Articles tagged with: mroush3
A Short Update
So finally, after three months in Denmark…school has actually begun. Up until this point I have really had no real assignments. The instructors never took attendance at lectures and classes only lasted eight weeks. I’m still in the process of understanding the system and it’s a very very different one. Now, while all of my friends at home are finishing up their semesters and heading home, I’m just now beginning mine.
My grades this semester are based entirely on my final “take-home” exams. These consist of two twelve page papers and two seven page papers. In addition to that my biggest assignment is a fourty-five page group project. This is due in just a few weeks and so far I’ve written almost nothing. My group members and I have spent a total of over twenty hours in the library trying to brainstorm and get some ideas down on paper. Somehow it’s not coming together as we liked.
Clearly this study system was designed for someone with a lot of self-discipline, and honestly, after two months of no actual work, I’ve lost all the self-discipline I came into this with. It’s becoming very frustrating. Fortunately It think I may be starting to get some back. Now that the deadlines are approaching I’ve finally begun to buckle down, but it’s really been a challenge!
In the meantime there are lots of student activities to keep me very busy. This school has really done an excellent job of giving international students things to do in their spare time. Things like the weekly “International Night” at the student house, weekend trips to Sweden, and Erasmus trips around Denmark to historical sites and fun places like Legoland are very enjoyable.
So just to recap…I’m having a great time! Getting started was tough, but I’m really going to be upset to leave. There’s nothing like being part of an international student community. But there are lots more things to look forward to before it’s over!
Facefoot Party
A group of us on a trolley in Gottenburg, Sweden
On the beach in Skagen, the northern-most point of Denmark
London
So two weekends ago I finally made it out of Aalborg and traveled with my four favorite girls to London! It was no doubt the best vacation I’ve ever had. Despite the shared hostel bathrooms, the constant disorganization between the five of us, and all of us getting sick afterward….it was amazing! It felt just like home.
You may not know this, but I was raised under the sincere belief that I was British. My parents spent a considerable time in Britain until I was around five years old. Since then my house has been filled with British decor, traditions, music, movies and television shows. I’m not even sure I realized I was American until I began school. My schoolmates always asked “Why do you talk like that?”. I was always confused and asked them the same. I don’t think I have a strange accent, but it’s not exactly a West Virginia accent. In high school it was even worse. People frequently confused me with an exchange student. Even here in Aalborg, most people I initially assume I am from the UK or Australia! It’s always a long and complicated explanation, but I’ve explained it so many times, I’m quite used to it now.
So….needless to say Britain felt more like home than anywhere I have been in my life. It felt very very nice! All I really wanted to do was shop and eat (I needed foods, products, and prices similair to what I knew), so that’s a lot of what I spent my time doing. However, I did find the time to see all the wonderful historical aspects of London as well. We spent some time bargaining our way through Camden Market and managed to make it to the London Eye (such a fantastic experience!). We met up with one of my friend’s old friends who is living and working as a tour guide in London. He gave us a fabulous tour of all the bridges and neat facts about each one. We went to St. Paul’s but didn’t get there in time to take a look around.
The friends I traveled with were from France, Germany, Finland, and Italy. They were much less interested in eating fish and chips and much more interested in things like the changing of the guard at Buckingham and visiting Madame Tussauds. I just wanted to wander the streets and take it all in. But in our short three day adventure, we made time for all of it. Every night we came home exhausted, but it was well worth it!
The area we stayed in seemed to fit me perfectly! Half of the stores and restaurants in Hyde Park were entirely British and half were Arabic. My boyfriend at WVU is from Saudi, so I’ve become quite accustomed to the culture and really have learned love it. London culture is so vibrant! I was able to enjoy my fish and chips and my Shisha all at the same time! Staying at a hostel in a room with four other girls in bunk beds is not a dream vacation, but it was a learning and bonding experience. We had our “Top Model” and “The Bachelor” moments, but most of the time it was like summer camp.
The most obvious difference between Denmark and the UK was the existence of wealth and poverty. Upon approaching the airport I saw enormous beautiful country homes with pools and tennis courts and five car garages. In the city I saw lots of poverty: homeless people sleeping ion the sidewalks and park benches. I didn’t feel quite as “safe” as I do here in Aalborg, but I did feel at home.
