Common living expenses for international students
- Student housing (SiA Housing): from NOK 3760 per month. Most rooms cost NOK 5000 or more
- Public transportation: NOK 36 for single ticket or NOK 73 for UiA-ticket (Kristiansand-Grimstad single ticket)
- Public transportation card for students (one month, whole Agder): NOK 595
- Public transportation card for students (one month, Kristiansand only): NOK 454
- Textbooks (one semester): NOK 1500-3500
- Coffee (student coffee bar): NOK 39–65
- Dinner (student cafeteria): NOK 40-100
- Dinner (inexpensive restaurant): approx. NOK 165
- Cinema ticket: approx. NOK 155
- Gym membership at Spicheren Gym (Kristiansand): NOK 839 / 2 months for international students, or NOK 419 without binding period
- Gym membership at Fresh Gym (Grimstad): NOK 299 / month or NOK 379 / month without binding period
- Trip to Preikestolen with Erasmus Student Network: NOK 1500 for a weekend
Food guide
In this guide, we delve into Norway’s food and beverage culture.
Supermarkets and chain stores
In terms of grocery stores and supermarkets, Norway has a standard selection, which you can find pretty much across all of the country.
You will soon become familiar with Kiwi, Rema 1000, Coop Extra and Coop Prix, among others. Our campuses in the cities of Kristiansand and Grimstad have some of these shops nearby, at walking distance.
It’s worth mentioning that almost all shops close on a Sunday in Norway – Sundays are for rest so workers will take the day off.
There is an app that many Norwegians check once a week: MatTilbud. This app displays all of the above-mentioned chain grocery stores and their weekly offers. It is always of great help, as you can filter through all the newsletters to shop the best deals!
When buying fresh produce in the supermarket, we recommend going for products that are currently in season - they will often be cheaper and taste a lot fresher!
Independent stores
It has become quite popular amongst Norwegians and internationals to go to Asian, Middle-Eastern and Eastern-European shops. Each city and town will have at least one of these, and there you can find a wide variety of international products as well as affordable fruits and vegetables.
Food dictionary
When arriving at a foreign country, shopping for ingredients can be a challenge. The best thing to do is to be prepared beforehand, by perhaps having a little ‘norsk’ shopping list! Here, we have compiled a useful set of vocabulary that will definitely come in handy when you visit our ‘matbutikken’.
Dairy products:
- Helmelk – whole milk
- Lettmelk – semi-skimmed milk
- Skummetmelk – low-fat milk
- Surmelk – sour milk
- (Mat)Fløte – heavy cream
- Rømme – sour cream
- Ost - cheese
- Brunost – brown cheese, a sweet cheese that has a hint of a caramel flavour
- Yogurt – yoghurt
- Kesam – quark
- Snøfrisk – cream cheese made with goat’s milk
- Kremost – cream cheese
- Smør – butter
Carbohydrates:
- Brød – bread
- Pasta – pasta
- Ris – rice
- Nudler – noodles
- Bygg – barley
- Havre – oat
- Knekkebrød – Scandinavian seed crackers
- Lompe – flatbread made with potatoes
- Pannekaker – pancakes
- Vafler – waffles
- Hveteboller – slightly spiced sweet buns, sometimes found with raisins or chocolate chips
- Havregryn – oatmeal
- Grøt – porridge, sometimes made with rice, oats, sugar, butter, cinnamon…
- Lefser – flatbreads often filled with sugar cream, and cinnamon
- Poteter – potatoes
- Kjeks – biscuits
- Hvetemel – wheat flour
Meat, fish and other animal products:
- Kjøtt – meat
- Fisk – fish
- Egg – egg
- Kylling – chicken
- Biff – beef
- Kalkun – turkey
- Skinke – ham
- And – duck
- Kaviar – spread made of fish eggs
- Makrell – mackerel
- Fiskekaker – fish cakes/burgers
- Laks – salmon
- Reker – shrimps
- Fiskepinner – fish fingers
- Ørret – trout
- Torsk – cod
- Pølse – sausage
- Kjøttdeig – minced meat
- Leverpostei – animal liver paté
Fruits and vegetables:
- Frukt – fruit
- Grønnsaker – vegetables
- Tomat – tomato
- Salat – lettuce
- Agurk – cucumber
- Paprika – pepper, available in gul (yellow), rød (red) and grønn (green)
- Mais – corn/sweetcorn
- Sopp – mushroom
- Grønnkål – kale
- Kål – cabbage
- Løk – onion
- Hvitløk – garlic
- Gulrot – carrot
- Erter – peas
- Blomkål – cauliflower
- Purre – leek
- Spinat – spinach
- Appelsin – orange
- Eple – apple
- Banan – banana
- Pære – pear
- Druer – grapes
- Jordbær – strawberry
- Bringebær – raspberry
- Blåbær – blueberry
- Skogsbær – fruits of the forest
- Vannmelon – watermelon
- Ananas – pineapple
Nuts, beans and seeds:
- Mandler – almonds
- Peanøtter – peanuts
- Haselnøtter – hazelnuts
- Bønner – beans
- Svartebønner – black beans
- Kikerter – chickpeas
- Linser – lentils
- Frø – seeds
Herbs, spices, oils, and toppings:
- Salt – salt
- Pepper – pepper
- Krydder – spices
- Kanel – cinnamon
- Timian – thyme
- Laurbærblader – bay leaf
- Gressløk – chive
- Ingefær – ginger
- Kardemomme – cardamom
- Gurkemeie – turmeric
- Basilikum – basil
- Olje – oil
- Sennep – mustard
- Syltetøy – jam
- Eddik – vinegar
- Pålegg – spread
Supermarket vocabulary:
- Matbutikken – supermarket
- Kurv – basket
- Penger – money
- Kvittering – receipt
- Pose – bag
- Mint – coin
- Kort – card
- Handlevogn – trolley
The lunch culture and the Norwegian meal structure
One of the most noticeable things in work and school culture is the matpakke concept. Mat means food, and pakke means package.
