Part of my Scandinavian vacation was touring Norway, seeing the major sights and the beautiful scenery. I did something called "Norway in a Nutshell", which is a package deal of train/bus/ferry tickets that collectively get you from one side of Norway to the other, via the most scenic route.
I took a bus from Margie's in Sweden to Oslo, which was about a 4 hour drive. It's great, because the busses actually have WIFI, so I could mess around online during the trip.
Getting into Norway was a bigger pain than I thought it would be. Our bus stopped at customs, and the border control people came in to check IDs and passports, while their dogs went through everything. No big deal, I thought...I'm legit. Well, then one of the border control ladies came up to me for my passport (I think I was the only person on the bus not from either Sweden or Norway). I gave it to her, and she studied it with a very mistrusting look on her face. "What is your business in Norway?" she asked.
"Tourism," I replied, mistakenly assuming that this one word would resolve everything.
"How long have you been here?"
"Um...I have been out of the US for almost 3 months, and I've never been to Norway."
"Where were you before you came here?"
"Germany."
"What were you doing in Germany?"
"Teaching English."
"Where?"
"At a school..."
"How long are you staying in Norway?"
"4 days."
"Where are you staying?"
"Oslo and Bergen."
"At a hotel or someone's house?"
"Youth hostels."
"Which youth hostels?"
"[Hostel A] and [Hostel B]."
At this point, she looked very closely at my passport for the 12th time, gave me a very serious, no-bull look, and gave it back to me. No thank-you, nothing. Then she just went to the next person.
I felt like a criminal, dealing more with an opposing lawyer than a border-control worker. I expected Norway to be more like Canada, where if you just wave at the border people on your way in, you're good. Guess I was wrong there...
Anyway, after that everything was fine. I made it to Oslo, and after asking 3 different people how to get to my hostel, I finally got there. The hostel was nice, so I was relieved. I went to bed early, because the next day was the big tour.
