Two days ago I was sure there was a reality TV show competition going on at our local supermarket, ICA. The market was PACKED in the middle of the day on a weekday and people were running around like mad in the freezer section with shopping carts, trying to snatch up as many frozen food items as possible. The checkout lines were horrendous with all these cart people and I was pissed off that I had to wait my turn behind a woman with a full cart AND hand basket full of frozen cod, salmon and fish sticks.
I was thinking, wow, these Norwegians really like their frozen seafood. And then I thought, maybe a really big storm or the apocalypse is coming and that’s why they’re stocking up on frozen food items. That’s what happens every time there is a blizzard watch or hurricane warning in NYC. Bread and milk fly off the shelves. Maybe Norwegians stock up on fish instead. Maybe I should be buying more than 6 strips of bacon and some olive oil today.
Anyway, I left the ICA, the sun rose the next day, and I forgot all about the incident… until I passed the supermarket again. Absolute SCADS of people in the produce section.
I still can’t read Norwegian, but I finally interpreted what the advertisements outside the store were saying. “40% off all fresh fruits and vegetables on Thursday.” So I went in with the rest of the hoard and picked up some tasty discount fruits and veggies.
All Norwegians speak English, but everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, is written in Norwegian and rarely translated. I now know what it’s like to be illiterate. I have considered starting to sign my name with an ‘X’. Although I love foreign languages and have learned some Norwegian basics, I struggle with motivation since this impractical language is only spoken by 4 million people – half the population of New York City.
That, and I’m still trying to crack the code on the language my boyfriend speaks - Italian. One foreign language at a time, please.
When you’re illiterate in Norway, every day holds mysteries. I can now relate better to the ancient Egyptians, unable to explain the incomprehensible sunrise and sunset, they determined that Ra, the Sun God, pulled a chariot across the sky while wearing a sun disk hat on his head. I’m sure it seemed logical at the time. Everyone needs some order and explainations in their universe. When I was unable to explain the frozen foods frenzy, I determined that there was a reality TV show competition going on in our local ICA. It could happen.
Today’s ICA offering is 40% off the entire Santa Maria Tex-Mex product line. Authentic Mexican food did not survive the long trip across the Atlantic. I cannot bear to witness to carts full of powdered, fake-Mexican caca, so I’m boycotting ICA for the day and cutting up bargain fruit salad at home instead.
- ICA in the Aurlandsfjord
Photo of another ICA on a fjord, from the fjord tour I took this week.
It seemed like a really exotic place for an ICA.
1 response so far ↓
Slay // August 25, 2008 at 12:26 pm |
Mmm, that was an incredible fruit salad! Takk!