Well it's Sunday 10 am and I am in the library (crazy right?!) Still, I need to do this. So much reading I need to do. I feel good here and I hope I will manage to do a lot today. I am sitting here surrounded by books, but I found a window so I can enjoy the beautiful sun today. I might go for a lunchbreak near the lake.
I actually should start reading, but not before I told you guys about my amazing day yesterday. I went on a trip to Skagen (in the very North of Denmark). It was AMAZING!! I have never seen nature so beautiful. I was even in the dessert, a place with sandhills (dunes) created by the wind. On the side not cover with sand you could see the trees and somewhere in the distance you could see water. Try to picture all these things together! And especially don't forget blue sky and sun :D Moreover, our tourguide was telling us these crazy stories about camels and bellydancers in the dessert. That moment he really felt in the Sahara, I guess :)
In the afternoon we visited a museum, a bunker from the second world war and then finally we could go to the main point of the day: Grenen! This point, in the very north of Denmark, is the place where the two parts of the North Sea, Kattegat and Skagerrat, meet. It was very windy over there, but there was sun and a beautiful view. You could really see the two seas bumping into each other, like they were fighting. A special part of nature, created because of the climate change (ice melting) and the wind. It was worth it!
In the evening, we went to the little town of Skagen. Near the harbor I saw the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen! The sun was pink, orange, yellow... And the sky turned light blue and light pink. Amazing, the sky here at night. I could stare a whole evening at it.
So now I should really start studying! Don't feel like it, but I have to. Wish me luck!
It's been too long, I know! I am so sorry. I didn't find the time to write something decent. Tonight I will try, for your sake!
What did I do last week?! I remember a lot and nothing! Times passes by like clouds. Everything goes so fast here and some days I have the feeling I can't enjoy it properly. It's so busy here, or that is what my head tells me. I started stressing out today, like I do every Thursday afternoon, thanks to my dearest teacher of Advances Intellectual Property. He expects so much of us. Sometimes I don't feel I deserve to be a Masterstudent here. On the one hand he is amazing, because he really pushes us to reach a high level. His education technique is similar the system in America, I think. Do your reading, prepare the exercises and cases, we work on the exercises while highlighting the main issues and he highlights the main parts of the articles, the link between substantive and procedural law, claiming, why and who.. Just that, the rest we need to do ourselves. It's different from what I am used to. And then there is the paper we need to write, don't let me start on that! On the other hand it will give me a lot of knowledge and a great challenge where I need to find my way through. SO I am reading a lot here, and need to find some good books to broader my knowledge. You see why I am stressing out a bit. but he, I shouldn't complain. The other courses are a bit better, but also a bit more boring! I have two Italian teachers. I think that says enough: their pronunciation, their way of teaching.. I don't like it! But he, maybe these courses can relax me a bit.
Apart from the stressing this week, my feeling about everything here are confusing. I love it here: great places, great people but I started to miss home again. Just the safe feeling, you know. Just wake up in the morning and know your friend/sister/mother/father will be there at the breakfast table or for dinner. Don't have to stress out about budget, washing, ironing.. just come home and relax! I can do that here though, but not this week. One way I enjoy everything more than I'd do when I was in Ghent, but still at the end of the day you are 'alone' even though after a great movie-evening or party. But maybe that is the same everywhere. The right way to happiness is to learn trust yourself and believe in yourself. Even if so many people believe in you, will be there no matter what, you have to start from within yourself.
Okay enough with the emo-thing. I know I made the right decision to come here. Homesickness is a part of this, but there is so much more. I can feel like a kid again, play games, take crazy walks in the evening, visit museum at night, falling a sleep in a cough somewhere, I don't even know where... Making the drunk Danish guys fall in love (according to them I am cute)..Just being a real student every now and then. It's just the normal way of living as a student, here or at home. But still, there is still something more special studying abroad. You can see that on the smile on my face!
On this beautiful afternoon I will try to give you a little update of my fourth week! It was a very busy week, one of the reasons it took so long I could write something in my blog. I know I need to do it sooner sometimes, because I don't want to neglect this.
I enjoyed the weekend and I had time to fully recover from my sickness. I went to the deerpart with some friends on Saturday. On Sunday I was supposed to go for a run with a friend, but the weather wasn't that good. We decided to go for a - very expensive - coffee in the city center. Afterwards, I went cooking with a friend. We drunk a nice glass of wine together and had a pretty good dinner. Just enjoying the little things and the company of so many new people. Unfortunaltely, I forgot a bit that there was still so much preparing work for the week.