A Welfare State
*I’m very frustrated..I thought this posted about a week ago, but apparently it did not. Sorry for the delay.
I would like to start with a disclaimer. I have not done any extensive research on this topic, but all I have to say comes from the several classes I have taken on Scandinavian culture and from my own observations. Denmark’s social system has contributed significantly to what I am experiencing as “Culture Shock”. I remember being outside my hotel early in the morning on the first night I arrived in Denmark. I wanted to badly to walk fifty feet to the fitness center just across the street, but since it was so late at night and I was alone in a foreign country, I was very hesitant. I feared being mugged or attacked or murdered. So I asked a woman who was passing by if she thought the area was safe to wander around. She held back laughter when she answered “of course”.
It’s a strange feeling to walk the streets at three in the morning and feel like I’m safe at home in my own bedroom. And the reason for this is clear: there is no one to be afraid of. Occasionally late on a weekend night a car will pass by and men will honk their car horns of whistle out the window, but in general it is a rare occurrence to even make eye contact with people. But why is there no one to be afraid of? Because the Danish government has gone above and beyond to ensure that poverty and crime do not exist.
I found out shortly after I arrived that my traveler’s health insurance was useless. The Danish government has provided me four doctors free of charge (including dental care!). I was, again, in shock. As a traveler is it even fair for me to take advantage of this system? The Danes seem to think so. Admittedly, seeing a doctor has been a great hassle. I have been somewhat ill since I’ve arrived my doctors are usually unavailable to make appointments. This is due to the eight weeks of paid vacation every worker in Denmark is promised. At home I can usually see a doctor, but it does cost me an arm and a leg. Here everyone is insured regardless of status.
I have yet to see what Americans would call the “ghetto”. Even immigrants live in nice apartments. The city I live in has a population of around two hundred thousand people, and we are all housed the same. We all live in eight story apartments with small city-provided gardens and eco-friendly appliances. It almost as if everyone lives in a dorm. Our windows allow us to see clearly into other people lives, and although some people have more valuables than others, but for the most part we all live “equally”.
For instance, I have a Danish friend who has graduated with two degrees. He works as a street-cleaner picking up trash and other things left of the streets in the mornings. In America this type of occupation would be considered substandard. Why would someone like him accept such an occupation? Here it doesn’t seem to matter where or how you work. Unemployment is a rarity. My guess is that he accepted the job because it probably pays a salary close to what he might get as a doctor, or a lawyer, or a CEO. Poverty seems non-existent as does wealth.
I spend fourty minutes on the bus each morning traveling from the city to the countryside where my school is located. I have yet to see the slums, but even stranger I have yet to see a really extraordinary house. The houses that are very nice have been split up into apartment complexes. The homes are certainly beautiful, but they are certainly not large dream homes. They wouldn’t last a minute in Beverly Hills.
The same goes for cars. I am thrilled with this subject because I have always insisted that old cars are the way to go! They are built like none other and are, for the most part, fuel efficient. Most people here drive cars from the early nineties and have no shame in it. They are also mostly manual, my other favourite feature! I’ve seen only one Jeep since I’ve been here and only one truck, a Toyota Helux, both of which seem to be fairly recent models. SUV’s and pick-up trucks are an extreme rarity. The newer cars all resemble Toyota Priuses and Yarises. They’re all small hatchbacks with minimal features and high gas mileage. Interestingly, there don’t seem to be any cars manufactured between 1994 and 2005. That’s something I’m dying to explain, but can’t quite figure out.
So how do the Danes afford such a comfortable lifestyle? I took a class just yesterday that explained it all. They pay about half their salaries and a VAT (value added tax) to support the welfare state. Throughout the entire lecture one question constantly arose. How do they keep people in the workforce when unemployment is paid for up to eight years? The answer was surprising. The people here have a very high work ethic. It’s simply unacceptable for someone to live off the money of the government. Even women are shameful in staying home to be “housewives”. People enjoy being employed regardless of their position. It’s a societal thing. I’ve concluded that this is the very reason such a system would not work in larger countries such as the US or even the UK. Our large population combined with unmanageable immigration would make such a system very inefficient.
In conclusion, I’d like to say that I appreciate the way of life here. It’s very stable and reliable and seemingly efficient. However, I enjoy the American way of life. I like to pursue the “American dream” without much help from the government. The students here (and from all over the EU) will leave without any student debt. I am up to my chin in debt pursuing my education, but I feel like that only motivates me to work harder and to make the most of my education. I will only know when I graduate if it’s all worth it…but so far it most certainly is!
