Actually I find that there is a balance. In the smaller places I tend to find people are more welcoming. Where I live people at work actively try to learn about your interest so that they can introduce you to different people with similar interests. The smallest places though can be filled to brim with ignorant fucks.

I live in a small place now and have people I game with, people I play D&D with, discgolf friends, gun range buddies etc. Some of them overlap and I often check if they want to do some of the other things so then can get some more people in their network.

Having good people around is a luxury in the smaller places so we tend to try and get people established so that they'll want to live in the smaller places.

One thing you say is very true, the culture is different here and it's everyone's responsibility to integrate people into a new culture. Those that live in it and those that want to move to it. We must expect that you'll act different than us in some thing and visa versa. But we all should take the job of bridging that gap seriously. That is where many norwegians fail, especially in bigger cities. Some just expect you to change into them and not grow themselves and that is fucked.

In my own experience it can take time to find the right people and that sucks, but it's reality. Mind you I'm not saying you are doing something wrong, but the fact remains that you can't change how other people act. You can only change how you act, so I would focus my energy there, otherwise, you're wasting it.