A few things that I am very excited for have developed over the past week here in Norway, I thought I would briefly share them with friends and family back home in Seattle. It’s been getting a little busier lately given that I have started a full schedule now at the Norwegian School of Economics, but this hasn’t gotten in the way of planning a few things.
First off, a week ago I interviewed for a position to volunteer at the school’s music festival that they hold every two years here in Bergen. This is no ordinary school music festival, it’s called UKEN 16 and I’ve embedded the link for those who are interested in more details. It’s endless concerts/shows and is one of the staple cultural events in Norway. It’s headlined this year by Axwell Ingrosso (who headlined a concert I saw at Coachella in 2015) and is the largest student organized music festival held in all of Scandinavia. The coolest part is that it is fully put on by the students at NHH. Lets just say that the students here in Norway seem to have a good amount of money to work with for this three week long party. Going back to the interview now, I heard through many Norwegians that it’s difficult to get selected to participate as an exchange student. This makes sense because it’s only held every two years and Norwegians should have priority. Surprisingly, it seems my early Saturday morning interview went well even after a long night downtown before. I was selected as a photographer for the festival and I could not be more stoked about it. The photographers are getting hooked up with DSLR cameras and backstage passes to all of the concerts that we are attending. We’re even setting sail on a two night full-size booze cruise to Denmark tomorrow. There’s going to be a DJ’d gala with free drinks and an all you can eat buffet with all of the student festival volunteers. There are quite a lot of them, and I’m taking this as a great opportunity to meet Norwegians given their reserved personalities. Maybe I’m just too forward being an American. Although, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been mistaken as a Norwegian only to sadly have to reply in English. Nevertheless, I’ve started a Norwegian course (it’s brutal) and I hope to use some of it in the UKEN volunteer “activities” leading up to the festival.
Secondly, I’ve finally made plans for break and will be checking out in my opinion some of the coolest cities in Northern Europe. I’ve booked a 13 day trip with a few friends for our Easter break. The first stop is London and then we’ll be heading to Amsterdam. Yes, I will be wandering briefly in the Red Light District. Next, we fly out to the fishing town of Copenhagen and will most likely be making a stop to see the Free People of Christiania. Lastly, we are stopping by Prague to see the insane architecture which lies over the many canals. And the best part is that after careful planning we are going to spend a measly 330 dollars on airfare for this excursion. I guess we couldn’t help getting the best bang for our buck being business students.
I hope everyone’s having a good start to 2016 back home. And I’ll be rooting for J Rodge’s Broncos to beat the stoopid dabbed out Panthers in Super Bowl 50.
Skål
uw2nhh 