the Faroese people are very welcoming of foreigners and polite, but they may be friendly to an extent where you are either a friend or an acquaintance. This is again due to the fact that the Faroese people usually has enough with its own (e.g. they have their family and their current friends) (16:46)

Another important trait of the Faroese people according to Jóan Pauli, is that they are not a kind of people that make many plans. It is a common trend for the Faroese people to not having to make plans to visit friends, families and acquaintances. Instead people just walk in houses and show up for coffee, and this is typically a normal behavior for the Faroese people. This can according to Jóan Pauli be a bit challenging for the foreigners, who may not be used to this behavior (18:02).

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Does nepotism (favoring relatives in regard to work positions) exist in the Faroe Islands?

According to Professor Joensen, nepotism does exist in the Faroe Islands, and he says that it is not surprising that nepotism does exist in a small society like the Faroes. He states that this is due to the fact that the Faroese people know each other, what heritage you have and what kind of reputation you have, and if e.g. a foreigner and a Faroese apply for a job, where the Faroese has all the qualifications and has a good reputation, he or she will most likely be preferred. Professor Joensen also says that here the language barrier (e.g. if the foreigner does not know the Faroese language) is a problem for the foreigner to get the job. The Faroese will in many cases be preferred over the foreigner even though he or she may have the same qualifications. However, It is also about the personality traits and behavior, Professor Joensen underlines. Furthermore, he states that the matter of nepotism is something that will be less likely in the future, since the younger generation will have a different aspect on the matter (18:03). Professor Joensen also says that since the Faroe Island is a small society there are not that many job positions for educated people compared to working a a fish plant, which has several job positions, and due to this matter, the Faroese companies are often careful when hiring new employees. This also means that when a foreigner applies for a job position in a company along with several Faroese applicants, the tendency is that a Faroese will be hired, due to the security and background knowledge of the person that can be made (e.g. family and friends) (21:27). However, if workforce is needed and cannot be found in the Faroe Islands, foreigners are certainly hired due to their expertise and field of work (e.g. doctors, scientists and so on)(22:59).

Does the Faroese culture resemble any other culture?

Professor Joensen says that the Faroe Islands is not so special when it comes to cultural traits. He states that the cultural traits in the Faroese society are similar to any other small society where the family relations and friendships are highly valued. He again underlines that due to the history of the Faroe Islands being isolated from the world and valuing the Faroese culture and language, the Faroe Islands is careful when it comes to foreigners. However, Professor Joensen does not see the Faroese people as xenophobic, but he merely thinks that they are careful when it comes to the unknown as their cultural heritage and history also states (17:29).

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Appendix 3: Statistics of foreigners living in the Faroe Islands These statistics show the immigration flow in the Faroe Islands over the years. They have been retrieved from the Faroese Statistics Bureau www.hagstovan.fo.

Appendix 3.1: Statistics of foreigners living in the Faroe Islands in 1985

People divided according to country of origin and year:

1985 Danmark 2627 Tunesia 3 Grønland 114 Brasil 1 Finnland 8 Haiti 1 Ísland 267 Kanada 8 Noreg 103 Kili 2 Svøríki 35 Kolumbia 5 Belgia 2 Sambandsríki Amerika (USA) 24 Belgia og Luksemborg 2 Surinam 1 Bretland 91 Trinidad og Tobago 1 Frakland 5 Venesuela 1 Írland 2 Afganistan 1 Kekkia 1 Filipsoyggjar 1 Kekkoslovakia 1 India 8 Malta 1 Indonesia 1 Niðurlond 5 Iran 2 Pólland 1 Ísrael 1 Russland 1 Japan 1 Spania 2 Malaisia 2 Sveis-Liktinstein 4 Pakistan 1 Turkaland 1 Sri Lanka 1 Týskland 23 Suðurkorea 41 Egyptaland 1 Tailand 2 Gana 3 Nýsæland 2 Kenja 1 Ókent 44 Liberia 1 Total 3457

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Appendix 3.2: Statistics of foreigners living in the Faroe Islands in 1995 People divided according to country of origin and year:

