Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Illegally Norwegian12-13
Nordic Cinema20-22
And More...
Dear Readers,
experience. All of us involved with The Moose are
volunteers, and we editors rely on the creativity,
resourcefulness, and enthusiasm of our contributers
The autumn is upon us, ladies and to keep The Moose interesting, entertaining, and
gentlemen. Gone are the days when you somewhat relevant. Our publication policy is simple:
could roll in the grass in front of Monolitten come to us with an idea, a story, an article, a photograph,
prior to hopping from cliffs into the or an illustration, and as long as it does not violate
turquoise waters of the Oslo fjord. It is time Norwegian law, we’ll probably be open to publishing
to take a waterproof jacket out of the closet it. As a general rule, the Moose Editorial Board values
and face the music. It is time to stay in and freedom of expression, and we are pleased that The
drink mulled wine with a circle of friends; Moose can offer content which covers a broad range of
it is time to get drenched on the way to styles and opinions – even when the aforementioned
getting drunk. styles and opinions differ wildly from our own.
Autumn paints the leaves red and yellow However, sometimes, freedom of expression results
and bleaches rabbits’ fur. Our magazine in the unexpected. Many of our contributers are
has also changed color, which is to say international students, and as a result, much of our
it has acquired more color, thanks to the content tends to revolve around the day to day lives of
benevolence of the Student Parliament. the international student community. When accepting
However, we have more tricks up our sleeve articles for publication, we do our best to ensure
and more plans for making our publication that those identified within our pages—by name,
even more varied and interactive. You description, photograph, or otherwise—have been
will shortly be able to find The Moose on represented fairly, and that those who wish to remain
its’ own unique stands at Sogn, Kringsjå anonymous have been allowed to do so. However, we
and Frederikke. We are happy for all the make mistakes. Last month, an article was published
positive feedback and interest expressed in which, unknown to us, clearly identified a certain
our magazine, and we hope that this issue student and highlighted some less-than-pleasant
will brighten up the foggy dullness of the moments of his or her time here in Oslo. This student felt
Norwegian autumn. The Norwegians say: upset that his or her anonymity had been stripped from
“There is no bad weather, only bad clothing”. them, and we are deeply sorry for this. We appreciate
We say there is no better substitute for bad this student for coming forward and reminding us that
clothes than staying at home on a rainy day with freedom of expression comes the responsibility
and tapping into the inexhaustible resource to understand the ethical limits of said freedom. We
of useless but entertaining knowledge our cannot force anyone else to apologize, but as those
magazine provides. who are nominally in charge of written content, we
hope that our sincere apologies go some of the way
You are holding the second edition in your
toward mitigating the harm caused.
hands. This is for real.
Regards,
You are exploring the ways of the Moose of
Norway.
Marija Cabuskina, Chief Editor
Marija, the Moose Herder Anita Iyer, Copy Editor
The Monthly Moose — Villa Eika, Blindern 0314 Oslo, P.O. Box 1088. monthly.moose@gmail.com
2 \\ Editorial
Chief Editor: Marija Cabuskina — Writers: Anita Iyer, Blayne Sapelli, Bunny, JeeHee Hwang, Julie
Iyer — Proof Readers: Anita Iyer, Mitch Molstad — Photo Editor: Sara Fegelman — Visual
Radan Furiel, Sara Fegelman, Summer Choi — Cover Design: Irine Osepashvili, Summer Choi —
CONTENTS
4 ISU Board: Remaining Members
6
5 The SiO Struggle
6 Beach Party
7 ISU News
8 The Welfare Den
10 What’s On at UiO
11 Universitas News
12 Famous Norwegians
14 Top 5: Hidden Oslo
16 On the Way to Munch Summer House
12
18 Oktoberfest
20 Nordic Films
23 Bread And Games
24 Why Norway?
25 UDI Disaster
28 The Moose of Norway
29 Learn Norwegian with the Moose
30 Moose Comic Strip 14
Contents // 3
Rousseau, Marija Cabuskina, Nadya Alyeshkira, Ole Hansson, Radan Furiel — Copy Editor: Anita
Content: John Modin, Irine Osepashvili, Lubica Rozborova, Marija Cabuskina, Miranti Wirastuti,
Layout: John Modin, Julie Rousseau, Marija Cabuskina.
Meet the new ISU board! cotinued from Vol. 1
students in general.
Please contact us at
monthly.moose@gmail.
com if you’d like to
share your pictures,
experiences, or
thoughts on the
situation.
B
so let the ISU take you on a tour of the Freia
chocolate factory where you can see how it is
made, and even get a sample of some of the
e
product. The tour is on November 12 and costs
60 kr per person. The ISU will have further
details on their Facebook page, including
a
when and where you can sign up. Stay tuned!
