First Week In Oslo

Well, I'm here in Oslo! It has been just over a week now, and I've had a lovely time so far.

I should probably preface this blog post by saying that the day before I left for Oslo, my dog died, which really, really sucked, and meant that literally the last thing I wanted to do was to leave for a new country, that I'd never visited, all on my lonesome. But my parents have been super supportive and wonderful, and that has definitely made this all a bit easier. I will never forget my dear doggy and I think about him every day, but horrible things happen and life still goes on. I'm extremely grateful that I got to spend almost 14 years with him and that I took selfies with him and cuddled him a lot on his last day. He was a blessing.

Anyway, here in Oslo I'm living in Kringsjå with a lovely view out on to the forest, and a bathroom that I share with one other person (who doesn't seem to ever be here... so really, it's just me). The kitchen and bathroom were pretty gross when I arrived so I spent a good three hours cleaning the bathroom, and also complained about the state of the kitchen - the staff cleaned it on Friday so thankfully I can now use the oven without worrying about food poisoning (or worse)! 

I thought I would do a recap of all the activities from the welcome week, organised by ELSA (European Law Students Association) Oslo. They did a wonderful job!

MONDAY

Met my buddy group and attended the traditional Welcome Ceremony, which was insane and wonderful - there were a TON of students, I think a mix of International and Norwegian, and we did a procession into the main square at Universitetsplassen - I ended up right at the front with a great view!

Afterwards, our buddy group sat around chatting and then we headed to Peppes Pizza, which really was not pizza as I know it - it was more like pie, as the toppings included meatballs and mincemeat! Not something I would necessarily choose to eat in the future but it was ok.

TUESDAY

Visited the Supreme Court! We were given a tour by a law clerk. It was very interesting, and remarkably similar to England, really. It was also good to learn a little about the Norwegian constitution - I will get more information about that when lectures start at the end of August, but I'm pretty ignorant about it at the moment.

WEDNESDAY

My buddy group was lucky enough to get tickets to go on a boat trip around the Oslo fjord with other Norwegian law students. It was super fun! The boat was like a proper sailing boat, although ran on a motor (see here), and there was even live music. We also ate prawns (or shrimp? I'm not really sure) - I am now proficient(ish) in beheading/descaling them or whatever! A tad gross but apparently it is a very Norwegian experience, so I am now a teensy bit more Norwegian than before. Luckily the weather was wonderful and it only rained for about a minute. I couldn't get enough of the views, the pictures don't do them justice!

THURSDAY

Some of our Norwegian buddies took us on a walking tour of Oslo. We met up at Universitetsplassen, headed down to Grønland, and round to Grünerløkka. Grønland is known for being the immigrant's area of Oslo, and the best place to buy cheap fruit and vegetables. I'll definitely be heading back there as there were also a couple of restaurants/cafes that were recommended and looked pretty cool. Grünerløkka is more of a 'hip' neighbourhood, where things are a bit pricier but rather nice. There was actually a random concert going on when we got there too which was fun to see.

After the walk we went to the Underwater Pub in Oslo, where every Tuesday and Thursday they have opera singers performing, for free! The singers were amazing (opera is so impressive!) and the pub was super cosey, with pipes and various diving equipment lining the walls, and I made friends with the English bartender who even gave me a discount on a beer (a HUGE perk in Oslo). It was probably my favourite thing from the week and I look forward to listening to more opera there in the future!

FRIDAY

All the buddy groups headed to Hovedøya, an island in the Oslo fjord, where we BBQed an excessive amount of sausages, played games, met some Norwegian law students and some brave souls even swam in the fjord (not me). A pretty chill day in all but the activities were super amusing too, including shotput with statute books, charades, beer relay, bin bag jumping race and more. My team lost by 1 point! So naturally I bought chocolate to commisserate later.

  

SATURDAY

Yesterday was the final party at Chateau Neuf, which is the student bar here. It was super expensive entry - £15! - which I find kind of crazy for a student venue, but I probably won't be going back there very often! I had a great night out with my buddy group and danced until 3am, a pretty perfect ending to a great week.

So there you have it! My first week here has flown by and been really great. My lectures don't start until the 26th August so I will be spending next week exploring Oslo some more whilst I have free time. I'll hopefully post about that next Sunday.