Living in the Shire
When learning about the insane prices in Oslo, I began to worry about finding an apartment to live in that remained within my budget for the semester. The admission officers at HiOA were very helpful and guided me to SiO. They are an immense organization in the city that is in charge of housing for students from all universities, while also providing us with over thirty canteens and eight gymnasiums spread across Oslo. Being offered housing by SiO is very competitive because of their extremely low rent prices. I have met people who have been waiting for two years. However, exchange students are guaranteed an offer!
SiO takes into consideration any comments done on their housing application. When filling mine out, I wrote down that I would like to be near a park because I like nature. My comment was taken too seriously. I currently live in the middle of a forest which is two hours away from the center of the city if you walk. At first, I was frustrated with the fact that there were no nearby coffee shops or restaurants to enjoy, only a supermarket within the same building complex. I slowly realized that it was the best housing offer I could have received. I live in a great location called Kringsjä, with Lake Songsvann in my backyard and the city center 15 minutes away on the subway. The forest provides amazing hiking opportunities away from the chaos of the city life.
Meeting friends has been very easy. Orientation, or “buddy week”, brought together all international students from the same area of study. We are a small group of about fifteen undergraduate and graduate students who all met within their first few days in Oslo. It was a great bonding opportunity before classes started. I also wanted to have friends within my building residence since it is a bit isolated from the other residences. I created a Facebook group for other students in my building called “Kringsjä17” and put several post-it notes on different doors. It did not take long for others to join the group. We can now plan group walks to the lake or an impromptu karaoke night!
