Day trip to Aarhus

On Saturday my department organised a day trip to Aarhus for all the exchange students.
The students in the International Cultural Studies (ICS) mostly consists of North Americans, South Koreans, a couple of Germans and other eastern European countries and of course myself, the only antipodean.


Aarhus is the seconde largest city in Denmark, and is about one and a half hours by train south of Aalborg.
One of the main tourist destinations is The Old town which is a open air museum of old Danish Architecture where you can see different aspects of Danish life from from the Middle Ages onwards.

Two of my fellow exchange students enjoying some old-time fun

An old danish street.

Within this museum there was also a gallery with an exhibition of Danish and Greenlandic posters and Greenlandic art.

Aarhus is also bigger city than Aalborg so you can do a lot more shopping there - there are also all the big european brands; H&M, TopShop etc.

Wheels!

The best way to get around in Denmark cities is by bicycle. That is what everybody told me. So I went out and bought a second hand bike off a Belgian student. I paid 250kr which is quite a steal because the asking price for the average secondhand bike is about 600kr.

Isn't he a beauty! I think I am going to call it Caspian the wonder bike.

Other places you can look for cheap bikes are the Cykler huset bloghttp://cyclerhuset.blogspot.com/ Which I think is run by some enterprising danish student who worked out there is money to be made by buying the international students bikes cheap when they leave home and then selling them on to the next semesters intake. I see a business starting up for me back at Swinburne Uni.
Or, you could just steal one, international students are known for doing that. Because everybody has a bike, nobody really needs to steal one, so none of them are locked up. But don't do that, you would be a jerk and ruin these sweet trusting danish people for the rest of the world.

Now I just need to remember which side of the road I am supposed to ride on, and when this cold weather lets up, I will be biking it to uni!

Eyes wide shut remake in Aalborg?

Guess they get lonely on those cold winter nights

http://www.cphpost.dk/news/crime/155-crime/50648-prof-reprimanded-for-bizarre-campus-orgy.html

Snow!

I get like a little kid whenever I see snow, since is is such a novelty for someone that grew up in regional Victoria. Well obviously not THAT region of Victoria, another one. The weather forcast said that there would be no more snow this winter, so I was a bit disappointed that I missed it all. But we had a centimetre or so overnight and there is to be some more tonight.

My driveway

This is the path at the end of my street that leads to a soccer field and a playground with some picnic tables.

Aalborg Advice

Below is a list of tips I have made to help other Swinners who are going to Aalborg settle in easier and faster.

Packing:

•  If you are going in the first semester of the year it is winter in Aalborg so it is going to be very cold. You will need a warm jacket, scarves, gloves or mittens and warms socks. Think the very coldest days we get in Melbourne and then it is a bit colder than that! Also waterproof boots and gloves because if it snows it is going to be very wet!
• All those bulky winter clothes take up a lot of space in your luggage so use one of those vacuum bags. You can fit heaps more in that way. Just don't go over your luggage weight allowance.

Arrival in Aalborg

• When you first get here you will need a bus pass. It is the cheapest way to travel on the buses, and it lasts for a month. Bring one of your left over passport photos because you need one for your bus pass. Otherwise you will need to buy one here, and it is very expensive!
• http://cyclerhuset.blogspot.com/ A lot of Danskers get around by bicycle. There are bike lanes on nearly every road; so it is pretty safe.  If you are near the university, it is going to be the quickest way to get around. A good second hand one will probably be around 600knr

Uni Accomodation

• There is an accomodation office that can sort out a place to stay, for a price. This was the option I took so I don't know if renting privately is cheaper, but you run the risk of spending a lot of money on hostels (which there are not many cheap ones in Aalborg) until you find your accomodation.
• Most of the accomodation is furnished; you will have a bed, desk and wardrobe at a minimum. The university rent out pillows and blankets etc. but I don't reccomend it. A lot of the rooms will have stuff left behind by other occupants for you to use. Or you can go to an op shop and get it. I only needed sheets and they were 20kr each, whereas the university wanted 300kr. I will probably leave the sheets here for the next person to use. Aren't I nice!

Food.

• Firstly, it is not like Australia which is quite cheap. Food is expensive, so find the nearest Aldi, Fakta, Lidl or Fotex to shop at for all your basics.
• Take your lunch to campus. There aren't many other options for food at Aalborg Univeristy like there is at Swinburne. Each of the main buildings will have a canteen but it is really expensive.
• Coffee. Sadly coffee is not the same as it is in Melbourne. Espresso style coffee is very expensive compared to Melbourne prices. Just wanted to warn you, I am addicted and it has so far been hard for me to adjust!

I will add more as I find out more!

First week in Denmark.

After 23 hours on a plane and 4.5 hours on a train, I am in my new home for the next six months; Aalborg.


Aalborg is a very industrial town; there are signs of it everywhere. Big smoke stacks in factories; cheap housing for the workers and efficient public transport. I have made it sound like it a very ugly town, but is actually very pretty. There are lots of old houses in the CBD that have that Nordic charm about them, the all all brightly painted and nicely decorated.

 Of course the first thing that has struck me is the cold! In February, there is not much snow on the ground, but it is still slushy and icy so you have to be very careful where you walk. Gumboots are a fashion item and a necessity! It is very windy too. So that is probably within 3 days of arriving I got sick! I had a really bad cough and a little bit of an achy fever!
I went to the chemist, and because I can't speak danish very well, I just sort of coughed at the assistant, and hopped she caught my drift.

I arrived late on Sunday night, so I just stayed the night in a hostel and on Monday I went to the student house to register and pick up my key for my house. I met some of the other international students there as well. So far I am the only Australian - which made me feel a bit special!

I have a nice big room with a single bed, and a bathroom and kitchen that I share with two others. There are seven in the house in total, but perhaps there will be a couple more once semester starts because there are still three rooms that are empty. It is a very international house; there are three Turkish girls, one hungarian, an italian and a french girl and then me. The house is split into two halves with two kitchens and two bathrooms and the laundry in the middle. It is quite comfortable and about 20 minutes by bus from the city, and about 35 to the university.

I will take some photos.... once I have made my bed!

Stop overs and old friends

Well I made it to the third post. That is one more than 99% of bloggers.

Since I had to change planes somewhere in Asia to get to Denmark I decided to have a stop over in Hong Kong. Hong Kong must be the most crowded place on Earth. Any time on the street, you are pretty much bumping shoulders with someone else. Nobody seems to mind though. I guess you get used to it - living so close to people. I stayed with friends of mine in their apartment on the 43rd floor. The apartments are all close to each other so the effect is like living in a giant bee hive.
 Hong Kong is all about shopping and cheap food. Every touristy landmark has a shopping centre there and food stalls.  Also there are the markets with all the cheap knock off and all the weird sex toys you can fit in your suitcase!
Such as the Ladies Market and Temple Street Market.

The Peak, a beautiful tram car ride up the side of a mountain to see the view and..... a shopping centre.

On the second day I went to the big buddha

and it's shopping centre.

 Yes, that is a Starbucks.

Now onward and upward to Denmark!