1995 Danmark 2071 Bolivia 1 Grønland 92 Brasil 6 Finnland 7 Guatemala 2 Ísland 183 Haiti 2 Noreg 98 Honduras 1 Svøríki 39 Kanada 6 Belgia 2 Kolumbia 39 Belgia og Luksemborg 4 Kosta Rika 1 Bretland 92 Paraguai 3 Bulgaria 1 Puerto riko 1 Frakland 5 Sambandsríki Amerika (USA) 22 Grikkaland 1 Afganistan 1 Írland 1 Filipsoyggjar 15 Jugoslavia 1 India 24 Kekkoslovakia 1 Indonesia 1 Kroatia 1 Iran 1 Malta 1 Ísrael 3 Niðurlond 4 Japan 1 Pólland 20 Jordan 1 Rumenia 1 Libanon 1 Russland 1 Malaisia 2 Spania 2 Norðurkorea 1 Sveis-Liktinstein 4 Sovjetsamveldið 4 Týskland 17 Sri Lanka 2 Ukraina 2 Suðurkorea 53 Ungarn 1 Tailand 10 Gana 1 Usbekistan 1 Kenja 2 Vjetnam 1 Liberia 1 Avstralia 1 Suðurafrika 2 Nýsæland 1 Tunesia 2 Ókent 31 Argentina 1 Total 2900

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Appendix 3.3: Statistics of foreigners living in the Faroe Islands in 2005 People divided according to country of origin and year:

2005 Danmark 3137 Sveis -Liktinstein 4 Grønland 134 Turkaland 1 Finnland 11 Týskland 20 Ísland 241 Ukraina 4 Noreg 153 Ungarn 1 Svøríki 58 Etiopia 5 Albania 1 Fílabeinsstrondin 3 Belgia 2 Gana 5 Belgia og Luksemborg 4 Kabo Verdi 1 Bosnia-Hersegovina 3 Kenja 2 Bretland 86 Liberia 2 Bulgaria 10 Libya 1 Estland 4 Madagaskar 3 Frakland 6 Marokko 1 Grikkaland 1 Móritius 5 Hvítarussland 1 Namibia 2 Írland 3 Nigeria 2 Italia 5 Simbabvi 1 Jugoslavia 7 Suðurafrika 6 Kekkia 3 Tansania 1 Kekkoslovakia 1 Togo 1 Kroatia 25 Tunesia 7 Litava 11 Argentina 2 Makedónia (FJM) 2 Brasil 18 Malta 1 Guatemala 2 Moldova 1 Haiti 1 Niðurlond 5 Honduras 1 Pólland 69 Kanada 8 Rumenia 48 Kili 2 Russland 30 Kolumbia 43 Serbia og Montenegro 35 Kosta Rika 1 Slovakia 5 Kuba 1 Spania 4 Meksiko 8

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Paraguai 3 Peru 2 Sambandsríki Amerika (USA) 31 Venesuela 5 Afganistan 1 Bangladesj 1 Filipsoyggjar 33 India 56 Indonesia 3 Irak 1 Iran 3 Ísrael 5 Japan 2 Katar 1 Kina 7 Kuvait 3 Libanon 1 Malaisia 4 Norðurkorea 2 Pakistan - Sameindu Emirríkini 1 Singapor 1 Sovjetsamveldið 4 Sri Lanka 4 Suðurkorea 42 Tailand 47 Usbekistan 1 Avstralia 6 Nýsæland 3 Ókent 38 Total 4583

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Appendix 3.4: Statistics of foreigners living in the Faroe Islands in 2014 People divided according to country of origin and year:

