Life In The Jungle

It is said that the law does not exist in Bø. The police station closes at 2:30 PM, even! Recent events lead me to believe that this statement is true.

This is the outside of Grivi, the dormitory. Let’s take a closer look.

To the left, you’ll see the flag from Meny – a giant flag made specially for Meny to hang outside the grocery store. To the right, you’ll see three more “trophies.” A sidewalk card for Floriss, a traffic cone and yes, a small tree.

This car intrigued me a bit. I can only assume that this car covered in dirt – the only one in the lot – was the car used to transport the tree (and for that reason, I have taken care not to show the license plate). But let’s take a look at perhaps the most excellent “trophy” that these random, most-likely drunk, scavengers acquired.

Behold, the flag from Rema 1000!

I first found this flag in the middle of the night, illuminated perfectly by the center light. Let’s imagine it that way.

I’m glad I got pictures in the morning to document what was surely an epic night for some drunken idiots. The items we either taken down or collected by their owners (probably taken down) within an hour of me taking these pictures.

It must have been quite a feat not only to get these things from their respective stores and to get them up on the roof of our dorm as well. It was quite an accomplishment.

Yes, an accomplishment, but it does bother me. Apart from these “trophies,” I know of at least a dozen bikes and shopping carts that have been stolen around here; the cleaning lady caught a man trying to steal clothes from the washing room; and last year there were rashes of food theft from kitchens. People seem to have no problem with the stealing.

And that bothers me.

But Now Things Were Different, With Birds Unable To Speak

Some things are just different.

Of course, I knew this would be the case in a country that holds a time zone seven hours ahead of my own. When you’re that far from home (roughly 4038 miles or 6498 kilometers by my calculations), you can’t expect the culture to be the same. And it certainly isn’t the same here in Bø, Norway.

The most interfering difference here is the business hours. Some stores, like the grocery store Meny (one of six or so in the town), are open decent hours (until 8 PM every night), but some are just absurd. For example, I have to go to the police and register there as an international student. The only problem is that they close at 2:30 PM every day. And no stores or offices are open on Sunday. So far, I have seen maybe three police officers. They also do not carry guns here, as they do back home in the US. I was speaking with a Norwegian woman last night who also thought that the police hours were absurd, and it seems there has been some discussion on extending hours. As the college here gets bigger and draws more people to the area every year, problems crop up. Students from Norway and abroad get drunk and safety becomes a concern.

Besides the police station, other shops closing on average at 6 PM and earlier on Saturdays is a huge inconvenience. If you want to get any wine or spirits (anything other than beer or hard cider), there is only one store in Bø allowed to sell it – Vinmonopolet, the state operated liquor store. They close every day at something like 3 or 3:30 PM, so most of the time your options are limited to beer.

Speaking of beer, I think it’s a very interesting subject here in Norway. Special note for those wishing to go to Norway: products can be packaged together (ie. six-packs) but be sold by individual units. So you can understand how surprised I was that my 20 Kroner beer was actually 20 Kroner per can. Yes, the cheapest beer here is about $3 a can (half a liter, so it is more beer than a US can of beer is). I could live with that if Bø wasn’t as much of a party tow as Madison is. Almost every night there is a party to attend. I’ve cut down on costs and consumption by accepting the ridicule of not drinking every now and then, but the costs still add up.

It is almost ironic to see what top shelf, high class beers you can buy here in Norway. The most expensive beers I have seen so far are Budweiser (sold here as Budweiser USA) and Miller Genuine Draft. These beers, which are usually really cheap in the US, sell for ~$20 per liter. That’s ~$8-10 for a bottle of US beer. For now, I’ll stick with my no-name, bottom shelf Telemark beer. I think it’s important to support the few “local” producers.

In the mean time, I’ve heard rumors of 98% spirits made illegally by farmers in the area. Yes, because of the high prices of alcohol, Norwegian farmers have been producing a sort of moonshine with homemade equipment. Last night, the group of Spanish students found some left behind in an inconspicuous drink mix bottle. It has quite the kick, let me say that. Sort of a dangerous taste, if you ask me.

Alcohol aside, there are many other differences here in Norway that I’m sure I’ll talk about in the future. I was rather shocked the first time I saw a pack of cigarettes here in Norway (pictured above). Besides costing an insane amount of money, cigarettes in Norway all have a certain Surgeon General’s -type warning printed on them – Røyking dreper. Smoking kills. Every tobacco product here in Norway seems to have at least 50% of its packaging taken up with this sort of warning, as well as advice on who to contact about quitting. I think I like the bluntness of the Norwegian tobacco warnings as opposed to our sweet, almost apologetic, formal suggestions that tobacco may be bad for you.

Tonight, I think I’ll bake bread (something which is also very different here in Norway). I think Hope is coming to visit and help out. It’s about time we get some Joanna Newsom in.

<3 JOHN

P.S. Norway has pirate bread.