Alex's Summer at Sea

First of all a note: internet on the ship is finally back up after being down for a whole week, so not only am I almost halfway across the globe from home, I also felt quite isolated with communications. So, now that it's up, I'll try to respond to all of your emails as soon as I can. For now, here are a couple of blog entries about my time in Norway! Enjoy.

I spent my last day in Norway wandering the streets of Bergen observing this European city. This entry will recount some of my observations from my day in DTB-Downtown Bergen.

First, I have to say that the Norwegian girls are incredible. Seriously, I have never in my life been around a country, or a city for that matter, with girls as good looking as the ones in Bergen. I don’t know what they put in the 8% milk here in Norway, but wow, they left me speechless.

When I managed to pry myself away from looking at the girls, I was constantly amused by the Norwegian fascination with American culture, the pinnacle of which occurred when I wandered into a shop that must be Norway’s version of Abercrombie. In the store – which was blasting Maroon 5 and Ludacris – were t-shirts with English sayings that I couldn’t help but wonder about. Probably my favorite was a 3/4 length shirt that boldly said “SOUTH COUNTY RHODE ISLAND” on it. What Rhode Islander has enough state pride (or county pride, for that matter) to wear a shirt proudly displaying that they are from the smallest state in the union? Fear not, Rhode Islanders, there are Norwegian teens reppin’ for your state (and if you’re lucky enough to be from southern Rhode Island, your county as well). My other favorite shirts were knock-off NBA team shirts, however, due to either copyright issues, or confusion with a sport that’s not soccer (football), the shirts all featured the city and nickname of one team, with the logo of a different team. The Phoenix Suns shirt, for instance, proudly displayed the name on top of a green and yellow Seattle Sonics logo…

I went to purchase an international phone card to call back to the country Norwegian’s pretend to call home, only to find that the store didn’t accept my foreign Visa. “Don’t worry,” the cashier said, “there’s an ATM across the street at McDonalds.” So I headed across the street into an absolutely gorgeous white wooden building – decidedly golden arch free – with just a small script “McDonald’s” above the door. I walk in to use the ATM, and notice a woman working the register. Despite her french-fry grease stained McD’s tanktop, she is gorgeous, and almost made me want to order the Kyelling McPita they offered, but I resisted the temptation to “act American” on this trip, and instead headed to the ATM. In Iceland the exchange rate is 6.45 Kroners to the dollar, which I must have confused with the Icelandic exchange rate of 65 Kroners to the dollar, because as I selected the amount of money to withdraw, thinking I was taking out about $15 US equivalent, I accidentally took out $150 US. Of course there’s no return option on the ATM when I realized I took out about ten-times too much, and my French-fry lady didn’t even notice that I’m a big roller with 1000 Kroners. So, I am left with about 700 Kroners, as the ship is about to sail away. If you’re planning a trip to Norway, I can offer you a great exchange rate…

In addition to their love of American culture, Norwegians are very proud of their Viking heritage. When I told a local about being cold in the water, he exclaimed “you must not be a Viking, then!” In fact, my second favorite store I went into was simply called “Viking,” which offered every kitschy piece of Viking paraphernalia one could imagine. By the way, when I return, one of you will be lucky enough to receive your very own Norwegian Viking hat, but I’m not saying who…

Though I didn’t like Norway quite as much as Iceland, a country with Vikings, obscure Americana, and hot girls can’t be bad.