Passing by

Time flies. Faster and faster. But still there is a little time I need to study, to write thesis, to prepare examinations etc. I am already looking forward to going to Kristiansand. I booked my flight to OSLO on 15 of august. S. gave me the O.K. to sleep in her apartment for one night. S. is a girl I met in 2008 because she took my room in Bonn [in german we call it "Zwischenmiete", what means she rented it for about 3 month I was in ecaudor doing internship] and now she lives in Oslo for studies as well. I'll travel by train to Kristiansand on august 16th. I got the ticket [because I am a student] as a so called "Minipris" for 199 NOK. Then the Universitet i Agder is going to start the semester with an orientation week just for the international students. I chose my courses in this autumn-semester, these are called: NORSEC

Norwegian society, education and culture

Is Norway a wealthy country because of its oil? Why have Ibsen and Hamsun become world famous authors? What are the basic Norwegian values? Is Norway a country based on egalitarian values? Why do we have two official written Norwegian languages in a country with only 4.6 million people? How are minorities treated? Is Christianity on the wane in Norway? What is it like to grow up in Norwegian kindergartens and schools? What are the challenges facing the Norwegian welfare state?

These and other questions will be discussed during the one-semester NORSEC programme. [...]The language of instruction is English.NORwegian Society, Education and Culture, NORSEC, is a comparative study programme. Its starting point is Norwegian society, the Norwegian school system and Norwegian culture. The students will, however, be invited to make comparisons with their home countries during the semester.

Two three-day excursions are part of the programme - one of the excursions takes place already during the first week - so students must bring a sleeping bag and good shoes/boots. The excursions are subsidised, but students must pay for accommodation/food, approximately 65 euro altogether.

The University of Agder has offered NORSEC for groups of 25 foreign students every autumn since 1994. The student evaluations have been very positive. [http://www.uia.no/en/portals/about_the_university/humanities_and_education/international_cooperation/norsec]

I think that sounds pretty good. (Especially the listed excursions!!!) Perhaps I am allowed to do some research in this course, I'll tell you later.

Another interesting things I found are some festivals. Kristiansand has even more the character of an idyllic fisher town at the seacost rather than a metropolian city. But that doesn't matter. I love big cities, but I love also the romantic seaside small towns where everything goes a little slower and you are able to enjoy the fantastic nature. That's Kristiansand! 

Norwegian people seems to love festivals. In this small town are three festivals in august, septembre, octobre. So the first in august is called "Punkt Festival" and is a mixture of Jazz and Electronic Music.

http://punktfestival.no/

Second will be the "Dark Season Festival" and it refers to Hard Rock and Metal Sounds.

http://www.darkseason.com/

Third is the "Southern Discomfort Festival" but unfortunately it wasn't possible to found the site. Also interesting could be the "Continental Market" http://www.traditionalmarket.co.uk/traditional-market.htm which is a traditional market especially for food. So if I'm gonna miss german food I'll go there to get home-feelings...

This typical Continental Market include traders coming from France,Holland,Germany,Italy Spain,Turkey,Poland and Scandinavia.

Now I am even more excited than before! Excursions to tourist points and nature attractions, Festival and Markets and a new University with international people makes me feeling myself! Thank you G'd, you gave me the possibility in life to share this special moments.


[Only thing is that there aren't gonna be the precious W.]

Kurze Anmerkung

Mir ist durchaus bewusst, dass das Internet heute zugemüllt wird mit Blogs und Websites solcher Art. Ein jeder sieht seinen Auslandsaufenthalt als etwas Besonderes an (was er natürlich auch ist), dennoch ist es derzeit eher Standart fortzugehen. Nein, es gilt sogar als rückschrittig, hat man in seinem Lebenslauf keinen Auslandsaufenthalt zu verzeichnen. Nun, wenn ich von mir spreche, kann ich das nicht gerade behaupten. Da tümmelt sich schon Einiges an Aufenthalten rum. Alles begann im Jahr 2000 mit einem Jahr Mexiko, gefolgt von Brasilien, Ecuador u.v.m.. Und dieser Blog wird wahrscheinlich der Abschluss nach 12 Jahren sein. Oh, das bedeutet nicht, dass ich nicht mehr Auslands-affin werde, im Gegenteil: Unser Leben ist gerade dazu prädestiniert es nicht lokal anzusiedeln, und ich denke auch nicht, dass das geschehen wird. Trotzalledem verspüre ich, dass es der Abschluss einer gewissen Entdecker-Dekade sein wird. So möchte ich für meine über den Globus verteilte(n) Familie und Freunde ein letztes Tagebuch dessen anfertigen, was mich in den kommenden Monaten erwarten wird. Ich hoffe Ihr genießt es alle ein wenig an meinem Leben teilzunehmen.
Viele Grüße
Eure Pancha

