The First Fantoft Festival marked the end of exchange for many international students and the beginning of their journey home.
Erik Lavik, festival organiser, felt this was a good opportunity for exchange students to say goodbye. The International Students Union (ISU), Erasmus Student Network (ESN) and TU Fantoft were all onboard to help out. Fantoft Student Housing is home to many exchange students who only come for a semester or two abroad.
Guaranteeing you «Six hours of Peace, Music and Love»!»
The First Festival at Fantoft Student Housing was a new concept introduced by Erik Lavik this year. He says he hopes to bring internationals and Norwegians closer together, and the festival on Saturday brought much needed relief after all of the exams.
Music, hot dogs and the rain
To get people in the party mood; hot dogs, DJs and games were provided for the festival. After a few hours lots of students came out in the rain to dance, walk the tightrope and share their last moments in Bergen together.
– The only problem is the rain, says Lucas Benincá.
He is on exchange from Brazil, and says he was having a lot of fun playing football.
Turn that racket off
Some students were frustrated by the noise coming from the festival during exam time.
– 7 hours of overloud bass lines making your window shaking, says Matous Jelinek.
He and other exchange students voiced much of their concerns on the Fantoft Student Group. Some even threatened to call for Securitas or contact SiB.
Erik Lavik, Festival host, said they had forewarned SiB, Securitas and the police.
– Come on you have the libraries out there. It’s not that big a noise, he says.
Sad to leave
A Spanish exchange student, Clara Elena Martínez, loved the experience of getting to know people from around the world.
– I will miss sharing their culture and traditions, she says.
Jhonnatan Carvalho, from Brazil, says he really hopes to come back one day. He thinks he could find a job and be back in such a beautiful country again.
– The nature is something that fascinates me.
Carvalho said he really enjoyed hiking and being in Bergen.
The open air concerts and festivals made Bergen an exciting city to live in for Martìnez as well.
For her ERASMUS was a precious chance to understand the culture of Scandinavia a bit better.
–Totally opposite the weather, the architecture, everything, she says.
Post-Erasmus Depression
Many Students have also been said to experience depression after their ERASMUS experience.
When they return home they feel differently about their own countries and nostalgic about their time away.
