Visiting Norway #HogsAbroad in Sweden

So much has happened since I last posted in the beginning of September. I have found some great hiking trails, I went to Norway for a week, and have gotten sick for the first time.

For anyone coming to study at Jönköping University who likes to hike, I highly recommend going to a waterfall in Röttle. It's about 45 minutes from here and it is right by a 12th century mill. I’ll post some pictures below. I’ve already been twice because it has great hiking trails right beside it. I also went to an overlook called Vista Kulle that was pretty cool too.

I went on the school’s Norway trip last week. It was so unbelievable. I highly recommend it to anyone who is thinking about going. When I initially signed up I was pretty nervous because I only knew one other person from Montana who was going, but not really knowing anyone made me get out of my comfort zone and I met some super cool people. It allowed me to hang out with multiple different groups of people, compared to just one the whole time.

During the trip I went to Oslo, Jostedal, Gjerde, and Bergen, Norway. Jostedal was probably my favorite part of the trip because we stayed in these super cute cabins for 2 nights, did a camp fire, went glacier hiking, and kayaking through a fjord. The glacier hike was so unbelievable because it was like nothing I’d ever seen before. There was so much snow. I also got to see my first real life snow man. We got to take a 5 hour fjord ferry/cruise from Gjerde to Bergen which was also super cool. In Bergen there was a big fish market that had a fun vibe to it. I also met two American families from Georgia while I was eating lunch there and it made me home sick for the first time. One of the biggest differences between Sweden/Scandinavia and the US, especially the south, is how reserved people are here, so meeting the Americans was nice because even though I’d just met them they just came right out and started talking to me for like 20 minutes about where they were from, where I was from, how I was liking exchange, etc. It made me feel at home again. After they left the Austrian guy I was with couldn’t believe how friendly and talkative they were to a complete stranger. After we left Bergen we had a 13 hour bus ride, overnight back. That was the only part of the trip that was not so fun. Norway was so amazing though. I would really like to go back in the summer at some point in life.

While in Norway I also got sick for the first time, probably because of the cold weather (it was like 25 degrees Fahrenheit there). It has been pretty bad having a cold in a place that doesn’t have DayQuil/NightQuil or Theraflu. If anyone is reading this that is planning on studying abroad here make sure you bring some from the US when you come. Their cough and cold meds just aren’t the same here. Luckily I am just now starting to get over being sick, after having it for 2 weeks.

My classes are going great too. I have about 2 and a half weeks until finals. I am looking forward to my next quarter classes even more. The school work is not as homework orientated here, it is more about group work and projects, which is really nice because you have most of the quarter to work with your group when it is convenient for everyone. I also have been very blessed with getting great groups for both of the classes I’m in this quarter.

My next update will probably be after finals. Here are some pics from some hikes and the Norway trip. Thanks for reading!!

--

Accounting major Arielle Amburn is spending the Fall 2018 semester in Sweden with our U of A Exchange program at Jonkoping University.

Read more from Arielle at https://ariellessemesterabroad.wordpress.com/

Don't miss your opportunity to study or intern abroad! Start your search at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/search/

HELLO SUMMER!!!! #HogsAbroad in Denmark

Nyhavn- Copenhagen

 I am officially done with my junior year of college. Cannot believe how fast this semester in Denmark and this past year have gone. I finished all my exams at Aarhus and won’t hear back on my grades for another couple of weeks. So with the exams behind me it is time to start my summer vacation!!!  

My best friend from home, Alison, came to visit me in Aarhus and travel to Copenhagen and Amsterdam with me! I got to show her around the city I’ve been living in. We visited the Old Town, Aros Museum and the deer park. It was nice exploring Aarhus even more before leaving for good.

Our next stop was Copenhagen. I’ve been to Copenhagen multiple times throughout the semester just to go to the airport, since the Aarhus airport is too small to fly anywhere. I have only properly visited Copenhagen once, so it was fun to explore more. We took a canal cruise around the whole city, which was only 40 Krones ($6). I was expecting the canal cruise to be expensive like everything else in Denmark so it was a nice surprise when it was so cheap.

top of the Aros museum in Aarhus

Next stop was Amsterdam!! Amsterdam has always been on the list of must sees for me and I’m glad I got to fit it in before the end of the exchange. Amsterdam is absolutely gorgeous. Every street has a new canal and new buildings to look at. The first day we went to the Anne Frank House. After seeing Auschwitz in Poland and Hitler’s bunker in Germany, it was really cool to see another big piece of history from that era. The next day we went the Heineken Brewery for the Heineken experience. The tour was very interactive, which made it fun and we got 2 beers at the end of the tour, even better! 