Estoy muy conciente de que estamos llenando el internet con mucha basura, p.e. escribiendo estos blogs, websites, facebook etc. Todos quieren poner fotos y comentarios de su estadía en el extranjero, porque lo ven muy importante, como si fueran los únicos que estan haciendo eso. Claro, que para cada uno es muy importante hacer estos intercambios, pero digamos que ahora es un cierto estandart. Es más, si tu curriculum vitae ahora no incluye una estadía en el extranjero, te llaman retardardo. Retrospectivamente puedo decir que mi propia vida esta llena con experiencias "abroad". Hasta se ha normalizado en los últimos 12 años estar afuera. En el 2000 fui para estudiar un año a México y desde ese intercambio ya no lo podía dejar salir para estudiar y trabajar. A Brasil, Ecuador y muchos países más. Siento que con Noruega terminaré una década de exploración. No significa que ya no saliera. Al contrario: Estamos predestinados para vivir en el mundo como si fuera un país. De todas maneras me da gusto compartir con mis lectores globales mis experiencias que haré en noruega, luego en méxico, luego en alemania, luego en....! y espero que lo disfruten.
Muchos saludos
La Panchita

Am I prepared for sightseeing?

Think I am!

So I have a lot of stuff to read while flying on airplane to Oslo and going by train to Kristiansand. So many hours will be fullfilled with reading, preparing and the excited anticipation of doing all these things there!

FACTS ABOUT NORWAY

Norway is known for nature attractions like fjords, mountains and midnight sun, and is easily accessible by plane from most European countries. 
System of government: Constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy
Head of government: Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg
Area: 385,155 square kilometres
Population: 4,920,305 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2011)
Capital city: Oslo
Languages: Norwegian bokmål, Norwegian nynorsk and Sami.
Religion: Protestant Christianity
Currency: Norwegian kroner (NOK) 1 krone = 100 øre
Time zone: Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) +1 hour
National day: 17 May

So what am I gonna do there? Well, first of all, I'm supposed to study there. Within these studies there are 3 excoursions included. For example to the famoust Preikestolen and other nature highlights. Apropos "light": My husband, who of course comes to visit me in Norway, is yet overwhelmed by the Northern Lights, which are quite famous for the (obviousely) North of Norway and his dream is to travel there to watch them.
We'll see!
Another quite funny thing are the Trolls!

Trolls are an important part of Norwegian folklore. They vary in size and appearance, but are invariably ugly and messy creatures, and always mischievous (if not downright nasty). They usually live in caves or deep in the forest, and only emerge from their hiding places after sunset - legend has it that they turn to stone upon contact with the sun. Several places in Western and Northern Norway have been named after them, such as Trollheimen, Trollstigen, Trollhatten and Trollveggen.

Perhaps we're gonna see some of them, but - I do not know how to protect myself?

So it would be better if I feel healthy and sporty. Sports! At least I am gonna have 1,5 month of summer there before autumn and winter start. That also means that there will be many chances to practise a lot of sports. Biking, Hiking, Climbing, Swimming ... Fabulous!
Lots of plans already. Starting with Kristiansand, the gorgeous south of Norway!

Pre-travel

Pre-Travel means Pre-paration which ends up in Se-paration. Physically, mentally, documentally, financially, ...

waste-my-time-with-blogs-lly.

In july I'll finish my second semester of the Masters Degree with an oral exam. Before I have to finish my thesis of migration research. I'm gonna do this now. 

But hey folks, this blog means to save and to share my memories and experiences in Norway, at the Universitet i Agder in Kristiansand starting in august 16th year 2012. 

Be prepared to follow me into the wild!