The Hazlehead students beside the Christmas tree in Oslo station.	The Scots and Norwegians meet at the Norwegian school.	Deputy Head, Harald, gives a tour around the school. No - its not come as you please day, that's how they always dress!	The spacious canteen - but it doesn't serve hot food.	The car workshop - including brand new Volvo and Toyota cars gifted to the school.
The carpentry workshop - but that looks like an Ikea bag on the floor.	In Norway, trains run on time - even with snow on the line.	Lynsey and Aaron, authors of the article below, at their reporters desks.	Alix working with special needs pupils at the school in Aas.	Bolerasen Skole in the snow.
Katie and Sam being quizzed by some primary pupils.	Sam shows a P7 pupil how to paint a log.	Danielle knows the children are making Santas like the one in the foreground.	Katie helps another P1 with her Santa.	Eoin and the Great Davido - a magical work placement.
Davido helps us meet our baggage allowance by attempting to chop up Lynsey.	A Christmas card scene from Norway.	The bike shed - Norwegian style!	Some Norwegian Christmas food is very different from our own.	but the creamy rice pudding went down a treat. Thanks to Annabel's mum who catered for 18! Tusen Takk.
How better to round off a wonderful evening but with some karaoke.	Katie and Alix present an A to Z of Scotland.	Eoin about to make his TV debut on TV Follo. Unfortunately it was not transmitted!	The great swap! trying to meet the baggage allowances!	Homeward bound.

Work Experience in Norway by Aaron Donald and Lynsey Morgan - Reporters
We are two students who are currently over from Aberdeen in Scotland, along with five other Scottish students and our teacher. As part of our work experience at "Østlandets Blad" (a local newspaper), we have been asked to write an article, telling you about our trip so far. This is the seventh year in which the exchange has taken place, and each year it proves to be a success. Our school is Hazlehead Academy, in the West of Aberdeen, and our exchange is with Ås Viderergående Skole. All of the Scottish students are either staying in Ås or Ski, with our teacher having the luxury of staying in a hotel! The purpose of our trip is to experience different cultures in a different country, and to undertake a week long work placement, whilst having fun at the same time.

We began our journey to Ås on Thursday at 6.30 am. In total the journey took 12 hours! Luckily for us, the plane from Prestwick was quicker than expected as we had a tail wind behind us to help push us along. We landed in Torp airport south of Oslo and on the opposite side f the Fjord from our destination. From there we took a bus to Oslo. At the train station in Oslo, we met the Norwegian teacher Hilde, who caught the train with us to our final destination, Ås. After meeting our hosts for the stay, all of the students parted their separate ways with their respective families.

The next day was spent in the school in Ås. It was very different to the one which we go to in Aberdeen. We found that overall, the school was much larger than ours, as we have about 200 less pupils. Also, the school which we attend in Aberdeen has children from 11-18 years old, though the school in Ås only has 16-18 year olds. Our first impression of the school was that it was very informal and much more relaxed. Pupils can call their teacher by their first names, do not wear a uniform, and do not need permission to leave their class. This is the complete opposite from our school, and we certainly do not sit in the corridors! We all attended the subjects which our partners had that day. Some of us were lucky, as the IB System which a few of them study means that all classes are taught in English, however, some of us found that we had to sit through classes which were taught in Norwegian! In the afternoon, we all attended a Norwegian lesson, and learnt some basic phrases, though we still need a lot of practice to say them correctly.

The next day we went to Oslo, to do some sightseeing. Unfortunately, it began raining in the morning, and didn't stop the whole day. That didn't stop our fun though. We visited the Oslo Opera House, and we were impressed with the look of it, both inside and out. We then carried on our walk, which took us to a a Norwegian tourist shop, which was owned by one of the Norwegian student’s mum. After buying presents for our friends and family, we visited a typical Norwegian Christmas market. We all agreed that it was very pretty, despite all of the rain.

