So I've told you a bit about the arrival and my study, but I'm sure those things don't actually tell much of what living here is like. So, I thought it would be nice to tell you of the whole of my past week this time. There have been more and also less eventful weeks, I think this week was kind of "normal".
Starting last Saturday, I spent much of my time cleaning, doing the laundry, such tasks, besides also resting a bit from the week before. My dorm mate initiated a dinner party at our dorm in the evening, with a some friends of both of us. So everybody cooked or brought their own thing - there was French quiche, Italian couscous, Polish vodka, and, Dutch pancakes. The Polish one insisted we had a shot of the vodka, luckily I got away with drinking just a small bit. Anyway, the evening was filled with talks and eventually also the "Who am I" game, it was very enjoyable. I had to go to bed a little early though - church was to start at 10 the following day.
I go to a fairly traditional church here, in all honestly in large part because I simply know many people there, since a few friends from KFS go there too. They're so kind to translate for me, as well as the other internationals from KFS. Which is actually quite a growing number - really mostly because I keep inviting people to come there. Tomorrow we're with five, which will make translating a little difficult maybe... But I know they will try without hesitation. After church we, as usual, went for a cup of coffee or tea in the adjacent building, where we also have the KFS meetings. We just chatted until they closed somewhere in the afternoon. After that it was off to home, though sometimes we also do other things like have some lunch, or play some game. (And with some game I mean uno.)
Mondays, quite sadly, I have to wake up early. I have to be at uni at 8:15, which means I have to wake up at 7 at the latest. It's quite a full day, with some eight hours of college. After that though usually comes a nice evening: me and some international friends meet at Monday's Cafe to have dinner. Monday's Cafe is a cheap-ish restaurant on Monday only, specifically for international students. They have nice meals, though often I wish they were a little larger... After that we went to Dexter's, a cafe where they often have life music. They had a really great jazz combo that night, it was very enjoyable. Loud, if you're sitting just 5 metres away, but enjoyable.
Tuesdays I can fortunately sleep in a bit, have a calm morning, though with class starting at 12:15. (All classes start a quarter past the hour by the way, to truly account for the "academic quarter".) This week I decided to spend some of that morning cleaning up too though - it's really one of the things you'd rather not think about when it's very busy, so things stack up a little from time to time. After class we had to work on a report until we were through, the deadline is coming up coming Monday, making for a bit of stress... The evening I had off at least, allowing me to send some emails.
The following day was again one to wake up early on, 6:45 as I had to bike a bit further. With four hours of class and four and a half hours of working on the report the evening approached quickly, but I wasn't done: after this I still had Danish lessons from five until a quarter past eight. You can probably imagine with what kind of roaring stomach I come home at 8:45 pm, still having to prepare dinner...
On Thursdays I currently have the first two hours off, but after that it's usually class until four. This time the teacher got ill though, which meant we... Could work on the report some more. I did take a little nap too (something I never did in the Netherlands), because after that was a great KFS evening. We had dinner first - bread with sausages that had exploded (they blamed it on the kitchen, they were edible nonetheless) - then a talk by a speaker about God as a father. After that we chatted a lot... It was really such a situation in which you know you have to go, but to actually leave is impossible since you as well as the ones you want to bike home with keep on getting involved in conversations. I'm really not good at saying goodbye.
I did manage eventually, but it was far too late: the following morning again I had to wake up really early, and had a presentation right at the first class... It was about our project though, so I knew the stuff well enough, and it wasn't graded either. Sadly we got to hear that we actually still have quite a lot to do... After this we had more class, and, after some homework, it was already time to go home and have dinner - I agreed to meet at six at the university with two new friends, just to talk, relax, and mostly listen to music all evening.
Today I should have worked on the report and the project... Well... I did the former at least. Which means tomorrow evening I'll be occupied. The afternoon should be nice though, we hope to just... "Go do something" after church. It'll probably involve food, a walk, and maybe uno or another game. After having been at home all day, I'm quite looking forward to it. This night there is actually a party at my "Kollegiet" (group of student dormitories), but unfortunately it's a "Kinky Party" and involves strippers... So I decided to stay at my dorm instead. Nice and safe. Safe from people lacking clothing.
