Logan Spence - Short Film.

Here is a short film that I made of the time that we had in Voss Norway. Hope you enjoy. Have to say this has been one of the best experiences that we have had not only as individuals but as a group.

VossVind - Bryan's Log

When I arrived to my work placement at Active Brands today, my supervisor Ørjan said he had a surprise for me. "We are going to go indoor skydiving at VossVind". I'm still recovering from April Fool's day so I found it hard to believe but long behold, we went indoor skydiving! It's something I've really wanted to do so it was an amazing surprise.

Being in 125mph+ winds really made me start to miss Shetland.

Logan's Blog - Monday 11/04/16

This past Monday we went to Stramnes to see where Hanne, our friend from Norway who we met in Shetland, lives. 

We got on the 3:40pm train from Voss to Dale and then got a bus from Dale to Stamnes. When we arrived, Hanne's family had prepared a lovely meal of spring rolls with rice and then Oreo cake for pudding which we all enjoyed.

She also prepared for her Granddad to take us off on his boat down the Veafjorden to look at the beautiful scenery. He was also very kind and took us to Caveman ruins so that we could dock and go look at what it was like back then. After this, we had some fruit and chocolate that her gran had kindly prepared for us.  

Veafjorden 

Get to know us

Hello! Thought it was it was about time to introduce ourselves and say what we are doing in Voss. We are all students at Shetland College UHI and are studying different courses.

Bryan Mouat 

I am studying National Certificate Art and Design. I'm really interested in design and photography and my work placements here involve both of these, so I am really pleased to be able to get practical experience in these fields. My first work placement was at Myrkdalen, where worked in the office in Voss designing posters to promote one of their activities. I also got to go to the Ski Resort and take photos of some of the events for the company, which were really fun to see and document. 

My second placement is at ActiveBrands. My job there is to take promotional photos for the brand BULA. I get to lay out different outfit combinations and take pictures for their catalogue.

Eilidh Drummond

Hello! My name is Eilidh and I am currently studying the NC Health and Social Care at Shetland College.

My placement here in Norway is at Hagahaugen barnehage, a kindergarten in Voss.
The children range from 1 to 6 years of age and are split into four separate groups, based on their age. I am based in the “orange group” with 3 and 4 year olds, although the groups often merge together, so I’ve had the chance to meet everyone.

The children in Norway generally only begin learning English when they start school at 6 years old. This has meant that the language barrier can be a challenge for me at times, but a positive one, as I have enjoyed both learning and teaching new words. The children enjoy singing songs for me in Norwegian and find it funny to listen to me sing in English!
The staff I am working with have been really friendly and welcoming, and I have enjoyed working with them all.

Molly Peterkin-Tracey

HALLO! Is how I greet everyone in Voss and especially at my work placement. It gets big smiles. My name is Molly and I am originally from Coventry, however I have lived in Shetland since I was 9 years old. I am currently studying Access to Nursing NC at the Shetland College. I have applied to university and wish to become a nurse. In my spare time I enjoy flower arranging and dancing to music!

I am working Hagahaugen with the older adults. Most of them do not speak English and I believe this is will be my greatest challenge. I will be working in a respite care setting, where adults go for support in helping them live independently. 


Logan Spence

Hi my name is Logan and I’m studying National Certificate Digital Media at the Shetland UHI college. I am really into being able to trying new things with computers and being able to push my limits with different software.

My work placement is based at Voss gymnas, where I will be working on making tutorials for how to use Windows 10 and Internet explorer, as well as having to solve the problems on making a default start menu for all users that could be using their school login as well as creating a default wallpaper so that no matter who logs in they will be met with the same picture. I have also been making a staff laptop where I had to install all the right programs like Office 2013 and Adobe 2013, also I have been making spread sheets for their school ports so that they will be able to know what ports are at fault if any problems happen inside their network.

