Norwegian School of Management, BI

Brent Mares

Norwegian School of Management, BI

Oslo, Norway

Fall 2001

Study in Norway

My stay in Oslo, Norway lasted only five short months, but I was able to meet a multitude of other exchange students from all over the world, travel around Europe, and learn about many other cultures as well as much about my own. In this report I am going to tell you more about my academic experiences, the organization of the exchange program, and simply more about life in Norway. Hopefully, you will be as excited as I am about studying in Europe.

Academic Experiences

I am sorry to start out the report with such a boring topic, but this is university right? As the first student from the U of M to visit Norway, I really did not know what to expect. So, to help you out, here is the low down on The Norwegian School of Management (NMH).

Time Schedule

Most of the exchange students take four or five classes, depending on their university’s requirements. Whether you are a 3rd year student or above you will likely choose two or three upper level classes. These are taught in English and you will likely be taking them with Norwegian students. The other one or two are classes designed for exchange students only. The classes meet only once a week for three hours and they give 15-minute breaks every 45 minutes.

Registration

The Norwegian School of Management is very flexible with class changes. Since you chose your classes while you are in the U.S. it is hard to really know what the class is like. They allow exchange students to switch classes easily 2 or 3 weeks into the semester. Monica Hammer is a divine angel and she will take care of anything for you.

Why the Time Schedule can be Irrelevant

As Americans we already have the upper hand over the Norwegians and other exchange students. If you have noticed the pattern above, the classes are designed for non-native English speakers and most likely taught by non-native English speakers. Seriously though, the classes designed for exchange students are not quite junior high difficulty, and the books themselves actually teach the upper level courses. Or this is what it seems. Most of the classes have little or no homework and are graded entirely on the final exam. So, if you read the books and understand the material, attendance is optional.

Summary of Academics

Personally, I was very satisfied with the academic system in Norway. Since attendance is optional, I was able to travel around Europe for much of my stay. The teachers are very accommodating to the exchange students’ needs and some actually encourage exchange students to see Scandinavia and Europe. I also found that going to classes for reasons other than attendance or grades could be quite rewarding. It was much more fun to learn when I was not so stressed out about papers or monotonous homework. This also could mean that I would not recommend students to go on this trip that want a mind stimulating and challenging course load.

Logistics

Arrival at Oslo Fornebu Airport will most likely be different for those who travel in the future. I had no idea who was picking me up, where I was living, who I was living with, or what I had to do. It is funny now, but I was pretty scared. To prevent this from happening to those who study here later on, here is a summary of the organization of the exchange program.

Orientation/ Arrival

Monica Hammer and Morten Munch are the heads of the exchange program. The student group ISG (Intercultural Student Group or something similar) is in charge of the exchange students and planning events for them. Upon my arrival, there was an ISG member with a sign with my name on it. He helped me get a train ticket to the center of Oslo and from there it is only a short walk to student living. It is important to note that ISG members love to hang out with exchange students and bring them to parties.

Housing

The student dormitories are actually part of a hotel. The Anker Hotel has a section for student living that is called Anker Student Boliger. There are around 60 students from all over the world and they all live on six floors of the hotel. Most of the rooms are fairly spacey singles and there are a few doubles. Each room has its own bathroom with a shower. You can probably count on being in a single room, as the double rooms are highly sought-after. This is mainly because the price of a single room is $360/month and the price of a double is $240/month. I would like to add that I was very pleased with my single room. I also should not say it is not that hard to get a double. It is pretty easy to trade for one, once every exchange student’s girlfriend/boyfriend starts visiting and they realize the flaw in their plans to save money.

Location

Anker Student Boliger is less than a block away from school, and less than 5 blocks away from 4 grocery stores, a shopping center, 3 vegetable markets, 2 McDonald’s, maybe a dozen kebab shops...this list goes on. Basically, it is in the center of Oslo and it is easy to walk everywhere.

Transportation

The transportation system in Oslo is very good. It is also very expensive. A simple one-way ticket on the subway/ bus/ tram/ ferryboat will cost a little more than 2 dollars. It is possible to cheat the system. Not that I have ever done it before… but you may walk onto the bus without buying a ticket. Of course this would require being a scumbag. I would also say that one soon finds out, pretending to be a dumb American in Europe will get you out of trouble so many times. They love to see us being stupid.

Culture of Norway

When I first arrived to Norway, I was expecting a lot of blonde-haired, blue-eyed people walking around eating leftsa and seafood sandwiches. To tell you the truth, I wasn’t too far off, except for that they are quite a bit more Americanized than I expected.

More About the People at NMH

Norwegians do not actually have to pay for tuition to go to college at any of the public Norwegian Schools. NMH, however, is a private business school and students must pay tuition to go here. It is also very competitive to get into. This makes no difference to you, but it does make a difference with type of people that go to school here. The typical BI student is intelligent, incredibly beautiful, rich, and surprisingly nice. They all speak near-perfect English with an American accent from watching all of our television shows and movies. They are also really friendly with the exchange students.

