Amazing Norway

Where to start….

Norway is a breathtaking place. Scenery is beautiful, opportunities are endless, BI is an amazing university…. and Oslo is very expensive.

Since I’m only 3 weeks into my exchange I can only comment on what I have done so far.

Basically our orientation week was fantastic, we were paired with a group of Norwegian second years and shown around both Oslo and the night life together. This made for a great first impression and also provided an opportunity to get to know the Norwegians (since they’re notorious for being “unapproachable”… which btw is annoying, they are some of the most sociable people I have every come across).

As the 400 exchange students gradually got to know one another we started classes, at the moment I’m studying a handful of classes not offered at UTS and am finding all of them very interesting. I managed to get a job instantly which is good, so I am working at the local Coffee Bar as a barista approx 20 hours a week!

Im currently writing this blog at about 11pm, this morning at about 7am I was at the infamous “Trolltunga” packing up my camping equipment, this has to be one of the most memorable and unforgettable experiences iv undergone so far, we camped in conditions that test even Bear Grylls and barely survived, its the beginning of Autumn but still the temperature managed to drop below 0 leaving us in a serious predicament as ice formed in and around our tents and gale force winds and rain threatened to wipe us off the face of the cliff. Where our tent was pitched was arguably one of the most spectacular scenes iv ever come across and on that very same day I was standing at the MOST spectacular scene I had ever come across. All photo are attached.

That sums up my debut blog, depending on how things go I might end up contributing to this regularly, however in the meantime I just want to say that Norway is absolutely breathtaking and the combination of the people I’m surrounded by and the countries enormously high living standards is making this experience I’m currently undergoing completely unforgettable.

Ryan Faulkner-Hogg 12145710