OSLO, Norway – Former NAU women's soccer player and the current women's soccer CoSIDA/ESPN Academic All-American of Year Kristi Andreassen is in Oslo, Norway playing soccer and taking classes at the University of Oslo. Andreassen, who's family hails from Norway, sends us her final blog entry as she experiences the culture of her native land and prepares for the rest of her time abroad.

Picture: Kristi on Karl Johans St in downtown Oslo. The road leads directly to Det Kongelige Slott, which is the Norwegian Royal Palace and serves as the main residence of Norwegian King Harald V (seen at the end of the road in the distance).

Blog - Week 4

In the past week, I have had to make some important decisions.  I have decided to play for Øvervoll Hosle, a team in the division below Røa.  Even though the team overall is at a lower level than I am used to, I think it will still be a fun experience!  I also think that I can possibly help them move up a division this season.  That is my next goal!  Finding work in Oslo is very difficult for me because I am still not fluent in Norwegian.  There are very little jobs available for American students.  Luckily, my soccer experience has landed me a job at the local soccer club.  Next week, I will hopefully start training some younger soccer teams.  This is the perfect job for me because I can learn Norwegian from the kids and I can help them learn English.  Also, I love working with children and teaching soccer!  School has started to speed up and my brain is full of new information!  My Norwegian is coming along, but I still have more practice and learning to do.

Even though I am having a great experience out here, I have realized how much I miss Flagstaff, NAU, my soccer girls, and of course, my family!  At the same time, this is such a great opportunity for me and I plan on making the best of it.  While I am here, I plan on doing a lot of traveling to different European countries including Paris, France to visit my cousin, Krakow, Poland to visit my other cousin, and Alicante, Spain with the soccer team!  I also have planned a 4 week long Eurorail trip through Europe with my sister this summer, while catching some Women’s World Cup games in Germany.  There are still a lot of things to look forward to while I am away in Norway! Thanks for reading my blog!

Kristi