I am giddy with excitement! Giddy, I tell you!! So excited I'm about to pee myself! Wanna know why? Course you do. I am about to eat the cheapest meal I have had in Oslo to date. And it's good stuff, too. I came across some BARGAIN chicken wings in the ICA supermarket near work, and I bought some ready made salad to go with it. The chicken wings were only 23 NOK and the salad 16 NOK. That's a total of 39 NOK, which converts to about £4.23. A bargain in any country! I'll put this into perspective, shall I? On Tuesday I went to the 7-Eleven and purchased a litre of milk and a box of cereal. That came to 75 NOK. That's £8.14.
So I'm off now to eat said chicken wings (though I'm going to call them buffalo wings so it feels like I'm in the US), and when I come back I will talk to you about crossing the street, for this is a fascinating subject.
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Mmmmmmm.... I give ICA Supermarket 5 Bumblestars.
Now that I've finished my dinner we will get onto the serious matter of crossing the road. I can't remember what it was like in Sweden, but certainly here, and in Copenhagen, people only cross the street at a pedestrian crossing, and, if there's a red/green man involved, only on a green man. When I cross the road, and I feel mature enough to make my own decision on when it's safe enough to cross, people look at me in disbelief! Perhaps it's because they can't believe how small I am, but I think it's that they're concerned about my safety. Or ready to see me get knocked down - whatever.
I was told that in Denmark, if you get caught (by the police I assume - getting caught by a guy with a red hat would surely make no difference) crossing the road on a red man (not on his back - you know what I mean, stop being so pedantic) you'd get fined. That's just ludicrous. Firstly, (most) people just aren't stupid enough to walk in front of a moving vehicle and secondly, it's just ludicrous. If I'm old enough to smoke, have sex, drink alcohol, hold a firearm certificate and purchase, borrow or hire firearms and ammunition subject to the conditions on the certificate, then I'm old enough to decide when it's safe to cross the road. Surely?!
I'm sure you'll agree with me when I say that this was an important aspect of the Scandinavian culture to discuss. When I say 'discuss', I mean 'give my opinion on'.
I'd like to say that tomorrow I'm going to discuss whether or not to give money to beggars (I did today because I felt so weighed down with the extra money I had left over from my bargain chicken wings), but I'm flying home tomorrow so am unlikely to have time to write a blog. Oh, unless I do it at Brussels Airport. Soon I'll be able to enter the fancy lounge there because I'm very close to becoming a Eurobonus Gold Member. Hehehehe, Gold Member...
Oh, and by the way, someone has outbid me on the suitable alternative suitcase. This could turn into a war.
You can't cross on a red man in Holland either and also get fined because you are setting a bad example to children. That's why no one crosses when it's red.
ReplyDeleteBargain meal! Beats even KFC
Hope you get the suitcase x x
Yeah, but there are no children about... Actually, that's a good point - I've hardly seen any Norwegian children. Where are they all??
Deletexx
P.S. Bigpants. Nice. :)
Same in Singapore. People look at you gone out. I watched people wait for the green man when the street was clearly devoid of ANY traffic. Insane!!!!!
ReplyDeleteOccasionally I see people who have failed to complete an 'unauthorised' crossing stuck on the white line in the middle of the road with cars avoiding them. I always think they look a bit silly. Perhaps the Norwegians, Dutch and Malaysians fear that this might happen to them and it would not be funny to look so silly?
ReplyDeleteThat could be your mission today.
ReplyDeleteFind out what they have done with all the children.
More like bigger pants, massive bump.
So going to need that running machine, but not yet :-) x x