Category Archives: Europe

Friends from every continent!

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

Josef is currently studying abroad at the University of Tubingen with hisHenley Business School degree at Reading. Read on to find out what he’s been up to mid-way through his year abroad.

It barely feels like two minutes since I had just arrived and was writing my first blog post. Erasmus so far really is flying by and I’m sure it will continue to do so. Since the last time of writing the main difference is the weather, which has gone from t-shirt weather in mid October to near constant freezing temperatures and a lot of snow. Thankfully I missed the coldest period of weather over Christmas when it dropped to -13 causing the River Neckar, which runs directly through the middle of Tübingen, to freeze completely over.

Whilst being here, I have been attempting to make the most of the fact travelling around Europe is so easy, partly helped by friends from all corners of the globe wanting to make the most of their time in Europe by travelling around and dragging us Europeans with them. We had a weekend in Munich (only 3 hours by coach) which involved a lot of walking before deciding to go to one of the cities many beer halls, before moving on and settling in a quieter bar followed by a night out. Also I have had many trips to the city of Essen to visit family and be fed like a king by a Nan who thinks students don’t eat, not that I’m complaining. Although these trips did mean I missed out on weekends away in Paris, Hamburg, Switzerland and hiking in the Black Forest (being a city kid, I was quite glad I missed out on the hiking though). Last weekend, we visited Strasbourg for the day, just over the French border from Germany and only took around two and a half hours and 10 euros by train (a much quicker train is possible, but it is almost twice the price of my flights back to the UK). We did all the usual sights in Strasbourg such as the Cathedral and European Parliament, before getting the train back and getting ready for a friend’s birthday night out. There’s already a couple of future trips planned such as Berlin, Aarhus in Denmark and hopefully Italy to visit some fellow UoR Erasmus students.

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

In front of the Strasbourg Cathedral (left) and around the EU parliament in Strasbourg (right)

On the work front, lectures continue to tick over and I still can’t get used to the 8am lectures. Another big difference with uni over here is the term structure which I’m still finding a little bit odd. The winter semester here goes from mid October to mid February with exams at the end of February and just two short weeks off for Christmas. After exams have finished in February, I will be off until mid April when the summer semester begins, which then runs to August. Having the whole of March off does somewhat make up for the very short Christmas holiday and gives me a chance to go home to visit family and friends as well hopefully giving me a chance to get down to Reading as well. The work aspect is a big part of being here in Tübingen and getting a German perspective on my course is fascinating and I’m sure will prove beneficial by the time final year comes around or even, dare I say it, the world of work that comes after. But by far and a way the biggest thing I have taken out of my time here so far is the social aspect and it is the same for just about every exchange student I know or have met. Having friends from every continent around the world isn’t just interesting, it also means I will have somewhere to stay should I ever visit Australia, China, Russia, etc. Nights out also prove to be interesting as well as funny, as all the different cultures surrounding nights out clash like the Russians genuine hate for beer but love of spirits; the Danes’ love for drinking songs; and the Australians and Kiwis drinking from shoes (this really is as grim as it sounds).

As exam season begins to approach here, the whole uni seems to be slowing down a little and preparing, so roll on the end of February when exams are out the way and then roll on mid April and the start of the summer semester.

Josef

 

TEDx Aarhus surpassed expectations!

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University of Reading student studying abroad in Denmark for a Semester

Simon is studied abroad at Aarhus University in Denmark as part of his Psychology degree at Reading. Since moving to Denmark at the end of August, he’s made the most of living in the heart of Scandinavia. Read on to find out what he’s been up to since his last blog post. 

I am now over halfway through my Semester Study Abroad and my appreciation for Aarhus and Scandinavian culture has only grown since I have been here. Each day is full of different experiences and opportunities and I will mention a few worthy ones here.

For the first time the city of Aarhus was hosting a TEDx event. Tickets were at a premium but we were quick on the refresh button and managed to get some. It’s fair to say that I like TED talks and the idea behind them, in order to spread current ideas, so I had high expectations. These expectations were comfortably surpassed. The talks took place in the middle of Tivoli, the theme park in Aarhus. There were 12 talks in total all completely different, yet all based loosely around the ‘To the Moon and Back’ theme. It was a great experience to hear ideas from all different fields, from catering, business, neuroscience and from a person who was on the shortlist of 200 people to go and try to live on Mars. He was talking about why he would give up his life on earth to go and start a new one on Mars! If you wished to talk more about the topics discussed by the speakers, then you could go to the ferris wheel and get put in a booth with some strangers to discuss. This shortly ended up just being a nice way to meet people and chat. If the 12  different speakers and theme park weren’t enough, we were given copious amounts of cake and then at the end of the night served Tapas and Wine. The speakers came to chat amongst everyone and enjoy the food, drink, music and Hygge.