How to Meet Norwegians

As sad as it sounds, one of the best ways to meet Norwegians is to go to the bars and get drunk with them. The school bar is called Kotler and it is in the basement of NMH. The beer is cheaper, but it smoky and has about as much ventilation as a mouse breathing softly. So, there are much better places to go. Once past the fact that Norwegian beer is 5 bucks a glass and tastes like ass, it is quite possible to hang around with the BI students. Norwegians are usually non-confrontational and I have usually had to introduce myself. Once past this stage, they will love to hear about your culture or what you think of theirs.

The Norwegian Language

Since the NMH is so great to their exchange students, they will offer you to take a Norwegian language course. It is completely free and it meets two times a week. Even though I have met but only one person in the entire country of Norway that could not speak English, I think the class is worthwhile and the teachers make it fun.

Social Life

I have visited friends at other exchange programs in Europe and the exchange students are living in student dormitories with freshman students, or they are spread throughout the city. This is why I think that one of the best reasons to go to Oslo is because of the arrangements for exchange students.

The International Students

There are around 60 students from all over the world studying at NMH, and they all live in one section of student living. Immediately, I was surprised at how different our cultures could be yet how much we could relate to each other. It is easy to quickly make great friends, and get to know a little about all the exchange students. Everyone is excited to be accepted by such a large group of people and most everyone will start to plan trips around Europe or parties with each other.

A Surprising Realization

I should say that all of the other countries have somewhat of a negative view towards Americans. Yes, Canadians as well have a negative view towards Americans. The best advice that I can give is to discuss with them about how they feel about the United States. Everyone quickly gets over the fact that it doesn’t matter where you are from, but who you are.

Side trips

Every once in awhile someone will want to take a trip to one of the major tourist attractions of Oslo. If you are in Norwegian Culture and History, which I believe is offered to exchange students every semester starting my semester, you will be taking many field trips. (This is a great class, because it counts as University credit although it is somewhat reminiscent of those days in elementary school). There are many attractions within walking distance of Anker Student Boliger. If you are lazy, such as myself, you may use the transportation system. Oslo is a very beautiful city and every exchange student here should see at least some of the better views or tourist attractions.

Some Advice to Incoming Exchange Students

Since I was the first exchange student to come here from the University of Minnesota, I had no idea about anything. I do not think that I will be able to give you all of the advice that you need but remember that Monica Hammer is a divine angel…

Budgeting

I would say that it is pretty expensive to live in Oslo for most students. The good news is that the rent is pretty cheap, for those coming from Minneapolis. This is probably not going to sound very good, but bringing traveller’s cheques is not a good idea. They seriously kill you on the exchange. They charge you a lot for anything. The banks here are really slow and the cheapest and fastest way to exchange money for anything is to cash advance a visa card. That is my best advice.

Food

There are community kitchens on every floor. You share the kitchen with around 8 people because the double rooms have their own kitchen. They eat basically the same stuff that we do, except that sometimes you have to search for it. I would not recommend eating out. It is too expensive and I am sorry to say that even the coffee houses are the same.

There are no such things as supermarkets here. There are smaller grocery stores though. I have heard that “Rimi” has the lowest prices. I am too lazy to walk that far so I go to a “Kiwi,” which is only slightly more expensive. Also, there is a high Turkish and Pakistani population in the area. They have wonderful Pakistani shops that sell all sorts of produce, breads, and various goods. Visit them regularly, I did almost everyday.

Bills

This sounds pretty funny, but no one cares about anything here. It may sound slimy, but half of the exchange students have never paid their room deposit. In fact, I would recommend not paying it. They do not really care if the rent is not paid for a couple weeks after the due date either. So, do not worry about anything like that.

Visa and Residence Permits

Do not do anything except get your passport before entering Norway. You do not need a visa to live here, and it is a lot easier to get your residence permit while in Norway. Monica Hammer will explain to all of the exchange students about how this is done when you get to Oslo.

Clothing

Although personally I would not follow this advice, here it is. NMH students are very high on looking fashionable and trendy. I have never seen anything like the fashion show here in my life. I do not know exactly anything about what spring or fall fashion is, but that is what they are like at NMH. Clothing is not too expensive in Oslo. It looks really good, but I have heard that the quality is below average. Also, business suits are unnecessary, unless you are looking for an internship.

Bring A Lot of Pictures Like I Didn’t!

The best thing to bring is a lot of pictures of your school, friends, significant others, family. Everyone loves to look at pictures and it is a great conversation starter. A good camera is also a great investment. How else are you going to remember your semester abroad when you’re old?

In Summary

I would like to say that there was very little about this trip that I was disappointed about. The exchange program is very organized and there is always something for us to do. The classes may not require too much time and effort but I learned a lot more from other students, and from travelling around Europe. Oslo is a very safe city I would not worry about anything!