Norway – The country of snow and ice! Or maybe not?

Kaja F., Leisure and Tourism Management, 6. Semester, Norway, University of Agder (UiA), Campus Kristiansand, Sommersemester 2022 
I spent my 6th Bachelor semester of Leisure and Tourism Management abroad at the University of Agder in southern Norway. The Campus where I studied is in Kristiansand, which is the capital of “Sørlandet” (southern land) and with around 110.000 inhabitants the 6.th biggest city of Norway.

Preparation and planning
It is important to have a look at the application deadlines if you want to go with Erasmus, since those a quite early and therefore you have to start planning your semester abroad at least 1 year in advance. Additionally, that is helpful in order to organise your courses, both the ones you will take abroad and those you have to take at home accordingly to what you can cover abroad. You should also keep in mind that the winter semester in Norway starts in August and the summer semester in January, because that can correlate with the exam period in Stralsund, therefore you might have to write exams in the next period.
As soon as you are accepted by UiA, you will be kept updated by the university via e-mails and the planning will be quite easy.
Arrival
I organised myself together with another girl, who studies BWL at the HOST. Together we drove up to Denmark with her car and then took the ferry from Hirtshals directly to Kristiansand. Usually SiA (Student organisation in Agder) organises your arrival, but since we arrived 1 day before the official moving-in-day we could just pick up our keys from a box at the office and then moved into our apartments ourselves.
Before arrival every exchange student is assigned to a buddy group, which is organising some activities during the first weeks to get to know the campus and the city, as well as other students.
Accommodation and Campus
SiA offers a variety of student accommodation on campus and on different locations within the city. Everyone can apply for several options, but most exchange students live on campus in 8 people flats with 4 shared bedrooms. You share hallway, kitchen, storage room, and a balcony with all 8 people, but the bathroom only with your roommate. Additionally, those flats are the only ones including basic kitchen equipment, which again saves you some money. In the beginning it might not sound very appealing to share the bedroom with a stranger, but it is the cheapest option and definitely worth a try. It is a great opportunity to get to know people from the beginning and especially if you get along with your roommate it can be a lot of fun for half a year. If it doesn’t work out, you can still try to change your housing when you are already in Norway. I consider myself very lucky with the flatmates I had and build great friendships with them, therefore I really enjoyed living there for this semester. Another option is to look for private apartments in the city yourself.
Except the student housing you can also find a basketball court and a volleyball field on campus, as well as a pool table within the student bar. Between the bus stop and the university building is a small supermarket (but also very expensive – so only for an emergency) as well as the gym called “Spicheren” where almost every student goes to. It is a bit more expensive but besides the training area it also offers a variety of courses and includes a swimming pool and a climbing wall.
Courses
I just took three courses during my semester here, which made up for 25 ECTS: Norwegian for international students, Multimedia Marketing and Communication, Business Analytics 2. The first one is a great opportunity to get to know the basics of Norwegian and actually helps getting around a little bit as well as it is another chance to get to know other international students. If you are not taking the credited Norwegian course but want to get to know some Norwegian, they still offer speaking Norwegian classes for a couple of weeks. The other two courses were pretty similar to courses I already took in Stralsund before, which made it easier for me. A huge difference to studying in Germany was that we had several assignments throughout the semester, which were not graded but required to pass in order to be allowed to write the final exam.
City, culture and activities
The Norwegian culture is not that different from the German one. It is an extremely safe country where many things are trust based and outdoor activities play a big role in the everyday life. Therefore, an organisation called “BUA” rents out all kind of outdoor gear for free, which we used a lot to try new things or to go camping. The city is relatively small compared to big cities in Germany, but it still offers a lot of leisure activities. Beside the beach, there is the park called “Barneheia” and the island “Odderøya” which are both really nice when the weather is good. The city also offers a big swimming pool, a cinema, a theatre, cafes and restaurants, during winter there is also an ice-skating ring on the main square. Another hiking area is located right behind campus, in “Jegersberg” you can go for a walk, go swimming in the lakes or eat a waffle on Sundays. While it was still cold outside I went a couple of times  indoor climbing, the city offers two halls for that, on Mondays it was even for free in one of them. 
When you have enough from Kristiansand there are still plenty of other places to go for a trip. In January we flew to Trondheim, a worth visiting city in the middle of Norway. In February I went to Stavanger by train and we went skiing in Hovden, both places are around 4 hours from Kristiansand. Even though Oslo is not what most people have in mind thinking about Norway it is still the capital and, in my opinion, a great city. Additionally cabin and hiking trips are recommendable and if you have the time and the money Tromsø, as well as the Lofoten are popular destinations.
Conclusion
I really enjoyed my time in Norway. I am going to miss the beautiful nature all around as well as all the wonderful people from different countries I got to meet during my stay here. Just the high prices are something I am not going to miss at all. I can only recommend everyone to go to Norway. And don’t be scared of the cold! If you come to the south of Norway, the weather is quite enjoyable with a lot of sunny days and warmer than expected.