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FOMATPLAY: okay well thanks Sindre very much for accepting this interview SINDRE: no problem FOMATPLAY: with me so I don't know anything about you as we just met a few minutes ago SINDRE: yeah FOMATPLAY: so uh would you mind just please telling me where you come from SINDRE: yeah FOMATPLAY: where you grew up SINDRE: yeah I'm from Norway I'm from a small village and I did my first years of school at that village which is like about thousand people maybe um and when I started um like higher education I I had to go to a big city and I chose Bergen uh so I started doing first of all I started some economic classes but I found out this was not for me so I did one year of um economics and then I changed my course to informatics or software engineering so I did my bachelors in Bergen um with a friend of mine which I also came here with um and then in yeah in um Informational Science and then we did our um master's degree together also in Software Engineering um and this was we finished it last year uh and during our time while we were doing our bachelors and masters we were thinking about doing like an exchange program to just travel a bit explore uh but we didn't really get to it so when we finished our Masters we thought just why not just take a year in France and so we're only here and that's how we decided to go to France um and we're only here to learn French and just have a kind of fun explore like a year of exploring and yeah FOMATPLAY: so what was the first option because you said just before something didn't work out to go overseas SINDRE: no I I was uh I started um just my education I started with economics classes but I didn't really feel like economics was the thing for me so yeah I just change it to informatics because I have a like a I don't know what it's called in English but um I have some background in um it's like it's a kind of it's it's kind of software engineering but it's like it's not on a higher educational level it's like lower somehow um and then I wanted to change and that's why I chose economics and then I changed back because I didn't like economics so that's why I started yeah my software engineering yeah journey I guess FOMATPLAY: so right now you're at the beginning of this journey here SINDRE: yeah FOMATPLAY: this experience SINDRE: or yeah we uh we actually came here in September I think uh and we're going back home in May or June I'm not sure yet FOMATPLAY: how did you choose Perpignan SINDRE: um um first of all we didn't know any French so we had to find like university or a place where they accepted a warm students which we found to be quite rare cause we had to really search in order to find someplace that accepted something below A2 um which is that's one of the reasons why we chose Perpignan and the other reason is because we wanted to go as far south as possible while still being in France and because of the weather cause obviously it's much nicer than in Norway and so like it was like a combination of the two and yeah Perpignan when we researched it seemed nice just like a it's not too big of a city but it's not too small either so yeah FOMATPLAY: and how did you manage to do all that without speaking French like you know here we know that English is not really a common second language SINDRE: yeah well finding this place was easy but when we had to um rent find an apartment to rent it was kind of a problem uh cause first of all we didn't know what websites to use but we found one called Leboncoin or that's the English pronunciation at least um and we tried to message some people but no one answered probably because we were speaking English um and then we uh I think like a week before um we had to go we found like an Airbnb so when we came down here we had a had a week of Airbnb and then during our Airbnb stay we had to find like a proper apartment to rent um but like I think two days before we started we found uh I think three or four different apartments all of a sudden they started answering us like I don't know why probably FOMATPLAY: those from Leboncoin SINDRE: yeah yeah uh probably just time pressure I guess to get their apartments rented out um so yeah we got on we went on I think three different apartments to just see if it was nice and yeah we found a good one FOMATPLAY: yeah where do you live SINDRE: uh Moulin à Vent FOMATPLAY: uh huh oh quite close SINDRE: oh yeah it's like yeah two minutes um and we also cause we were interested in living with another person preferably French cause we wanted to learn French um but we found an apartment with an American guy but he'd been living in France for six years I think so he was for us at least fluent in French um and since he also spoke English it was kind of perfect FOMATPLAY: but you're never speaking French with him SINDRE: no no that's the problem yeah that's also the problem since we're living we're two Norwegian guys