10 Things I do now that I live in Latvia | Am I becoming Latvian? 😱 

I am latvian who moved abroad, and oh boy that shoe thing is just killing me! I am getting anxiety when people step to my home without taking shoes off! :D

Every Latvian ever - Normāli 😄

We Latvians are so used to silence that when we go to places where everyone chats about literally nothing of importance we feel uncomfortable. Words have a meaning and what we say should matter, so we think.

As a Latvian I always feel anxious when foreigners ask me how am I, because I know they dont actually care and I dont know how to be fake

Gabriela, I enjoyed your video a lot! People coming to live in Latvia are the ones who actually bring out the best parts of us - yes, we are silent, BUT we are sincere and straight forward. I hope you like it here in Latvia, as I believe this is one of the best places to live (yeah, governments are crazy/shitty/weird everywhere).

Haha this is so funny for me as a Latvian to hear someone from abroad encounter. :D Keep up the great work!

I suppose that the reason behind why Latvians go to supermarket more often to buy smaller quantities is that we live closer to them. As you mentioned- everything is in walking distance. If a supermarket is further away that you have to use a car, especially for bigger families, we also go once a week to buy more. And then for the fresh stuff we visit the nearest little shops.

You forgot to mention if that you ask a Latvian "how are you" and they are not normal, they will tell you in detail exactly how they are.

As a Latvian expat in the UK, I recall being asked, "How are you?" and deciding to respond as I would in Latvia. I knew it might seem odd to them when I said, "Not as good as I would like to be." To my surprise, everyone started telling me that such a detailed answer wasn't necessary. But to me, it wasn't detailed-it was just a quick response. Quite amusing, really.

I'm a Latvian living in Denmark and I can guarantee that Latvian sweet tooth is nothing compared to Danish sweet tooth lol. All the sweets are at least twice as sugary and most Danes eat a lot of sweets on daily basis. Even the foods that tend to be salty in Latvia are often sugary in Denmark. Anyway - I enjoyed your video, and the "normal" part made me smile "līdz pat ausīm". 😄

No wonder Latvian stand with Taiwanese; they sound so alike😍 Grew up in Taiwan but live in US longer now. I came to your channel by searching if Lativan language is easy for me to learn so I can contribute to connect people from both countries from cultures and other aspects in additon to the intrepid stance against bullying that they both have.👍👍

That’s amazing. We have first Latvian Honduran children in the world, Kaia & Kaari Torres 🇱🇻 🇺🇸 🇭🇳 I think our countries have a huge amount of things to share to benefit both of our countries. My husband is from Tegus but we live in Miami and associate our lives with a Riga and Roatan

Me: “Hey Grabby whats up?” You: “normal” Me: 👁👄👁...

Im Latvian living in UK and for 24 years I am fighting against shoes inside the house, why can’t they get that ??? And silence is definitely underrated, English do too much small talk and for me it is still much unnecessary talk 😆 you can take Latvian out of Latvia but you can not take Latvia out of Latvian,

I related to so many of these! I'm coming to Latvia for the first time next month and I can't wait to explore! 🧡

With the ''normal'' my mom used to get mad (not really mad, but more like making fun of me for saying that) when I was a teenager and she would ask me how's school or how's this and that and I would always replay ''normāli'' and nothing else :D It's so truee!

This is the Story of my life 😃, it was a hell of a journey and a huge cultural shock at the beginning I must say, but it’s quite better at this moment and I tend to enjoy doing most of this things now. Hey Gaby, I also enjoyed Medus kūka 🤩 😄

I miss black bread so much, it's my favorite

Thank you Gabriela, you are a positive woman;)

The silence thing is soooo true... i hate when people talk to me with no reason.

I provide my visitors with slippers and have a space outside by the door for guests to leave their shoes until they leave.

So random! I'm originally from Latvia, grew up in the US, and now live in Honduras.

I found some of these really interesting. I'm a Latvian living abroad for over 15 years 😅

we are not silent we just chill

About the clock. While speaking I use 12h format - I'll be home at nine, let's meet at three, but while writing I use 24h format - I'll be home at 21 (or 21:00), let's meet at 15 (or 15:00). I haven't really heard anyone talk about time in 24h format that much - sometimes yes, but not most of the time.

You’re Honduran but your culture and even accent, are so similar to the habits and culture of the US! I had no idea Honduras and the US were so similar!

Love all of these! I'm not quite at 'Normale' stage yet...maybe one day😆

Thank you, Gabi. Very nice retrospective on your experience in LV.

I truly find small talk waay more uncomfortable than silence 😂 Why we need to force conversation about nothing if we have nothing that we actually want to say? I just lack this skill. My husband too. Out families of origin too.. our friends too.. 😃 well I don't know anyone who really enjoys it.. so yeah I guess it's a Latvian thing for real.

