Internship Feedback

Uveřejněné zprávy z praxí neprošly ani jazykovou ani textovou úpravou. Proto, prosím, omluvte chybějící „hacky a carky“, stylistické a gramatické nedokonalosti textů.

Master's Zuzana Chalupská, CTU Prague,

ročník 5

About the country

Location of the place

Bergen is the second biggest city in Norway. It's located very close to the coast and surrounded by 7 mountains. This has definitely an effect on the weather in Bergen. It rains a lot there.

City

The most famous part in Bergen is a historical centre Bryggen, which is also a part of UNESCO heritage.
Because of the 7 mountains in Bergen, there are plenty of options for hiking and people hike a lot there.

Surroundings (possible trips, ...)

Peaks of 7 mountains (Ulriken, Fløyfjellet, Rundemanen , Sandviksfjellet , Damsgårdfjellet , Lyderhorn and Løvstakken)
Nordnes park, Festplassen, Gamlehaugen, Fantoft church, ...

Employer

I worked at Western Norway University of Applied Science. The campus was very nice and modern. The topic of my work was focused on low cycle fatigue behavior of a material. My supervisors were aware of Mechanical Engineering is not exactly my field of study so the topic and work was adapted to it.

Work description

I worked at Department of Mechanical Engineering. The work was focused on low cycle fatigue behavior of a material. I worked alone in an office and with my supervisors we had a meeting approx once a week. In the first 2 weeks I worked on the theoretical part of my work and read some literature about mechanical properties of a material. The next weeks I did the tests in the lab where we tested tensile strength and low cycle fatigue life. I wrote a report with the results and presented the conclusion to my supervisors.

Salary (sufficient for local conditions?)

I got paid 18000 NOK/month (27000 NOK in total). The salary was sufficient but you need to be aware of that you get the money later.

Language requirements

Everyone can speak English in Norway. So there was no problem with the communication at work or anywhere else.

Accommodation (price, who provided it)

My lodging was arranged by IAESTE and I paid 6500 NOK/month. Even though I tried to find something on my own on local websites (finn, hybel), I wasn't very lucky and got no answer or a landlord didn't want to sign a contract with someone only for 6 weeks. If you want to find something cheaper I reccommend to start in advance of your stay.
I shared a flat with my landlord and her small daughter. I had my own room, which was quite small but for 6 weeks it was fine. The flat was situated in Nesttun. It took me approx 15 minutes to get to work by public transport.

Social life

Meeting IAESTE members (pick-up at the airport, organized events...)

IAESTE made a WhatsApp group for all interns in Bergen, which was very useful. With the other interns we spent a lot time together and at the weekends went often together out of the city.

Meeting other foreign students

My work was quite independent and I didn't work in a group with other students. I shared an office with 2-3 Norwegian students, but we didn't work together.

Sport and culture

Norwegians in Bergen are very active and fit. A lot of people go running or hiking. Hiking is very popular in Bergen, especially because of Bergen is surrounded by 7 mountains with a beautiful view of the city.
There are many hiking opportunities in Norway and Bergen is a very good place from where to start. The Norwegian landscape is very beautiful and once your're there I recommend to travel as much as you can :)

Food, local specialties

It's very expensive to go to restaurants in Norway so I mostly cooked for myself at home.
Typical Norwegian speciality is a brown cheese. It is made with whey, milk, and cream, but the overall taste is sweet. Some people like it a lot and people people don't. But everyone loves cinnamon rolls. We ate it very often.

Other information

Possibilites to communicate with the Czech Republic

In Norway I can use my mobile data so there was no problem communicating with my family and friends from the Czech Republic. I used WiFi at work and at home .

Recommendations for students who will go to the same place

Select carefully the tax rate (otherwise you pay way too much). You may also be paid later than you expected so it's good to have enough buffer to survive without getting the money right away :)

What not to forget with you

waterproof clothing, hiking equipment (sleeping bag, pad, hiking shoes,..)

Benefits of the internship

meeting other international students, emprove language skills, travel

Cooperation with IAESTE in the foreign country

There was no problem with the application and at the beginning I had all information from IAESTE that I need. Before my internship it was quite confusing with the accomodation. I wasn't sure if I could count on IAESTE with arranging the accomodation for me. A lot of other interns had silimar problems.