It was a very challenging week for me. I had my first Danish class on Monday. And I could understand what the teacher was trying to say, but that's the only thing. I suck at the pronunciation. I have no idea how I will be able to ever speak this language properly, or even understand it, cause the way the teacher was speaking, was really basic. But I am trying: Tuesday on my way to University I was repeating everything we learned the day before. I am not sure I am doing it right, but I can try, right?! Unfortunately I had to skip my second Danish class on Wednesday evening. I found a better way to spend my evening, go and prepare my debate in the library! Imagine: a Wednesday evening, 7pm, Thursday big debate and I hadn't done anything yet! No stress, just a bit pressure to get to know something of the subject. So I decided to go and join my teammate in the library at 10pm! Nice, right! Just take your bike, access the library with your student card and read in all peace and quiet! I loved it, really. To be honest, after 12 I started to become a bit scared to sit in the library alone, in the middle of a park with almost no lights. Especially when I started watching American Horror Story (serie) the day before with a friend. It was really creepy, so I went home to sleep and get up early to prepare a bit more for the debate. The debate was okay, not very good, but we did what we could. Next time we will be better.
After sleeping too less and stressing too much, I had a relaxing afternoon with a friend. Afterwards I went to a pizzaparty! That was AWESOME :D Making pizza, drinking beer or other alcoholdrinks, talking. The pizza's were fantastic and afterwards, the 'dessert'part got even better: vodka and white rum! Hnn, I love having Polish and German friends! Yesterday I went to the Fridaybar of Esperanto's, it was crazy. Now I know how to get drunk pretty quickly: drink beershots. But don't think I am living unhealthy over here. I still try to be healthy (and yeah, it is more trying with no succeeding! My Belgian friend is already teasing me that he will take all my sweet things away, so I cannot eat so much anymore :( BUT he will NEVER take my Nutella :o). I did go for a run this week. I am lucky to have a personal coach. I never thought I could do it, but I ran almost 7 km! And it was a run with a perfect view: the sea. We stopped 15min to take a break and enjoy the beauty of the sea. This is what makes this city so great: you have everything! Anyone can feel at home! You can go partying at the bars or the Fridaybars, you can go to the beach or a park to relax, you have great studyfacilities, shoppingstreets, cute caffees, romantic places near the water and the beach... You can find it all in Aarhus! I am happy I am here, try to enjoy the most of it when I can!
I hope the weather, people and places with you are as amazing as they are here! Enjoy it, now you can. Thanks for reading!
Yesterday the rain was back! I almost forgot how the weather is over here: when the sun is shining, you cannot expect that it's gonna stay that way. Ten minutes later the rain is already there. And yes, I was already a bit addicted to the all-day-long sun, but I'll get used to this again, I suppose.
I had a great weekend. Three days of doing nothing except fun things. Even though I fell sick Friday, I enjoyed the social evenings. I decided to go to the Fredagsbar just for a couple of hours and then catch up on sleep. Fredagsbar is a place where students come for cheap beer and crazy parties. You can find it in every department of the university (you can just walk through the Uni.Parken to go from one bar to the other, just try and not fall in the lake, please). You can get totally crazy, and that is exactly what Danish girls do. They are all well-disciplined but once they start partying, they go for it! So we were just standing there, look at the crazy Danish students, laughing a bit and drinking a bit (10 kr. for a beer = 1.2 euro :D). I got home pretty early, considering doing something productive on Saturday. Well I did! Reading, running, enjoying the sun with a coffee in the main shopping street.. how perfect can life be?! I started to feel a bit better so I decided to go to the dormparty Saturday-evening. I shouldn't have!! I was planning on staying for two hours, drink some very cheap beer (5kr. = almost nothing!!), meet some people and make some fun! Suddently it was 2 am. Too late, especially when you are sick. So Sunday I was a wreck. It felt like my head was going to explode. In the evening I had a dinerdat with two friends. It was a cosy and amazing night, unfortunaltely I couldn't enjoy it fully!Above all the sickness, it started to rain again and I forgot to take in my laundry, whoch was still hanging outside! Thank you, great brain of mine!
As you can read, I had a mixed weekend: great times, aweful feelings. But there were some little surprises which make this weekend - and last week - memorable! A little gift of nature can make you heal a bit faster!
