Dayenne during her internship in Trondheim, Norway!

Hey! Who are you and where are you from? Where do you study/live/work?

Hi! I am from the Netherlands and I study Crossmedial Communication in Rotterdam. For my graduation project I did an internship in Trondheim, Norway, for 3/4 months.

What was the first thing you thought when you arrived in Norway?

That it was so clean and tidy! After 6 weeks I only heard the first siren and there was little waste on the streets. I immediately noticed that people are very aware of the environment. Also that it turned dark so fast. I arrived in January and at half past 4 it already became dark. The days were very short in the beginning.

What was the most shocking difference between the Netherlands and Norway?

There is so much space! I lived and worked in a city, but within 10 minutes I was in a nature reserve or on a mountain. You don't really have that in the Netherlands. Also as less people live here, you really notice the open spaces. Another big difference were the prices. I already knew Norway was expensive in their food and drinks, but I was still shocked, especially about alcohol. And finally: the temperatures. For three months I only saw snow and during one week temperatures dropped to -23 degrees, which was extremely cold. I never experienced such cold in the Netherlands!

What does your daily work day look like?

The working days in Norway are slightly shorter than in the Netherlands, which I liked a lot because I was sitting in front of the computer all day. Around 9.30 am I arrived at my internship and often there was a meeting about what had to be done that day. Everyone got to work and at 12:30 we all went out for lunch. Often I ate warm dishes that were very tasty. I worked until about 5 o'clock. I did not have a lot to do but I noticed that everyone had a bit of that. They were all very relaxed, which I was not used to during my previous internships.

How is the working atmosphere at your internship company?

Like I said before, it was very relaxed. People determined themselves when they came to work and they had very little stress. Everyone got along very well.

Have you ever been homesick? How did you handle this?

Not necessarily homesick, but I missed my boyfriend a lot. To make things easier, we watched series on Netflix and video-called in the meantime so that we could still do something 'together'. After a few months, I thought it would be nice to go back to the Netherlands, where everybody just simply spoke Dutch!

Do you feel at home in Norway? Why (not)?

I think it was really nice that the people were so chill and that there was so much nature which was very nice but the people were a bit closed. It was difficult to really make friends with the Norwegians themselves, who still had a bit of their own life so I felt a bit like an outsider.

Is there a typical local dish that you really can not eat (or really like)?

Norway doesn't really have typical dishes that are weird or different, I bought Polarbrød very often which is super nice bread! I miss that here in the Netherlands. These are a kind of sweet / soft pita breads that you can eat as daily bread.

Give us tips on who to become friends with abroad. The Russians? The Irish? The Chilean?

Does not really matter, people who live abroad for study / work are generally very nice! I often liked Germans.

Describe the people of Norway in three words.

"Bon vivant", sour (typical haha), hip

What did you learn from your experience abroad? Was it the beloved community that you liked? The cheap cocktails? The beautiful nature? Or was your experience less than expected? Details, we want details!

I learned that it is a bit less easy than it all seems! Trondheim and Norway were super nice, nature is really great but there was not much to do for people from other countries so it was sometimes difficult to make friends. I did learn however to really go out there, because you actually have no other choice if you are sitting on your own so it is very good for your social skills! I noticed that people from other countries like it very much if you propose to do something together, which I didn't expect.

I got a different lifestyle here than back in the Netherlands. Meat and alcohol were too expensive so I have been a very healthy vegetarian for a few months, especially with the many mountain runs. Really felt that in my body! It was a very nice experience to have a time to live in such a beautiful country.