Anyway, that's all for now. :) If you'd like me to tell of a certain topic, by all means, ask!
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Thursday, October 20, 2011
On my studies
Again a post long overdue... My apologies! It seems that I really am no less busy here than I was in the Netherlands most of last year. And to think I feared I would be bored here...
To be fair I have myself to blame for it, mostly. Currently I'm trying to do 40 EC in half a year - which my coordinator may have strongly advised against, and actually hadn't seen pulled off thus far... But I really like the courses! Save for that I would like just a bit more engineering in there, they match what I was hoping for very, very nicely.
My study is naturally a bit schizophrenic - at times it doesn't really know whether it's about biology, or maybe product assessment, or urban engineering perhaps... But that's basically no different from me at all, so that's perfect.
Currently I have courses in aquatic ecology (which includes lake and stream restoration and such), statistics, lifecycle impact assessment and business management. Yes, here too they like to include courses that are from beyond the study's main focus.
There's differences too though, to the Dutch system: It might be the relatively small class sizes (in one we're with 12, and there are five people teaching us), but the teachers are really quite "easy going". If I'd go and ask for an examination to be moved to another date because it doesn't work out for me, and they'd probably actually seriously consider it. The downside to this is that important dates unfortunately aren't really known up to maybe a month or two ahead, which in my case makes planning for Christmas kind of hard. But you do feel very welcome to go ahead and ask questions, or even just have a chat with the teachers, which is awesome.
It's also interesting to see that this university has such a different focus within a topic than say Utrecht University. I know that if I got any ecology class there, the basic predator-prey equations will quite definitely be in one or more of the first lectures. Here, there's none of that - the closest thing was probably the bit about there being "bad guys", of which there's usually too many, and "good guys" of which we want more to reduce the number of bad guys. Also, amazingly, I haven't seen any computer model regarding the environment yet. On the other hand, I do know a lot about marginal suppliers and avoided impacts now, which I never got taught about before.
Of course relatively speaking, the Dutch and Danish systems are practically the same. In some cases in Poland, apparently, class is basically the teacher's tiny kingdom, where everything is strict and in accordance with rules initiated 30 years ago. And I was told that in Latvia they still use some Soviet curricula...
As for how things are for me now, well, they're good. The past few weeks were especially hectic, as we had to submit the first version of our research report, and I had to do a presentation and submit another report. Also, the weekend before the deadlines I went to visit Hamburg with a friend, so that added to the stress a bit... Now I officially have vacation, but they gave us this exam assignment that we have to submit right after the holidays, so I didn't get that much free time this week either so far. But since we finished it mostly already, this Friday I should be off at least!
To be fair I have myself to blame for it, mostly. Currently I'm trying to do 40 EC in half a year - which my coordinator may have strongly advised against, and actually hadn't seen pulled off thus far... But I really like the courses! Save for that I would like just a bit more engineering in there, they match what I was hoping for very, very nicely.
My study is naturally a bit schizophrenic - at times it doesn't really know whether it's about biology, or maybe product assessment, or urban engineering perhaps... But that's basically no different from me at all, so that's perfect.
Currently I have courses in aquatic ecology (which includes lake and stream restoration and such), statistics, lifecycle impact assessment and business management. Yes, here too they like to include courses that are from beyond the study's main focus.
There's differences too though, to the Dutch system: It might be the relatively small class sizes (in one we're with 12, and there are five people teaching us), but the teachers are really quite "easy going". If I'd go and ask for an examination to be moved to another date because it doesn't work out for me, and they'd probably actually seriously consider it. The downside to this is that important dates unfortunately aren't really known up to maybe a month or two ahead, which in my case makes planning for Christmas kind of hard. But you do feel very welcome to go ahead and ask questions, or even just have a chat with the teachers, which is awesome.
