Obviously moving from a a third world (albeit Cape Town really isn't that third world) country such as South Africa, to one of the most first world places on earth, was going to be a huge change for me. The major differences are initially very obvious; the safety and lack of crime is extremely evident, and it's awesome to be able to wander around the forests, and walk home alone in the middle of the night here without worrying. It's nice not to see barbed wire and electric fencing all over the place, and in the almost 2 weeks I've been here, I've seen three policemen, and that's because they were in a parade!
People leave their bags and jackets unattended in bars, walk around on the street listening to iPods and playing on cell phones, and I've been told that it can occasionally be seen in winter that people will leave their cars running in the parking lot of the grocery store, keys still in the ignition, because they don't want their car to get cold. What!? Any of these things done in South Africa would just be asking for it, and it's going to take me some time to get used to not having to watch my handbag constantly.
So obviously the big changes are very BIG; I haven't seen a homeless person in the two weeks I've been here, no one's begged me for money, the public transport system is fantastic and (mostly) easy to use. Although, I have had instances of getting on the wrong bus and ending up in the opposite side of the island to what I intended. But that's mostly a language problem. I'm sure it'll happen a fair bit for a while.
Some of the small changes, however, have been more unexpected, or expected, but have made a bigger difference than I thought they would. So here they are:
1. Crossing the road. Cars stop for you to cross the road if it looks like there's even a possibility you might want to get to the other side. I've had cars stop for me to cross the road when I was just standing on the road trying to figure out how lost I was! And there have been countless times where I've waited for cars to stop before crossing the road, and I get looks from drivers like I'm slightly silly, saying; "Why are you waiting? Of course we're stopping for you." I think most Norwegians wouldn't last very long trying to cross Cape Town roads. It's probably got to do with how low the speed limits here are. 80kph on highways and 30kph in the suburbs! The cyclists and roller skiiers go faster than the cars! Oh yes, and there are roller skiers everywhere at this time of year. I'm not even going to try and describe what this activity entails, so here's a picture.
2. The cheese. Norwegians don't know what cheddar cheese is! They have Jarlsberg, and I've seen some Gouda, and even some blue cheese, but cheddar cheese does not exist here. Typical norwegian cheese is either a rather bland white cheese, or varieties of brunost (extra creamy, extremely rich caramelised cheese Norwegians like to eat on waffles), or flavoured cheese in a tube. I've gotten used to the brunost, and have grown to rather like it. It is extremely rich, and it feels somewhat like you're eating chocolate, not cheese, so I tend to eat it on dry knekkebrød (rye cracker bread). I've heard that its fat content is so high that a couple of years ago, when a truck carrying brunost caught fire, it took several days to put the fire out! Hmmm. The cheese in a tube, on the other hand, still freaks me out. And Norwegians LOVE it! There are a ton of different flavours including bacon, jalapeno and even shrimp (shrimp cheese. really?), and I'm sure I will eventually bring myself to try them, but right now, cheese in a tube just feels like it would be too close to melrose cheese. Also, they eat caviar out of a tube... it seems to be a popular spread here. That'll also take me a while!
People leave their bags and jackets unattended in bars, walk around on the street listening to iPods and playing on cell phones, and I've been told that it can occasionally be seen in winter that people will leave their cars running in the parking lot of the grocery store, keys still in the ignition, because they don't want their car to get cold. What!? Any of these things done in South Africa would just be asking for it, and it's going to take me some time to get used to not having to watch my handbag constantly.
So obviously the big changes are very BIG; I haven't seen a homeless person in the two weeks I've been here, no one's begged me for money, the public transport system is fantastic and (mostly) easy to use. Although, I have had instances of getting on the wrong bus and ending up in the opposite side of the island to what I intended. But that's mostly a language problem. I'm sure it'll happen a fair bit for a while.
Some of the small changes, however, have been more unexpected, or expected, but have made a bigger difference than I thought they would. So here they are:
1. Crossing the road. Cars stop for you to cross the road if it looks like there's even a possibility you might want to get to the other side. I've had cars stop for me to cross the road when I was just standing on the road trying to figure out how lost I was! And there have been countless times where I've waited for cars to stop before crossing the road, and I get looks from drivers like I'm slightly silly, saying; "Why are you waiting? Of course we're stopping for you." I think most Norwegians wouldn't last very long trying to cross Cape Town roads. It's probably got to do with how low the speed limits here are. 80kph on highways and 30kph in the suburbs! The cyclists and roller skiiers go faster than the cars! Oh yes, and there are roller skiers everywhere at this time of year. I'm not even going to try and describe what this activity entails, so here's a picture.