University of Reading student studying abroad in Denmark for a Semester

Halfway through the Semester we had a one-week fall break. We thought that this would be a great opportunity to explore further afield. We decided to go on a trip to Norway and Sweden. The first place we went to was Bergen, an incredibly beautiful city. Our hostel was set on the side of a small mountain, looking down onto Bergen, giving us incredible views. There were 7 of us in Bergen and close-by is a famous mountain called Trolltunga. The group was split about whether to attempt to climb or not as we were on the cusp of the ‘Danger of Death’ warning. However, we met a couple of people who had climbed it the day before and we became set on our mission. We booked up a cozy log cabin close to the base of Trolltunga and set out on the bus. The views on the bus journey of the Norwegian scenery were incredible and it made me excited about the climb! We had to leave at 5am in order to make our bus the next day so the first part we climbed in the dark. However, when the Sun came up, the views were breath-taking and despite the cold wind you had to just stop and admire them. Thankfully we all made it in one piece in time for our bus back and had an experience we will never forget!

Simon

Any regrets? Definitely not!

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University of Reading student studying abroad in Italy 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. Already half way through her year abroad, read on to find out what she’s been up to. 

It is difficult to believe that four months have already passed! Time goes so quickly and I feel like I haven’t experienced anything yet! This of course is not true! I have been to 10 different cities in Italy, including Rome, Milan and Florence. I have met so many people from all around the world such as Mexico, Brazil, Portugal, Russia and Germany.

First things first, I want to mention that the things I do here in Italy, I don’t get to do them in the UK or in Cyprus. This is an interesting fact, since I understood that when you feel that you will be in a place for just a few months, you want to do everything. Literally everything! Visit galleries, architecture events, theatre, cinema etc. I soon realised how little I know Reading, the city I study in the UK. So, my goal for next year is to get to know the city more!

Venice is one of the biggest cultural spots in Europe with lots of events to attend each month. Although I was never interested in art, I realised how many unique opportunities one can have to learn as much as possible and expand his knowledge. La Biennale di Venezia which is a European culture centre, organised a series of events including Time Space Existence and Contested Frontiers (Cyprus Pavilion). Moreover, Peggy Guggenheim Collection is among the most important museums in Italy for European and American art of the 20th century and it is located in Venice. I was also really impressed by the collection of Sigmar Polke in Palazzo Grassi.

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

In addition to the above, I had the amazing opportunity to run a Marathon and I was so surprised by the organisation of the event and that is why I signed up for the same event on April. I was also excited to see few of the best Italian movies! The events were organised by ESN Venezia and it was an amazing opportunity to get to know the Italian culture and humour.

One of my favourite places in Italy is Verona, the city of Romeo and Juliet. It is like being a part of a fairy tale. However, I cannot end this post without mentioning my trip to Florence and Pisa with two of my Portuguese friends. I also had the pleasure to celebrate my birthday in Florence too, which I will never forget!

Christmas in Venice is magical! We get to visit Trento market with ESN Venezia, which is one of the biggest Christmas markets in Italy. Moreover, regata dei Babbi Natale is an event which is hosted by Ca’ Foscari University each year on December and it is a unique competition among many Santa Clauses in boats along the Grand Canal.

One of the most frequent questions I get, is if I regret my choice of studying abroad for the whole year instead of for just one semester. The answer comes out so naturally the second after I hear the question: Definitely not! 

Savvina

Already half way through!

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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. Find out about what she’s been up to before the festive period. 

I can’t quite believe that I am over half way through my semester here in Tübingen!

Lectures and seminars have been going well although sometimes they are quite challenging, as a languages student all my lectures and seminars are in German. As with many other things lectures here are also a bit different to lectures in Reading. All of my lectures and seminars are at least two hours long and the earliest time a class can start is 08:00 mornings and one of my classes even finishes at 20:00 in the evening which took some time getting used to. One of the nice things about studying here is that I have no compulsory modules and I could choose modules on subjects that I am interested in. At the end of a lecture or seminar it is common for students to knock their knuckles on the desks which I found really bizarre.