living here in France and yeah we were trying to like find a person to live with in order to force ourselves to speak French but we're just talking in Norwegian all the time we're trying to like force ourselves even now to speak French but it's hard FOMATPLAY: because you guys are staying together SINDRE: yeah FOMATPLAY: you're not really meeting are you meeting other people SINDRE: yeah FOMATPLAY: locals and SINDRE: yeah we're meeting people uh both through uh our roommate FOMATPLAY: uh huh SINDRE: cause he has French friends and also just our classmates and their friends and yeah FOMATPLAY: no your classmates aren't French SINDRE: no they're not French but their friends FOMATPLAY: oh yeah SINDRE: are French so yeah it's like via via kind of thing and also um this university has like um I think a really good system or an offer of free sports FOMATPLAY: uh huh SINDRE: and we use um we didn't find out which was kind of sad until like November um but they have free paddle and free tennis and yeah a lot of sports but we do paddle and tennis or a bit of tennis but mostly paddle and we've met some people through that and we also like the uh I don't remember his name but like the coach or yeah he's kind of a coach um he forces us cause we explained our situation and he forces us to speak French or at least try which is kind of funny and yeah FOMATPLAY: I could have forced you maybe (uncertain) SINDRE: no it would have been like half a minute FOMATPLAY: (LAUGHS) SINDRE: so yeah yeah I think it's yeah and just in general speaking to go back to like the problem with English and French um in the beginning we had not huge problems but we had problems just communicating with people cause like at stores if you were to ask for something they didn't understand anything um and when they said something to you don't understand anything so I answer I don't speak French do you know English and then it's just nope and yeah and I feel like cause before I came I was told by like the older people home like my dad and stuff you need to learn French before you go cause they don't know English and I thought uh this is just the old days like it's a myth kind of but it was actually true haha people don't know very much English or at least the older people I guess I think most young people know English here or to some degree FOMATPLAY: you never learned even a single word like what were what were your languages at school before SINDRE: no cause I I went to a small school and we didn't have um many choices I had um or the choices were like it's kind of a specialization in Norwegian like the language thing was specialization in Norwegian or German that's the only two options um so I chose German because specializing in my own language is kind of boring but yeah but at the same time I didn't really have a I didn't really want to learn German it was like I just had to do it FOMATPLAY: yeah so when we were young we don't know these things SINDRE: yeah uh which and now I feel like it's kind of sad cause I would have liked to know a bit more languages um but yeah I never never had the option to choose French at all so FOMATPLAY: it's really a big challenge SINDRE: yeah cause when we first came the first class we had to like cause we were supposed to take a test right at home and then so they could like arrange us uh according to our level yeah um and when we came here we had to speak to the the professor and just try to say as much as possible in French just what's your name and blah blah and I couldn't say anything right so the deal was kinda okay yeah you're A1 and yeah so it was like at the bottom of the barrel I don't know FOMATPLAY: how did how do you feel you improved since SINDRE: hmm I feel like cause we're in a class with a lot of Spanish speakers it feels like there's a lot of Spanish speakers in Perpignan in general um so during our classes I feel like we have our our different strengths and I feel like the easiest thing for me and my mate was like the pronunciation of some of the sounds which was hard for the Spanish speakers like the *u* and *eu* kind of uh because we have those sounds in origin uh so I think pronunciation is not the worst but the problem is the vocabulary cause I'm not able to to like form sentences because my vocabulary is so bad and I feel like the Spanish speakers they have an edge on the vocabulary front cause languages well they're different but they have some of the same words right um so I think in the beginning it was kinda like in the very beginning it was it went quite well uh and during our first semester I think I did okay but this semester uh we're combined with cause we're I'm A2 now or going towards A2 but we also have B1 point 1 I think uh people in our class and they're obviously a level above so uh I think our curriculum is for those people so it's kind a bit above me which makes it hard cause I have to catch up and since I already struggle with the vocabulary