Sleeping Bags
Did you know that you can borrow a sleeping
bag from the ISU? We have four high
c
quality sleeping bags that we give out to
our members. All you need to do is sign an
agreement and pay a deposit. Contact the ISU
h
via e-mail if interested.
Amended Constitution
P
The constitution of the ISU has been amended
recently. Among other changes, we’ve
introduced less rigid rules for becoming a
a
member. Every international student is a
member of ISU by default, and from now
on every Norwegian student can become
r
a member by application. That means that
Norwegian students can now contribute
to The Monthly Moose, participate in the
t
elections of ISU board and be elected as board
members for ISU. Integration rules!
y
Questions? Comments?
6 \\ ISU News
Bunny
ISU News // 7
Velferden! An Evening
at Kringsja’s Student
Pub
Blayne: Damnit, because I had this great idea about hosting a building burn down contest
Rebekka: That would not happen. Although we did have this one guy who wanted to put
on a fire breathing show out front to draw people in. He was very keen on that idea. I’m not
sure what happened to that. But yes, we have a meeting every Monday - you have to be a
member, though - where all of the volunteers come together, and we talk about what we want
to do, and we drink some beers!
Last year the faculty’s staff was accused of sexual SEPTEMBER 15TH, 2010
harassment, insulting behaviour and breach of privacy INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS MUST PAY
protection. No one wants to take responsibility.
Høyre (The Conservative Party of Norway) wants
LAZY STUDENTS’ FAULT to introduce tuition fees for international students.
Norwegian students are critical of this proposal, since
In the recently published report by The National they regard it as an attempt to abolish free education
Agency For Quality Assurance (NOKUT) 70% of in Norway.
university employees express the opinion that
laziness among students is the biggest obstacle for This article about Universitas is a stub. You can help The
achieving a better quality of education. Monthly Moose by expanding it.
Universitas News // 11
SEPTEMBER 29TH, 2010 If you can read Norwegian and write in English, send us
CAKE FOR THE SAHARA a message at monthly.moose@gmail.com!
Illegally Norwegian
Speaking Out From The Shadowlands Of The Maria Amelie’s decision to come forward
Illegal Immigrant with her story casts light onto the shadowy
world which thousands of illegal immigrants
in Norway inhabit. Since her family lives here
illegally, she has not shared much about her
life before coming to Norway. However, she
has stressed that her parents were law abiding
citizens, and that it was fear which drove them
from their home somewhere in the Caucasus
to Norway, and fear which motivated them to
stay in Norway after UDI denied them asylum.
However, underneath the veneer of normalcy, a valid visa, you can take solace in the fact
she lives a life which she describes as “vacillating that your UDI experience was better than
between a fairy tale and brutal reality.” The reason? someone’s!
Maria Amelie is one of an estimated 32,000 illegal
immigrants living in Norway. However, unlike the
31,999 other individuals in her situation (give or Norway ’s Greatest Modern Spy :
take a few) she has gone public with the story of her Convicted, Pardoned, And Back In The
life. Her book, Ulovlig Norsk [Illegally Norwegian], Headlines
published about a month ago, has been flying off
the shelves and garnering media attention since. Maria Amelie may be one of the moment’s
cultural phenomena, but before she was
Have you ever been standing in the check-out line at
Kiwi or Rema, idly scanning the newspaper headlines
or glossy pictures in the tabloids and wondered who
all those people are? If so, you’re not alone! Join the
Moose as we continue to examine some of those
names and faces appearing in Norwegian media,
and learn more about just what it takes to make the
headlines in Norway.
in my foggy memory,
like disco-dancing got to start early. As I’m
with randomers to a writing this, 4 days later and
Bavarian rendition of hangover just finally passing,
“I will survive.” I guess I still say it was an epic,
the tent closed at ten. great, amazing time. Highly
recommended!
NORWAY: UPPERDOG
Director: Sara Johnsen
Upperdog offers a seemingly playful,yet critical insight into the welfare society that Norway claims to
be. Accompanied by the lightweight music by Mozart, the unfolding and intertwining stories of the
four young people reveal the complexities of power relationships and put the classlessness of Norway
under question. The viewer witnesses a reunion of two adopted and separated siblings, an immigrant
worker striving to study Norwegian people, and a young soldier’s thorny way from public shame
to reconciliation. Sara Johnsen uses situational
humor and various experimental cinematic effects
such as crosscutting to create tangible metaphors.
In jury’s opinion the film comments on the political
and social climate in Norway while communicating
intimate emotions of young people in a mature and
elegant way.
SWEDEN: METROPIA
Director: Tarik Saleh
weekends. Since I don’t study much here Sometimes, one needs a lot of patience and a good
(which is the part that I’m not that proud nervous system to get a long-awaited student visa
of) I have a lot of free time. Guess what? for one year.
