I am now officially, academically free! Today I had my last exam, a gruesome half hour Norwegian oral about a pious childrens' book from 1851, and having completed that, and all my other exams, with what I consider to be general success I feel free free free, it's lovely! I have been so busy of late, but it has been good in a number of ways. First and foremost I attended the translation conference that I was invited to: it felt quite wonderful to spend 3 days or so outside of the city in a charming hotel, eating delicious meals, meeting other translators, attending seminars and meeting some of Norway's foremost authors. (Even sweeter than all this was the knowledge that the Norwegian government covered the entire cost, hurrah!) For me it was also lovely to see friendly faces from the department back in Edinburgh, 3 of whom came along. Upon return I was faced with a mountain of revision and two more exams, but having now come past those, it feels joyous.
Back to reality, and I am slightly saddened to have to face the prospect of packing up my room. It is very nearly the end of my ERASMUS era! Just a week or so more and I am off to an array of things, most of which, interestingly, would never have come about had my year abroad not happened. Next week I return to Edinburgh for a fleeting 3-day visit: I have been invited to attend a second Scandinavian translation conference, this time being hosted by the University, and am combining my flying visit with seeing family, my lovely friend V who has been stationed in the Mediterranean all year, and picking up a wad of summer reading recently ordered on Amazon and currently awaiting me back at home. Following my quick stop in Bonny Scotland I am then heading out to Denmark, to a rather remote wee place marked below:
I have secured a summer job (together with my Swedish kompis, luckily enough) on the island where I'll be au pairing and working in a Nature Reserve and Cafe, which ultimately sounds like a busy way to spend a summer, but is exactly what attracts me to it. As a Scandinavian Studies student my interests reach beyond just the Norwegian language, and so spending a few months in Denmark will be a lovely and fitting way to round off my year, I hope!
Actually, on that topic I have to say how worrying it is to be out here when news of the funding cuts for language students are dominating back home: so many of us are unable to have our say, away on exchanges that prove exactly why Modern Languages are so vital! My own department are suffering a lot (despite the many protests that nobody will be adversely affected) and already my Option Courses for fourth year are looking to be becoming less 'Option' and more simply, 'Courses', myself and friends are partly dreading the return to whatever the department manages to offer (and I know they are trying very hard to accommodate us as well as massive cuts in funding, which is a nightmare for them as much as anyone). I can only hope things start to look up in the near future, though am not terribly hopeful and quite honestly, rather afraid of what my Honours year might amount to. Not a comforting thought whilst stationed abroad and unable to do much at all to combat such scary prospects.
Anyway, on the bright side I am now looking forward to my final weekend in Oslo! A party on Friday, some friends from Sweden on Saturday and early on Sunday we are setting out for an adventure on the Hardanger plateau: a few days of camping, and rumours of snow still in some parts!
