Cold excitement

– Here in Norway, it´s mandatory to put on seat belts – even on the bus! There´s a fine of about 1500 kroner I think, and you have to pay that yourself, our guide informs us.

The «oh!»-ing and clicking can probably be heard from outside. Seat belts on. As a part of the buddy system for new international students in their first week: We´re going on a guided tour through Oslo towards Holmenkollen. The sidewalk´s slippery. The snow´s partly colored with gravel and exhaust.

The majority of students wear new, flashy winter shoes in leather, and some poor souls unprepared for the winter´s effect wear sneakers. Most of the visitors have their ears naked in the cold air.

Four days ago, Rachael Mignin (20) arrived from Chicago. She´s one of the about 1700 international students that join the University of Oslo (UiO) each year. They make up about ten percent of the students at the University.

Mignin is studying political science, and seizes the opportunity to learn Norwegian while she´s here.

– Norwegian classes start on Monday. I´m taking four classes a week.

– Why are you studying abroad here in Norway?

She doesn´t even need three seconds to think. It´s like she has prepared for this conversation, practiced this monologue.

– I´ve wanted it so long! This is a dream come true for me. I´ve wanted to study abroad since I was ten, and I´ve done a lot of research the last years as to where I wanted to go, and I decided upon Norway, she explains.

– I actually want to move and live here after studying. Because I love hiking, skiing, biking, being outdoors in general, and how parents ... handle their children here. In Norway, the father gets time off from work to spend with his new-born child, right?

It´s more of a remark than a question.

– I love that thought. I wish we had the same in America. I want to have kids, and let them grow up here. Because of the safety, the high standard of living and the low crime rate. Chicago is not safe. We had 500 shooting episodes last year. Also, Norway is beautiful.

The enthusiasm shines out of her eyes. One of her bracelets make a tiny sound when she explains, gesturing with her arms. The stay so far has lived up to her (high) expectations.

– I find Norwegians helpful, but not necessarily friendly. You´re not mean or anything, you´re very willing to help, but ... When I walk down the street in US, and there´s only one person in the street, I greet that person as we pass, even if it´s someone I´ve never met. You don´t to that here. I tried that, but the response wasn´t great.

Mignin stays at the student houses at Sogn. Her room is, in her words, «decent», but ...

– I share bathroom and kitchen with seven men ... Yeah, she says.

Other than the obviously present sound of digital cameras focusing, there´s a slightly nervous and tense silence. The sun fills the harbor at Aker Brygge. The guide says you can find a beer for 90 kroner here. The choir of shock contributes to a giggling atmosphere.

One of Rachael´s fellow passengers Is Jakub Polak (20). He´s from a town outside of Prague, the Czech Republic. He too studies political science at the University. He sits alone on the bus, mostly observing, trying to learn where he is.

He stays at Kringsjå, which he says he loves. He talks about the high number of parties, and a lot of international students who create a good atmosphere.

– I don´t know anyone from my country here. I´m friends with my room mates, and I make friends through the buddy group, which mostly consist of people who belong at the same faculty, so we have subjects in common.

Polak was warned about the stereotypical «cold and closed off Norwegians», but he rejects the theory.

Behind snow-filled trees and luxury houses, the view of Oslo and the Oslofjord appears, gradually, and the conversations are louder as the bus approaches Holmenkollen. At the top, the awkward silence is dead and buried. In the background, a lone cross country skier can be seen in the ski tracks. Fascination. Frosty breath. And somewhat awkward group photos.