At Hald International Centre the setting is really multicultural. The students come from four continents, and 13 different countries of, Uganda, Norway, Brazil, Kenya, Tanzania, Madagascar, Cameroon, Peru, Bolivia, Thailand, Laos, Serbia and Montenegro. The academic year consisted of a 6 week preparatory course, 6 ½ months internship in an area in Norway for the international students or the participating countries for the Norwegian students and 9 weeks of studies and information work.
Studies included, culture and intercultural communication which focused on learning to live in a different culture, Christian faith, mission and social ministries, Development and global issues where equality for all and poverty eradication in the poor countries of the world was emphasised, Leadership development and personal growth, communication and information work, as well as Language skills-Norwegian is the official language. Country evenings took place, where students presented their (placement) countries, through food, clothes and entertainment.
Norway is a beautiful country with mountains, fjords, pine forests and vibrant cities. In summer the trees and grass are green, as fall sets in green turns to yellow, brown, orange, and purple which looks magnificent. In winter the snow piles gently on the ground as though intent on not harming the life beneath leaving a sight of white everywhere. With the coming of spring, more smiles appear on peoples’ faces, flowers sprout and trees start budding. Life has come back, the sun shines again and no one wants to stay indoors on a bright spring day.
The country is safe one need not worry about being robbed or attacked, the air is fresh, the environment clean (rubbish bins are in all public places and people make use of them). Many things still stand out for me, the lovely people who appear closed in at first but are really nice when one gets to know them, friendly smiles, going out to movies with friends, learning to ski, picking berries in bushes, taking walks in the night and the sun is still shining, roasting sausages on open fire on a cold winter day drinking hot chocolate, eating bread, seeing apple trees everywhere laden with fruits, coloured mailboxes on homes and wooden houses painted white, cream, red, yellow or grey.
Learning to cope in a different culture was challenging though interesting. The food was strange, the language foreign, the weather very cold. Cultural differences can bring the best experiences to ones’ life as well as misunderstandings, for example an innocent comment like, “You look smart” intended as a compliment can create hurt feelings.
Coming from a relationship based culture to one based on efficiency thus task oriented, I thought it polite to first greet and indulge in small talk before enquiring about things, but that was ‘wasting’ people’s time. Everything seemed to move very fast. People seemed always on a rush to get somewhere. Respecting someone means stating the main points when you call and arriving early for appointments.
Clothes are a very important issue I learnt that there is no bad weather but bad clothing. I loathed putting on the four or five layers of clothes, but when temperatures are 20 degrees below zero, the saying that smartness knows no weather does not apply.
Issues that fascinated me which I hope that as a country we could learn and implement include;
Children have a commissioner who promotes their interests regarding public and private authorities and follows up their growth and development conditions. It is forbidden to physically punish children. They are instead taught independence and responsibility while encouraging a love for nature and respect for others.
The people have a do it yourself attitude where they like to work with their hands to accomplish at home daily tasks. There are no housemaids so all the house work is done by the occupiers of the house. We too could do our own house work and not pay someone else to do it, transform what seems like hard work into pleasurable expenditure of energy.
Health services are financed through compulsory membership in the national insurance scheme which covers the entire population. This prevents social problems, promotes economic and social security and improves living conditions for people. Everyone has access to a doctor.
The country is rich mainly because of the oil and fish industry, but people are careful on how they spend their money. Simple lessons I learnt: Send an SMS instead of calling, don’t buy low quality things just because they are cheap, have broad knowledge on what is happening and in all think about the environment and how the decisions made will affect it.
I am grateful I got this experience as I have obtained new knowledge and understanding. Involvement with different cultures has broadened my thinking and changed my world view. The world now seems smaller.
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