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

Probably one of the best things about studying in Germany during the Autumn/Winter semester is that Germany is probably one of the best countries to experience during the festive season. As soon as late November hit all anyone could talk about was the ‘Weihnachtsmarkt’, or Christmas market in English. Almost every German town will host a Christmas market of some sort and in Germany especially in the bigger cities they go all out. Christmas decorations and impressive light displays everywhere, lots of stalls and wooden huts selling crafts and German Christmas foods such a roasted sugared almonds, ‘Lebkuchen’ (gingerbread), sausages and of course it wouldn’t be a Christmas market without ‘Glühwein’ (mulled wine). In late November, early December for one week Tübingen is home to Germany’s largest chocolate festival. Chocolatiers and chocolate companies from around the world and Germany present their products and quite a few stalls even offer free samples. I was even able to take part in a chocolate workshop where I could make my own chocolate.  As well as the chocolate market, Waldenbuch a town nearby has a chocolate factory too. If you really like chocolate Tübingen is a great place to spend study abroad. Another town about a 40 minutes train journey away from Tübingen called Esslingen has a really unique Christmas market. The Christmas market has a medieval theme and it is presented really well with fire dancing shows, people dressed up in medieval clothing and they served mulled wine and beer in clay cups. If you end up studying here next year I would definitely recommend it.

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

Since my last blog post I have also had the opportunity to visit some of Germany’s larger cities, Stuttgart, Hamburg and Munich. Tübingen is well connected to the rest of Germany by train via Stuttgart. It is also relatively inexpensive to travel by bus to various cities in and around Germany. Even though the temperatures can drop quite a bit around this time, all the festivities make it worth it and if your wrap up warm it’s really not too bad. At the moment it’s currently snowing here and the town looks even prettier under a white blanket.

Angelina

Missed Angelina’s first blog post? Catch up here: http://bit.ly/2ig8lgl 

Travelling through Scandinavia: Aarhus & Beyond

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University of Reading student studying abroad in Denmark for a Semester

Mona studied abroad at Aarhus University in Denmark with her Psychology degree at Reading! Mid-way through her semester abroad she updated us with all her adventures. Read on to find out more!

Aarhus is beautiful. I am now just over half way through my semester abroad in Aarhus, Denmark and I must say, nothing has disappointed. My experience so far has been amazing and I’m now focusing on making the most of my last month or so here before heading back to Reading. So, what have I been doing since my last blog post?

Well I can safely say I’ve fully explored the small, cosy, cute, friendly city that is Aarhus, and some of the surrounding cities and countries! And I must say, I’ve experienced my fair share of hygge. Now hygge doesn’t have a direct translation into English but the closest translation would be a feeling of cosiness, defined by an evening of candles and great company (and often food), but even a city can feel hygge, and Aarhus definitely does, especially now it’s getting colder and Christmas lights are on!

So not too long after my last blog post, I had some friends from home, and not long after, family came to visit which was great, and allowed me to show people around and explore the city even more. Aarhus has everything! It’s a coastal city with incredible sandy beaches, a cosy atmosphere, a city feel and scenic forests surrounding it. What more could you wish for while living abroad? Some of the most beautiful places include Den Gamle By (the cities old town), ARoS (the cities art museum with the famous rainbow panorama) and the deer park which is situated in the forest, by the beach where deer are free roaming and you can feed them! I’ve been 5 times…

University of Reading student studying abroad in Denmark for a Semester

University of Reading student studying abroad in Denmark for a Semester

A couple of weeks after, it was half term and I wanted to make the most of my time living abroad. Having never travelled to Scandinavia before, I was keen to explore the other Scandinavian countries and planned a trip with a group of friends to travel around Norway and Sweden. We started off in Copenhagen which is a beautiful city with so much to see, travelled then to Bergen in Norway (the gateway to the fjords), then on to Oslo, followed by Stockholm and Malmö in Sweden. This trip was incredible! Norway is the most beautiful country I’ve ever visited, with the most incredible scenery, especially the fjords, and Sweden’s capital Stockholm was amazing! Now the highlight of this trip was definitely our adventure in Bergen, Norway, in which we stayed for one night in a cabin in the woods in the tiny village of Odda, to then begin our 11 hour hike up a mountain very early the next morning. The aim of this hike was to reach a point named ‘Trolltunga’ meaning Troll’s tongue in Norwegian, which is a piece of rock jutting horizontally out of a mountain about 700 metres above a lake, and it’s safe to say it was the most breath-taking view you could imagine.

