I did my exchange program in University of Oslo(UiO), one of the prestigious universities in the world.
On the orientation day, the principal of my department suggested us take only 3 to 4 courses, which was quite different from my home university where I always had had more than 10 courses. She told us, “As an exchange student, you have to explore the city, to experience the local society, and to make friends with Norwegian or students from around the world. So, it is better for you to take only 3 to 4 courses.” However, as a Taiwanese student, it was really hard for me to digest what the principal just said. I asked most of my exchange friends if they indeed took only 3 to 4 courses, and surprisingly I found out that every one did so. So, after struggling for a few days, I ended up taking only three courses - Norwegian at the beginning level, Comparative and International Education and Norwegian life and society- and I was so ready to explore and experience Norwegian life in my spare time.
Without the pressure from the schoolwork, I made the best of my time to the upmost and had a colorful and amazing social life in Norway. For an Asian student, the hardest part of studying abroad is to make friends with western students. It is not about racism; it is just about the “instinct”, in my point of view, which is people tend to make friends and get familiar with others who share the same background with them. However, for me, as a chatter box with sophisticated social skills, making friends is just a duck soup. My friends are from Mexico, Czech Republic, the US, Australia, Norway, Italy, Switzerland, Japan and on and on.
What is the best thing to have friends from other countries is that we get to share our differences, such as cultures, cuisines, languages and etc. Every Thursday, each of us prepared a homemade dish. For our first Thursday dinner time, Bella and Narcissa host a hamburger DIY. They prepared slices of tomatoes, lettuces, burger patty, eggs and other hamburger ingredients for us to customize our hamburgers. Moreover, they also made brownie for us. Though the looking of the brownie they made was not so adorable, but the flavor and the taste was so delicacy. Anna, a Japanese girl, then hosted Sushi DIY the next Thursday. We had avocado, salmon, eggs, and of course, the primary materials of Sushi, nori and rice to make our own Sushi. As for Caterina, she made authentic Italian pizza and Tiramisu for us. After the first bite of the pizza Cate made, I doubted if I really had had pizza before. No other pizza in the world is more delicious and tastier than the one that an Italian made. We also got to make our Churros hosted by a Swiss girl. It was also my first time to eat Churros in my life. Thursdays-dinner-time in Oslo with those friends from around the world would always be one of the most precious memories I have ever had.
