To begin, the 7 weeks I spent in Canada after returning from Australia, were fantastic. I was able to spend a lot of time with family and friends and partake in weekly weekend adventures. Of course the weekdays were entertaining as well, Southern Alberta keeps you on your toes with frequent rattlesnakes visits to the house, a tornado warning nearly every other day, and well painting that fence surrounding the yard was pleasant, but because I’m such a great sister I think the thing I enjoyed the most was picking canola weeds in a sugarbeet field! ;) Sorry brother, this was the last summer you had the best employee to do those things!
As most of you know, I’ve been in Holland for a few weeks and I’m currently in Norway. I’m partaking in a block seminar that is compulsory for the CEMS Master’s programme. It is a weeklong seminar that focuses on a specific theme or topic. Each university that is part of CEMS has a weeklong seminar pertaining to different topics and themes. The reason why I chose to do mine in Norway was because the theme was much more interesting than the one offered in Holland. The topic of my seminar is Climate Change, Innovation and Social Corporate Responsibility. Thus far, we have had 5 lectures. The first two were about climate change specifically. The first focused on the economics of climate change in terms of green certificates and trade quotas of emissions. The second lecture was a view point regarding the natural cycles of climate change and ice ages as well as the issues regarding land use/management.
Yesterday’s lecture was about CSR (corporate social responsibility). Later in the afternoon we had team-building and leadership activities that took place at a rafting resort in Voss. Today's lecture focused on the ethics of business as well as the sincerity of a company's motivation to participate in CSR (genuine vs. instrumental in the sense of creating positive PR).
Monday’s lectures took place at NHH, school of economics and business in Bergen. The rest of the seminar is taking place in Voss. This is a small town in the mountains of Norway, kind of in the middle of no where but still on the main route for trains. Our location is right on the lake surrounded by lush green hills and snow-topped mountains... a beautiful view to wake up to! It's been a bit rainy and cloudy but it's very refreshing to be in the crisp mountain air.
As most of you know, I’ve been in Holland for a few weeks and I’m currently in Norway. I’m partaking in a block seminar that is compulsory for the CEMS Master’s programme. It is a weeklong seminar that focuses on a specific theme or topic. Each university that is part of CEMS has a weeklong seminar pertaining to different topics and themes. The reason why I chose to do mine in Norway was because the theme was much more interesting than the one offered in Holland. The topic of my seminar is Climate Change, Innovation and Social Corporate Responsibility. Thus far, we have had 5 lectures. The first two were about climate change specifically. The first focused on the economics of climate change in terms of green certificates and trade quotas of emissions. The second lecture was a view point regarding the natural cycles of climate change and ice ages as well as the issues regarding land use/management.
Yesterday’s lecture was about CSR (corporate social responsibility). Later in the afternoon we had team-building and leadership activities that took place at a rafting resort in Voss. Today's lecture focused on the ethics of business as well as the sincerity of a company's motivation to participate in CSR (genuine vs. instrumental in the sense of creating positive PR).
Monday’s lectures took place at NHH, school of economics and business in Bergen. The rest of the seminar is taking place in Voss. This is a small town in the mountains of Norway, kind of in the middle of no where but still on the main route for trains. Our location is right on the lake surrounded by lush green hills and snow-topped mountains... a beautiful view to wake up to! It's been a bit rainy and cloudy but it's very refreshing to be in the crisp mountain air.
My journey to Norway began in Oslo. From what I’ve seen, Oslo is a beautiful city and I will return there Friday night. From Oslo I took a train to the west coast of Norway to the city of Bergen. It is nearly 8 hours in the train but definitely worthwhile to get a view of the incredible landscape. Everyone has said Norway would be beautiful, and I must agree that it is indeed picturesque.
In terms of the Norwegian culture, it is very open-minded and friendly. I love the humour and easy-going, casual people and professors. For those who know the Big Mac Index, yes Norway is expensive, I checked it out and it was approximately 109 krone voor a big mac meal at McDonalds. As the exchange sits now, that is nearly 12 euros or 15 Canadian dollars, give or take a little. One professor said Norway is sitting at number 1 in terms of the Big Mac Index. Most of us know that Norway’s tax and regulations are quite intense. No alcohol can be bought after 8pm in stores, and I’ve heard even as early as 6pm on weekends. Some say this is a way for the government to regulate consumption, but of course everyone knows to just buy enough before closing time. 8 euros for a beer is also quite normal here. I’ve found public transportation to be of a normal price although I’ve also realized I need to practice my times-table of 8 more often! Approximately 1 euro = 8 krone so dividing everything by 8 is apparently not my strongest asset (but I’m sure I’ll be pro by the end of the week!)
Moreover, the Norwegian language is intricate but I like the sound of it. But it is not of too much concern to not understand this crazy language as nearly everyone speaks fluent English; extremely well and many with hardly any accent. Compared to other European countries such as Germany, France and Spain, many Scandinavian countries do not impose their language on English-speaking television shows, especially those from the States. All the American shows will simply have subtitles whereas other countries, where people’s English skills are not as strong as in the Scandinavian countries, will use their native language into the characters’/actors’ script.
So far the seminar and people have been utterly interesting! Everyone has their own unique story, most of those also have jumped across the globe for various reasons.
Of course time permitting, I will try to post some pictures later today.
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