After the Heineken tour we took a canal cruise through the city. It was raining the whole day, which was a let down. I spent most of the cruise in the back in the rain because we couldn’t see out the foggy windows of the boat. But we made the best of it and still had a nice experience. That night we went to the ice bar, which who knew was FREEZING. We got coats but they were nowhere near warm enough to make it possible to stay in the bar for long. After we drank our drinks that were in a cup also made of ice we had to leave before our toes and fingers fell off. 

We also went to the I AMsterdam signs to get the typical tourist picture with them. The sign in front of the museums was so crowded and all of our pics had other people in them, which was expected but kinda ruined the picture. But the same sign is by the Eye, which you take a free ferry to get to. I actually got a picture with the sign with no people in it at all because it was raining again. Also, two restaurants I went to that I highly recommend are Bakers & Roasters and Teds. Both are really delicious brunch places for a decent price.

After Amsterdam it was time for Norway! Our first stop in Norway was Oslo, which we were only there for a day. We went to the folk museum and the Viking Fram museum, both were a lot of fun with lots of history. We also took a free walking tour. Anything in Norway that is free, you have to take advantage of.

Norway is VERY expensive, and that is coming from someone who has lived in Denmark the past 5 months. For a single bus ride across the city it was 50 Norwegian krones, which is USD $6. For a comparison between Denmark and Norway, in Aarhus for a single bus ride it is $3 and in Copenhagen around $4. Anyway, the free walking tour was very informative and worth while. We got to see the major buildings of the city and learn all about the history of Oslo.

top of the opera house in Oslo

After our short time in Oslo, we took an early morning train and bus to Stavanger. The whole journey was around 8 hours from Oslo to Stavanger, but the scenery along the trip was gorgeous and made the long day go by quite quicker and more entertaining. Honestly I would much rather have an 8 hour train ride with a view over a short flight any day. Flights usually turn into a whole day event anyway, so I would rather see some scenery along the way. 

 We had 4 nights and 3 days in Stavanger. The first day, we spent the day walking around the city, seeing the old town, cathedral, and the harbor. It was pouring down rain the whole day and I just had my rain jacket so I was completely drenched by the end of the day. An umbrella would have been very useful this trip. There was also a beach volleyball tournament going on with many European countries competing. We got to watch a game for a little bit, which was cool to see. We also visited this statue on the other side of town called Swords in Rock, which was literally three large swords in the rock. I was quite fascinated by the swords and we got some cool pictures by them.

just loving the rain

The next day was actually sunny and there wasn’t a chance for any rain so we decided to take advantage and hike up to Pulpit Rock. The hike was about 4 km, wow I’m using kilometers now… That’s about 2 and half miles so overall 5 miles there and back. The hike was gorgeous and at the top at pulpit rock we got an incredible view of the fjords below. It was breathtaking. It seemed unreal because of how beautiful it was. 3 hours and 400 photos later, we headed back down to catch the last bus and ferry back to Stavanger. 
Our final day in Stavanger, we went on a fjord cruise. It was a 3 hour cruise and we got to cruise through the Lysefjord, seeing some waterfalls, feeding goats, and tasting the pure Norwegian water from the waterfalls. It was also breathtaking and I again took about 300 photos. Below are a few of my favorite pictures I took.



Copenhagen, Amsterdam, and Norway made the last trip before I meet up with my family perfect. Now I’m heading back to Aarhus on my last 4 hour bus ride to finish packing and cleaning my room. I just have one night and then I’m off again to go to Stuttgart to meet my family! Again I don’t know where the past 5 months have gone, but I’m so thankful for the experience of a lifetime.
--
Read more from Kelsey at https://kelseyindenmark.wordpress.com/
To find out more about the Walton college exchange program in Aarhus, visit http://studyabroad.uark.edu/exchange/wcobaarhus/