Friday, 6/24: Despite having set my alarm for 10 am, I awoke with a start at 12:15 in the afternoon. Since I'd been used to a pretty regular sleep schedule, this was more than a little disorienting. Luckily, my new American friends whom I was supposed to meet for lunch had failed miserably to get up at a reasonable time as well, so I was not destined to spend my first day in Norway alone as I had feared. My new friends and I ventured over to a nearby mall to stock up on groceries and possibly eat some lunch. Some people wanted to eat there, but after a near heart-attack upon calculating the prices (in USD- U.S. Dollars) of items as simple as sandwiches and smoothies (Smoothies were 550 NOK each which is ~$11. Yeah.), I elected to channel my inner Ryan Reynolds and "enjoy a glass of water" for the time being until I could purchase some groceries.
But don't worry, family & friends, I didn't starve myself. The pitchers of free water in the restaurant also contained floating strawberries, and I was lucky enough to have one slip into my glass. Second meal in Norway = half a strawberry. I was stuffed. Shortly after, we made our way to the grocery store, where I embraced my status as a poor college student and stocked up on such fine culinary staples such as ingredients for PB&J, hot dogs & buns, pasta & sauce, generic cornflakes cereal and apples. As previously mentioned, I took up grocery shopping as my main hobby in Boston, secondary only to Netflix, and I thought that was a totally different cultural & financial experience, because shopping anywhere else does not compare to shopping at Publix, "where shopping is a pleasure." That was nothing compared to grocery shopping in Norway. Not only were measurements in metric units, prices in Norwegian Kroners and words and names in Norwegian, but many potential purchases seemed to be the equivalent of paying for a $10 block of Jarlsberg cheese for the quality of Kraft Singles. Despite the initial shock, it was a valuable cultural experience, we were all in the same boat, and we had these nifty baskets to keep it entertaining:
After stopping at BSN (our apartments/dorms) to put away the groceries, we set off to explore Oslo for the first time for all of us except Jules from California, who assumed the role of fearless leader & tour guide for the afternoon. She led us through downtown Oslo, past the Oslo Opera House, to the Royal Palace, and even inside a fortress near Oslofjord. (Fact: One of the coasts of Oslo is technically a fjord, hence the aforementioned name, even though it resembles any other coast or cruise ship port.)
Palace of the Royal Family of Norway
Ships at Oslofjord
Joe, Matt & Patryk firing a cannon from the fortress. NBD.
Opera House
Friends & umbrellas make rainy days not so bad!
For dinner, we all went back to BSN, retrieved our hot dogs & ventured up to the rooftop with our newly purchased $2 disposable grill and had a BBQ on a budget!
Saturday, 6/25: The BI School of Business International Summer Program kicked off with an orientation on Saturday, at which we met our professor, and Indian woman who studied in America, now lives in Norway and has taught all over the world. Despite my initial complete lack of interest in business (only a minor detail, considering I am studying at a business school, right?), she won me over right away with her humor, knowledge, information about Norwegian culture and cool demeanor. She has been an incredible teacher of culture and has generated in me a genuine interest in business, marketing & management that I never expected. We were also addressed by the directors of the program & the BI international center, all of whom were witty, engaging and down-to-earth. I knew I was going to enjoy not only the "life experience" part of this program but the academic aspect as well.
That evening, a large group of us decided to go out.
We hopped on the T-bane (essentially the Norwegian subway) & ventured to one of the many areas known for its nightlife.
Fail. The rules for "going out" over here are somewhat different from the U.S. logistically speaking, but relatively similar in that there are two possible age limits, 18 & 20 (well, some places actually require you to be 23+). Every establishment in the area either couldn't accommodate all 30 or so of us or would not allow admission the 19-year-olds among us. Even though we had to turn around & go back home, it was an adventure & a learning experience, and we still had fun!
Sunday, 6/26: Guided tour of Oslo!
People actually ski off of this thing.
The one photo I took in the park named for & featuring statues by some artist. I definitely appreciate & respect art & the talent of the artists, but some types of art just aren't for me, i.e., sculptures of naked people in awkward poses, such as the G-rated one above, which is supposed to be about the struggle for existence in the human life. I could never create something like that, but nonetheless, SO not my taste.
I was more interested in the pretty flowers. Personally, Mother Nature is my favorite artist.
Where President Obama stayed when he came to visit. They really like him over here.
Gator Nation is everywhere! In this instance, in front of the opera house.
Any opportunity to catch some rays in Oslo MUST be seized!
Inside the opera house
Art in Oslofjord outside the opera house. I actually like this a lot.
Monday, 6/27: "Back to school, back to school..." First day of class at BI! The first lesson was about the importance of studying culture in marketing & communication. I've never really thought much about culture in this sense before but have found it absolutely fascinating.
