Hi ! Today I would like to present you the canteen of the NHH!

There are three main buffets at the NHH’ s canteen : a salad buffet and two buffets with different hot dishes. However at midday the main buffet is closed during two hours! Surprising ?! Not really..The Norwegians have a different pace of life than us. They eat only some snacks at around 11 AM and they eat their bigger dish of the day at 4 or 5 PM. This explains why the buffet is closed at midday.

One of the Norwegians’ favourite course is a kind of porridge with rice, cream, milk, cinnamon, grape and sugar. You can savor it  every Friday !

The prices are pretty expensive (Of course we are in Norway..). You decide which quantity you want and then it is 15 NOK for 100 g so between 1.5 and 2 euros for 100g !

What will I miss  ? For sure not the cinnamon that they put in all the deserts ! But probably drinking as much coffee and tea as I want ! Indeed at the beginning of the semestre you can get a flask for 300 NOK (around 33 euros). And then you can come when you want to fill up the flask “for free”. Perfect for enduring winter !

Laurene PUILLANDRE

Today, I want to return on one of my best experience in Norway: The Trolltunga hike. Trolltunga, translated to “Troll’s Tongue”, is a famous hiking in Norway.

The mountain is located at three hours of cars from Bergen. Thus, we woke up at 3:30 AM to start the hiking at 7 AM. It is a long and hard hike of 22 kilometers. We spent around 9 hours: 4 hours to go up, 3,5 to go down and 1,5 hours at the top.This is one of the most physically demanding adventures I have ever done on in my life! The first kilometer is harsh and you are surprised when you get to the first kilometer sign because it feels like you have done a lot more than that…

But the view was worth hiking this mountain. The landscapes are just breath-taking all along the way! You will see gorgeous blue lakes and impressive landscapes that cannot be described…

And after 11 kilometers… ultimate aim:

The rock is situated about 1100 meters above the lake Ringedaksvatnet so the view was just awesome, as you can see on this picture.

It is a touristic walk but dangerous. Indeed, you should be ready! Like said our exchange students’ responsible: “Never enough food”. And you should be prepped physically! Thus, some Norwegian students at the beginning of this year organized some workouts.

Since the middle of September, it is too late to hike this mountain alone: you need a guide.

Laurene PUILLANDRE

Exams being coming, the Farewell Dinner of the fall semester 2016 took place the last week-end. The dinner was organized by the International Committee of the NHH, the association in charge of the exchange students’ events.

This event got us together, nice moment to come back to the highlights of this semester. An Erasmus semester is not only lots of fun, many trips and a great deal of English mistakes: It is a lot of meetings!

To put in the honour the big personalities of this semester, they organized an award ceremony at the end of this dinner:  The Legend, Mr and Ms. Norway, the party Queen and King, the Athlete, the strongest accent and many more. What a pride that the winner of the strongest accent was…. A Frenchman!

Other activities were organized: a video with the souvenir photos, a small concert, funny speeches, …

It was also one of the first time that everyone took off their plastic boots and  waterproof… Dress-up was the prerequisite!

This party was an opportune moment for the revelations. Indeed, the students could write an anonymous message addressed to someone else in the room.  Was there a better moment to declare your love? Hoping your suitor identified you…

Laurene PUILLANDRE

 I am delighted to meet you again this week with… A FOOD-ARTICLE!

We speak highly of French food…

…That is why today, I wish to put in the honour: THE NORWEGIAN GASTRONOMY!

First of all, let me present you the context of my amazing cooking experience. In the dormitory where I am living in, we are lucky to share our kitchen with other exchange or Norwegian students. In my case, we are ten exchange students and only one Norwegian. Since the beginning of this semester we have organized a “Kitchen Dinner” every week. Thus, a duo cooks one of their culinary speciality every week.