it's hard to like perform at the same level if you want as last semester so I feel like I'm not super bad but uh it's hard it's much harder this semester than last because of the like the jump was a bit too big for me at least yeah so FOMATPLAY: do you mind if I ask you like you're speaking about vocabulary how do they teach you vocabulary is about list of words something like this or SINDRE: um FOMATPLAY: is it a question of memory remembering the words or SINDRE: I think no I think it's just a question of putting in the work to be honest to cause I think that's one of the things you have to do at home kind of it's like for me at least it's the most important thing to do at home cause like in class we go through like the nitty gritty of grammar and and time forms and what not and the vocabulary is like if she or if we have a task and yeah read a task and if you don't understand a word or something ask me and that's how we learn vocabulary it's not like here are ten important words practice it for next week or whatever so I think we have to practice or just memorize words on our own mostly and then just when it comes up if it's like a hard word or something we'll go through it in class but yeah mostly just you have to work on your own FOMATPLAY: are you doing other things by your own to improve your French like I don't go listen to music or watch TV SINDRE: I tried to watch some shows or some it's like a reality show kind of thing in French uh or YouTube videos but it feels like the French we learn is kind of different to the French they're talking it's not really it's not huge but it's enough to make me feel uncomfortable with hmm is this really what he's saying or yeah uh so I feel like it's kind of hard and also I've only just started cause I feel like if I would have done it like in the first semester I would have been too bad in French to even understand anything so everything would just go above my head kind of so I think I'm starting now to understand like or be able to watch simple simple stuff on YouTube or yeah whatever and FOMATPLAY: you're putting the subtitles SINDRE: yeah or the other way around but usually if I listen to something in French it's English subtitles yeah but I try to I try to just um understand it by listening and not reading but yeah it's hard especially when there are subtitles yeah often just read it yeah FOMATPLAY: and how's your friend going is he doing better than you or SINDRE: I think we're in the same kind of boat yeah FOMATPLAY: is he following the courses with you the same ones SINDRE: yeah yeah yeah we're doing the same courses FOMATPLAY: okay SINDRE: and yeah we we try to like force ourselves when we're not at home or out doing something we try to force ourselves to speak French with each other but the sentences we form are so bad kind of that we understand each other but if we were to tell someone else or ask someone else the same thing he would ask me they might not understand cause we've we've learned like some yeah bad kind of French I don't know it's weird it's kind of funny as well yeah FOMATPLAY: yeah so you you told me earlier but I forgot um when are you going back SINDRE: uh we're going back either I think our lease ends the first of June okay so FOMATPLAY: why are you not spending the summer here SINDRE: yeah uh the thing is our classes end at I think it's it's either fifth of April FOMATPLAY: uh huh and then or the course is the course ends at fifth of April and then we have two weeks of vacation or something and then there's a *rattrapage* week which is like catch up on things you didn't yeah if some of the professors were um well if they didn't have a class during our semester they're gonna have it that week kind of or if you missed some exams or something um so yeah I think we're done like the fifth of April which means we have almost two months of just being in France which is kind of enough and I also don't have that much money so yeah need to get home and start working FOMATPLAY: I wonder you've been so after you'll be back in Norway and so you will have spent almost a year in France maybe your mastery of French won't be that high SINDRE: yeah FOMATPLAY: not as much as expected I suppose SINDRE: yeah FOMATPLAY: how do you think it will stay in your life or in mind do you think after you'll tell yourself oh no I haven't learned enough I have to go back in France or or it will just be something that maybe you'll totally leave on side SINDRE: one of the things I would like to accomplish is to know enough French to be able to let's say um if we're listening to a song or something in French I could kind of recite it just for fun to my friends or something or talk in French or I guess I could talk in French to them cause they don't understand but um just be able to to communicate well enough that I don't like huh what are you saying like asking all the time uh and I'm not sure how I would be able to keep it