Yoel Howard

Salutations! I'm another student in this pleasant group studying Digital Media & Computing at National Certificate level in Shetland College UHI. I'm fascinated with the inner workings of anything to do with computing, both the hardware and software and the way they interact. And the digital arts such as image, audio, video and graphical design.

While on work placement here in Voss, like my classmate Logan, I work at Voss gymnas, in Hordaland fylkeskommune. In the past three weeks I have been working as a ICT Tech Support Assistant here, and it has been a very pleasant experience into what working in this field offers. As part of work here I have been helping various students at Gymnas fix software and hardware problems with their laptops, setting up another laptop as an information screen that will be mounted on the school hall wall for students, and digitalising old VHS tapes for teachers to use as reference to name a few. But all in all I am really enjoying my time working here!

Adam Nisbet

I am a modern apprentice as a joiner/carpenter. I am in my first year of my four year apprenticeship so I am very pleased to be able to come to Voss and study the Norwegian building techniques. My work placement is with Blink Hus, where we are building apartments for first time buyers. I've been helping with indoor construction of walls and panels. I have had the opportunity to work with new hand tools and power tools, as well as unique materials and Norwegian building standards. 

Bryan's Log - Sunday 10/4/16

The plan this Sunday was to go skiing at Myrkdalen, the largest ski resort in Western Norway. My first work placement was with the company Myrkdalen where I worked in the office which was a 5 minute walk from our accommodation and got to visit the ski resort twice to take promotional photos for the company, so I was familiar with the setting. I went with Logan and Eilidh on the 0830 bus to Myrkdalen and arrived there around half an hour later. We headed for the ski rental building and got Logan and Eilidh kitted out. We didn't really know what we were doing but managed alright somehow. I didn't want to go skiing but I wanted to visit Myrkdalen again and take photos for *the blog*. 

After taking photos and walking around Myrkdalen I got on the next bus heading back to Voss. It's an enjoyable journey: seeing rivers, waterfalls, trees and Nordic style architecture. 

The sun was out in all its glory in Voss. After arriving back to Rogne all of us not skiing (myself, Molly, Yoel and Adam) went out to the street and had lunch outside at Tre Brør Café (Three Brother Cafe) while basking in the sun and looking out at the snow covered mountains and half frozen lake. I wrote out postcards for my family and enjoyed having a relaxing time outside. This really made me want to spend more time outside at home, although I can say it's not so often you get days like this in Shetland. I also met one of the local statues that sits outside the cafe. She didn't say much.

A very one sided conversation

Having spent enough time in the sun relaxing, we went for a walk to visit one of the local shops where our friend Gry, who was in Shetland as part of the exchange, works (shoutout to Gry). On Sunday in Norway large supermarkets are, by law, required to be closed. This helps support smaller local shops. We went the "Rong" way but made it to the shop unscathed. On the way a local cat caught our attention. He seemed very "rustic" so we nicknamed him Tom Shabby.

Going the "Rong" way

Local cat "Tom Shabby" enjoying claps in the sun

Shopping and visiting over, we took the long way back to Rogne and along the way Adam showed me how to get to my next work placement, which I start tomorrow at Active Brands where I will be taking photos for a brand. It's a bit further away than my first placement but I'm looking forward to it.

"IT'S REALLY NICE HERE TAKE A PICTURE OF ME" Photo credit: Yoel Howard

Scenery on the way back to Rogne

Hello from Voss!

Just a little introduction: we are 6 students from Shetland College who are taking part in a work experience exchange in Voss. Since arriving in Voss on the 29th of March we have been busy with our work placements and exploring around Norway.

The student accomidation at Rogne Vidaregåande Skule is where we are calling home during our time here. It is near all of our work places and the main street which is very handy and the people staying here that we have met have been very friendly and helpful.

► Eilidh Drummond, Logan Spence, Bryan Mouat, Molly Peterkin-Tracey, Yoel Howard, Adam Nisbet

In front of the Voss sign