Tag Archives: Europe

In the Happiest Place in the World

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University of Reading student studying abroad in Denmark for a Semester

Ellis is currently studying abroad at Aarhus University in Denmark as part of his Psychology degree at Reading. Read on to find out how he is settling into his new home in Denmark for his study abroad semester. 

After hearing that Denmark was ranked one of the happiest places to live in the world, my decision to study there for my term abroad became an easy choice; and my experiences so far have not disappointed.

I arrived in the late summer, and was greeted warmly by my mentor and, somewhat surprisingly, the climate – as I was told it was normally a lot colder for the time of year. After being shown to my dorm, I met the Danes I would be living with for the next 4 months and I instantly felt welcomed.

The next week was ‘introductory week’, 5 days filled with an array of activities which would get me to grips with Danes, Danish culture and academic life. During this week I met people from all over the world, and I can now say I have friends from France, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Canada, USA and Australia. I learnt a lot about what it means to be Danish, and their fondness for the term ‘hygge’ (something which roughly translates to ‘cosiness’ or ‘good-times’). Without a doubt my first week involved a lot of ‘hygge’ – celebrations galore, I attended some fabulous parties, held by the university and friends alike. Soon after I became aware of the Danish fondness for beer – you could literally get beer anywhere (even on campus there are beer taps) and at a very affordable price!

University of Reading student studying abroad in Denmark for a Semester

However, my time in Denmark hasn’t solely been partying and drinking beer. The week after introductory week, was festival week – a vibrant event taking over the city centre with art, entertainment, music, food and culture. I attended free concerts in the park, tried some of the finest Scandinavian cuisine and even watched an extravagant African dance show. During the week I also managed to squeeze in a trip to ARoS, Aarhus’ Art Museum, which showcased some famous artists work, and not forgetting the breathtaking rainbow panorama at the top – which had the most spectacular views of the city. It truly was an emotive experience, and I could’ve spent hours staring out of each coloured-glass panel. To sum up the week, there was something for everyone, whatever the interest.

After the excitement of the first couple of weeks, class began to start and I was somewhat dubious about what to expect from an international institution. However, my doubts soon faded away as I noticed the relaxed teaching style: classes involved teacher led-discussions based on set texts, which were broken up by cake-breaks – yep, each week one person was responsible for bringing in cakes for all the class to eat (a strong motivator to attend class to say the least).

So overall, I can confidently say I am having the most amazing time with the most interesting group of friends – and I’m looking forward to what the rest of this experience has in store!

Ellis

Picturesque town of Tübingen

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University of Reading student studying abroad in Switzerland for a Full Academic Year

Angelina is currently studying abroad at the University of Tubingen with her German and International Relations degree at Reading. Read on to find out how she’s adjusting to life in Germany!

I have been in Tübingen now for three weeks and it has already been an experience and a half to say the least. The journey to Tübingen itself went very well. I flew from London to Stuttgart, and then took a direct bus from the airport to Tübingen which was very handy. Once in Tübingen I made my way by bus to the housing office which is right on the top of a big hill. This is where you sign your housing contract and pay your deposit. As soon as that was done I had to get a bus all the way back down the hill to my halls of residence which are on the outskirts of town to pick up the keys to my room from the housemaster. The halls where I live are very different to halls in Reading. In a way they are more like residential flats, with the building consisting of 3 and 4 bedroom flats (I only have two ‘flatmates’) and even a Kindergarten. They are also much more into recycling here, the flat has four different bins, one each for paper, glass, metal & plastic and then one for food waste and things that aren’t recycled.

My first impressions of Tübingen were very positive, it’s a picturesque town in the German ‘Bundesland’ of Baden-Württemberg in the south of Germany and it even has its own castle. One third of the people here are students which it makes it a pretty student friendly place with lots of places to have lunch or go for a drink. When you matriculate here you have to do a lot of paperwork which takes you all around the town to do. The University of Tübingen does not really have a campus, hwever there is one road where most of the important university buildings are located which makes finding your way around much easier.

University of Reading student studying abroad in Switzerland for a Full Academic Year

Colourful houses seen from the ‘Neckarbrücke’ , Tübingen (left image)
Main university building, the new Aula, Tübingen (right image)

For international and Erasmus students the university hosts a welcome week unfortunately however due to illness I was not able to participate. There is a really great student organisation here called StudIT which organises and offers trips and experiences for international students. Since I have been here I have already participated in two of their activities. The first one was a Swabian dinner, or ‘Schwäbisches Abendessen’ as they would say in German, where they served a local dish called ‘Maultaschen’ with fried onions and potato salad. ‘Maultaschen’ resemble ravioli except that they are a bit bigger and filled with meat. The story behind them is that Cistercian monks weren’t allowed to eat meat during lent and so in order to hide the meat from God they created these ‘Maultaschen’. Then more recently StudIT organised a trip to Heidelberg. Heidelberg is about a two hours drive away from Tübingen and is famous for having the oldest university in Germany, its castle and baroque architecture. We had a tour around the city, had some lunch and then made our way up the castle which is located on a hill, once at the top the views were amazing. I’ve settled well in Germany, I’ve met lots of really nice people and have had many opportunities to practice my German. Lectures are starting this week so I’m looking forward to seeing what they’re like. I’ll let you know about them in my next blog post.