University of Reading student studying abroad in Denmark for a Semester

I think it’s safe to say I am making the most of my time here in Aarhus and now to make the most of the time left!

Mona

Missed Mona’s first post? Catch up here: http://bit.ly/2dysoVG 

The local Danish insight to Aarhus

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

Laurence is studying abroad at Aarhus University in Denmark as part of his Economics degree at Reading. He’ll be adapting to Danish living for the full academic year. Read on to find out how he’s getting on. 

Admittedly before looking to study abroad, I didn’t know too much about Denmark past Copenhagen and their leading happiness ratings, but after the first few weeks living and exploring Aarhus the experience has made me want to learn and see everything the country has to offer!

Arriving in Aarhus for the first time was a great first experience for me, the city has just been appointed the European culture capital for 2017, and it really shows with the mix of modern and old on each street. Walking around aimlessly with new flatmates and figuring out where to go was great fun, although you’ll quickly find out that cycling is the way forward here! All the main roads have dedicated cycle paths which are very safe to use, and the lanes leading into the city centre have displays to show how many people have cycled into town this year and on the day. It’s a cool thing to see and makes you feel a little better each time you don’t cheat by using the bus! The first place we explored as a group was the ARoS art museum, featuring a wide variety of art pieces and types across the floors and topped off with the ‘rainbow panorama’ installed on the roof. It was as good as any of the bug museums in London, and the panorama gave a colourful view of the beautiful city I’d be staying in for the year.

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

The university put on a welcoming week of activities and information giving which was incredibly useful and reassuring, I felt a lot more confident in what I was doing when people and professors from the local community share their experience and tips to making the most of the city and also helped to fill out the necessary paperwork making the process really easy and making sure there would be no problems during the stay. I knew that the university had a big international population, and I could really see this when we were split into groups of students from all other the world stretching from Japan to Canada! The mentors who worked with our group were two former students who were honestly amazing at creating a friendly atmosphere for all of us to get to know each other and would show us their own personal favourite places around Aarhus. It was a great way to start to get friendly with people having their own unique adventure, and between this and welcoming flatmates you can feel like you already know a great group of people even before the first lecture.

So far all the small differences have been my favourite thing to experience such as learning Danish, cycling everywhere or even just seeing England as the subject of holiday ads, and it feels exciting! I am surrounded by stuff that is new to me; a journey in any direction from my residence could mean finding something that keeps my time here fresh, and I don’t think this will stop any time soon.

Laurence

 

Hello Aarhus Denmark!

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University of Reading student studying abroad in Denmark for a Full Academic Year
Gracia is currently studying abroad at Aarhus University with Chemistry degree at Reading. Already coming to the end of her first semester in Denmark, read on to find out how she settled into the social and academic side of her year abroad. 

So it’s now been 15 weeks since I moved to Denmark and it’s typically me writing a welcome to my study abroad experience so late, but better late than never! So what can I say I’ve enjoyed about my trip so far.

Let’s start from the beginning, I arrived on August 24th 2016. I flew straight to Aarhus from London, which was surprisingly not long at all. Here’s me thinking I would have time on the plane to cry, reflect, get excited and prepare myself for the year to come. But no! The flight was 1 hour and 40 minutes and in a blink of an eye. Hello, Aarhus Denmark.

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

So the next few days were the intro days and I used these days to explore the town, meet new other exchange students and get familiar with the University. Each international student were assigned a mentor to help them settle in which was great help because I had a ton of questions. Luckily for me the weather was beautiful which was shocking because prior to coming everyone had warned me about how cold it was going to be but for the first few months it was sunny everyday so I saw Aarhus in its true form. I managed to buy a bike during my first few weeks because it’s definitely the most practical way of travelling around Denmark and the great thing was that we were able to go to the beach practically every day and also visit some amazing Danish landscapes. All the houses are brightly coloured (at one point I felt like I was in an episode of Balamory), but I loved how unique and quirky the houses were. Everyone that I met were super nice and friendly they don’t lie when the say Denmark is the happiest country in the world. Which made me comfortable and excited for this new chapter in my life.