I am in Oslo only for 17 days in October.
Besides having an awful time with visa extension,
I will be off to other cities in and out of
which takes up to 6 months for the renewal
Norway. By traveling, I am sure I will be
of a student permit, other annoying things
able to gain a broader perspective. can happen: the fact of parts of documents
The last one is the working experience. disappearing into nowhere, which must be sent
again; misinterpretation of regulations; degrading
I don’t have any experience working,
treatment; careless examination of documents; and
except private tutoring a few students
an information service that does not know very
after school. So, it is quite hard to say I much. I have experienced those things and more
actually had a job before. I can’t imagine during the last year.
having a job during the semester back
in my home country. There are so many Everything started from the usual visa renewal
things to study and everyone has a very process for study year 2009-2010. As a bachelor
tight schedule. But it is different here. I student on a self-financing program, I have to show
have so much free time. I am looking for a a certain amount of money every year, which can be
place to work here in Oslo, and am doing given as a printout of account or an employment
an internship at the Korean embassy. It contract. After 3 months of handling my case, UDI
is quite a pity that the embassy doesn’t informed me that I did not show enough money to
pay me, but I am happy that I can actually support myself for the entire study year.
learn things here. This was not true, because I had a job and earned
the demanded sum of money-- approximately 83
In short, my goals here in Oslo for one thousand NOK, that I proved with a contract.
year are to have as many experiences as
possible. I hope having experiences here I had been asked to send in a written statement
would help me decide what to do with my outlining how many hours per week I would work
life after graduation. and how much money I would earn.
Have you thought of the goal you brought The point was that the place where I worked was the
here with you? Now, look back into commune and since we, students, can work only
yourself for the last two months. Can 20 hours a week, according to their regulations, we
you say you did your best to achieve this could get a contract only for half a year; from January
UDI Disaster // 25
goal? If not, you’d better get on to it. You 2010 I was supposed to sign a new one.
wouldn’t want to go back with nothing in The demanded document could not be obtained
your hands. and in December 2009 I had to change jobs, and
here begins that most interesting part, showing the
real face of Norwegian bureaucracy.
...continued on page 26
JeeHee Hwang
Processing time
a story the length of a year
Article continued from page 25.
At the new job I was asked to show a work permit, My woman’s intuition did not disappoint
which I could not show, since UDI was waiting for one me. The Norwegian embassy in Moscow,
document from me, which I could not get without a understanding the problem, gave me entry
work permit. permit. “Hurrah!!! I’m back to Norway. “
“No stay permit, no contract, no money,” I was told But, not everything was so perfect as it seemed.
on one side, “no employment contract, no visa, no It was the end of March and I still did not have
work permit,” I heard from another side. I would a visa.
have liked to invite both sides for a cup of coffee to
acquaint them with each other and finally solve all Again, phone calls to UDI. Again, the old
my problems. story about the time to check the documents.
Nothing new with these guys.
But….
After almost 2 months, in May, I had got a
After a couple of months of useless calls to different letter from my “old friends.” In that letter it was
bureaucratic organizations, I found a useful one: written that I was not given a visa and had to
“Jussbuss”. These guys wrote the required papers leave the country before June if I did not write
to both sides and seemingly everybody got what an appeal. The reason was simple: “Did not
they wanted, but I still did not have any visa in my show enough financial support for the entire
passport. UDI needed time again to “check” the study year.” Almost the same like it was in
documents. November! So all this half-year was down the
drain? Did not show enough financial support
In March 2010 I had to travel to Russia for one week, for the study year that was about to finish?
but without a visa I could not come back. Not
coming back meant missing midterm exams, and as This was unreasonable.
a consequence, losing access to the final exams.
The only place I could ask for help was
On my claim to speed up the process due to Jussbuss. In one week time a complaint was
the situation, UDI first asked me to fax them the written and I stayed again in Oslo to prepare
tickets, which would be passed to the procedural for the summer exams.
department to accelerate the process. One week
passed, nothing. Week after week, nothing new. It seemed like
UDI was not going to check my complaint, and
After several phone calls from me, they asked for a it was obvious that after 31 of August all this
document from the university, confirming my exams would not matter anymore.
in March. One more week, nothing new. It seemed
that they like different documents, fax, confirming The study year was finishing, and it was time
letters, paper, papers… to apply for the new one, 2010-2011. This
time everything was much easier: I received a
After every talk with customer service, which told scholarship, which meant “bye-bye” to proving
me a different story every time and treated me as an financial competence.
unimportant creature with unimportant problems, I
was mentally depressed. I could not concentrate on But this was not the end of unpredictable
my studies during those days. The only thing I could developments. In July 2010 I had to travel
do was to do nothing. I could just sit and think about again to Russia. This time was much worse,
how it is possible that, in the most expensive country since it involved two opened cases at UDI: one
26 \\ UDI Disaster
in Europe, with the highest level of well-being, an from last year concerning the permit that was
international student can be like in a prison, without about to expire, and one for next year. Despite
permission to travel to the home country and visit the fact that my case was labeled as urgent,
his or her family. it did not seem that I would avoid paperwork
this time.
