Norwegian Saga

Let me post some more of my observations about Oslo. For those that don’t know, I use public transport to get around. I’ve never had any experience with public transport but that in Kitchener, so some of this may not surprise you. Here in Oslo you buy your ticket for the bus/tram/sub somewhere other than with the operator of the vehicle. Though on buses and trams you can purchase a ticket from the driver. Anyway, this of course leads to people freeloading off the system. People simply jump on the sub without buying a ticket, there are no gates blocking people and no ticket checkers on the trains. What they do have is “billet kontrol.” The mafia that terrorizes public transport travelers.

I exaggerate of course. They’re friendly enough. They step onto a sub wagon and once the doors close they pull out their IDs and demand to see everyone’s ticket. That’s not a problem really. It’s the streetcar ticket control procedure that’s really interesting. Without anyone’s knowledge (obviously) the streetcar will just stop somewhere, conveniently enough, next to a bus. The thing is they park the bus in such a way that it’s really close to the streetcar and they line up the doors of the two vehicles so that anyone who tries to jump off the streetcar can only go into the bus. Not only that, there’s a security guy squeezed between the two to make sure no one runs (see photo). At this point the control folks jump on the streetcar and start asking for tickets. If you don’t have one, you get shuffled off onto the bus and I don’t know what they do to you there. I’ve been here almost two months now and it’s only in the last five days that I’ve seen these control people. Though I guess it common enough. A guy sitting next to me, knowing his fate, upon feeling the tram stop and catching sight of the red bus, got up without a batting an eyelash and hopped from the streetcar to the bus with practiced swiftness.

So I also have a cell phone now. I’ve had one for about a month though I forgot to mention it. The number is: 40 23 00 25. They don’t have long distance charges or area codes in Norway. It’s weird. Norwegian cell phone plans don’t charge for incoming calls, no matter what plan you have. And their pay-as-you-go cards don’t expire. So if you happen to have a pay as you go plan, (as I do) and don’t talk very often, you could potentially buy one refill card that would last for years. On the flip side, to be a on plan (plans here don’t require contracts they just give you a better deal than pay as you go) you have to have a personal number, which is the Norwegian equivalent of the Canadian SIN. Imagine giving a cell phone company your social insurance number…

Alas, I’ve also found a few new cheeses, which I plan to bring to Canada. One of them is an incredibly fattening (38% fat) cheese called Ridder. It’s unbelievably delicious and anyone who comes to visit me will have the pleasure of getting fed plenty of Ridder. http://www.igourmet.com/images/products/ridder.jpg

I plan on having some more photos up for you folks soon. Look for them in the next few days.