We all meet on Erasmus

Read the story of Volda student, Nadia Kristensen, who is a 3rd year student at VUC, General teacher training, spending one full academic year at St. Mary's College, Belfast, Northern Ireland.

I left my home in Norway early in the morning on the 7th of September 2010 with a good friend from Volda, Nikoline. We were really excited and hadn’t slept at all that night. The bus took us to Oslo Airport Gardermoen, and after 2, 5 hours on the plane we landed in Dublin. It felt great stepping out of the land and onto Irish land knowing this was my new home! We found our bus to Belfast and after about 3 hours we arrived at the Europa bus station in Belfast. A nice taxi driver took us to our home on Broadway, just of the well-known Falls Road and Armelle greeted us with open arms and spaghetti.

I have experienced a lot since I came to Belfast. I’ve only been here for three months, and I still have 6 more months to go. I’ve seen the Giant’s Causeway, I’ve crossed the scary rope bridge Carrick-a-Rede and I’ve tasted real Irish whiskey. We got to do all of this on a trip with the other Erasmus students. We drove up along the Antrim coast up to the very north of Northern Ireland.
Our first stop was the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge. Do you dare to cross this bridge?

It looks scary, and it can be quite a challenge to cross it when it’s windy. I crossed it, and was really proud! But when I came to the other side I realised that I had to do it again to get back. But as you can see on the picture, I felt really cool standing there!

After the Carrick-a-Rede we went to the Old Bushmills Whiskey Distillery. We went on a guided tour of the distillery and got to see how they make whiskey from the very beginning. We even got to taste the whiskey in the end! This trip was very popular among the boys of the class, since no one of the girls enjoyed their whiskey. The boys got all the whiskey samples and were a happy bunch!

 The last stop on our trip was the Giant’s Causeway. The myth says that the giant Fionn Mac Cumhaill made the causeway so he could fight a giant over in Scotland. The causeway is a spectacular sight, and it’s clearly something that stands out in the scenery of the Antrim coast.

We have also been on a trip to the Ulster Museum, the university has arranged a paintball match, some of us are going to Donegal next weekend and many of the other Erasmus students have been on field trips to Dublin. I think the university is very good when it comes to planning trips for us, which is great! Hopefully there will be many more trips next semester.

But of course, I do other stuff than going on trips! I study European and Irish history, and I also take a course called subject application. The course teaches me how to teach different subjects in the classroom, which is great. I also have three other self study courses; reflective journal, comparative education and supervised project. I like the university and I also like my tutors. They are very friendly and understanding, and it’s never embarrassing to raise your hand and ask a question during the class. We are in classes with other Irish students as well; this makes us feel welcome and not excluded from the “normal” classes. I also find the students in general very friendly towards the Erasmus students! They are interested in where we come from and they make sure that you enjoy your stay in Belfast.

When I’m not in university I spend a lot of time in our fabulous house. I have the best roommates I could ask for, and we are having such a great time together. Our biggest obsession at the moment is jigsaw puzzles. We have just finished our third 1000 pieces jigsaw and are looking for a new one! On the picture you can see me, Nikoline, David and Cormack concentrating on a jigsaw with the motive “Norwegian fjords”.

We have decided that the jigsaw shall be our farewell gift to the International Office at St. Mary’s.

When I first came here I realised that I had quite a lot of free time in the evenings, and I wanted to get a hobby of some sort. I am very interested in languages, and for the last three months I’ve attended Irish language classes twice a week! Many people ask me why, since I won’t be able to use my Irish in Norway. I do it just for the fun and the social part, and I think it’s cool to know a language not many people can speak. Irish, or Gaelic, is a language who is dying in Ireland. There are areas called the Gaeltacht areas where Irish is still spoken, but other than that the language is fading away. I really enjoy my Irish classes, and I’ve met many new cool people there as well. The photo shows me and Ben from the USA in Irish class, or rang Gaeilge as it’s called in Irish.

I am very glad that I decided to stay here for the full year. Most of the other Erasmus students are leaving for Christmas, and I’m so glad it’s not me. I love being here, and I would hate it if I had to leave it all behind so early. I am looking forward to six more months in Belfast with a lot of new experiences! I am also looking forward to meet the new Erasmus students who are coming in January, and I can’t wait to show them around Belfast.

To finish it off in the right Christmas mood, nollaig shona agus bliain úr faoi shéan agus faoi mhaire duit! (Happy Christmas, and a happy and prosperous new year!)