After all of the walking which in the morning, we decided that it was a time for lunch. We were getting very cold by this time, and so went for a pizza. It was one of the Scottish student’s birthday, so after we had finished our meal, we surprised her by giving her an ice-cream bowl, with a sparkler in it!

After lunch, two of the Norwegians and their guests departed to go to Lillehammer, where one of them had a cabin which they were going to be staying in. The rest of the group paid a visit to the Royal Palace, and were surprised at how close we could get! We finished off the afternoon with some shopping, before catching the train back home, before going out again that evening.

After a busy Saturday, the group did their own things on the Sunday, which gave us all time to relax and catch up on our sleep. We all woke up to see snow on the ground, which made the scenery look very picturesque. As some of the Norwegians had work to do for school, some of the Scottish students met up to go for a trek in a Norwegian forest, without getting lost!

So far, our stay has gone very quickly, and everyone is enjoying themselves, despite missing home a bit. On the Monday, all the Scottish students started their work placements, one of the main reasons of coming to Norway. Everyone was looking forward to working, and there was a wide range of placements, from primary school teaching, to working in the local newspaper, to working with a magician! The placements give us the chance to experience work in a foreign country, and provide us with good experience for the future.

In March, the Norwegians students will be coming to Aberdeen, where they will also stay with us for ten days. In addition to their work placements, we look forward to showing them around Aberdeen and its surrounding area, and plan to take them to a traditional Scottish celidh - which combines Scottish music and dance, and is a fun social event for everyone. Whilst on their stay, we will let them sample traditional Scottish food too, like "mince and tatties" and "haggis".

By undertaking this foreign exchange, we are learning many new skills, and are meeting new friends. The culture in Norway is different to that of Scotland, and so we are having to adapt to their lifestyle. Overall, the trip has so far proved to be good fun. The only downside has been that the country is much colder than in Scotland, though we have enough layers to keep us warm. Also, Norway is very expensive compared to Scotland - even for basic items! However, this has not caused any real problems, and we look forward to the Norwegians coming back to Aberdeen in March!
 

Norwegian Exchange Project 2007-2008
Norwegian students enjoy Traditional Scottish Food
The six Norwegian students staying with their Scottish hosts enjoyed traditional Scottish cuisine at a special meal hosted by Head Boy Andrew Lawrie (his Mum did a lot of work too!) The group enjoyed scotch broth followed by haggis, neeps and tatties. Sweet consisted of scotch trifle or sticky toffee pudding - all washed down with Irn Bru. Mr Wood gave the traditional address to the haggis which was piped in by Stewart Binnie. Highland dancers were also there to entertain with a modern twist of dancing to the Proclaimers music.
 

Stewart pipes in the haggis	Mr Wood addresses the haggis in the traditional manner -	but Gina from Norway struggles to follow Burn's poetry!	The haggis is eyed up.	Greta takes the plunge!	Traditional Scottish dancing to the Proclaimers music - great!

Norwegian students arrive in Aberdeen
Six students from Ås videregående skole have arrived in Aberdeen to spend a week with Hazlehead students and their families. The Norwegians are accompanied on their visit by Norwegian teacher Graham Ryan. After spending a day in the school, they had a weekend of sightseeing and shopping including a visit to David Lloyd Leisure. The students will spend a week on work placements ranging from working with Scottish Television to shadowing a surgeon at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.

The Norwegian and Scottish students and staff prepare for a workout at David Lloyd Leisure	Eilidh and Andrew feel the strain	"If we drop these our feet will hurt!"	Ciaran puts the Hazlehead motto into practice	The group after a tough game of basketball - Richard (left) was roped in to even up the sides (and scored most points!)

The students will also have a special Scottish evening where our students provide a typical Scottish meal of haggis, neeps and tatties.

Norwegian Exchange November 2007
The exchange involves pupils from Hazlehead and a Norwegian school undertaking a one week work experience in each others country. Students stay with a Norwegian family during the Norwegian visit and then the Norwegian students return to Aberdeen to undertake similar work placements in Aberdeen.