In this situation, neither Jussbuss, which interprets
the law differently than UDI, nor the advocate from After successfully solving problems with the
the commune could help me, and I decided to rely visa via the Norwegian embassy in Moscow, I
on my good luck and travel anyway. decided to do the same this time, since there
was no other choice.
The Norwegian embassy in Moscow had got a feel like a “big big girl in a big big world”. Having no
new ambassador right before I came there. A place to live, being almost homeless, starting to lose
new board means new rules, which were not school days; in that situation the only question that
in my favour. Nobody there believed that I still filled my mind was “what to do.” The main problem
had not gotten a visa, and after my explanation, was still UDI. Call them again?
to justify the truth, or perhaps something else,
they demanded a full package of documents. UDI. These three letters does not only mean the
Again? I had just done it, one month previously! abbreviation of the name of the organization. This
Couldn’t the information be checked through is a clear example of people who do not care at all.
the common database? Why should I have to On my requests to talk to the department that was
gather the same paper again and again? Right, handing my case I have got rejection; on my asking
to check the information; every bureaucratic to understand the situation about missing the school
cell wants to have its own information, to feel and handle the case in shortest time I received a
very clear response - that was my problem. I should
kind of cool. not have left the country, but waited till receiving a
resident permit in Norway. Am I a prisoner? I was
“All right, the documents are delivered, it’s one
already waiting for more than a year. When would
week before the new semester starts, I can wait this absurdity with paperwork be finished? How long
here couple of days, in the capital of Russia, would I be stuck in Moscow? Nobody could answer
the biggest and most crowded city in Europe; these questions.
I’ll find a place to stay for a while and use the
chance to see some sights,” I thought that day. It seemed that I could wait till New Year, if not for
But inspection was delayed for longer than I Jussbuss and my friend who went to the University’s
expected. student office, whom I called the same day and asked
to influence UDI somehow.
Checking out here, checking out there, this
was driving me crazy! I could think that I Difficult to believe, but these two organizations had
done their job. I got my visa the next day, and the
was applying to some goverment military Norwegian embassy, as if nothing had happened,
expedition to Mars or negotiations with gave me back my passport with a long-awaited entry
extraterrestrial beings. permit.
This time the focus of my telephone became So I am again back in Norway, for the second time
the embassy, and every day during that week this year, exhausted from Russia but happy to be
I heard the same phrase: “We are processing at home. Two weeks of lectures and groups were
your case, call us tomorrow”. missed. But this is nothing compared to the fact that I
could have been stuck out of the Schengen zone for
After one week of nervous waiting I had got a much longer period. Probably, I am little bit lucky,
that answer, but not one that I expected. I was probably not, but those two weeks seemed to me like
UDI Disaster // 27
not given a visa. The reason was simple to the two months.
point of absurdity: “Does not have a residence
I shared my experience with you to show one of the
permit and did not apply for renewal of permit sides of being an international student in Norway,
for the next study year.” This was of course and to demonstrate how your life intentions can be
just a typically standard phrase for rejection affected by the bureaucratic system.
without reason.
Standing in the middle of a megalopolis with
the most unbelievable, unreasonable and Text by Nadya Alyeshkina
incongruous letter I have ever got, I did not Illustration by Irine Osepashvili
Skogens konge
Inngjerdet
mellom et økende antall
motorveier
i Norge
lever elgen
vandringer
28 \\ Skogens Herre
Text:Ole Hansson
Watching an Ole Brumm [Winnie The Pooh] episode can be an interesting activity too. Ole Brumm’s name is
derived from the “brumm brumm” sound that the bjørn [bear] makes. I have personally never heard a Norwegian
bear, but from their sound they seem more funny than scary. Piglet is similarly known as Nasse Nøff, because
the Norwegian gris [pig] apparently makes the sound “nøff nøff”—
here again, I have some doubts. Tigger is Tigergutt [tiger boy],
and the owl is Ugla (like in the name of the Filologiske forening
pub Uglebo). The next time you do not want to go out with your
friends, just ligge bjørn [be a bear]. Stay home in your pyjamas
and watch some cartoons in Norwegian. Mikke Mus is also fun
på norsk.
The little kid in you should also take note that stuffed animals
are known in Norway as kosedyr. Children thus learn early the
ELGINT // 29