Lost in stores, shopping and crazy expensive stuff
I just have to get this bit of information out of my head and share. I noticed I actually had a difficult time finding things when we were shopping during my trip and I'm not sure how long that will last. I think this is actually odd and it is due to a lifetime of being accustomed to department stores like WalMart, Target, KMart, Mejer, etc. We do have some stores similar to theirs that sell a specific item, but ours are much bigger of course. Stores in Norway are based on the specific items they sell. There's a store named Princess that sells pillows for example. You want a pillow, you go to that store. There's also a store named Kitch'n which of course sells kitchen supplies. I would have thought the opposite, but for whatever reason I found it more difficult to go into a store that specifically sells a product or theme of products than to go into a large department store 100 times bigger.
Of course I can't leave this alone without mentioning what all Norwegians probably think is the most overused phrase all foreigners say, but everything is so expensive! I think DVDs, video games, some electronics, etc. are about the same really, but whatever else you can think of in between is expensive. It was a bit strange to see a price and start dividing by 5.9 to convert to US Dollars. An example of this was when we were in a store (specifically for bedding and pillows) and I picked up a throw pillow priced as 270 NOK. Divide that by 5.9 which is the current currency rate and you get nearly $47! It's easy to forget the average pay in Norway is double the average pay in America and so I took my idea of our currency system over there applied it to the price of everything. I'm not sure if that was a smart thing to do, but it does let me know the cost of living is also higher. However, Arild did agree with me that a Kitchen Aid stand mixer is VERY expensive! It was 5999- NOK (Norwegian Kroner) which is, yes.... $1000! He had to hear me complain about that for some time as I was in shock and said, "BUT they're only $170 in Kentucky!!!!" I now have to laugh at myself when I remember I actually said, "...ONLY $170!!!" because that's just crazy expensive in my book, but it in no way compares to $1000!
Lastly, since we have started to look at places to register for gifts, WHY is it a common theme that stores suggest fine china and crystal to newlyweds??? Norwegian stores suggest it just as American stores do. I can't seem to wrap my head around any practical use for anything like that.
Of course I can't leave this alone without mentioning what all Norwegians probably think is the most overused phrase all foreigners say, but everything is so expensive! I think DVDs, video games, some electronics, etc. are about the same really, but whatever else you can think of in between is expensive. It was a bit strange to see a price and start dividing by 5.9 to convert to US Dollars. An example of this was when we were in a store (specifically for bedding and pillows) and I picked up a throw pillow priced as 270 NOK. Divide that by 5.9 which is the current currency rate and you get nearly $47! It's easy to forget the average pay in Norway is double the average pay in America and so I took my idea of our currency system over there applied it to the price of everything. I'm not sure if that was a smart thing to do, but it does let me know the cost of living is also higher. However, Arild did agree with me that a Kitchen Aid stand mixer is VERY expensive! It was 5999- NOK (Norwegian Kroner) which is, yes.... $1000! He had to hear me complain about that for some time as I was in shock and said, "BUT they're only $170 in Kentucky!!!!" I now have to laugh at myself when I remember I actually said, "...ONLY $170!!!" because that's just crazy expensive in my book, but it in no way compares to $1000!
Lastly, since we have started to look at places to register for gifts, WHY is it a common theme that stores suggest fine china and crystal to newlyweds??? Norwegian stores suggest it just as American stores do. I can't seem to wrap my head around any practical use for anything like that.
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