Roller Skiing
2. The cheese. Norwegians don't know what cheddar cheese is! They have Jarlsberg, and I've seen some Gouda, and even some blue cheese, but cheddar cheese does not exist here. Typical norwegian cheese is either a rather bland white cheese, or varieties of brunost (extra creamy, extremely rich caramelised cheese Norwegians like to eat on waffles), or flavoured cheese in a tube. I've gotten used to the brunost, and have grown to rather like it. It is extremely rich, and it feels somewhat like you're eating chocolate, not cheese, so I tend to eat it on dry knekkebrød (rye cracker bread). I've heard that its fat content is so high that a couple of years ago, when a truck carrying brunost caught fire, it took several days to put the fire out! Hmmm. The cheese in a tube, on the other hand, still freaks me out. And Norwegians LOVE it! There are a ton of different flavours including bacon, jalapeno and even shrimp (shrimp cheese. really?), and I'm sure I will eventually bring myself to try them, but right now, cheese in a tube just feels like it would be too close to melrose cheese. Also, they eat caviar out of a tube... it seems to be a popular spread here. That'll also take me a while!
Left: Brunost. Right: Varieties of tube cheese.
3. The coat/shoe room. Most houses and even apartments I've been in here have an entrance area, sometimes a room separated from the rest of the house by a door, where one leaves their coats and shoes and then walks around in their socks. Norwegians never wear their outside shoes inside. In some cases one can bring a pair of "inside shoes" which are never worn outside, and therefore not dirty. Growing up, I remember my mom making me take off dirty shoes before going into the house after playing outside, but this is a whole different level of the concept. It definitely makes sense, because it means that one doesn't have to clean the floor that often, but it still feels weird visiting people I barely know in my socks.
4. The hours. Norwegians work really short hours. The average Norwegian works from 9am until 3 or 4pm. They are, in fact, known for being the Europeans that have the most free time. I think this has to do with all the outdoor sports they seem to do. An odd thing, though, is that the supermarkets stay open until 10/11pm on weekday evenings and late on Saturdays, but then NOTHING is open on a Sunday, and when I say nothing I mean there are about three 7/11 type shops open in the whole city on a Sunday! Also, the convention for time here is weird. Norwegians don't use AM and PM, so they'll say I'll meet you at sixteen hundred (4pm), and they write it 1600 (always without the colon). Needless to say, the bus schedule confused me at first!
5. Alcohol. It's expensive and regulated by the government. Anything over 4.75% alcohol can only be bought at government-run alcohol stores called "Vinmonopolet", of which there are only three in Tromsø, and they are super expensive. A cheap bottle of red wine is NOK100 - 120 (R160 - 190) Cheap beer at the supermarket at 4.5% alcohol costs NOK25 - 30 (R40 - 50) a beer. The same "cheap" beer at a bar costs NOK75-90 (R120 - R150). For one beer!! I know that Norwegian salaries are huge, but those prices are rather ridiculous. Also, the hours one can buy alcohol here are short. The Vinmonopolet stores are only open until 6pm on weekdays, 3pm on Saturdays, and stay closed on Sundays. Now, I'm somewhat used to this kind of system because of the strict opening times, and no alcohol sales on Sunday laws in Cape Town, but a lot of the other international students seem to really struggle with it.
6. Credit cards. People use cards for EVERYTHING here. From buying a NOK10 coffee, to buying a packet of crisps on a flight, to all their grocery shopping. I've seen people who only carry their bus card and their credit card and don't bother with cash or a wallet, and I've had shop tellers act surprised when I hand them cash! Also, the change in coins comes out of an automatic machine attached to the counter. The first time this happened the teller had to show me how to retrieve my change. Haha.
7. It's light all the time (at least for now). The midnight sun in Tromsø starts tomorrow! However, when I got here 2 weeks ago it was already not getting completely dark. The being light at night thing is rather a double edged sword, because it means that one can keep doing stuff for 24 hours. I've seen people running at 11pm, and it really doesn't feel like you're partying until 3am if it's still light outside. One really loses track of time very easily. I haven't had nearly as much of a problem sleeping at night as I've heard others have, although my average sleeping hours have gone from 8 hours a night to about 6 hours a night.
And the final difference: no one knows what ROBOTS are... they're called traffic lights here. WTF?
No comments:
Post a Comment