Embracing the Viking Lifestyle
I knew I would fall in love with Oslo as soon as I walked through the wooden hallway when boarding off the airplane. The greenest international city has earned its title for a reason. Many infrastructures in the city incorporate some type of recycled material, but still keep a very classic and elegant appeal. As I walked along Oslo Sentrum, while waiting for my hotel’s check-in hour, I could not help but notice the abundance of trees in every corner. If I looked in one direction I could see a forest, but if I turned around, I could also see a skyline as impressive as those found in New York City. Modern and old architecture blend in well with nature’s landscapes.
Before arriving, I was sure I would have difficulties with the language barrier. Norwegian is pretty different from anything I have known. I overcame this fear within the first couple of hours in the city. Everyone I have asked for directions speaks the language, regardless of their age. There is an English translation on every restaurant menu and metro station. It truly is a bilingual country where everyone is extremely nice to lost foreigners. This is the same place where you can hike a mountain in the morning, go swimming at a fjord in the afternoon, and attend a show at the Opera House at night.
During my first week in Oslo, I have met a lot of people thanks to the Buddy Program at the university. It’s their version of Orientation Week. The first day of the program began like any other, with the usual speeches and information sessions, along with divisions into buddy groups of 8 to 10 students. The structure of the events was very similar to orientation at Northeastern as a Freshman. However, HiOA’s Buddy Program was European-oriented. We were taken to a flea market where we had the opportunity to pick up items from last semester’s international students, similar to NEU’s treasure events, except this one looked like an actual flea market and everything was free. We were also taken to IKEA on our first day of orientation! The rest of the week has consisted of being touristy around Oslo within our separate buddy groups, with the same students that are in my classes for this semester.
