Aril Parmentier is a sophomore from Norway. When he came to the US he was stuck by some of the differences in school, and even simply peoples personalities.

“The thing that surprised me the most, is how kind and open people are. For example when I walk past someone that I’ve never met, they say hi. That would never happen in Norway,” said sophomore Aril Parmentier.

His favorite difference is the people and how social they are. According to him, another perk of the US is how close people are.

“Just about everyone is really nice, even the teachers. In the US, people are generally more social and extroverted. In Norway, people don’t see each other that often. In Norway, if I wanted to hang out with my friends, I would have to drive for half an hour, while here my friends live next door,” Parmentier said.

In his free time, Aril likes to be outside or watch Netflix.

“I enjoy running and going for long walks in the mountains, but sadly there are no mountains here,” Parmentier said.

Another thing that is strikingly different from life in Norway is school.

“School is quite different here. Everything is so much more systemized. People are obsessed with getting good grades, and not very many people really care that much about learning. Students check their grades every day, worrying about getting into college and getting a good GPA,” Parmentier said.

In Norway, school seems more laid back and isn’t as stressful. Students are given breaks throughout the day as well.

“In Norway the schedule isn’t the same every day. We have more variation and I think students are generally more happy and less stressed. When I first came here I was shocked, because of how long the school day is, especially with no time to take a break or go outside between each period. My first semester here was extremely stressful, because I wasn’t used to doing school work nearly eight hours straight with no breaks between,” Parmentier said.