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

 

It wasn’t long before I was introduced to the famous concept of “Friday bars”. Each Friday from afternoon to late evening each academic departments set up bars in a big room, canteen or even classroom in the building and sell beer, soft drinks and a never ending game of beer pong (I never realised how competitive this game was until saw Danes play against each other). They are really cool bars because both students and lecturers from that department are able to socialise, the prices are inexpensive, thanks to the student volunteers. But on the 9th of September, Denmark’s largest Friday bar was held in the University Park, with special themed bars, activities and 2 massive stages with popular Danish music artist it was definitely one of my highlights so far.

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

Regarding my education, I am now well into my Chemistry Project in the Group of Prof. Troels Skrydstrup working on synthesising metal-salen derivatives. At first I was a bit overwhelmed but I am now so happy and comfortable working in the lab and learning a lot from the other students around me.

Finally, so far I have met some amazing people and have had such an good time in Aarhus and I am excited to do more exploring and see what the next few months has in store for me!

Gracia

Developing an addiction to cinnamon buns..

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

Lucy is currently studying abroad in Uppsala University in Sweden as part of his Law degree at Reading! Read on to find out how she’s adjusting to life in Sweden for the next academic year.  

Waking up at 1AM to get on a plane destined for Sweden was definitely one of the most scary things I’ve ever done, but equally one of the more rewarding. I craved adventure and my study abroad experience has definitely delivered!

Uppsala is the fourth largest city in Sweden and as such there is something foreign and beautiful to be entranced by wherever you look in the city centre and even on the outskirts where my accommodation resides, Uppsala Cathedral is my personal favourite to date.

A couple of days after I arrived and had explored a little, the University put on a welcome day for the international students where we were given information, signed any outstanding contracts and had the opportunity to buy tickets for the International Student Gasque (a type of event put on by the University, or one of the twelve Student Nations which centres around a formal dinner with speeches and singing, often followed by an informal after party).

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

We were then given a week to mingle with the fellow international students and join in with social events put on by different Student Nations (each Nation being modelled after a different area of Sweden). I used the week to explore Uppsala and make some friends.

The following week I began my first module- Criminal Law Theory, I chose the course because of my great interest in Criminal Law and hoped to gain more insight into the subject. The module certainly gave me that, I was provided with a new way to look at Criminal Law and got a better idea about the differences in Law between countries, during the first half of the module I also had the pleasure of being taught by a Mr A. Simester, who’s work I have followed throughout my study of Criminal Law. The teaching style in Sweden is heavily reliant on group discussion, which took some getting used to, however it has been interesting to see the differing opinions of students from around the world, which made up the class.

Between studying and making new friends, I have tried to explore not just Uppsala, but the surrounding area. The obvious first stop was Stockholm being the countries’ capital. On my first visit, I accompanied a friend to Skansen, which is aptly described as an open air museum, I would thoroughly recommend it for a fun day out, where you get to learn more about Sweden’s history in an interactive and fun way, we were particularly spoilt by being shown an English printing press once one of the displayers learnt where we were from. I have also taken advantage of the Study Abroad experience to travel, my first trip was to Copenhagen in Denmark.

The Swedes are warm and friendly once you get to know them, and I have quickly discovered that the language barrier is virtually non-existent.

So far my study abroad experience has been brilliant, though I am developing an alarming addiction to the cinnamon buns!

Lucy

The Myth of German Efficiency

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

Josef is currently studying abroad at the University of Tubingen with his Henley Business School degree at Reading. Read on to find out how he settled into German life for his third year abroad.

Around one month ago now, I packed my case and woke up at 3.30am for my flight. Once on the flight, in between attempting to catch up on some much needed sleep, I was full of mixed emotions from excited to straight up scared. Then after a long day of travelling, I finally arrived at my flat… only to be greeted by nobody. Unlike Uni at home students don’t have to move out of their rooms at the end of each year, this means that many stay in the same rooms for their full degree. This also means that there is no specific moving in date like at home.

A few very unhelpful emails with the accommodation team here in Tübingen followed where I was told most students would be arriving from the start of September to the middle of October. I decided to arrive bang in the middle of those dates. Big mistake. Over a third of the population of Tübingen are students, so when those students aren’t here the place turns into a bit of a ghost town.

