Norway

Your host parents will probably expect you to be quite independent, and your host siblings might have part-time jobs. Weekends are often family focused. The people of Norway are some of Europe’s most progressive and peaceful. Most Norwegians live in small communities of less than 20,000 inhabitants. While Norwegians cherish their history as a nation of fishermen and farmers, they live life very much like any other industrialised Western nation. Norway is sometimes considered Europe’s biggest folk museum, but simultaneously it is a laboratory for the future.

You will probably attend the Norwegian upper secondary school in the general studies track. Even though Norwegian schools don’t usually offer extra-curricular activities, many of your Norwegian friends will take part in drama, choir or sports outside of school. Norwegian teachers value initiative so you should be quite independent and don’t expect constant reminders to do your assignments. You can expect to have a relatively informal relationship with your teachers, and address them by their first name.

Norwegian is the language of Norway. It is a Germanic language related to Danish, Swedish and Icelandic and has two official forms of writing—bokmål (Standard Norwegian) and nynorsk (New Norwegian). Some schools might include you in the Norwegian classes for immigrants and AFS will share links and materials with you to help you learn the language.

One of the most popular foods in Norway is fish, but people also eat lots of meat, potatoes, vegetables, milk and cheese, and there are various sweets. Open-faced sandwiches are also popular and are often eaten for breakfast. Dinner is the main meal of the day and a favorite dish is meatballs and potatoes with gravy. Even though Norwegians still appreciate traditional Norwegian dishes, the international cuisine has had a lot of influence the recent decades. Try out the pizza, pasta and Norwegian “tacos.”