Since 1996 a group of Norwegian sixth form students has been coming to Cardiff to experience life and education in Wales.
This year, the group was smaller due to covid but this didn’t impact on the quality of the experience for the students. All of the nine students had a terrific time. They made great friends and enjoyed many opportunities to engage in sporting and cultural activities.
The group comes from the county of Vestland, which is twinned with Cardiff. They studied a wide range of A Level subjects at Cardiff and the Vale College whilst also studying Norwegian (which is a compulsory element of their education).
On Friday 10th June, the group came together with teachers, and the leadership team from Cardiff and the Vale College, friends, their host families and some family members from Norway to say farewell.
What a lovely evening it was! The celebration took place at Dosbarth restaurant situated on the fifth floor of the main Cardiff and Vale College building. It has stunning views over Cardiff and Penarth. The dinner was a lovely blend of Welsh and Norwegian dishes. The group was honoured with the presence of the new Lord Mayor of Cardiff, Graham Hinchey and his wife the Lady Mayoress, Anne Hinchey. It was a delight to have the company of Lisbeth Sjursen from Vestland Fylkeskommune who manages the educational exchange programme.
The Lord Mayor and some of the guests and Ivan Westley (Cardiff and Vale College Leader for the programme) gave lovely speeches about students and their successful academic year in Wales. The students themselves produced a slide show to celebrate the special moments of their year abroad.
Each of the nine students felt they had benefited from their year abroad. For Karoline Byrkne ‘meeting so many beautiful and amazing people has made my stay truly special and memorable.
For Nora Mowinck ‘the best part of my stay has been my amazing and beautiful friends. My host family is absolutely amazing and I have made memories I will never forget’. Ine Arntsdatter Leinum-Johnson said ‘the best part of my stay was getting to know new people, both from Norway and wales. Also getting to know a new culture and learning how to live in a different country and culture has been amazing.’
For Sara Børve ‘the best part of my stay has been the football and my friends. I have made memories and had the best year of my life.’
For Nathalie Liklefjære-Tertnæs the highlights were ‘getting to know new people through college and football, and all the things we’ve experienced such as the rugby, jubilee celebrations and football games’.
For Sebastian Birkeland the only boy in the group he found that ‘ the best part was getting to experience a completely different culture and learning about Britain and its history. I feel I have learnt a lot the past year and have become properly integrated into British culture.’
It was great to hear how much they all enjoyed and benefited from the experience.
We wish them all good luck in their exams and careers and hope that they will act as ambassadors for Cardiff and Wales on their return to Norway.
We look forward to welcoming the next cohort.
Welsh Norwegian Society 