Hello from John here! I’ve been on hiatus since we arrived in Norway, but the summer rain has inspired me to get writing again. So this is the first installment in a series where I’ll be giving you serious (and some not-so-serious) insight to life in Stavanger.
Did anyone ever tell you that Norway is expensive? Twenty-dollar-boutique-beer-at-the-best-bar-
My first example is my transport every day to work on the fun loving Kolumbus. The normal cost of a monthly ‘flexipass’ is kr 630, however, for the months of June through August it drops to a remarkable kr 400. My next one expires in the middle of August so I’ll be curious to find out if I can snag one more ‘cheapie’ before summer’s over.
Every supermarket store has sales, right? I’m always on the lookout for signs saying ’tilbud’ when I’m buying bananas, because every penny (ore as they are called here, but actually they’ve recently abolished them so don’t worry) saved is an extra beer I can buy in six months. But during summer, the ‘3 for 2’ sales come out of the woodwork. So we must stock up. But it isn’t always easy without a car. Our $80 ‘old person’ trolley-cart-thingie then comes into play to bring the goods back to our household.
Just because we don’t have car, doesn’t mean I don’t keep an eye on what the petrol price is doing. Before summer, I never saw it below kr 15 (that’s $2.50) per litre. Now I haven’t seen it above fifteen – it usually hangs in the thirteens and fourteens. Granted this is not a huge saving but I’m sure motorists appreciate it nonetheless.
I’m sure there are many more examples but that’s what I’ve come across so far. Getting back to the weather: earlier today I checked the forecast for tomorrow and saw something I haven’t seen since we arrived. No it’s not sun…just a 100% chance of rain. I like those odds!
