Given that my last two posts have focused pretty much entirely on the adventures I have been having here in Norway, I think it is time I write a bit about what actually provided the opportunity for me to come here: school, and how it differs from being on campus and taking classes at Mizzou.

One of the most striking differences for me this semester is the amount of time I spend outside of lectures as opposed to in them. As a double major, I am used to my schedule being packed. Last spring, for example, I had five classes and the homework associated with them, was a member of three different music groups, and had two private music lessons with different professors, which I had to prepare for every week. This semester, I have two classes, each meeting once a week.

This newfound freedom in my schedule is part of the reason I’ve been able to go on so many different trips, but the weekly meeting per class comes with a lot of outside reading. If I remember correctly, my Norwegian history class has a total of about 1,000 pages of assigned readings that I’m expected to complete outside of the weekly lectures.

The most interesting part of my school experience so far is the workload, or lack thereof, outside of the assigned readings. In my experience at Mizzou, grades are typically made up of numerous components: exams, quizzes, homework assignments, lab reports, etc. This isn’t the case for my classes this semester, nor do I think it’s a common practice for classes in Norway. My grades for my classes this semester will be based on my finals in December, and between both of classes, there was only one assignment that needed to actually be done and turned in, and that has already been completed.

This is, of course, just my experience for this semester. I would venture to guess that my workload next semester will increase with the classes I am planning on taking, but that will be determined in January.

Outside of school this month, a friend and I took a week-long trip to Norway’s neighbor Sweden, and on the last weekend of October, we stayed at a little six-bed cabin. This weekend trip was also the first time I have been snowed on this season, and I think it is a sign of the coming winter and the new adventures that will come with it.

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Learn more about this blogger’s study abroad program: University of Bergen