up kind of I guess yeah I would have to put a lot of effort into it and I'm not sure that's gonna work cause I feel like I have to live around French people in order to actually maintain the same level even though it's low so yeah I think it's gonna be hard FOMATPLAY: so when when you came here you were more attracted by the country than by the language right SINDRE: well the reason we came here and not Spain is because of the language FOMATPLAY: uh huh SINDRE: but I I think it's just it's a language that sounds really nice and I I like like the for me it feels like it has a lot of um weight kind of in the world in some way I don't know how to explain it um and we we just agreed it was not like a deep conversation or anything it was just yeah we like French why not just try and also I didn't realize how hard it was to learn cause I think it's really hard cause in Norwegian we don't have all the like the different um time forms and all of that stuff and the grammar is it's hard to know since I'm Norwegian but it feels easier for a first or for a guy who's learning it for the first time so yeah it was harder harder than expected um but yeah FOMATPLAY: do you think you would have learned much easier not being into those courses but simply maybe coming by yourself and being thrown out in a French family or with a French community with in in a flat and only French guys without having the explicit explanations about the grammar and not being stressed by the formal um aspect of the the language SINDRE: yeah I guess I would have had an easier time learning how to speak French but I have like in general I have a hard time learning things if I don't know like I have a hard time learning sentences if I don't know what the sentence consists of like different parts FOMATPLAY: you have a scientific approach you need to SINDRE: yeah and that's the thing with French cause I use English as my base to learn French which is kind of hard cause you can't translate things like one to one in a sentence it's kind of like some words change places like yeah it's kind of hard to uh to like map words to a French sentence so I guess if I would have just memorized okay this sentence in French means this it would have been fine but I'm not too comfortable learning that way I need to like take it apart and learn the pieces of it or yeah but I feel like I would have I would probably have learned more or learn to talk French more if I would have lived in with a French family or yeah just being alone I guess for sure FOMATPLAY: how's your understanding I I guess it's the area where you felt the biggest progress right (uncertain) understanding conversations yeah SINDRE: um well I think as for most people uh reading is the easiest part FOMATPLAY: yeah SINDRE: cause then you have time to um to like try to understand the sentence as a whole as well as well if you understand most of the sentence you could probably guess what the the unknown word is kind of as I feel like reading um is okay uh understanding is also okay if people are speaking slow and like articulating the words nicely FOMATPLAY: which they don't really do SINDRE: no SINDRE: the teachers do but when you're speaking to like people in the streets and yeah it's just yeah like with any language it just sounds like one word FOMATPLAY: (LAUGHS) SINDRE: and also I feel like we've had some some exercises where we're listening to a a song and then we're trying to okay write down what you can hear or understand like phrases or words or something and a lot of the times people um they like put words together FOMATPLAY: as a block SINDRE: yeah like *je suis* is *chuis* or I don't know people like they just it's a different sound and it throws me off if I don't see the words cause it hmm this is not a sound I'm used to so it can't be the same thing as them apart cause it sounds different right and so I think that's kind of the difficulty with listening to French for me cause people combine words which are not combined in writing I guess FOMATPLAY: absolutely SINDRE: um so yeah it's and also just like tiny um not dialects but like uh accents I guess there are some small differences I feel like uh which kind of throws me off sometimes which makes it hard um so yeah it's just have to really pay attention and people have to speak slow and have good diction I guess FOMATPLAY: so apart from language have you been kind of what what did you discover about French culture coming here that you weren't really expecting or what what were your first feelings about you see SINDRE: yeah since I'm from Norway we're kind of passive and just introverted so like when we walk outside we don't like we don't talk much I guess it's my point uh and in French or in France I feel like people are much more I wouldn't use exactly friendly but something in that area cause it feels more friendly cause people are more like um they're approaching you and talking to you more than they