A Norwegian matpakke consists of several slices of bread that are topped with sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, ham, tomato mackerel, jam, cheese… It’s a quick, convenient lunch that is affordable and tasty.
You can bring each ingredient separate and assemble it quickly at lunchtime, or you can make it beforehand and take it in a lunchbox or wrapped up in some foil.
Norwegians usually have their lunch at half eleven (pretty early if you are from Southern Europe!) and then they have their breakfast early in the morning and their hot dinner at around four o’clock.
Weekly and annual food traditions
Here in Norway there are lots of different food traditions – some are weekly, and some are annually.
Taco Friday
A surprising tradition commonly seen in Norwegian households is ‘Taco Friday’/’Taco Fredag’. On a Friday, there will be a big spread of different components on the dinner table. Some of those include Mexican spiced beef, refried beans, jalapeños, sour cream, salsa, nachos, grated cheese, sliced cucumber, sweetcorn, iceberg lettuce, cubed tomatoes, warmed flour tortilla wraps. Everyone will sit around the table and help themselves freely, and build their own meal. At the dinner table, everyone reaches out to grab things as they please. This is known as the ‘Norwegian Hand’ and it might come as a surprise to people from other cultures. Here, table-manners are a bit different and people do not want to bother anyone during the mealtime.
Norwegian waffles
Another popular item in Norwegian households are waffles! Norwegian waffles are on the thinner side, but they are fluffy, soft and they have a tasty cardamom hint. You can expect to find different 'vafflebuas' hidden in the forest and mountains. That way, when you are on a hike, you might eventually end up by a waffle house, and then you can treat yourself to one (or two!).
The waffles are made in a special iron that shapes them into four hearts. The waffles are usually paired with a cup of black coffee, and some raspberry or strawberry jam or several slices of brown cheese. The best way to achieve nice slices of cheese is by using an 'ostehøvler' – a common staple to have on you during your time here in Norway.
Norway's National Day
The 17th of May (syttende mai) is the official National Day of Norway in which Norwegians celebrate Norway’s constitution and independence. The celebration is notoriously known for its food-culture. Norwegian children are often allowed to have as much ice cream and as many hot dogs as they want. They will often eat these during the city parade, and perhaps they will also join a barbecue.
Christmas time
Norwegians love to be festive and to celebrate each season with joy. Christmas is a particularly nice time to be in Norway. There are beautiful decorations everywhere, trees outside every shop entrance, lights in the city, and baked goods in all shops.
These baked goods are well-know for their spices: ginger, cinnamon, clove, cardamom, nutmeg, black pepper, among others. You can easily find big red boxes with lots of Christmas cookies inside. Keep an eye out for 'pepperkakker' (gingerbread), 'snipps', 'kransekaker', 'kokosmakroner' (coconut macaroons), and 'brune pinner'. These will ensure that you have an authentic Norwegian Christmas experience!
For the Norwegian Christmas dinner, that takes place on the 24th of December, families will lay out a feast. They will include 'ribbe' (pork ribs), 'lutefisk' (cod cured in lye), 'pinnekjøtt' (dry-cured lamb ribs), boiled cod, ham roast, turkey, potatoes, cloudberry sauce, parsnips and carrots.
Another nice Christmas tradition worth mentioning is 'julebrus'. Brus means soda, and jule means Christmas. Different places across the country have a different soda, that you can only buy when Christmas approaches. The typical ones in Kristiansand and Grimstad are red and brown.