It's also interesting to see that this university has such a different focus within a topic than say Utrecht University. I know that if I got any ecology class there, the basic predator-prey equations will quite definitely be in one or more of the first lectures. Here, there's none of that - the closest thing was probably the bit about there being "bad guys", of which there's usually too many, and "good guys" of which we want more to reduce the number of bad guys. Also, amazingly, I haven't seen any computer model regarding the environment yet. On the other hand, I do know a lot about marginal suppliers and avoided impacts now, which I never got taught about before.
Of course relatively speaking, the Dutch and Danish systems are practically the same. In some cases in Poland, apparently, class is basically the teacher's tiny kingdom, where everything is strict and in accordance with rules initiated 30 years ago. And I was told that in Latvia they still use some Soviet curricula...
As for how things are for me now, well, they're good. The past few weeks were especially hectic, as we had to submit the first version of our research report, and I had to do a presentation and submit another report. Also, the weekend before the deadlines I went to visit Hamburg with a friend, so that added to the stress a bit... Now I officially have vacation, but they gave us this exam assignment that we have to submit right after the holidays, so I didn't get that much free time this week either so far. But since we finished it mostly already, this Friday I should be off at least!
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Arrival in Odense, the first days
Two years after the start of my internship in Africa I thought I'd dust off this blog and write for it again, for a new adventure or such. For those I didn't yet tell, I have decided to go study abroad, in Denmark, for two years.
I really wanted to write this blog post a lot sooner, but the last couple of weeks have been quite busy, and tiring. In reality the decision of what and where to study (naturally inflated to "What do I want to do with the whole of the rest of my life?") has been pressing on me for several years now, and after having come to terms with what I think would be the absolute best for me all the arrangements that needed to be made only prolonged the stress.
Nonetheless, by the end of the summer it actually started to look like most of the stuff that needed doing was done. So, knowing that I wouldn't see many of my friends in a while, I spent quite a lot of time being with them, which was great of course. I might actually have stretched it a little, meaning that the last two days ended up being quite stressful once again. And just as time had run out... One or two things were still left to be done, just as last time. Oh well.
To help me get settled, and to see what Odense (the city I study in) would be like, my parents and brother came with me as we went to Denmark about two weeks ago. Of course my sisters wanted to come too, but all in all we managed to stuff the car quite wholly, unfortunately leaving too little space.
So what was the trip like? Well, there were goats on the train tracks, a dog on the highway, lightning strikes on the highway, a car crash etc. Lots to see, though I think I slept through about half of it. We arrived in Odense late, and spent the night in a hostel. The weather was quite miserable, but we brought drinks and goat cheese, and the prospect of getting some more rest made it all quite well.
The following day, after breakfast at the Ikea, we went to see the university. What that place is like I think I'll tell in another post - let's say I still owe you that. We had a good look around, and were kind of surprised there were still so many there on a Saturday. Unfortunately, as I only realised later, the faculty my study is at is on a different site altogether, which we didn't visit at that time. But roughly half my courses are at the main campus anyway.
After that we could finally pick up my keys to see what my room is like. And well, it's huge. Especially by Utrecht's standards - it must be over twice the size of my previous one. A downside though is that there isn't a living room, instead part of my room is. I share the dorm with Luigi, a cheerful, friendly and outgoing Italian guy. He's so up to date on all goings on and tends to arrange all sorts of things (together with me or no) there's plenty of social things to be part of for me as well.
But back to the first days in Odense - we spent the rest of the day getting the room all ready to use. Many hands do make light work, and at the end of the day it was already quite liveable, if a bit messy still. We ended the day's work with a nice meal at a Mexican we found in the city centre (which was actually quite nice and cozy, to our surprise), before all sleeping in the room itself. Unfortunately my family had to go home a little early again the next day - as close as Denmark is, it's not really just around the corner either.