Hello Gabby, I enjoyed your video very much. I am very impressed with your American English fluency and accent. You mentioned that you were raised in Honduras, presumable until at least your late teens, because you were able to compare the flavor of Honduras beer to the beer in Lativa. How did you get so good with spoken American English. If I didn't know any better it sounds like you were raised in somewhere in the US Western states.

BACK IN THE DAY IN FLORIDA, WE USED TO DO THE SAME THING, AND IT DOESN'T SNOW IN FLORIDA. IT WAS MAINLY BECAUSE EVERYONE HAD BRAND NEW CARPETS OR JUST HAD THEM CLEANED.

I love rye bread with Nutella. Maybe just my latvian taste buds 😆

Cik daudz latvieši ir redzējuši šo? XD

Kāds tiešām sarunu valodā lieto 24h formātu? Jā, rakstītā formātā tas ir daudz vieglāk, bet runājot vārds četrpadsmitos šķiet daudz garāks par vārdu salikumu četros vakarā, vismaz es nepazīstu nevienu, kas tā runā. Gana labs video, visam pārsvarā var piekrist!

Nice video Gaby, hope you are normal :)

Rye bred and black bread are not necessarily the same thing. Perhaps they are synonymous in Latvia, but in Germany this certainly isn’t the case. Going to the supermarket is more frequent because of the differences in refrigeration. You will notice that refrigerators are much smaller.

The 24 hour format, could be related to people working environemnt not using AM and PM standarts, because in Latvian language we would just say - "Let's meet at 6." not mentioning am or pm. Or we might ask 11 in the morning right? - if for some reason you thought they wanted to meet at 11 at night :D In other words, it depends, but yes fact is we use 24h format. edit: in actuality, I sat and thought for a moment, people I socialise with - we do not use 24h format in our talk, only whatsapp/chatting, at work I use am/pm standart when talking and 24h standart through emails, which is normal ....heh

We now all enjoy our Hockey Team mostly !We have a wery Great Hockey Team!We also have a 2 very tall Females in Latvia !The firstt one was in Latvias Female Basketball team also!She was a very great Basketball Player!!

Rupjmaize un nutella? MIERĪGI! Garšo ļoti labi! Arī ar medu vai jebko citu ;)

Hi, it is kaind when you talk with, 🍮 and Riga Balsam.

Hi Gabby! How are you? Really nice to see you here :) nice video 👍

This video is great! Keep it up😀

I'm a first generation Latvian American. I enjoyed your take on life in Latvia. Curious what brought you there?

Btw about the silence thing. For me, I've noticed I go silent a lot yes, but it is because I'm thinking about things, like I am planning stuff in my head constantly so I kinda really need that silence lol.

Hi i am from latvian and sometime i dont like live in here but sometime i like

Rye bread dipped in sour cream ftw!

I'm Latvian 🇱🇻

Haha I also learned to appreciate beer in Europe on a different level 🤩 I was more of a rum drinker before coming to Europe #Honduranexpats

LATVIA IS GREAT I HOPE YOUR HOME IS GOOD BECOSE I LIVE IN LATVIA

Beer is like we are without hands

Once you go black bread you never come back 🤣

soy Letón y puedo decir que lo ha explicado muy bien. muy buen video

Hi all Latvia I miss you

Such a nice video

Am latvian, i love bread

Really interesting vid, but your generalization about american beer I think may be inaccurate. Try exploring some micro breweries or craft beers next time you are here. I'd imagine there are more styles in the U.S. than almost anywhere in the world.

normal😉 that was spot on.

taking off shoes when coming home is same as korea. korea has heating floor system so people are living with bare foot in the house.

1. True 2. I don’t like black bread. 3. True i also walk. But thats for because i don’t have car. 4. Thats a Require taste. I don't like tea. 5. Thats true its hard to do smal talks in latvian not impossible but hard. 6. I can't comment. 7. Yeah we nead lots more stuff. 8. I don’t have that's. 9. Thats normal. 10. Yeaa thats normal.

A AM 9 YEARS OLD AND MY LATVIAN NAME IS ARTŪR

try some sweet sour bread(sald-skābā maize)

A bit weird, cuz as I know we say ''fine'' for English. But ''normal'' is for Russian, Latvian languages :)

very true.

3:00 - that's the only thing I disagree. :D Rye/ black bread with Nutella, some jam, or even honey is AWESOME! :D But, of course, it's just a matter of taste/ preference. :)

Everything you said is so right haha

what resources do you recommend to learn Latvian? did you go to school or use a specific app or course?

hmm tea is mostly popular in hot countries eg. all over middle east

I think "Normāli" would be "I'm fine". Don't know if that is used a lot in English speaking countries and if that really really means the same as 'Normāli'. However I have question: What is your experience with dills?

Normāli! 😁

that ,,normal'' hit home

Saludes desde philadelphia.

