2011-12 Orientation and Reception for Incoming Americans - Fulbright.no

Newly arriving US Fulbright students and several scholars gathered in Oslo on August 10-11 to learn about their host country and to get some practical advice about living in Norway as Fulbright grantees. In addition to orientation sessions held at the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Fulbright office, the grantees were honored at a reception hosted at the residence of Barry B. White, US Ambassador to Norway.

After mixing informally over lunch, the 25 grantees in attendance (out of 32 total for the 2011-12 academic year) were welcomed by Executive Director Petter Næss and then asked to say a bit about themselves and their Fulbright projects. The grantees are in a wide variety of fields and will live in nine different locations in Norway as diverse as Evenstad, Longyearbyen  and Oslo. Grantee introductions were followed by a presentation on Norwegian life and society given by Dr. Timothy Szlachetko, who has considerable experience working with immigrants in Norway.  Sessions for the day ended with information from the US embassy provided by Public Affairs Counselor Tim Moore and a panel of previous US Fulbright grantees who shared helpful tips based on their experiences.

That evening grantees attended a reception in their honor hosted at the residence of US Ambassador Barry B. White. In addition to Ambassador White, Minister for Research and Higher Education Tora Aasland and Anne Kari Ovind, Deputy Director General at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs addressed the new Fulbrighters. Following their remarks, grantees and invited guests had time to mingle over light food and drink.

Grantees and Fulbright staff gathered again on Thursday for additional orientation sessions. The day began with words of welcome from Liv Mørch Finborud, a Senior Adviser at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and member of the Fulbright Board. Grantees were then presented with a wealth of information for daily life on everything from what to do if they get sick to how to navigate online banking. Orientation concluded with a traditional Norwegian lunch at the Fulbright office which gave grantees a chance to sample bread and crisp bread with various types ofpålegg. Explanations of all of the foods were provided along with information about cost so that grantees could learn what they like and get a sense of what their grocery bills might look like. Norwegian tourism brochures were also available, as Fulbrighters are often keen on visiting other parts of the country.

Two short days is not a lot of time to absorb so much information, but Fulbright staff are confident that grantees are now well equipped for the year ahead. Lykke til!

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