So there I was then, in my new home, in a place I knew hardly anyone... Fortunately, there's a group that quite realises that many foreign students find themselves in such a situation, namely the Erasmus Student Network. And just that day, only a few hours after my parents left, they had a walk through the city for all newcomers like me. So, me and Luigi gladly took that opportunity to meet people, as did probably well over a hundred others. And many people we did meet there, including some that would become part of a group of friends I have here now, that do quite many things together. I also met a Dutch and an Australian girl that happened to live at the same group of dormitories as I do, and having plenty of food I thought it nice to have dinner together. And as it happened, Luigi had invited two girls for dinner too - it was quite funny when we heard that of each other. It was almost one of those "manly victory moments", but of course people of any other gender would have been just as welcome. At any rate, we had a lovely dinner, a great first "on my own" at that.
The next weeks too there were many things and arrangements, I bit too much to cover in this blog post too I do think. Suffice to say that there has been and is plenty to do here - which has good and less good sides. But I hope to inform you of most regardless.
I really wanted to write this blog post a lot sooner, but the last couple of weeks have been quite busy, and tiring. In reality the decision of what and where to study (naturally inflated to "What do I want to do with the whole of the rest of my life?") has been pressing on me for several years now, and after having come to terms with what I think would be the absolute best for me all the arrangements that needed to be made only prolonged the stress.
Nonetheless, by the end of the summer it actually started to look like most of the stuff that needed doing was done. So, knowing that I wouldn't see many of my friends in a while, I spent quite a lot of time being with them, which was great of course. I might actually have stretched it a little, meaning that the last two days ended up being quite stressful once again. And just as time had run out... One or two things were still left to be done, just as last time. Oh well.
To help me get settled, and to see what Odense (the city I study in) would be like, my parents and brother came with me as we went to Denmark about two weeks ago. Of course my sisters wanted to come too, but all in all we managed to stuff the car quite wholly, unfortunately leaving too little space.
So what was the trip like? Well, there were goats on the train tracks, a dog on the highway, lightning strikes on the highway, a car crash etc. Lots to see, though I think I slept through about half of it. We arrived in Odense late, and spent the night in a hostel. The weather was quite miserable, but we brought drinks and goat cheese, and the prospect of getting some more rest made it all quite well.
The following day, after breakfast at the Ikea, we went to see the university. What that place is like I think I'll tell in another post - let's say I still owe you that. We had a good look around, and were kind of surprised there were still so many there on a Saturday. Unfortunately, as I only realised later, the faculty my study is at is on a different site altogether, which we didn't visit at that time. But roughly half my courses are at the main campus anyway.
After that we could finally pick up my keys to see what my room is like. And well, it's huge. Especially by Utrecht's standards - it must be over twice the size of my previous one. A downside though is that there isn't a living room, instead part of my room is. I share the dorm with Luigi, a cheerful, friendly and outgoing Italian guy. He's so up to date on all goings on and tends to arrange all sorts of things (together with me or no) there's plenty of social things to be part of for me as well.
But back to the first days in Odense - we spent the rest of the day getting the room all ready to use. Many hands do make light work, and at the end of the day it was already quite liveable, if a bit messy still. We ended the day's work with a nice meal at a Mexican we found in the city centre (which was actually quite nice and cozy, to our surprise), before all sleeping in the room itself. Unfortunately my family had to go home a little early again the next day - as close as Denmark is, it's not really just around the corner either.
So there I was then, in my new home, in a place I knew hardly anyone... Fortunately, there's a group that quite realises that many foreign students find themselves in such a situation, namely the Erasmus Student Network. And just that day, only a few hours after my parents left, they had a walk through the city for all newcomers like me. So, me and Luigi gladly took that opportunity to meet people, as did probably well over a hundred others. And many people we did meet there, including some that would become part of a group of friends I have here now, that do quite many things together. I also met a Dutch and an Australian girl that happened to live at the same group of dormitories as I do, and having plenty of food I thought it nice to have dinner together. And as it happened, Luigi had invited two girls for dinner too - it was quite funny when we heard that of each other. It was almost one of those "manly victory moments", but of course people of any other gender would have been just as welcome. At any rate, we had a lovely dinner, a great first "on my own" at that.
The next weeks too there were many things and arrangements, I bit too much to cover in this blog post too I do think. Suffice to say that there has been and is plenty to do here - which has good and less good sides. But I hope to inform you of most regardless.
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