Finally...Skiing in Voss, Norway!

Bryggn, the old port in Bergen
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Hei Hei,

how are you? How is everything back home?

My history professor is a real Norwegian Viking

Here in Bergen everything is perfect and I start to like it here more and more everyday. It hasn't been raining since days and I got a whole stack of photographs from home to brighten up my small room and I even got used to everything being soooo expensive here :))

Charlotte (girl from Amsterdam) and me at the fish market in Bergen
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Last week university started and I am taking 5 courses: Norsk (Norwegian language course), international fischeries management, alternative energy sources in physical, environmental and economic perspectives, growth and stability of financial systems and topics in international economic history in the 19th and 20th century. They all sound pretty fancy, don't they? :)) But until now I really enjoy all of them! During the welcome week we got a list of all the Master courses offered at NHH and we then could go to every class we liked and choose for ourselves which courses we would finally take. Pretty good system I think, because now I only chose subjects which I am really interested in.

on top of Mount Floyen
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NHH is quite different from my home university in Rotterdam. First of all, it is a lot smaller. In my biggest class we are about 40 Students, in Rotterdam I am used to having classes with 200 students! This makes studying more personal and it really reminds me of being in High School again. Furthermore, in Rotterdam most professors wear a suit or at least a nice shirt with a tie. Here at NHH, most professors come in jeans, hiking boots and sweaters. Only my finance professor wears a suit, but he is originally from England! My history professor is a real Norwegian Viking, quite tall and big, long blond hair and always looks like he just came back from the mountains to teach :)) But not only the professors dress kind of outdoor-like, the students also come to class in their hiking oufits, sport clothes or fancy rain boots (I bought a pair myself, white rainboots with blue flowers on it, have to fit in with all the Norwegians :)) ). But I already learned that most Norwegians love nature and try to spend as much time outdoors as they can. Of course, Bergen then is the perfect place to be as it is surrounded by seven mountains with lots of hiking trails, the fjord where you can go sailing and two skiing areas close by!!

View of Bergen from Mount Floyen
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And this weekend we finally went skiing!! I have been looking forward to go skiing here ever since I knew that I would spend my exchange semester in Norway. We went to Voss with a whole group of exchange students. Voss is a small city at the end of a fjord about 1h15min drive northwest of Bergen. There they have a small skiing area that is quite different from what I am used to in Austria or even in Snowbasin. In Austria everything is focused on skiing tourism and everything is new and modern. In Voss everything is more back to basics and nature! However, this is not bad at all, as in my opinion a highly modern ski resort just wouldn't fit into the Norwegian lifestyle I have know so far. But the snow is great and although the highest point in Voss is only 964m high skiing feels more like skiing on a glacier! However, we didn't really see much of the fjord on our way to Voss as it was still dark when we drove up and dark again when we drove home!

Hatleberg Studentboliger
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Overall, the days here are quite short. In the morning the sun goes up at about 9am and it then is only really light at about 10am. At about 4:30pm it is totally dark again. So, when I have classes at NHH from 8am until 10am, I am going to university when it is still dark and going home again at sunrise ... really crazy!! :))

It is also important to keep in mind that the sun goes down at about 3:30pm when you are planning to do stuff during the day, for example go hiking. As the mountain trails start right outside our student dorms, we decidied to do a little hiking trip yesterday at 1:30pm! When we finally made it to the top we could watch the sunset and were home again when it was already dark! But still it was a wonderful trip as hiking here is always great: quiet, wonderful nature and nice views of the fjords!! Until now we have been hiking at least once a week and we will definitely continue doing so as in Norway you just have to be outdoors and enjoying the nature around you!

The university seen from the kitchen
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Hilsen fra Bergen

Christien