Oslo!

Well, here I am in Oslo at last!

I had a lovely time in Dublin with Ros and Boz, catching up, sleeping and hitting the shops for some winter essentials. I also watched Obama's inauguration, at a much more respectible time of the day than it was in Aus!

It took me a whole days travel to cover the short distance from Dublin to Oslo: a 6:15 am airport bus, a 9am flight to Heathrow, a 30 minute walk between the terminals, another flight to Oslo, a train into the city and a walk to the youth hostel, arriving 7pm! Flying over Norway was so exciting- the whole country seemed to be covered by a thick white blanket of snow, with gorgeous trees laden with snow and sparsely populated villages. The airport in Oslo was stunning also, all glass and wood, very new. I met up with Sundar, another Melbourne Uni student and we set off into town together. Stepping out of the airport directly onto the train platform, all we could see was snow- snow on the tracks and huge piles of snow all around! The train even had special rests for ski poles.

Arriving in Oslo City itself was so exciting, we had to find our way along icy paths whilst carrying our bags and trying to avoid falling over! We made it to the youth hostel and set off in search of dinner. Big shock. A bottle of water cost $5 and the ingredients for ham and cheese sandwiches: bread, margarine, ham in a tube and norwegian brown cheese cost more than a complete meal in Australia! But we did quite well for ourselves with the sangas as takeaway pizzas are $AU 25-40, Burger King burgers around $15 and eating in a restaurant completely out of the question!

The following day we set off for our accommodation, in Sogn studentby, which is about 20 min from the city by metro train. It is on the outskirts of town, halfway up some mountains. We had quite a complicated system when we got there: first to Krinsja studentby to get keys for several rooms, then trek to Sogn to look at the rooms, then trek back to Krinsja to return the keys for the rooms we didn't want, then back to Sogn with our luggage. Sogn and Kringsa are about 15-20 min walk apart, along a snowy footpath on the side of a hill. It was so amazing seeing the blanket of snow over everything, but we had to be careful not to slip as the wheels on our suitcase froze!

Sogn is a massive village of student apartments, more than 1000 students live here. There are family apartments with kindergartens and playgrounds, a gym, supermarket, student pub, laundries and mail rooms. Sogn is one of a number of similar complexes in Oslo (Krinsja is another) run by SiO- a student group which is independent of any particular university. Sogn is located near Ulleval Stadium, which has a metro station, and Sogn also has a bus stop right outside the door, which goes to my hospital, uni and into town.

The moving in process took most of the morning and then we were free to settle into out rooms. We were given furnished rooms with a desk, bed, wardrobe and bookshelf. Curtains however are not part of the furnishing! Luckily the last group of Aussies here left all their stuff for us, so the only household item I have had to buy was a clothes horse (still, any excuse for the free bus to Ikea!). I live in an apartment with 5 others: 1 Norwegian, 1 American, 2 Chinese and a Spanish girl. We have a communal kitchen with our own cupboards, and a communal bathroom. Luckily, the kitchen already has lots of equipment so I did not need to buy any of that either!

After settling into our rooms we set off to the University to register and receive our information packs. The Uni is about a 10 minute walk from our accommodation, but the Medical building is at a different site. This was when we learnt our 2nd lesson about Norway. They love order and bureaucracy. Anywhere you go that would otherwise involve some sort of queuing system requires you to take a number upon entry (even if there is no one else in the place). After some delay your number is called and you go to the particular counter. This system is used in banks, post offices, doctors surgeries, university help desks, shops, chemists, the police- everywhere! Sometimes you are required to choose from a variety of options before receiving your number such that you can be assigned to the correct desk. The other thing is the number of forms you have to fill in. I think most of Norway has now seen the ugly picture in my passport, used as ID for everything. Furthermore, I am invited to participate in this by receiving cards. I have been given separate ID or access cards for the following: the external door to my apartment (as well as keys), the laundry, the University buildings, 2 different hospitals, public transport as well as a semester card stating I am a current Uni student. Each card has required me to attend a different location, take a number, show my passport, get a photo taken or give a current photo, fill in a form, sign a different form for receipt of the card and finally receive the card!