A Whole New Language
So I…along with about half the other international students have signed up for a very intensive Danish language course. In just a few words words it is exhausting, incomprehensible, and really really fun. The class is twice a week for two hours for seven weeks.
Here are just a few fun facts I’ve learned about the language…and other strange things about Danish culture.
1. The language is useless. Unless you live in Denmark, especially in North Jutland (which is Aalborg), you will never need to speak a word of it.
2. Not a single word is pronounced the way it is spelled (unless it’s an English word…in which case it sounds almost the way we pronounce it). Also, most phrases just run together. There is no need to pronounce each word individually. (I’m fairly certain that if I did try to pronounce each word precisely, the Danes wouldn’t have a clue what I was saying!)
3. Words that we consider to be the worst of the worst are commonplace even among children. They are the equivalent of “shoot” or “gosh darnit”. My Danish instructor learned the hard way that native English speakers don’t usually find that so acceptable when she went to be a nanny in Los Angeles. But thanks to the shocked and appalled response of her employers, she learned that lesson very quickly!
4. There is no word for “please”. It’s not that the Danes are so impolite, they just have a very different sense of etiquette. For example, they say thank you for everything, and they do so repeatedly. If a Dane goes to a home just to visit, even if it’s a neighbor who they have visited every single day for years, they will always thank their host for the visit. The next day it is common protocol to call and thank again. And then, upon their next visit they will always thank for the last time.
5. There is no system to determining the gender of a verb. (no common endings like in Spanish or French). There are only two genders (there used to be three). Today they use just neutral and masculine (or common). But, like everything else, that changes depending on what Danish dialect you speak. (Isn’t it hard to believe a country of just five and a half million people can have so many dialects!)
6. All of the letters are the same except for three! Yay! The exceptions are Æ, Ø, and Å. And some of these letters are soon to be obsolete. Had I studied abroad in 2001, I would be attending Ålborg Universitet. That’s when they changed it to Aalborg instead.
7. The rest of the alphabet is English. That’s really helpful! The Danes, however, very very rarely use the letters C, Q, W, X, and Z. These are only used for words which have been borrowed from other languages (as most words have).
8. Almost all the months are pronounced about the same as in English..easier to read, harder to understand.
9. I’m still confused about the first day of the week. Here it is Monday. In America it is Sunday. That is supposedly based on the Sabbath which is the seventh day of the week. Christians generally celebrate that on Sunday. So should Americans (a nation supposedly founded on Christian values) start their week on Monday as well? Saudi Arabians begin the weekend on Wednesday after work and go back to work on Saturday. That almost makes them more Christian than we are!
10. Scandanavians tend to speak from the front of their mouths, hence they make short light words. One of my teachers has the theory that it’s so cold up here they just don’t want to open their mouths for very long to inhale the cold air. That finally explains why the IEP students from warmer countries are so much more boisterous! (and so much more fun! :)
11. The class is taught entirely in English. I thought this would be an advantage….but I’ve learned better. Most of the student in the class have taken ESL (English as a second language) for most their lives. They’re accustomed to translating things in their heads at least once, if not two or three times. I had might as well be taking a science course. It all goes in one ear and out the other….no processing necessary.
12. I have been taught more in just four language classes of Danish than I have in over six years of Spanish classes! And I thought I was fluent in Spanish!
13. The Danes run on time! Everything happens exactly when it is scheduled (except for the frequent canceled classes). For example, don’t be fifteen seconds late for your bus or you’ll have to wait for the next. Don’t be fifteen minutes late for dinner, or you’ll never be invited again! I guess being “fashionably late” isn’t quite so fashionabl here.
14. One teacher brought up the “Marilyn Monroe Doctrine” haha
15. Sorry to reiterate, but this language is useless. The Danes don’t appreciate that we’re learning it (when I try to speak it to a native they immediately revert to English), and they all speak perfect English anyway :)
Other than that, everything is good. Still jetlagged I’m afraid, and the food is horrific, but it all takes time and an open mind!
Culture Shock (Pictures Coming Soon!)
