Den personlige bragd - OSI Fjell

10
Welcome to the mountains
When in Norway, why not reach the
highest peaks or the warmest cabins?
The Ukrainian Phd-student at the Physics
Institute Dmytro Karpenko (27) in conversation
with the Dutch student Heleen
Zalmstra (21) gives us the perspective of
foreigners in OSI Fjell.
Text: Dmytro Karpenko
Photo: Christina Svanstrøm
There are not so many countries where the
tourists come not to see beautiful architecture,
drink outstanding wine, visit famous
clubs and shops, but to look at the nature
and nature only. Preikestolen, Kjeragbolten,
Trolltunga, Lofoten, Svalbard - who, having
read even just a little about Norway - don't
know these names? No surprise that many
international students, who
discover themselves here
for at least six months,
jump at the chance and
make some trips around the
country. Eventually they
leave for home with a lot of cool pictures...
without knowing, that most of them have
missed the chance to really feel Norway.
Heleen is a Dutch student, who moved to
Norway last summer.
– I'm not new to Norway, she tells her story.
« This is something you can
never feel if you simply
rent a car and dedicate
»
a weekend to travel to a
famous tourist attraction.
– I often visited Norway with my family
before; we did a lot of hiking both in famous
advertised places and on not so well known
routes. Actually, the trips when you might
not meet anybody else along the way with
overnight in small cabins are my favourites.
THE Norwegian experience
I can only confirm that you will not enjoy
this nature fully if you never try a long
march in the mountains, through the forest
or along the fjord, the march that ends in a
cosy cabin where you can start a fire, cook
your meal and rest after the exhausting
walk. This is something you can never feel if
you simply rent a car and dedicate a weekend
to travel to a famous tourist attraction.
And you may not understand the Norwegians
fully until you go on such trips with them.
Heleen knows it:
– This October I did my
first cabin trip with some
Norwegians. It feels absolutely
different. I've been
exploring Norway a lot before, I knew a lot
about traditional cabin hiking in Norway and
how to do it right too. But with my family
or foreign friends I always felt myself still a
little bit like an ordinary tourist.
– When you go together with the locals,
with the people who were literally born to
this you don't feel like you
try to follow somebody
else's tradition. It simply
and naturally becomes your
own habit.
She has to thank OSI Fjell
for finding local hiking
buddies.
– As an international
student, you actually don't
have plenty of chances to
establish friendship with
the locals, since the international
students study
separately. So it is really