To add to the challenge, working hours here are far less than Australia. Some offices that issue these cards only open for 3 hours a day! Others close at 3. Even the Police, with whom I had to register within 7 days of arrival, will only accept people who took a number before 11am (I got there very early in the morning, 20 minutes before they opened and got number 43 in the queue!) Whilst at the Police station I also submitted my application for a temporary residence permit. They did not accept just a photocopy of the picture page of my passport- they wanted every page, but agreed to accept only the pages that had stamps on!!!

Oslo is a lovely city, with very well educated citizens. There is snow everywhere, but not much rain, so it is not hard to keep warm provided you dress sensibly. The level of sophistication in English language skills from every resident I have spoken to (shopkeepers, people giving me directions, maintenance men at the accommodation, medical students, doctors) is outstanding. In fact, many German students choose Oslo for exchange in all subject areas because they wish to improve their English! Oslo has half the population of Adelaide yet (despite the $6 for 1 hour ticket) their public transport is excellent- great coverage, very fast and regular. They have trams, metro trains (the T-bane), intercity trains, buses and ferries. The metro will even take you to a ski resort! For 330NOK ($65ish) a month students get unlimited travel on all public transport. Walking is also a reasonable option as it is quite a small city.

The most obvious thing about Norway is the cost. I'd heard it was expensive, but nothing can prepare you for the shock of 300g of mince costing around $AU 12. My diet has undergone major change- meat is something I now eat once a week as a special occasion (unless someone is giving us a free meal!), a thermos flask prevents me paying more than 5-6 dollars for a cup of tea and carrots have become my snack food! Alcohol is horribly expensive. Supermarkets can sell beer and cider (items with low alcohol content) for a strict number of hours in the day. Cider (500mL) is delicious, and costs $AU6 for 1/2 litre can. Spirits and wines can only be bought from state-owned Vinmonopolet. Prices there will turn your hair grey. 700mL of the crappiest vodka is $AU50+ and wine starts at around $20. Cask wine, the students' friend is Australia costs in excess of $70!!! There is some interesting info on the justification for this system here: http://www.vinmonopolet.no (there is an english link on the bottom left).

The social life so far has been excellent. I have met so many people, mainly international students, at various kitchen parties in the student accommodation. Notably, the medical student building has a bar in the basement, where I've attended 2 parties so far!! Because its so expensive to go out, parties at bars and things start very late, around 10 or 11, and people have drinks at home beforehand.

The day before we started Uni we celebrated Australia Day from 2pm (the time it was midnight in Aus) with a cricket game with Anzac biscuits in the snow, followed by a kitchen party at the apartment of one of the other Aussie medical students. We taught everyone to say 'Cheers, mate' instead of skol (Norwegian cheers)!

There are 10 Aussies on med exchange, 5 from Melbourne Uni and 5 from Newcastle, and there are another 17 med exchange students from Germany, France, Czech Republic, England and Spain. There are also 60 or 70 Norwegian students, all of whom have been so polite and eager to help us. They tell each other off if one slips into speaking Norwegian and have been instructed to ensure we are never left out of the loop. The university has been fantastic about ensuring we know where to go and pairing us up with a Norwegian for any placements we do. So far, we have just had lectures, anatomy pracs and histology and our actual hospital placements start 1 one more week. The timetable is quite relaxed compared to Melbourne, and we even have a day off (study day) each Thursday! Domus Medica (the Med building) and Rikshospitalet, the hospital where our lectures have been, are about a 15 min walk away, taking a path that goes through a snowy forest. It's a magic start to the day!

Well this is a very long post, and I will post some more in the next few days. It's been a fun two weeks and I am looking forward to my time ahead!

Anneke