However, I thought I’d make the most of the quietness and enrol at the university and open a bank account. But this leads me on to the second thing they don’t tell you about moving to Germany and that is that German efficiency is largely a myth. Where as in Reading, you receive your university card within 5 minutes of arrival on moving in day; here it required going to 6 or 7 different buildings and to make that even more complicated it has to be done in a specific order and most of those buildings are only open between 9 and 11.30am.

My first three weeks here could be described as unremarkable, dull and very lonely as I only had one flat mate who would occasionally be in Tübingen to do something with and get some much needed social contact.

Then it all changed. The students arrived. On the first official day of university in October, I attended a Meet and Greet for other internationals and a few German students too. An awkward event to begin with, but the awkwardness soon left and the event ended with a group of us going out for drinks afterwards. Since that day, study abroad has genuinely lived up to all expectations.

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

 

A lot of fun has followed with the most diverse, if not random, friendship group I have ever been part of, including Germans, Australians, New Zealanders, Russians, Danes and Americans. Since meeting we have explored this beautiful university town by day, but mainly by night. Thanks to all the students, Tübingen has the youngest average age of anywhere in Germany and so it’s fair to say we aren’t short of bars or clubs. The second bonus to going out here is that most regular bars have prices more similar to that of the Union at home and the uni-owned bars here are usually about half that price. So win win all round.

When it comes to the academic side of things, it’s more difficult to say what it’s going to be like as lectures only started last week. Although I have noticed a few things they do differently here already. After my first lecture last week I began packing my things away, only to be given the fright of my life when all the other students started bashing on their desk. I later found out they do this as a way of showing their appreciation to the lecturer; but when you’re not expecting it, it sure does make you jump! Another thing is if you find 9am lectures too early at home, try an 8am start where you sit in class and watch the sunrise.

All in all, after a difficult first 3 weeks here, the last 2 weeks have made up for it. The main things I’ve taken from the experience so far is to take the rough with the smooth as any negative experiences are soon outweighed by the many positive ones.

Joe

It’s all about the Hygge

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University of Reading student studying abroad in Denmark for a Semester

Simon is  studying abroad at Aarhus University in Denmark as part of his Psychology degree at Reading. Find out how he foundDanish life just a few weeks into his semester studying abroad. 

On the evening of the 18th of August I arrived in Aarhus for my exchange semester. My extremely helpful mentor picked me up from the bus station and took me to my apartment…then the non-stop action began. I dropped my stuff off, had a shower and went out to a party at my mentors’ house. It felt like a bit of a blur, but everyone was very welcoming and friendly. It was great to meet lots of Danish people on my first night, be able to ask them questions about their culture and what I must do during my time here. I didn’t know then and I’m not sure I do now, but I think that was my first experience of Hygge.

The next day came and with it brought more names, more faces and more exciting opportunities. The only difficulties I were having involved remembering people’s names and being unsure if I was spending lots of money or not much at all, it being Denmark I figured a lot. Each day seemed to bring with it a new event, always with more great people and more names to remember. I assumed that this would settle down after the first week but if anything it continued even more so. The Aarhus festival began, this happens every year and it was an amazing time to be in the city, as all over there are events happening. Music, art, dance, food… in all different venues, that could be easily located using the festival app. You downloaded this and all the English events could be searched for easily along with their location and price. Most of the events were free and it created an incredible atmosphere in the city as there were so many people out and about having a great time.

University of Reading student studying abroad in Denmark for a Semester

By my third week, I had properly learnt some names, classes had begun and I thought that maybe things would be settling down a bit. I was wrong again, yet more events followed, the equivalent of our Reading Student fair in Aarhus turned out to be the equivalent of a small music festival. There were stages set up with music going on (lots of Danish rap) and an extremely organised tournament of beer bowling took place. In Aarhus they take their drinking games seriously, the tournament was even streamed onto a big screen. A lot of practice goes into preparing for them and they had umpires! Overall, it was a remarkable event completely run by students on the University grounds.

Finally, I could catch a breath, four weeks in and I felt like I was here. This was when I fully appreciated what a city Aarhus is, full of life and interesting architecture. I visited Aros, the Moesgaard museum and the deer park during this week, each unique and wonderful. I had begun to find my way around Aarhus now, but I still couldn’t remember everyone’s name!

Simon