2014 Danmark 3436 Slovakia 7 Grønland 153 Spania 4 Finnland 8 Sveis-Liktinstein 6 Ísland 243 Turkaland 3 Noreg 166 Týskland 17 Svøríki 69 Ukraina 9 Albania 1 Ungarn 6 Belgia 3 Benin 1 Belgia og Luksemborg 2 Burkina Faso 1 Bosnia-Hersegovina 7 Egyptaland 2 Bretland 96 Etiopia 33 Bulgaria 14 Fílabeinsstrondin 4 Estland 2 Gambia 1 Frakland 8 Gana 18 Hvítarussland 1 Kenja 11 Írland 3 Liberia 2 Italia 1 Libya 1 Jugoslavia 5 Madagaskar 3 Kekkia 4 Marokko 2 Kekkoslovakia 1 Móritius 4 Kroatia 22 Namibia 5 Lettland 1 Nigeria 6 Litava 12 Sambia 1 Makedónia (FJM) 11 Senegal 5 Malta 2 Sierra Leona 1 Moldova 1 Suðurafrika 20 Niðurlond 8 Tansania 2 Pólland 63 Togo 2 Portugal 1 Tunesia 13 Rumenia 61 Uganda 2 Russland 28 Argentina 4 Serbia 1 Bolivia 3 Serbia og Montenegro 47 Brasil 14

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Ekvador 2 Norðurkorea 4 Guatemala 2 Pakistan 3 Honduras 1 Sameindu Emirríkini 1 Jamaika 1 Singapor 2 Kanada 12 Sovjetsamveldið 4 Kili 3 Sri Lanka 5 Kolumbia 33 Suðurkorea 53 Kosta Rika 1 Sýria 1 Meksiko 7 Tailand 105 Paraguai 3 Taivan 1 Peru 13 Usbekistan 1 Sambandsríki Amerika (USA) 40 Vjetnam 2 Trinidad og Tobago 1 Avstralia 8 Venesuela 4 Nýsæland 5 Afganistan 1 Ókent 47 Bangladesj 1 Total 5309 Filipsoyggjar 114 Hong Kong 1 India 62 Indonesia 9 Irak 1 Iran 5 Ísrael 3 Japan 2 Kambodja 1 Katar 4 Kina 33 Kirgisia 1 Kuvait 3 Libanon 1 Malaisia 6 Myanmar (Burma) 1 Nepal 1

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Appendix 3.5: Statistics of foreigners living in the Faroe Islands in 2015 People divided according to country of origin and year:

2015 Danmark 3557 Spania 4 Grønland 152 Sveis-Liktinstein 5 Finnland 8 Turkaland 3 Ísland 242 Týskland 22 Noreg 178 Ukraina 8 Svøríki 76 Ungarn 6 Albania 1 Benin 1 Belgia 3 Burkina Faso 1 Belgia og Luksemborg 2 Egyptaland 2 Bosnia-Hersegovina 9 Etiopia 37 Bretland 100 Fílabeinsstrondin 4 Bulgaria 14 Gambia 1 Estland 2 Gana 18 Frakland 9 Kamerun 1 Hvítarussland 1 Kenja 15 Írland 3 Liberia 2 Italia 3 Libya 1 Jugoslavia 5 Madagaskar 3 Kekkia 4 Marokko 2 Kekkoslovakia 1 Móritius 5 Kroatia 20 Namibia 7 Lettland 1 Nigeria 8 Litava 13 Senegal 5 Makedónia (FJM) 9 Sierra Leona 1 Malta 2 Suðurafrika 20 Niðurlond 7 Tansania 2 Pólland 68 Togo 2 Portugal 2 Tunesia 13 Rumenia 61 Uganda 2 Russland 30 Argentina 4 Serbia 1 Bolivia 3 Serbia og Montenegro 52 Brasil 13 Slovakia 7 Dominikalýðveldið 1

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Ekvador 3 Nepal 1 Guatemala 2 Norðurkorea 4 Haiti 1 Oman 2 Honduras 1 Pakistan 3 Jamaika 5 Sameindu Emirríkini 1 Kanada 13 Singapor 2 Kili 3 Sovjetsamveldið 4 Kolumbia 29 Sri Lanka 4 Kosta Rika 1 Suðurkorea 53 Meksiko 9 Tailand 114 Paraguai 3 Taivan 1 Peru 15 Usbekistan 1 Sambandsríki Amerika (USA) 41 Vjetnam 2 Trinidad og Tobago 1 Avstralia 7 Venesuela 5 Nýsæland 5 Afganistan 1 Ókent 48 Bangladesj 2 Total 5517 Filipsoyggjar 130 Hong Kong 1 India 64 Indonesia 10 Irak 1 Iran 6 Ísrael 2 Japan 2 Kambodja 1 Katar 3 Kina 32 Kirgisia 1 Kuvait 3 Libanon 2 Malaisia 6 Myanmar (Burma) 1