I apologize for this very very overdue post. Between and intensive
amount of school work (yes, in the first week…I’ll explain later),
trying to find my way around (getting lost on nearly every venture),
and trying to adjust to my new time zone, I have no idea where to
start.
It’s seems I’ve fallen into what I was warned would be “culture
shock”. Yes, all the stores may be the same, and there’s still a
McDonalds and a Burger King, and everyone speaks English, but the
differences I’ve found were entirely unexpected.
Here are just a few:
Straight leg jeans and boots are a must have. No one here wears
flared pants, and i learned (the hard way) why: the rain and snow are
so unpredictable that it is impossible to keep the ends of your pants
dry. Perhaps flares are more fashionable in the summertime?
Quality items are also a must. In the states we tend to buy fake
leather and paper thin gloves to get us through the winter. Here,
these staple items are used every single day for months. They have to
be made to last. So I’ve learned to avoid H&M and instead of going to
the very expensive quality shops, I’ve found a wonderful thrift store
that donates all their profits to charity. It’s a win-win situation!
Everyone rides bikes. I have one that was left here for me by the
previous tenant, but since I haven’t been on a bike since I was in
elementary school, I’m very hesitant to try. Bikes are far more
popular than cars so there’s a far more complex system of bike streets
and signals and protocols that I’ll need to read up on before i give
it a go. (Also, you never know when it’s going to snow here, and
riding a bike in the snow doesn’t seem like a good idea)
For as obsessed as many Scandanavians seem to be about appearances,
not even the largest department stores carried mirrors. I finally
found a decent size one across the street at Aldi! Very strange.
The stereotypes seem true. Everyone has bleach blonde hair and tan
skin! I don’t know about the hair, but I’d credit the skin to the
tanning salons on every street corner. Tanning salons here are so
different from the ones in the states. They’re almost like
laundromats. There are no attendants, just coin machines. They
open at seven in the morning and don’t close until eleven at night.
There are no attendants, just coin machines. Very convenient!
The tanning beds, however, are the only businesses with convenient
hours. Everything else closes extraordinarily early. It gets dark
around 4:30 and that’s just about when everything shuts down (except
on Thursday when things are open until 5:30, and I really don’t know
why). After dark you’re lucky to find a place to buy anything, unless
you resort to the 7 Eleven or a couple grocery stores that are open
until around 6.
It seems every store always advertises and “udsalg” which I’ve come to
understand means something like “huge sale”. And these sales really
are huge. Most everything on sale is about 50% cheaper than it’s
original price. I suppose this is because stores are transitioning
into their Spring collections, even though it will be months until
Spring arrives here. So I’ve learned not to buy anything that isn’t
on “udsalg”.
Food shopping is the worst. Unless you are a gourmet cook and can
recognize products and ingredients just by looking at them, you’re in
trouble. Finding something as simple as sliced deli meat or baking
soda has been a real problem for me. I’ve so far managed to find some
gouda cheese (no American, very little cheddar), coca-cola light (same
as diet), miracle whip (cost me a fortune!), apple juice and some
frozen chicken; enough to survive on.
Shopping bags are something you are expected to already have. Few
stores give them out for free so if you happen to forget them or don’t
have large handbag, you’ll end up paying a fee for it.
This city is unusually safe. I feel as though I could walk around
downtown completely naked at midnight and be completely ignored!
People tend to leave their bikes unlocked, there are very few security
cameras to be found in department stores, and I have yet to hear a
“catcall” while walking. In fact, it’s quite unusual to even make eye
contact with any stranger. If you bump into someone on the street you
just continue walking. No apology necessary. I must admit, at first
I was offended, but now I’ve just learned to accept it as their
culture: a culture I am thrilled to be immersed in!
Coca-cola is a novelty. The stores and restaurants that serve it make
it a point to advertise it as much as they can. Even upscale
restaurants post huge signs on their windows and storefronts. And you
won’t find it in cans, and that’s a real shame. There’s nothing like
a cold can of Diet Coke in the morning. :)
Finally, at least 95% of the students at my school are bilingual. Of
those students about 70% speak at least one other language! I thought
I had a real advantage of being a native English speaker (since 99.9%
of Danes speak English), but that’s not the case. Academically
(because all my classes are in English) I have a huge advantage, but
socially the students tend to cluster themselves in groups based on
their alternative languages. I’m fairly fluent in Spanish but there
are really only a few students who speak it. I took one semester of
French at WVU and didn’t learn a single word (I got an A though!). As
far as Moldavian, Italian, and Portuguese goes, I’m fairly clueless.