Angelina

Adjusting to the Italian way of life

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University of Reading student studying abroad in Australia for a Full Academic Year.

 

Savvina is currently studying abroad at the Università Ca’ Foscari in Italy as part of her Henley Business School degree at Reading. Read on to find out how she’s adjusting to the Venetian transport, weather and Italian way of life.

When I landed in Venice, I felt shocked and excited at the same time. It was the strange feeling of the unknown and when I was in the aeroplane, I could not imagine that the adventures will start immediately as soon as I get here. First of all, it is a completely different world, with no cars, vaporetto stops instead of normal bus stops, different weather and of course different language.

Ca Foscari University organised a special Welcome Day for all international students, where they answered all of our questions regarding the Italian Academic System, but also general questions on housing, transportation etc. They provided us with university cards, guides and maps and introduced us to our buddies. A buddy is an Italian student of Ca Foscari, who is available anytime to contact and ask for any help and advice.

Luckily, I was one of the students who got to have a tour around Venice and of its islands as well, by attending the program called Ca Foscari Tour. Thus, Murano, Burano and Torcello are just few of the islands I visited on my first week in Venice. One of the most amazing experiences I had was when I got to visit the glass museum in Murano and had an exclusive show of how glass is made.   Moreover, our guides made sure we had typical Italian meals in traditional restaurants, so I definitely got the best possible taste of Venetian food.

University of Reading student studying abroad in Australia for a Full Academic Year.

Needless to say that Venice has one of the biggest ESN (Erasmus Student Network) communities in Europe. Therefore, events such as Treasure Hunt, International Dinner, many Karaoke Nights and even Kayak Days were listed on my calendar and I never missed any! Moreover, parties, fun quizzes and tours were all part of my first weeks here in Venice. The biggest event organised so far, was the trip to Rome, where we stayed for 2 nights and got the chance to visit Vatican. Apart from Rome, I have been to Padua, Trieste and Milan and many more will definitely come!

As long as academic issues are concerned, I have to say that the system here is much different from what I was used to in the UK. Several things are different, for example, the academic calendar. I tried to choose modules that I have never studied before in order to expand my knowledge and discover more modules that I may like. Furthermore, I have been taking Italian language classes as well in order to improve my Italian.

I have to admit that I needed just one month in Venice to get used to it, and understand how life is here. Surprisingly, I adapted quite quickly and I believe is because of the way Italians treat you, especially when you are not one of them. Their smiles, their temperament, even the way they look at you when you don’t understand a word they are saying in Italian helped me adjust right away!

Savvina

The Danes certainly like to Party

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University of Reading student studying abroad in Denmark for a Semester

Mona is currently studying abroad at Aarhus University in Denmark with her Psychology degree at Reading! Find out how she is settling into Danish life a few weeks into her study abroad semester.

So I’ve been in Aarhus for roughly 3 weeks now and I can tell you that by the end of the first week, I knew this was going to be the best semester, and experience of my life so far. When I arrived at Aarhus bus station, I was kindly met by my mentor who helped carry my luggage and showed me how to get the bus to my accommodation. A little while before arriving in Aarhus I was emailed and told that I had to be put into temporary accommodation as my permanent residence had water damage! But my mentor was so helpful and sorted everything out and collected my keys for me. I can safely say that the stereotype the Danes hold of being very organised, is definitely true.

After a couple of days of settling down and exploring the city, welcome week began. This week was packed full of informative lectures telling us about practical aspects of our stay, applying for my CPR number and residence certificate, meeting lots and lots of new people, some of which are now my closest friends, and several free breakfasts and lunches provided by the very generous psychology canteen. I can’t say I was particularly nervous for welcome week, more just very excited to meet some new people, learn a little more about how everything at the university worked and get stuck in! I met so many amazing people in this week and I can’t imagine it having gone any better.

University of Reading student studying abroad in Denmark for a Semester

To say that the university atmosphere is different from Reading is a massive understatement. While the university is one of the best in the world and the focus is very heavily on independent study and academia, the Danes certainly like to party, and they like to party in the university buildings… The psychology committee regularly arranges parties and events that are held in the psychology building, with portable bars and DJ decks being brought in, chairs and desks being cleared and bouncers on the door, it couldn’t have been more different to life in Reading!

The week after welcome week, classes began and I got a vague routine back, which really helped me settle down even more. As a master’s student, my classes seem very sparse, having only got 2-3 hour seminars a week however the focus is much heavier on independent study, reading before each seminar, class discussion, presentations and active participation. Although this seemed pretty daunting at first, I am finding that I am enjoying classes a lot more and learning more than I would in a one-hour seminar at home, but everyone’s different.

This past week I have moved into my permanent residence at Skejbyparken and am loving my stay in Aarhus so much so that I already don’t want to go home! I’m looking forward to exploring the city a lot more with my new found love for cycling, meeting many more people and generally making the most of my time here!

Mona