Aquavit

Tuesday I went to the Stavanger Archeology Museum. It's located a few blocks from my apartment. It's strange because it's right in the middle of my neighborhood. Along the way I saw some guys fighting with swords. I assume they were vikings. The museum was interesting, but was lacking. I expected to see more references to vikings and old Norse Gods and religions. Strangely these things were largely omitted. There's plenty of mention of Christianity though. It's almost like they're ashamed of their old ways.

Yesterday we had a team dinner with some of our coworkers. It was fun. Of course when Norwegians go out, they really go out. To make a long story short, I should have avoided the wine. The interesting part was we all had shots of a liquor called Aquavit. The theory behind this stuff is that it's made here, then put on a boat and sent to the equator. Then it comes back here on a boat. Then they do it again. Then they drink it. I'm sure there's good reason for it, but considering that it's still rotting my gut, I'll just stick to beer from now on.

Tonight I walked around town and finished up some shopping. I didn't really feel up for much else. However, since I only have 9 days left in Norway, I decided to treat myself to a fine meal. When I went into the Burger King, I noticed several interesting things. Since I worked at BK for a few years in high school, I was interested to compare it to my own Bloomington store. Thus this was really an educational endeavour. The first thing I noticed is that they take dollars, euros, and pounds. It's the only store I've seen that does that. The second thing was that the kitchen looked just like my old store. Right down to the blue and red thongs. Thirdly, a black woman appeared to be running the store. She was working the sandwich boards. She must have been American because she was using short and concise English words to order her Norwegian staff around. I really wanted to know how she ended up working at Burger King in Stavanger. Maybe Burger King sends its all-star employees around the world to make sure it's run their way. Anyway, of course when I got home I discovered that the girl ignored my order of no sauce. So the sandwich was deposited in the trash can. I guess I have to go back now.