You do not look sound or carry yourself as what we know as Hondurans but I’m sure you feel the same way yourself, which area in Honduras are you from? I’ve been to San Pedro, Lago de Yahoa, and on the next trip probably going to La Ceiba

Thanks a lot;)

Nice video! BTW I dont think that people in spoken language uses 24h format - usualy they say "at seven thirty in evening" - haven't realy heard too often anyone saying "ninteen thirty". And yea silence and "how are you" are latvian thing - if we ask somone how are you - we realy care how's that person doing otherwise we wouldn't ask - and that's why we consider answer carefully. We don't talk for talkings sake - we need meaning for conversation. So "normal" (or actualy "labi" - which is "good") is "fine" for latvians ;) any other cases is worth while conversation!

Nutella is overly sweet so black bread is perfect for it

the one with the time isn’t true, no one will say see you at 19, people will just say 7

Cheers 🍻🍻

To be honest, i drink tea to detox my body and i do it everyday

Hey... no sabia que tenias esta canal lol congrats

Normāls video

12 hour clock. You took a nap after work. Woke up, look at phone, it says 8:00 but you needed to be at work at 8:00. Youre fked. Your brain cant realise its actually 20:00, you dont see the pm, you just see 8:00 and freak out. My phone for some reason had 12 hour time set by google. When i wake up and realise im late i dont remember anything about the morning spent at home, i do it all while im still waking up.

I AM ON MY DADS COMPUTER

1:00 Your telling me that wasnt normal????????????

An easy trick with 24 hour time is to just minus 12.

Amazoni Nordic country

You’ve just described my life 😅 except for the weird rye bread thing lol and I hate being silent

Nice 😊

Hi,about the 1.Taking off the shoes is a sign of respect for the host.If i invite you to my house for a dinner(which i have cleaned and made food for you),and you don't take of your dirty shoes off...we will never be friends

Normāli 😁😁😁👍

Un Ka tev patik Runci?

I speak Latvian ciao

Wait i hope you didn't mean that people say out loud "let's meet at eighteen?" That's totally weird hahahaha. We only use those numbers in writing, otherwise we would just say six!

10:27 plz just say honey cake its direct translation

For sure noone said bad

What kind of employment is good in Latvia?

Hi

No 10 so funny, I can’t 😂 So true in the whole of Eastern Europe.

WICH WE CALL KRIAVISKI

I had so much amusement listening to your video, Gabriela. Now, I've been all over Europe and in most parts of the world, sadly not to Honduras or Latvia, but I live in Sweden, being Norwegian, married to a Portuguese, having worked as an expat for a long time so I have that travelling bone. I feel a need to comment on some of your findings, they made me laugh and I see a lot of similarities with my own experience. No 4: Tea. The reason why Tea is less popular in Honduras is access. You have coffee all around your area and tea is grown far away. For Europeans, tea was brought in as a beverage before coffee and so we've had centuries to acquire the taste. In big coffee countries like Portugal, tea, or chá (chai), has such a long history and still plays such a big part in culture. In the North we used to drink really weak coffee for a long time because it was so expensive so the boom is actually very recent. 5: Silence vs talk. In the North population density is very low and it is easy to assume the lack of outgoingness (if that's a word) but I have found it is not. It is much more local. I have found that one region, or even sub-region, of the North can be super silent and introvert to being overly outgoing chatty and extrovert. I don't know Latvia, it's a small country and maybe there aren't big local differences but my take on it is that we tend to focus on the silent areas and forget the chatty ones. But I know what you mean, the difference in conversations and loud one at such at my Portuguese family is a lot more than at my Norwegian. Supermarkets: That's just such a brilliant observation. And so true, funny you mention it. But I think this is a very complex matter of many layers. First, let's talk about Hondurans. I don't know Honduras but I know latin countries and I know that many people grow up in homes with a maid, in Portuguese empregada domestica. I don't know you but I know a lot of "priviledged" latinas and latinos who grew up never know the first thing about how food ended up on their table, because the maid would do the purchases and prepare the food. So maybe there's a thing here about your own awareness, I don't know and I don't mean it in a bad way. I know my wife ate fresh produce all here childhood because their maid shopped and cooked it for lunch every weekday. The next is, my perhaps biased, view of Latvians, being a former Soviet republic. Is it possible that the case of supermarkets, full of fresh produce, is pulling them because it was not the case during the Soviet times? I never went to Latvia, but I am old enough to have been to many east block countries during the cold war and the supermarkets in those days were the pits of the world. Empty, with the exception of canned soured pickles and booze. It's possible that the change to market economy also triggered a need to buy while there is something to buy? Finally, speaking about myself, not being a Latvian but a Nordic person, I recognize the behaviour in myself, and I was never in a communist country, but I love going to the supermarket, daily. So maybe it's just a refuge, like the malls are in central america? :) We all need havens. Loved the video, good laughs and a lot of good thoughts. Take care!

Ja runa Latviski tad esi welcome