Sandra in Bergen
Table of Contents
Overall Thoughts & Feelings
It was a really awesome semester abroad in Bergen. I was able to make really great trips that I will cherish forever and enjoy Norway with its breathtaking nature. I met lovely people from all over the world and learned about new cultures. I would definitely do it all over again!
Expenses
About 1100 € per month (highly dependent on how much you travel)
More detailed: food, living, parties, trips:
- Living: 335€
- Food: 275€
- Gym: 30€ (you pay 140€ at beginning of semester; counts for whole semester)
- Going out and restaurants: 150€ (but also depends how often you go out/ I almost always ate at home, and did not go out often because it is very expensive)
- Traveling: around 300€
Accommodation
- Fantoft Studentboliger – This student dorm is a little outside of the city, but the connection is quite good as it is located next to the tram that leads to the city center. It is really quiet here, with a lot of (exchange) students, but also families and kids. I shared the kitchen and living room with 15 other students and had to share my room with another girl. But there are also some smaller shared flats, where you share the kitchen with just one other person. Compared to Hatleberg (the other student dormitory where a lot of NHH students live) Fantoft is really modern and clean. They also have a gym and a student club in the complex. The Fantoft student organization also organized lots events (e.g., outdoor cinemas, silent disco, other parties, pub quizzes)
- Type (dormitory/ flat/ WG): Dormitory
- Closeness to things (uni/ city center): 30 to 40 minutes to NHH, 25 minutes to city center
Studies
Medium-sized campus (circa 3500 students), modern university with view of the fjord. I had mostly only contact with exchange students, Norwegians are most of the time among themselves. The university offers a cafeteria and a canteen. There are also group rooms, a library, reading rooms and other places to chat with friends or do group work, but the rooms are very occupied before exam weeks – you have to come as early as 6 to 7 in the morning to get a seat.
Subjects I took:
- Brand Management: Quite interesting course, but I have heard a lot before in marketing courses at WU. Good thing is you don’t have so many lectures. You have to do a multiple choice test (pass/fail) and a group work over the whole semester (paper with 6000 words and an oral exam), where we had to write about a Norwegian bank. We also had the opportunity to watch a soccer match of the Bergen soccer club “Brann” and had three supervisions before we had to hand in the paper. I would really recommend everyone to choose a good group where all members have the same level of motivation – this avoids a lot of stress.
- Consumer Behavior: Same professor as Brand Management. I liked this course as well, but also learned much of it before at WU. Here they used the same system as in Brand Management with the multiple choice test and group work (also same deadlines as Brand Management). And again, I would highly recommend picking a good and motivated group.
- Sustainable Business Models: Sounded more interesting than it actually was. The topic itself was very interesting but we did not learn that much during the lectures. I would recommend reading the papers during the semester and not just right before the exam. We had 6 hours for our exam, which was quite exhausting. Moreover, we had to write a group paper and 2 Facebook posts (pass/fail).
- Commercialization of Innovation: Worst course of the four. We just had 2 classes and 2 online lectures from another university. We were supposed to do a business plan with a start-up. However, there were many communication problems, we did not receive enough information from the company, and the professors did not help at all. I would not recommend this course.
Overall difficulty of studying – I would say you do have to do something during the semester and really work for a good grade. They love group work here, which can often be stressful with so many exchange students. However, it is not impossible to get good grades. Besides, it really depends on the class.
Events
Mainly Sammen (the student organization) organizes all the events during the semester. At the beginning there was a Welcome Week with many parties (there is a disco in the basement of the university). During the semester there are also parties, hikes and other events. Sammen also owns the dormitory – which includes a club where something is planned every week (e.g. silent disco, pub quiz, study coffee, movie nights). You have a lot of opportunities to make friends and experience things.
Also, I mostly went on trips with my roommates. But we also planned other events, like Secret Santa, cooking together, a visit to Nordnes sjøbad (really highly recommended), or to the ice hockey hall. I also went on a trip with students from WU who were also doing their exchange here in Bergen. Some of my friends also made trips with ESN (Lappland, Lofoten).
Places to Visit
- Trolltunga: Beautiful hike to a stone platform with a great view. It was amazing. The nature was stunning. You can camp there in nature or book an Airbnb. Would really recommend that.
- Trondheim: Small city – I think it would be even nicer to visit this city during winter time when there is snow. 2-3 days are enough for this city – maybe you can connect it to a trip to the Lofoten.
- Oslo: Capital city of Norway. I would really recommend taking the train from Bergen to Oslo – it is supposed to be one of the most beautiful train rides in the world. You can find nice museums there. I also really like the visit to the ski jumping hill Holmenkollen – you have a great view from there. We bought the Oslo card there which is worth it if you visit a lot of museums and use public transport.
- Spitzbergen/Svalbard: The most amazing and surreal trip I have ever made. In December everything is dark there. We did a husky tour, hiked to a glacier and saw northern lights. I would really recommend it to everyone, but you should book early enough.
- “Guided tour and fjord cruise to Nærøyfjorden, Flåm and Stegastein viewpoint”: I would recommend you to do some fjord tours and discover the landscape also by car. The best tour in my opinion was this one. This fjord was very beautiful and the view from the viewpoint was breathtaking.
- Hiking around Bergen: There are a lot of options. I hiked to Ulriken and Floyen but there are altogether 7 mountains around Bergen you can hike up to.
Country & City Vibes
- Lifestyle: In my opinion, Norwegians are very close to nature. They pay a lot of attention to their appearance and are very stylish. The lifestyle is very modern – almost everything is done with a mobile phone (e.g. student ID, bus ticket, payment). Cash is practically no longer used, everything is paid for with debit or credit cards. Everything is very expensive (especially alcohol).
- People, friendliness of locals: Norwegians are rather reserved – unless they are drunk. I found it rather difficult to get into contact with them. Therefore, I would say they are not the friendliest but always very polite.
- Infrastructure: Good public transport (tram and bus (and boat)); you practically just see e-cars driving around.
- Activities: Hiking and other outdoor sport.
- Safety level: I always felt very safe.
Visa
No visa needed for EU.