would in Norway um and just some small examples are when you enter a store for example you say *bonjour* or *bonsoir* or whatever in Norway you don't say anything uh it's just you might say hello when you uh when you're gonna pay your stuff or pay for your stuff when you're leaving uh and also at the buses you say I guess you say hello when you're entering in Norway sometimes but in France you also I feel like people shout like thank you to the bus driver when they're leaving the bus or getting off which is not normal in Norway at all as it's just some like the small things when you meet someone at the door you say hello it's all just small things it's it feels kind of uh obligatory in a way in in France to be like super polite and um yeah just be super polite and talk to people or say hello and goodbye and stuff um but it also it's hard to explain but it also doesn't necessarily feel warm cause as I said it feels like an obligation so when people do it it's just okay I just have to do it so people are not necessarily smiling when they're saying hello so it doesn't I guess for me it doesn't really mean too much FOMATPLAY: it's just more like a habit SINDRE: yeah it's just a habit and it's yeah that's why when I try to explain I wouldn't necessarily use the word more friendly cause it just feels like a habit but it's more like people people are more conversational I guess it's the kind of the difference but yeah I think other than that it's probably not that big I didn't have like a big cultural thing or a cultural shock or it was yeah it was mostly the same as back home FOMATPLAY: generally speaking so when you're walking do you feel like people look at you like a stranger or they don't really care so SINDRE: not really people always like they start the conversation in French and then I say I can't speak French then it's just then it's kind of like there's no more conversation cause they don't know how to speak English um but yeah I don't feel like it's oh he's a stranger or something FOMATPLAY: would you be able to say how it is with foreigners in Norway cause I have no idea so like pretty much the the same SINDRE: um well I would I'm not sure but I think as we're more like logically as we're more introverted it would be harder maybe for a single or for a person going alone to integrate into the society cause people don't like open up as much I feel like um which makes it hard for people to make friends or to like join a group of friends like a circle or something um but I feel like if we know the situation of the person coming to Norway it's usually not a problem to just include him in the friend circle or whatever just if it might feel a bit more difficult as we're more like naturally introverted and yeah FOMATPLAY: what would be your advice if I had to go to Norway to get to get more easily integrated SINDRE: I don't know I I I don't think you you would have a problem it's just yeah FOMATPLAY: without speaking a word of Norway of course SINDRE: yeah FOMATPLAY: Norvegian I mean sorry SINDRE: um no FOMATPLAY: in a small town SINDRE: I think I think the reason you would be fine is because you know English well FOMATPLAY: oh yeah SINDRE: if a like a person who doesn't know English is going to Norway that could be a problem but if you know English you're good because everyone in Norway knows English and at a quite good level I think so yeah um for foreigners who don't know English I'm not sure I guess I would try to learn English or Norwegian first and then FOMATPLAY: have you met yourself a lot of foreigners when you were in Norway before during your youth or SINDRE: um no not in my youth cause I came from a really small place um and there were no like new people coming ever so but when I went to Bergen um yeah through my bachelor's and my master's degree I met some people but they knew English so was no problem um yes I've never really had to use or my when I communicate with strangers in Norway I've never had to use translate or anything and yeah so it's not comparable to here because here I have to use translate for like for example the Spanish speakers in my class when we first met we didn't know any French and they don't know English so we can't communicate which is kind of it's kind of annoying when you're in the same class and you're trying to have a good time together so you can't you can't really do anything outside of class cause you don't know how to communicate and it's it's so much of a hassle to to use translate all the time just to say simple things um but yeah I've never like I think that's the difference between the two but also I'm the stranger in France so yeah FOMATPLAY: what did it bring to you to be what did this did this experience um give you for for for the rest of your life for example like what will you be telling about it when you will be older you think did you change SINDRE: um FOMATPLAY: did it how SINDRE: I'm not sure um I think it's