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.]