Last week, we discovered one of the most famous traditional meals in Norway : The “Rømmegraut” or “Rømmegrøt“.

http://petterskinstad.blogg.no/1323380386_rmmegrt_og_styrketren.html

          This kind of porridge is a mixture of sour cream, milk and a little bit of flour. The yellow liquid on it, as you can see on the picture, is the fat of the cream and the milk which is released by itself during the preparation. The Norwegians have the habit of adding some raisins, cinnamon and sugar to it and as a drink they serve raspberry juice.
The side dish was some meat. Most common used is “spekeflesk” but this Saturday we had “morrpølse” (salted and dry sausage). And with it, we had some bread: “flatbrød” directly translated to “flat bread”.
This dish is so filling that we only ate a tiny portion of it. For me, this was definitely enough… I think that this meat is too creamy and fat. However, I appreciated having this surprising experience. Although I am enamour with this country for many reasons, I still need some more time to accustom my palate…
The Norwegian student, as for him, is in love with this porridge. He controlled himself not to take another serving of it…

If I wheted your appetite, I am waiting for you in Norway because you will probably only find it here!

Laurene PUILLANDRE

      As promised in my last article, today I’m going to present you the «Oslo-Bergen train” but also some other alternatives.
If you decide to cross from West to East of the country, the essential question is « By train or by plane?”. Crossing the country at least once by this railway line is the custom in Norway. Yes…Norwegians are proud of this line, considered it is one of the most beautiful in Europe. And it’s not very surprising! You can admire a variety of landscapes which are spectacular.

However, you would have to be willing to stay 7 hours in a train… (Between exhausted  and exhausting children!)
For the risk-takers, of course, the car is also a possibility. But don’t be rushed… It’s difficult to go for a drive in a country like this one, between winding roads and fjords (not to mention the changeable weather which necessitates to reduce speed…). By the bye, the road authorities have selected some recommended national tourist roads for their landscape and their accessibilities. Tunnels and car ferries are also an integral part of the road system. Indeed, there are now around 100 ferries crossings connecting public roads in Norway.
Still, you are assured to share the road with drivers pretty quiet and disciplined.
Despite being wonderful, some small villages in Norway don’t have any gas station and the next gas station might be more than 100 km away. So don’t forget your full jerry can…

I will finish by a very short story to illustrate the difficulties to get around in Norway:

At the beginning of the September, we went hiking three hours away. At the time to return (No time to lose, as we had to return the rented car!), a man explained us that the road was blocked for the next two hours. He specified that there was no other alternative and asked us to park the car. Oh yes, it was probably indicated…in Norwegian! Trying to understand how it was possible to close a road without making a diversion, the guy answered us in cracking a smile: “Welcome in Norway!”.

Finally, after having an argument with the rental cars company managers, they did not take into account our delay and understood that we weren’t used to have this kind of surprise…

Laurene PUILLANDRE

After these presentations of Bergen, it’s the moment for you to discover the Norwegian Capital: OSLO! This green city counts a number of inhabitants of a little bit less than 650 000 on an area of 454 km². One of the important features of this city is that the business center is located in a beautiful area at the seaside. And if you walk further away, you can discover some charming residences.

Now, I would like to introduce you some of the very famous places of this city.

>  First, the Royal Palace !

In this palace from the 19^th century lives the current Norwegian monarch: Harald V. He has been named king in 1991. In Norway, the king is the symbol of the unity of this country and he is also the head of the “Den norske kirke” (Church of Noway).

Every day, at 1:30 PM, you can see the Changing of the Guard. In appearance very strict, you can get a smile out of this militaries if you dare to approach them…

>   The Storting, the Parliament                >  The Operahuset I Oslo

>  The Vigeland Park

With more than 200 sculptures designed by the same artist, Gustav Vigeland, this park is one of the most popular tourist attractions. The common point of all this sculptures of life-size humans is nudity.

And if it’s raining, don’t worry!  The peninsula Bigdoy is something for you then! Indeed, you can visit lots of museums as for example the Norwegian Folk Museum, The Kon-tiki Museum or again the Viking Ship Museum. Thus Oslo is a very cultural capital.

Concerning the population, the most striking characteristic is probably… their calm nature! It is not a capital like all the others. The people take time to help you to find your way or to wait the green light to cross on the zebra crossing.

   And if they want to get away from the city center after just ten minutes of boat ride in the fjord, they can unwind on one of the island of Oslo.

To finish, my source of pride in visiting this city was to see “French meals”on the front window of some restaurant…Would the French cook be well seen in Olso ?

In another article, I will continue with the Oslo to Bergen railway, considering it is seen as Europe’s best train journey. So STAY CONNECTED!

Laurene PUILLANDRE