first of all I met some really nice friends or some nice people which I think are gonna be my friends for a long time even though I'm going back cause we plan to like travel and meet each other um and also it kinda cause I'm also kind of an introvert like even in Norwegian terms FOMATPLAY: (LAUGHS) SINDRE: um so it kind of opens me up a bit it's kind of forces me which is part of why I wanted to do an exchange or just travel to another country um and makes me kind of more open to new stuff I guess and also yeah just the experience of being in another country like in general the small cultural differences and yeah no I don't think anything huge FOMATPLAY: maybe you'll see it later SINDRE: yeah maybe maybe FOMATPLAY: so what are your plans when you're going back to Norway SINDRE: um my plan is to get a job um which I'm I need to apply for pretty soon um and yeah then it's just work I guess like a normal nine to five boring job (LAUGHS) and then yeah I'm gonna start there and then we'll see maybe if I'm yeah maybe I'll just explore cause there's a lot of like remote work nowadays and since I'm a software developer I don't need to be in a specific place so maybe I'll explore the possibilities of travel while working or something but yeah just to start with just find a job FOMATPLAY: so if if you had a choice you would rather be able to be independent with your work and not being stuck in an office or in a company or SINDRE: for sure FOMATPLAY: yeah SINDRE: yeah we've also thought about it me and my friend um cause we would both like that more than just nine to five at an office with a boss kind of thing FOMATPLAY: and die SINDRE: yeah um so we've uh we've tried before like doing some small projects and we're also just started a new project which we will hope comes to fruition in a way that earns us some money maybe um FOMATPLAY: cool can you tell me a bit about it SINDRE: yeah it's just um cause we're both on LinkedIn um and one there was one guy contacting my friend asking if he wanted to try something new or if he was ready for a new project cause we have our old projects on LinkedIn um and he said yeah sure let's have a meeting and see what's up um and then he proposed uh first to him and then he asked me so he proposed to us to be co founders of a new app called Swaps which is an English name uh it's and it's just um yeah I don't think it's confidential uh FOMATPLAY: we can say just roughly SINDRE: yeah it's just it's just an app um uh where we facilitate uh swapping things instead of it it's like if you envision like a marketplace like Facebook Marketplace for example people put out stuff like a bicycle or a guitar or something and they usually demand money right but this is like more of a Tinder like idea where you swap items like one to one items instead of um instead of buying it from each other so it's not like a marketplace it's just more supposed to be a fun and um kind of interactive or new way of yeah um trading items I guess FOMATPLAY: yeah SINDRE: and also you might uh find something you didn't you didn't know you needed or wanted yeah FOMATPLAY: hmm SINDRE: this seems kind of nice and then can ask for a swap so it's like it's like a Tinder system you you accept or you like and if the other person likes it's a match and then you like just talk to each other and find out the details and yeah FOMATPLAY: that's the original point that's cool because you know these things already exist at a local level SINDRE: yeah yeah FOMATPLAY: on WhatsApp in a small village people say SINDRE: yeah FOMATPLAY: I need this I borrow and in exchange I SINDRE: and it's it's almost or it's always like manual or analogue I guess people are like having like in the streets like in Perpignan um I think um well I guess it's a market where you buy but um people have like arranged meetings where they swap things but it's like in person which is not it's not scalable right so yeah it's just a fun way of FOMATPLAY: and it's quite related to the fact that you don't like economics cause you know somehow it's it's SINDRE: yeah FOMATPLAY: the other side of what should be economic trade today like no considering the world and blah blah blah things have to make sense so you're in other words you're participating SINDRE: yeah FOMATPLAY: to make the world more modern in a good sense yeah SINDRE: and it's also good for the environment right FOMATPLAY: of course SINDRE: people throw less things away and yeah FOMATPLAY: yeah okay cool speaking about boundaries like you guys are not in the European Union but you are in the Schengen space SINDRE: yeah FOMATPLAY: um do you have any opinion about the fact of joining Europe or not at all or it's not something you think about or SINDRE: it's not something I think about at all FOMATPLAY: okay but when you came uh were you thinking that um the the Schengen space was something you were taking advantage of and uh were you also thinking about it like oh I could