THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, June 1, 1995 TAG: 9505310131
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Teens At Large
SOURCE: BY KATHERINE STEWART, HIGH SCHOOL CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
When a group of Norwegian exchange students came to the United States in the fall, they came with impressions of a violent country riddled with drugs. But they soon figured out that television shows and movies did not portray the real America.
The impression that 15 Nansemond-Suffolk Academy cultural exchange students had of Norway before they left this spring was that this was a teenager's country because the drinking age is 18. There were also images of beautiful snow-covered mountains, fiords and Norwegian sweaters.
As cultural exchange students, we were scared that we would not be able to communicate with the Norwegians, and that we might get lost in a foreign country. However, almost everybody spoke some English, which was a big relief.
I stayed with a host family in Moss, Norway and attended Kirkeparken High School. The schools allowed students more freedom than the private school I go to, and possibly a slight bit more than public schools.
There were 10-minute breaks between classes and students were allowed to smoke. If you had a free bell - most students did - you could leave campus to go shopping, home or anywhere you wished.
The students did not have to eat lunch at school; they could go into town to eat. There was no real penalty if you skipped school, no note was needed from your parents. You just could not miss more than 10 to 15 percent of the days school was open.
An 18 year-old's dream in the United States is to be able to get into bars, discos or clubs. Well in Norway it is reality. Their alcohol drinking age is 18, but to buy hard liquor you have to be 21.
The people under 18 try to get into clubs, but it is hard. If they cannot get in, they usually stay home, go to a friends house or a party somewhere.
But imagine waiting until you are 18 to get your driver's license. In Norway it is very expensive, from $700 to $1,000, to get one. Cars in Norway are very expensive compared to the prices here. A Volkswagen bug costs over $10,000, one teacher told me.
However, a car is not much of a necessity for teens in Norway. They either ride with their parents, take a bus, bike, train or taxi. The main form of transportation in Norway is walking. Many people, no matter what age, walk where they need to go.
Norway is across the Atlantic Ocean and it seems like they would do everything different. Actually, the lifestyles are very similar. ILLUSTRATION: ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Katherine Stewart is a junior at Nansemond-Suffolk
by CNB