A great weekend in Oslo

Hi everyone,

how are you doing? Thank you for all the notes and emails you wrote and please keep me updated on what is happening in Rotterdam, Sittard, Germany and the rest of the world :))

In Norway they say: "There is no bad weather only bad clothing!"

I am still doing pretty good here in Bergen as the days are gradually getting longer and longer again. One can really see it actually, as everyday is about 5min longer than the last one! When I arrived in January it was dark until about 9:30am and then dark again at around 4pm. Right now, the sunrise is at 8am and sunset at around 6pm. I am really curious about what it will be like when it is light outside until about midnight!

But apart from the days getting longer, they are also getting warmer and spring is in the air! Although the rest of Norway is still covered unter a thick layer of snow, the warm gulf stream results in warmer temperatures in Bergen and therefore no snow left here and everything starts to become green again. But unfortunately it is also raining a lot... But it is true what they say: there is no bad weather only bad clothing! (they also say that this saying originated in Norway!).

As it is now already March, I am also almost halfway my exchange semester and time just flies!! As we are nearing May and the start of exams at NHH, I actually have to sit down now behind my desk and start reading books and papers for my courses and also write a lot of papers and assignments for each course. But I still think all my courses very interesting. For my Norwegian class I have to make a short presentation over the viking period in Norway in Norwegian! We know only basic things by now, but it is still enough to make a very easy presentation with easy sentences and it was very funny to prepare this presentation :)) For my alternative energy course, we learn about all kinds of energy forms from solar, wind, hydropower to nuclear, coal and energy from oil, how they are working and how to make them sustainable considering climate change, very very interesting course. Then I have a course about financial systems, where we learn why the financial crisis happened and how the banking industry and the overall financial system of borrowing and lending works and what its flaws are. This is a very intensive course and sometimes very difficult to follow, but our professor is really good and therefore we learn a lot. Finally, I also have courses in economic history and corporate social responsibility, which are quite easy but a lot to read :))

Nevertheless, there is of course also time to do stuff and explore Norway, as I am an exchange student after all! So, last week we went to Oslo. We were a group of 12 students from Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, France and Hungary and we had a lot of fun. I really like Oslo, although it is maybe not the most beautiful city it still has its charme. It is a small and relaxed city, not noisy at all and no tall buildings, but a lot of colourful houses and some old wooden ones, typical scandinavian I would say.

We went there by train which took about 7h but is supposed to be one of the most beautiful train journeys and that is certainly true and one can nejoy some magnificient views. The train first goes to Voss, the skiarea, along a fjod and then after Voss into the mountains where there is nothing ecxept the train tracks and know and then a little village in the distant or a cabin! About half way, the train passes through a little village called Finse and no roads lead there, so the train is the only way to get there. As the train on its route from Bergen to Oslo passes several skiing areas and Finse, it is packed with people who go skiing, telemarking, cross country skiing, climbing or on survival training and it therefore even has special storage areas for skis and boots and all kinds of other outdoor equipment! Yet another proof that Norwegians are real outdoor-freaks :))

In Oslo we booked 2 nights in a hostel, but due to some mistake we were accomodated in the hotel next to the hostel and therefore stayed two nights in a Best Western hotel with breakfast buffet and everything for the price of a cheap hostel and everyone was of course extremely happy :))

On Saturday,we just walked through the city. As it is not that big, you can easily see the most important places all in one day, from Karl Johans Gate, the main shopping street, to the royal palace, Vigelandsparken, a park with more than 200 sculptures, and Akershus, an old fortress. As Oslo doesn't have the benefit of the gulf stream it is still covered in a lot of snow and even the Oslo fjord and the harbour where frozen, which was a little weird as the whole harbour was really quiet without any boats and ferries arriving and no seagulls! But still kind of cool :))

Sunday was a slow day, as we were all still a little tired from exploring Oslos nightlife and we visited an art gallery and the opera building, which is really modern and you can walk on the roof and enjoy a nice view over Oslo, after which we took the train back again to Bergen. I think that I definitely want to go back to Oslo once more in the spring or summer and see how the city changes from being more or less in hibernation during winter time :))

Well, I am looking out the window now and I see that it is actually not raining for once and the sun is even comin out a little, so I think I am going on a short hike now, before going back to my books and the paper for economic history!

Take care everyone and I would love to hear about what is happening back home, so keep me posted!

Ha de bra!

Christien