go anywhere in Europe because of that or SINDRE: yeah the thing well I kind of take it for granted right cause I don't think about it but if I think about it it's I realize it's really nice cause we can just travel where we want and um also a lot of like for example my my phone like my subscription phone subscription I can use it anywhere in Europe with the same or for the same price as I would just in Norway which is I take it for granted but it's really nice and I feel or I've heard like people coming from in our class coming from America or uh other places like the Latin America they have some struggles like they have to get a French number they have to do this do that like um so yeah I feel like I kind of take it for granted but I know I have some privilege I guess in that sense but it's not something I think much about FOMATPLAY: maybe you would think about it suddenly like what how would you feel if if all of a sudden you guys had a kind of a Brexit but just for the Schengen space like SINDRE: yeah FOMATPLAY: the boundaries back again SINDRE: yeah then I think I would pay more attention to yeah for sure and also one thing that's kind of annoying which is not necessarily the Schengen thing but like in Europe cause some of the politicians in Norway want the euro which would be kind of nice uh cause when we or the last few years like the conversion rate I guess um has gone really bad for Norway cause we have to pay a lot of Norwegian Krones to get one euro and I think like even five six years ago it was like eight Norwegian Krones for one euro and now it's like maybe twelve or thirteen which is kind of annoying but it's yeah things it's still cheaper in France usually than in Norway but it's yeah that's the only thing that's kind of annoying for me FOMATPLAY: so you personally you would you would go for euro SINDRE: I don't think I don't have like a personal FOMATPLAY: it's hard to have SINDRE: yeah I don't cause I don't know like the underlying stuff so FOMATPLAY: yeah SINDRE: it's kind of foolish to give an opinion FOMATPLAY: of course SINDRE: so yeah FOMATPLAY: um another word about Brexit did you did you feel anything when you heard about it in two thousand and sixteen I think SINDRE: like personally SINDRE: yeah FOMATPLAY: or around you or SINDRE: no not really FOMATPLAY: did it make kind of noise around you or SINDRE: not really FOMATPLAY: not really um so you are following courses in the *CUEF* SINDRE: hmm hmm FOMATPLAY: okay so I cannot ask you not really you tell me if there's no answer um what would you say are the main differences between the school systems educational at at your university SINDRE: yeah um yeah I don't know if it's because of the class we're in which is like a language class cause I never obviously never been in a language class in Norway um but I feel like the structure of the Norwegian school it's much more well it's more structural cause this feels like it's a lot it's a lot like manual work cause we I think we waited like um yeah this is not really the lectures themselves but just the school we waited like three months to get our student cards which is I didn't really need it for too much but it's kind of weird and it's also or I guess the reason seems like or seems to be that people are doing a lot of manual work they're like um asking one on one person like sending one mail to this person I need your this that and that but in Norway it's more like of an automated system where you if you have not uploaded these things you you're not getting anything and when you have you're getting it like a few weeks or days after maybe uh and in terms of just the teaching there's a big difference between the teachers I feel like here like the way they're teaching the curriculum um cause I feel like in Norway it would have been more like people are presenting the curriculum in the same sort of way it's like a plan you have to get through you do some tasks um yeah and you could ask for help or learn but here it seems like one of the classes or one of the teachers they're like really strict with the plan like in Norway uh which is fine and then some teachers just like today we're gonna do this kind of thing so and I don't really mind but it just it feels kind of weird in terms or when it comes to the exams at the end cause they're so wildly different in in like um the difficulty levels um so it doesn't really bother me I guess but it's just a difference between here and Norway I feel like FOMATPLAY: and in terms of efficiency cause you know there are this this big two different ways to teach SINDRE: yeah FOMATPLAY: more freestyle and SINDRE: yeah FOMATPLAY: more structured um without saying which one is better or not but in terms of uh efficiency simply do you think they they worth it not talking about exams um SINDRE: well it depends if the freestyle teacher manages to capture the level of the students then I think that would be maybe more efficient