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Appendix 4: Interviewed cultures according to Hofstede’s dimensions

Slovakia (1 male;2 females):

- Power Distance: High score i.e. accept hierarchical order where everyone has a place - Individualism/Collectivism: Scores middle i.e. there is no clear preference - Masculinity/Feminism: Very high score on Masculinity i.e. highly success oriented and driven - Uncertainty Avoidance: Scores middle i.e. there is no clear preference - Long Term Orientation: High score i.e. pragmatic culture and adapt traditions easily to changed conditions

India (1 female):

- Power Distance: High score i.e. accept hierarchical order where everyone has a place - Individualism/Collectivism: Scores middle i.e. there is no clear preference - Masculinity/Feminism: High score on Masculinity i.e. highly success oriented and driven - Uncertainty Avoidance: Low score i.e. traditionally tolerant and accepts imperfections - Long Term Orientation: Slightly high score i.e. a pragmatic culture and accepts not being on time

The United States (3 females):

- Power Distance: Low score i.e. equality for everyone - Individualism/Collectivism: High score on individualism i.e. people look after and rely on themselves - Masculinity/Feminism: High score on Masculinity i.e. highly success oriented and driven - Uncertainty Avoidance: Low score i.e. Low score i.e. traditionally tolerant and accepts imperfections - Long Term Orientation: Low score i.e. normative culture and value traditions and beliefs

The United Kingdom (1 male; 2 females):

- Power Distance: Low score i.e. equality for everyone - Individualism/Collectivism: High score on individualism i.e. people look after and rely on themselves - Masculinity/Feminism: High score on Masculinity i.e. highly success oriented and driven

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- Uncertainty Avoidance: Low score i.e. Low score i.e. traditionally tolerant and accepts imperfections - Long Term Orientation: Scores middle i.e. there is no clear preference

Poland (1 female):

- Power Distance: High score i.e. accept hierarchical order where everyone has a place - Individualism/Collectivism: High score on individualism i.e. people look after and rely on themselves - Masculinity/Feminism: High score on Masculinity i.e. highly success oriented and driven - Uncertainty Avoidance: High score i.e. prefer avoiding uncertainty and believe in orthodox values - Long Term Orientation: Low score i.e. normative culture and value traditions and beliefs

Togo, Africa (1 female):

- Power Distance: High score i.e. accept hierarchical order where everyone has a place - Individualism/Collectivism: High score on collectivism i.e. value family bonds and friendships - Masculinity/Feminism: High score on Feminism i.e. believe in solidarity and quality of life - Uncertainty Avoidance: High score i.e. prefer avoiding uncertainty and believe in orthodox values - Long Term Orientation: Very low score i.e. normative culture and preserves traditions.

Romania (1 female):

- Power Distance: High score i.e. accept hierarchical order where everyone has a place - Individualism/Collectivism: High score on collectivism i.e. value family bonds and friendships - Masculinity/Feminism: High score on Feminism i.e. believe in solidarity and quality of life - Uncertainty Avoidance: High score i.e. prefer avoiding uncertainty and believe in orthodox values - Long Term Orientation: Scores middle i.e. there is no clear preference

Russia (1 male):

- Power Distance: High score i.e. accept hierarchical order where everyone has a place - Individualism/Collectivism: High score on collectivism i.e. value family bonds and friendships

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- Masculinity/Feminism: High score on Feminism i.e. believe in solidarity and quality of life - Uncertainty Avoidance: High score i.e. prefer avoiding uncertainty and believe in orthodox values - Long Term Orientation: High score i.e. pragmatic culture and adapt traditions easily to changed conditions

Thailand (1 female):

- Power Distance: High score i.e. accept hierarchical order where everyone has a place - Individualism/Collectivism: High score on collectivism i.e. value family bonds and friendships - Masculinity/Feminism: High score on Feminism i.e. believe in solidarity and quality of life - Uncertainty Avoidance: High score i.e. prefer avoiding uncertainty and believe in orthodox values - Long Term Orientation: Low score i.e. normative culture and preserves traditions

(Hofstede, 2015)

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