What I learned (I'm going to try to include something fun or interesting that I learn at the end of every entry. I promise they won't be boring!): It's really easy for things to get lost in translation in the world of marketing. For example, Pepsi's "Come alive with Pepsi!" campaign, when advertised in China, translated literally into "Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave." Additionally, the picture of the Gerber baby on Gerber baby food jars led many people in Africa, where literacy rates are low, to believe that Gerber was trying to sell food made out of human babies. Oops!
Tuesday, 6/28: Visit from the Chief Commercial Officer of Norwegian Air. I loved his presentation but wont bore anyone else with the details
Something I learned: In Norway people dress very casually. However, you will never see someone walking around in a dirty wifebeater & ripped jeans. They may wear jeans & trendy sneakers to their jobs at major corporations, but they still look poised, polished & put-together. People also do not use titles here. For example, a professor would not be referred to as Doctor or Professor but simply by his or her first name. This applies in absolutely every situation. It is always acceptable to call a "superior" by his or her first name without risk of offending anyone. Can you imagine calling President Bernie Machen just "Bernie?"
Wednesday, 6/29: Weather forecast for today in Oslo: 74 degrees & sunny with blue skies! What else could we have done but bolt to the beach right after class? Words can't do it justice, just look at the pictures:
Madelein from Australia. :)
Getting ready to jump into the Baltic Sea!
Whenever I decide to do something adventurous like that, it usually turns out badly. This was no exception. In this case, the rocks were more shallow by me than anyone else, so my heel landed on a rock. Additionally, the water was so cold that if you jumped in, you couldn't breathe or move for a second. Needless to stay, my swim in the Baltic Sea lasted about 10 seconds. When I got out, my heel was bright purple. What else could I do but soak it in the ice cold water? Between the pain & the temperature changes, I started to feel dizzy & nauseous. So as not to pass out on the large rocks in the middle of the beach, I put my head down.
And now I'm totally fine. Kind of anti-climactic, right? My heel returned to it's normal color within the hour, and I did not pass out. Such a relief! That evening, six of us American girls decided to have a girls' night & go out for sushi. Although it was overpriced, it did not disappoint! We were FINALLY full after a meal. Win.
Something I learned: If you're going to jump off of rocks in the Baltic Sea, don't land on one.
Thursday, 6/30: Late night on the roof last night = struggling to stay awake in class.
Besides fully experience Oslo, there were two other things I wanted to experience before returning to the States: fjords & Stockholm (the capital of Sweden). How could I go to Norway without seeing fjords? I promised too many people that I would investigate & report back on what a fjord actually is not to see one. Luckily, quite a few other people shared my desire. Unluckily, we all wanted to go about it in different ways. Personally, I had my condition: I wanted to see a fjord. The other details were not important to me. Long story short, we split into two groups, worked it out & after almost a week of trying unsuccessfully to research places to go, prices, etc. (It is very difficult to plan travel within Scandinavia, plus most websites are in Norwegian.), we FINALLY booked our tickets tonight! Friday, July 8th, 10 of us (8 Americans, a Turk & an Australian) will be flying to Stavenger (another city in Norway), spending two nights, and hiking up to one of the major fjords whose name I can not even try to pronounce.
Something I learned: A fjord is formed when a glacier cuts a U-shaped valley by abrasion of the surrounding bedrock. (Thanks, Wikipedia.) Oslofjord is technically a fjord, but the coolest ones are bodies of water surrounded by two high cliffs.
Friday, 7/1: Long, crazy, expensive, exhausting & FUN night out in Oslo. I have officially experienced Oslo nightlife. Not sure if I'll have much more of those crazy nights out though, simply because it's very difficult to find somewhere to go in the first place, and this time it took us almost 2 hours to get home via public transportation that we weren't even sure would get us to the right place, since the T-bane stops running at midnight. Plus, $20-30 cover? No, thank you. I'll take the 6-minute walk to Mother's over that, thanks. :)
Something I learned: Instead of class today, we took a field trip to Telenor, which is basically the Norwegian equivalent of AT&T (except it's international). The building looked similar to how I imagine Google headquarters look inside. Here's the outside:
Anyway, what I learned was that I'm a fan of Norwegian companies. In Norway in general, there is very little bureaucracy or hierarchy. If you need to speak to a CEO or president, you call him or her directly as opposed to calling his/her secretary, being put on hold, not having your call returned, etc. Similarly, job hierarchies are simply formalities over here. It does not matter whether someone is a CEO or an intern, if an employee has an idea, suggestion or opinion, he or she can feel free to share it with whomever, including superiors, without anyone feeling undermined. Everyone's ideas are valuable, and everything is open for discussion & collaboration. The highest-ranking person just gets the final say. Where as in America, according to the CEO of Telenor, it is not uncommon for people on the corporate ladder to suck up to those above them & kick the ones below, in Norwegian companies, everyone is respectful, and no one has an inflated ego. This is how all of the companies we have encountered so far, including Telenor, are run, and I like it.
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