Book excerpt: Culture Smart! Norway steers you through social and professional encounters, enabling visitors to establish real friendships and business partnerships. Tips on meeting and communicating make socializing a pleasant experience, and chapters on customs give a glimpse inside a Norwegian home. The book also describes how the Norwegian commercial world operates--vital information for anyone doing business with one of the world's wealthiest nations. The need to survive on a difficult, isolated terrain and in harsh climates forged a people who are hardworking and self-sufficient. On first meeting, the Norwegians are serious, polite, law-abiding, and hardy. They are also very private, and getting to know them takes time. But when visitors are able to see behind that façade they will meet the friendly, fun-loving, family-oriented people hiding on the other side.