cause if you're strict and just going after a plan you you don't consider the differences in the class FOMATPLAY: you cannot adjust yourself SINDRE: yeah FOMATPLAY: in real time SINDRE: yeah so I feel like yeah it depends on the teacher I guess well you're doing absolutely great Sindre um yeah because there are some things I cannot ask like where is your home where do you feel you belong SINDRE: yeah FOMATPLAY: it's too many things I cannot go on this path um okay I've got some okay one maybe in terms of identity um would you say there are things in you that are typically Norwegian apart maybe from this what is what was the word SINDRE: introverted FOMATPLAY: introverted what would be the other that that you feel are typical in you SINDRE: hmm that's a hard question I'm not sure yeah I'm really not sure I don't think cause I don't have like a strong um like a strong need to to show that I'm Norwegian kind of not like a patriot I think in that sense of course I'm proud to be Norwegian but yeah it's not something I like yes yeah I don't I don't know it's not something I try to show or I don't think of me as being super Norwegian anyway I'm not like the Viking Norwegian people usually envision others to be but yeah so I don't think so FOMATPLAY: do you feel something else I don't know SINDRE: nah no I don't I don't think so no FOMATPLAY: because to some others I can ask them if you feel European or I don't know but SINDRE: yeah no I don't think no I don't feel like a special FOMATPLAY: anything SINDRE: no FOMATPLAY: okay I'll finish with some short questions at the end SINDRE: okay FOMATPLAY: uh first one is um because we're speaking about freedom of movement SINDRE: uh huh FOMATPLAY: if you could define what is for you freedom of movement in a few words what would you say if you could SINDRE: well I guess just being able to go where you please I guess without like having to uh without a lot of hurdles I guess FOMATPLAY: would you like to see this freedom spread all over the world SINDRE: well in a perfect world that would be nice but I don't think it's doable um so yeah for sure I like the idea of having Europe as like a place you can go wherever you want um but I also respect countries boundaries so it's kind of their decision but yeah I had in a perfect world it would be nice FOMATPLAY: what did you miss the most from your country when you were here all these months SINDRE: there's one food I missed or I I guess I should begin at the top which is my dog I miss my dog um and I think secondly I guess I should say family but I can talk to my family on the phone I can't talk to my dog on the phone um and also um yeah in terms of food you don't have a lot of deer meat FOMATPLAY: I'm sorry SINDRE: deer FOMATPLAY: deer the animal SINDRE: yeah FOMATPLAY: no no SINDRE: no you don't have the time for FOMATPLAY: in my village we do because guys are are chasing SINDRE: yeah SINDRE: hunting FOMATPLAY: hunting SINDRE: yeah FOMATPLAY: yeah that's the word SINDRE: yeah cause we in my village we're hunting like ten meters outside my door kind of cause I live on the mountains uh so my dad and my mom uh they hunt animals or hunt deers cause their population is just growing and growing um so yeah deer meat is something or and my dad is also a chef so he makes really good food with the deer meat so I miss those uh dishes a lot um and yeah besides that just yeah just like normal stuff friends and family and yeah but it's not like a it's not like a huge FOMATPLAY: pain SINDRE: yeah it's fine yeah FOMATPLAY: okay last one how could you define yourself SINDRE: in a few words FOMATPLAY: in a few words SINDRE: in terms of what FOMATPLAY: in terms of um okay if if you wanted what would you like people to remember about you not not after you die I mean but what would you like people to to say about you or what would your mom say about you or what SINDRE: yeah FOMATPLAY: see or what do you think is the most important thing we should recall after this interview about you SINDRE: hmm FOMATPLAY: something like that SINDRE: yeah that's different um I'm not sure about after this interview but I feel like people should be a good time to be around which I feel like I am kind of trying at least and I think well it's a boring answer but um yeah I feel like that's what I want people to remember me as just a good time I guess that's it FOMATPLAY: it was the last but not really last kind of kind of last SINDRE: okay FOMATPLAY: um sometimes I add if would you like to is there any message you would like to tell people people that are going to watch you do you have any SINDRE: not really FOMATPLAY: sometimes like they really want to say this one SINDRE: yeah no I don't really have anything yeah on the mind FOMATPLAY: your main dream for your life SINDRE: financial freedom I think and healthy relationships FOMATPLAY: well thank you very much then SINDRE: thank you FOMATPLAY: and good chance SINDRE: thank you