11 Oct Current Experience of Studying Abroad in San Francisco

Written By: Selma Skjomming

Arriving in San Francisco

Hei! My name is Selma and I´m an exchange student from Norway this semester. For those who don’t know where that is, it’s a country in the northern part of Europe, also referred to as Scandinavia. The entire journey of traveling took me about 16 hours in total, and the jetlag was not a joke. This was also the first time I traveled this far alone, without friends or family. Surprisingly, with a little running through airports, I made it here safely.

One of my main reasons for wanting to go to San Francisco was the experience of living in a larger metropolitan city. In Norway I study in the capital, Oslo, and I really enjoy living there. But for my exchange, I want to experience something bigger. So hopefully I will get to share that with you while I’m here.

So far, the city has really delivered that experience. 

I am a journalism major, and I am here at San Francisco State University for one semester, before I go back home in December. As I am writing this, it’s been over a month since I came here. In that month so many things have happened. I have been lucky enough to have met good people, discovered the city, and I have already been able to go on a couple of road trips with my roommates.

Upon arriving here, I didn’t know a single soul in San Francisco. Therefore, I was quite nervous to go here. Mostly because I knew that I was going to share a room with another person, and an apartment with five others. I didn’t know anything about my roommates until I met them in person. I think if I were to start over, I would try to reach out to them as soon as I got their contact information. Even though I didn’t know them, we got along very quickly.

Finding somewhere to live

Finding a place in San Francisco that wasn’t crazy expensive was a bit difficult, until I got a reply from a former exchange student from my school. I posted that I was looking for anyone going to San Francisco, or if anyone had been and would share experiences and tips about the city. She put me in contact with the landlord, so now, I live in the Richmond District. So far, the area feels very safe, and can already confirm that I would recommend the neighborhood to others. The only thing about this neighborhood is that it can be a little foggy, but overall, it’s been a great experience.

In my experience the weather in San Francisco is quite the variable. The weather could be very foggy in one part of the city, and completely different in another. From when my roommates and I jumped on the bus in our neighborhood to when we got off downtown, the weather changed completely.

With my new roommates, we got to explore the city together. We all arrived in San Francisco approximately a week before orientation, and since none of us know the city already, we got to do all the firsts together. We figured out how to use the public transportation in the city, and once you have figured it out, you can pretty much get anywhere. We got off the bus at Union Square and walked around there for an hour until we set foot towards Fisherman’s Wharf and Pier 39.

After we saw the sea lions, we continued our journey towards Chinatown. Here we went to see some cool stores, and restaurants, along with some cool architecture. On the first day, when none of us was extremely jetlagged, just walking downtown in itself was a surreal experience for us all. To believe that we get to live here for this semester felt, and still feels, almost too good to be true. 

Orientation day!

As I am writing this it is the fourth week of school, and now I feel like I know where my classes are, and how I get to and from school. But the first couple of weeks of school was so hectic. Trying to navigate a new city, a new school and a different transportation system was rough in the beginning. Trying out different classes to see which I wanted to attend, was also quite different from what I am used to back home. This semester, I am fortunate enough that I can choose between a big variety of courses, if it somehow can relate to journalism. This means that this semester I am taking a variety of courses. I am taking classes in art history, French, environmental studies and of course a journalism class.

To end my post, I want to incorporate an experience of culture shock for each time. San Francisco is such an iconic city, and there are so many different cultures and communities co-existing in this city. It´s a cultural melting pot, and I have the privilege to live here for this semester. Going downtown or to school and meeting so many different people really put life in a different perspective. I really get the vibe that people just do as they please here and live their own lives without thinking about what others might think or say. Every neighborhood or area in the city feels different, and I love it.