After a couple of interview rounds, I was one of the candidates who got listed for the study abroad program. The real challenge was to convince parents, applying for the visa, requesting for funds for visa and air ticket money, training the mind for the cold especially minus degree. I lived with my parents in Mangalore city, and with my sister during an internship in Mumbai and neither of those places did the temperature ever drop below 21 degrees. To cope up with the change in weather, to be my own and packing essentials for someone who owned only summer clothes was mayhem.
"All I remember is my first experience of watching snowflakes falling effortlessly in my face, my palms and melting down"
I left India on January 7th 2016 the temperature was 32 degrees and the thought of flying abroad for the first time made me a little nervous. Touched down in Oslo on the 9th January to minus 17 degrees, but all I remember is my first experience of watching snowflakes falling effortlessly in my face, my palms and melting down. It was something in its purest and most childlike form of beauty. The sense of appreciation that to see something I dreamed of simply because it is a breath of fresh air to me. It has been four years now, but I still remember every bit of this magical moment.
Volda, a tiny town which is located on the west coast of Norway in between the mountains is the place that one can never forget. First thing I noticed, they drive on the right side of the road, Volda doesn't have traffic lights, they let pedestrians cross the road first witch for an Indian creates some disbelief. The switch turns on the other side, people express less and I express with hands and nodding my head, they drink more coffee which makes them the second most coffee consumers in the world, they take coffee breaks in between class hours, you call teachers by their first name and this one is the most difficult. I like to address people by their last name, in due respect.
The courses offered at Høgskulen in Volda were perfect to experience Norwegian nature and to embark my experience as a short film director. I enjoyed every bit of social gatherings, which gave me more insight into different cultures around the world, especially Norwegian. A culture which treats you equal. The first word which impressed me was kjæreste meaning boyfriend/girlfriend without gender-biased. Volda gave me time to work on myself, to grow, to heal and be the individual that I always dreamed of, to be independent and to build my confidence.
After finishing my semester, eventually graduated Masters in Journalism there came an urge to do more. I craved to live, to experience more, so I decided to stay back in Volda for another year. I renewed the student visa for a year which was about 3500 NOK back then, as I got placed in Outdoor Media Production course of Bachelor in IKT. Unfortunately, I had no home university to support my funding, so I had to look for a part-time job. So there came my first challenge, my stay in Norway came was not as easy as I thought!
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