By Katie Hawley

October 6, 2009

All schooling in Marita Evjen’s hometown of Vestre Jakobselv, Norway is free. 

So what brought the international student to Elmhurst College?

A senior, Evjen decided that Elmhurst, with its close location to Chicago, was a good fit for her career path. With her English major focusing on journalism, Evjen interned for the Norwegian Broadcasting Company (NRK), the largest media organization in Norway, where she worked as a journalist and a news anchor.   

“I mostly do radio [and] TV. If I’m not reading the news live on the radio I’m making the news,” Evjen said. “Everything I do ends up in our online newspaper.”

Her home in Vestre Jakobslev, a tiny town of 800 people, is located on the far North Eastern tip of Norway next to Vadsø. She lives so far north that there is 24-hour darkness in winter and 24-hour light in the summer. When asked how she gets any sleep in the summer Evjen replied, “Blinds. People are always asking me how I sleep, and I always tell them … blinds!”

Evjen lives in the midst of Norway’s fjords, the country’s most distinctive landscape marvels. They are formed from glaciers cutting the surrounding rock, which then create deep valleys. Located in the western part of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Norway has almost 70 percent of uninhabitable land from glaciers and mountains.

“It’s very beautiful,” she said. “My house is right next to the river and we’re surrounded by mountains and fjords.”

Having gone through another exchange program in Marengo, Illinois, as a high school student, Evjen is pretty accustomed to American culture. According to Evjen, there aren’t a whole lot of differences when it comes to the activities that college students do in their spare time.

“We listen to the same music basically and we eat the same things,” said Evjen. “We play soccer, go out, and enjoy nature.”

When it comes to the schooling system, however, Evjen said that the theory of education is much different than in America. Homework generally is not required and people’s reason for not attending college are not because they cannot afford it.

“They are all about us being independent,” said Evjen.

One of the wealthiest countries in the world, Norway is known for its successful fish and seafood export.

“We eat tons of fish,” said Evjen.

For the most part, Evjen prefers American food despite its greasiness.

“Norway is not really known for having good food,” said Evjen. “It’s harder to get ahold of healthy food here, though. Here, I never know what to eat.”

Evjen is spending her senior year at Elmhurst College and then heading back home to work. After graduating she hopes to return her job at NRK and continue as a journalist.