But I’m here to learn! Danish classes start Saturday! I’ll let you
know how it goes.
I have so much more to say about the campus, and my apartment and
friends, etc…. but my time constraints are tight. I know you’re
sitting on the edge of your seats just waiting to hear from me! :) I
promise it won’t be long!
P.S. Since I wrote this post days ago and have had nothing but trouble
publishing it, here’s a fun note! Last night at the Erasmus Student
Network party they played and extended techno version of Country
Roads! How funny is that!
Getting Started
Goddag til Aalborg!
This is a typical Aalborg street. No wonder I’m in love!
Through some unbelievable luck and many unforeseen complications (multiple weather delays, several itinerary changes, etc….) I have arrived at my destination! I got here last night and despite my exhaustion I had to explore the city! I’m staying at an adorable little hotel called the Prinsen Hotel and it has simply been wonderful! It is right in the middle of the city center and has put me only a out a half mile from the Aalborg University Student House where I will be taken to my new apartment in just a couple hours.
For future students considering Aalborg, I must recommend this hotel. Not only is the location perfect for anyone wanting to get a feel for this beautiful city, the owner/manager and his crew have been nothing but wonderful in helping my get around! They have been quite tolerant of my very elementary Danish skills and speak English better than the Queen. The rooms are very affordable (595 DKK or about $102 a night).
Prinsen Hotel Website
This includes a beautiful authentic Danish breakfast that far surpasses any “continental breakfast” I’ve ever seen at any American hotel. It also includes wireless internet which is an essential for any study abroad student. I was somewhat surprised to find that the bulk of the television programming here is American. As I am writing this I am watching Anderson Cooper 360 live on CNN!
This is photo of the authentic Danish breakfast provided. Unfortunately the picture does not do it justice, but I tried.
Also, directly across from my hotel is the train station (which I will certainly need to familiarize myself with because my actual housing is so far away from my classes). The train station also has a convenient mart that is open until midnight which is very helpful (most Danish businesses close around 4:30 or 5:00) The Dankse Bank (one of the largest, if not the largest bank in Scandanavia) is also just steps from this hotel. I opened an account there today, and they like everyone else have been extremely helpful and speak impeccable english.
Thursday night, as I was exploring I also found a fitness center right across the street that has simply blown my mind! I love the WVU rec center, and until yesterday I would have sworn it was the best facility in the world, but “Equinox Fitness” puts it to shame! Yesterday they gave me a free day pass to explore, and although I only had about an hour before my lunch date with my Danish “buddy” (which is a fabulous system I will explain later) I got a better workout in just 45 minutes than I have in my entire life! There are literally thousands of machines and each with its own television (I watched David Letterman live as I ran this morning, haha). I have yet to explore the pool/massage/tanning/hair salon areas, but I’m sure I’ll get around to that very very soon. The best part is the price. Student discounts are very popular here!
This morning, first thing (after my delicious Danish breakfast, of course) I set out to find a hairdryer around the city (not knowing my hotel had them available at the front desk free of charge!). Walking around Aalborg at 8:30 in the morning with wet hair is not recommended, but it was well worth the trip! I was amazed at all the speciality shops. Among all the thousands of shops I found only one is what we might call a “department store”. The rest were quaint little stores, and there was one for everything! The most popular were trendy clothing shops (especially for children), hair salons (at least fifty within two miles of my hotel), sporting goods stores (mostly snow sports and soccer) and cafes. There were also some stores Americans might consider a little strange. For instance, I saw two stores entirely dedicated to cleaning supplies. Upon these discoveries, I also decided that my plane had crashed between Oslo and Aalborg, and I had arrived in heaven. Who knew such a quaint place even existed?
Below are some photos of some of the most adorable shops I found.
“Trend Addict” seems to have my name all over it! That’s very very dangerous! ;)
Anyway, I must go! I have so much more to talk about but it’s already 7:30 am, and my Danish day needs to get started!
Farvel!
P.S. I did make it through the day with only a single clothing purchase from H&M: two pairs of gloves (one for myself and one for my “buddy”) and two scarves. Kudos to me!
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