Norwegian 101: Airline Travel (Reising med fly)
Heidi Håvan Grosch
Sparbu, Norway
To get to Norway (for å komme til Norge) in 2017, it is most likely (er det stor sjanse) you will go by plane (du skal reise med fly). It used to be (før var det), in the olden days (gamle dager), that you would receive an airline ticket (flybillett) directly from your travel agent (reisebyrå). Your only responsibility (din eneste oppgave) was to show up (var å dukke opp) at the airport (flyplassen) where you would deliver your ticket to a gate agent who would process everything for you (som ville behandle alt for deg).
However, things are a bit different today (ting er litt annerledes i dag). We are able to check in ahead of time (å sjekke inn på forhånd), print out (å skrive ut) our own boarding passes and luggage tags (boardingkort og bagasjelapper), and pick our own seats (å bestemme egne seter). On smaller planes and shorter routes (på mindre fly og kortere ruter), we even have to pay extra (betale ekstra) for food (mat), and cash is not accepted (kontanter er ikke akseptert). Fortunately (heldigvis), coffee and tea (kaffe og te) are still provided.
Some things remain the same (noen ting forblir de samme). The oxygen masks (oksygenmasker) that drop down from a panel above your head (et panel over hodet) are still yellow (gul), life vests (redningsvester) can still be found in a pocket under your seat (under setet), and people in exit rows still get verbal instructions (muntlige instruksjoner) on what to do in case of an emergency (en nødssituasjon). Now they also have to include electronic cigarettes in their non-smoking regulations (bestemmelser om røykeforbud).
It is interesting to think about (det er interessant å tenke på) how airline travel might change (kan endre seg) in the future (i fremtiden). Will flight attendants (flyvertinnene) be robots? Will we literally take a seat when we check in (når vi sjekker inn) and hover it into the plane (inn i flyet)? In the Star Trek series, “beam me up Scotty” was an iconic phrase (et ikonisk uttrykk), and in the Harry Potter books and films floo powder (pulver) allowed wizards (trollmenn) to travel through fireplaces (å reise gjennom peiser) from one place to another (fra et sted til et annet). These modes of travel continue to be works of fiction (skjønnlitteratur), but who knows (hvem vet) how your grandchildren (barnebarn) will travel to Norway when they are your age (når de er på din alder)? As my grandmother (bestemor) Viola used to say, “only time will tell” (bare tiden vil vise)!
This article originally appeared in the Jan. 27, 2017, issue of The Norwegian American. To subscribe, visit SUBSCRIBE or call us at (206) 784-4617.
