Norwegian

School had thoroughly put me off foreign languages. Yet at 23, being a good uncle, I began learning the mother tongue of my first nephew and later my first niece. From there, it took on a life of its own.

Studying abroad

I wanted to study abroad. In 1994, I chose Oslo. I met people from every corner of the world. Norwegians too, of course. It put my own, German perspective into perspective.

University courses are organised very differently in Norway. Back in Germany, that helped me find a thread to follow through my studies.

It is bitter to fail your final oral exam when your average mark otherwise lies between 1 and 2 on the German scale. Dissertation: very good. Education: very good. Social sciences: one minus. German: four point …

Luck or achievement?

German, of all subjects … That wound runs deep … You would not believe how many people suddenly tell you they once failed an exam too. … It put my earlier successes into perspective, but made me stronger nonetheless. At the second attempt, German worked out too.