Often I’m surprised by little differences in the culture. In many ways things are so similar, but that leads to a false sense of familiarity.
This morning, I had a little surprise, but a thoughtful head’s up from my friend, Marta. This American missionary kid to Madagascar who married a Norwegian and has immigrated here has a special sensitivity and care for others in new cultures. She sent me a text this morning informing me that the stores will be closed early and I should shop today, though things will be busy.
So, I put on my rain gear and walked to the closest store. The good thing about going early is getting a morning walk in and the stores aren’t crowded with people. However, the aisles were crowded with boxes of goods and palates of produce to be shelved.
One of the little cultural discoveries previously learned with regard to groceries is that 1% milk is fortified with vitamin D but 2% isn’t. I wonder what is the story.
The recycling of bottles and cans was something to be learned. I shared a video link on a previous blog as another ex-pat was sharing some of the ways things are done in Norway. At the entrance to the store is an alcove with a machine in the wall with a hole. You feed your bottles and cans one at a time–bottom first–into the hole.
When all the bottles and cans have been shoved through the hole and each one scanned for the deposit value, you can choose to have a receipt to be subtracted from your grocery purchase or donate the amount to the Red Cross. A bottle has about 33 cents of value, so Norway has a 93% recycling rate. I’ve also seen people give their bottle to a beggar (yes, in a country with socialized health care and free education there still are a few beggars).
This morning, going past the recycling post gave me one of those smell-related memories, a memory of skanky beer. When I was a kid on the prairie of Montanta in a small farming town without any paved roads, I tied a big cardboard box onto my little red wagon and went around to pick up the aluminum cans strewn on the side of the road. In addition to my paper route, this was a little income in the summer months when there wasn’t snow around. Well, my classmate, Danny, one of the 5 boys and 2 girls (including me) in my class, told me about this trough behind the Highway bar where there were lots of empties. So, we went and found the cattle watering trough that was in a small room about 6 feet by 4 feet under the bar at the back. We couldn’t even stand up in it, but all the empty beer cans were sent down a chute from the bar into the trough. We just had to duck in and gather all the aluminum cans we wanted. The bar owners didn’t mind us taking a stash and clearing out a bit of their bin. But during the long summer months, the smell was of warm, skanky beer. We would hold our breath and enter for as long as our lungs would hold out. Well, in addition to making some cash on the recycling, it killed my tasted for beer. The smell alone will transport me to the Highway Bar in Hingham, Montana. So, at the recycling center in Stavanger, with the skanky beer smell, I was brought back to Montana.
Anya finished her online English course. She wasn’t happy with the multiple choice questions as the “best” answer was sometimes not very distinct from other good answers. But it is done and she has the credit on her transcript. Grades are listed on the transcript, but it was good that Anya didn’t know this, as she did a good job applying herself through a method which was not very pleasing. The best thing for Anya is that it is done. The best thing for me was to see Anya manage her workload independently in spite of her dissatisfaction with the delivery system and complete on time! Kudos to Anya.
With blessings,
Beth