"Ah, we're out of food," James said, the sudden realization entering his head around five in the afternoon, dinner time rapidly approaching. "Well, let's just go catch some fish."

Let's just go catch some fish? Simple as that? This guy must be crazy, I thought.

"It's that easy?" I asked, knowing full well that you don't just catch fish whenever you feel like catching fish.

James began to smirk -- I was obviously the new kid in town.

"In Norway," he explained, "going to the store for food is a sign of shame.".

In Texas, I explained in turn, it's a sign of hunger.

Where I come from, "Do you wanna go fishing?" means "Do you want to go cast into the water, sit there for four hours hoping we get a bite, all the while not talking for fear of scaring the fish away?"

In Norway, "Do you wanna go fishing?" means "Do you wanna go out on the boat for ten minutes, cast your pole five times and reel a fish back in four of those times?"

No wonder I hated fishing as a kid. I didn't realize you were actually supposed to catch something every single time you went.

Rather than avoiding your hook like The Plague -- as the fish in Texas lakes and rivers like to do -- the little guys under Norwegian waters race for that hook like a brigade of sperm going after that egg. It is truly a thing of beauty to watch as every single person on the boat just keeps reeling 'em in. For Christiana -- James and Sissy's daughter -- and her cousin Atilla, this is how fishing has always been.

You can even catch crabs without a problem if you've got snorkel gear, like Miriam -- Atilla's mother and Sissy's flamenco instructor little sister.

No wonder Miriam's youngest daughter, Michelina, is all smiles. Not only do you catch fish, but you can also talk while doing it. We Texans could learn a thing of two from the Norwegians.