Christmas Destination on Fogn Island.

Living on an island in any particular place is always a challenge. The main reason is always inadequate infrastructure like roads among other things. There is always the fear that people will be cut off from the main land or the neighbouring islands if that is the case.

Fogn is such an island. However, it is not an island deprived of infrastructure as stated. It has good roads, though some of them are quite narrow. It takes about 30 minutes by boat from Stavanger. It is an island with about 300 or more people. When we visited a friend’s family last weekend I observed how life is so different on this island from the mainland in Stavanger. Well, at least there are several boats going to the island and several ferries in a day, thus the island is not cut off from the main land.

On this island, life is quite different from the main land. The people have most of what the main land have such as internet and other facilities. But the main difference is the lifestyle. It was quite surprising to know that people are very dependent on each as opposed to the general perception that Europeans are individualistic. The people can borrow vehicles from each other. They also help each other in running small errands. For instance, if a neighbour is going to the main land Stavanger and you need something that is not available on the island, it is a common scenario to send your neighbour to get it for you.

And this is the place I shall be for four days during Christmas. It is the perfect place for one to be for Christmas, and I really look forward to that. The family we shall be with is just great. The mother of the home really likes singing and she sings so well. I really look forward to singing Christmas songs during this year’s celebrations.