My first Norwegian month
Yes, it has been already one month and time flies in Bergen.
After reading more than 5,000 pages of Public Procurement, State aid, Norwegian
Law, Norwegian Culture and Health Law I have to say I am highly motivated. The
University of Bergen is a fantastic place to study; my colleagues are nice,
smart and warm people. They have really helped me with the acclimatization and
the city is beautiful.
I am now in the process of reading and coming up with
interesting/tentative ideas in which to base my next 4 years of academic work.
To all prospective PhD students out there: it is a challenging experience. We
go from the “what the law is” approach to “why the law is” approach. I have to
think not about what article applies here or what decision X said,
but rather think what legal problem is unsolved, which parts of the puzzle
do not fit, what is missing and, on top of that I need to come with something
new and creative!
As a suggestion for potential or even already on-going PhD
candidates I recommend reading the following book: How to get a PhD: a handbook for students and their supervisors by
Estelle M. Phillips and Derek S. Pugh. It is an easy to read, practical and
clarifying book. Take a look at it. There are other options available out there
but I had the chance to put my hands around this one.
Starting from this week I will try to post a summary of the
readings I have been doing with a brief commentary on the works and some
suggestions to other students/colleagues. I will try to keep this “habit” so
that at least you can get some suggestions/recommendations on which texts to
buy depending on what you need.
My Norwegian life
My life cannot be better as it is now. I love living. Norway
has provided me with the best of opportunities and I am really happy to be
here. I have a great job, I have new friends and I have met the person that
makes my days shine in rainy Bergen.
I love Norwegian food and, for the first time, I ate the
national lunch during the Sunday: one slice of bread, some thin layer of
butter, brunost (the famous Norwegian brown/sweet cheese) and some paprika. I
loved it!
 |
| Matpakke at its best |
I am scared I am becoming very used to this life style and I am
starting to become more and more Norwegianized. I am really looking forward to
start speaking the language (I love the sound of the Telemark dialect, different
from the Bergen one) and getting more intertwined with Norway.
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| Brunost, the national cheese |
In sum: if you are thinking about applying to a PhD position
in Law by all means consider the University of Bergen as a great option. My
experience here, so far, has been outstanding.
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