So this is my second week here and I really enjoyed it! Short summary: sun, beach, friendly people and time! It feels like a holiday still. I stille don't realize I will be here for a while, but that will help me enjoy it more :)
This week the classes started. You all think I don't have to do anything over here. But it's the opposite. The teacher expect a lot so I'd better prepare my excersises and do my readings. I only had one class this week. I spent two days in the library to do all the reading so I am trying to be a good student over here :) Here you have to. It was 8.30 am and I was in the library. It was pretty hard to find a spot at the third floor. This makes me wonder: are all Danish students so disciplined that they come and study from 8 o'clock? It is pretty hard not to study if you know so many people are studying. But he, you have the best facility to do it: the library is open 24/7, well for students of AU anyway. So you can imagine the great opportunities students have to study. And it doesn't actually feel as studying in a library. You have your own little desk where you can put all your stuff on the way you like it (So I can make my little chaos, thanks AU).
I slowly start to fit in! I can ride my bike - which feels totally awesome - and I managed to go for a run two times this week. Finally I feel like I have time to just do whatever I like when I like. That is quit an amazing feeling! I missed that, I always thought I needed to do something useful but then you forget to like and enjoy the little things like watching a meaningless film. I'm starting to love this place, espcially with the sun around the last days. You have everything here: beach, nature, cute centre, bars, crazy fridaybars (where the Danish people totaly go crazy :o), art, peace and quie and friendly people! Maybe it was the lucky and best week, I am happy I am here!
You want to know why I love administrative paperwork? Because of this I got my book printed for free! :) The woman even apologized because it took so much time to print it all! Being an exchange student has its advantages every now and then!
This week I just relaxed and enjoyed a bit like I am on holiday! I actually have no clue what I can write more so I will be back for an next update soon!
I will be living in Aarhus for four months for my Erasmusproject. By writing this blog I want to make you part of my adventure. I am trying to write this blog in English. My English is not perfect yet but during these months I will improve my speaking and writing skills. So please forgive me for all the (gramatical) mistakes :) I will try and write every week, maybe a few times in one week. Time will tell me when and what.
Everything is new here for me. I am trying to feel comfortable. The lifestyle, the academic culture and the language (English and of course Danish)..., everything feels weird. So let this be the first step to discover the world and its people.
Unknowingly you've learned some Danish already. The greeting is 'Hi'. So everywhere I go I say 'Hi' and the people assume I am speaking Danish so they start talking Danish to me. And of course I don't undertsand a thing of what they are saying. To give you an idea, this is how it feels like inside of my head: 'WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTT?!!!??!! Seeing the words the language seems understandable, something like german. But Danish is really worse! They are like talking with a potato in their mouths. So it is really hard to 'fit in', to feel part of the Danish people. They are really friendly though, you just have to take the first step. People here are very organised adn individual (I can live with that :)) but they sometimes feel a bit cold.
The Danes are also very fit. I see them running and biking all the time, which is understandable considering the high busprices. I will try and keep up with that sportive thought but my intentions to go for a run haven't worked out yet. There are too many activities and things to do this first week. In the evening I was too tired of all the walking - it takes me 45min to walk to the centre of the city, 25min to the university campus - that I just wanted to sleep. But I had some great nights as well. We had an international night, a barbecue with the housemates and then an evening downtown to check out the start of Aarhus Festuge (Festival Week in Aarhus). This is a 10-daysfestival with concerts and parties in the city (something like Ghent Festival but with ore rain :/) The last couple of days the weather was pretty good though. On Wednesday I went to the beach with two Norwegian girls and we saw two daulphins (are I thought it were daulphins :p). We even dared to get into the water :) It was cold but it felt very good. The others days I have been wandering through the streets in Aarhus to buy a pair of shoes and to have a coffee. Just the usual things but it feels different!
I am sharing a house (with garden!) with eight other students. All of us are exchange students from different places over the world. They are all friendly and cool to live with. It is a pretty nice place to live.
It is still pretty scary though! Monday (25th of August) was my first day alone. I felt lonely and overwhelmed. The first days in Denmark I travelled around a bit with my parents and sister. Then that day came we had to say goodbye. And of course there were a few tears and a lonely feeling. It is really frightening to be here alone. Sometimes we all will feel a little bit homesick or cry, some more than others, but it is the main part to remember that we are not alone. Everyone here is in the same situation. You wake up, feel alone and ask yourself why you're doing this. That's normal the first days. But then you think of the real reasons you are here. For me it's to learn more about myself and my limits, to learn to trust myself and count on myself in difficult and stressful situations. We will see how that works out!
So what does the Danish people look like? The are very blond and very black (clothing). I haven't seen so many beautiful people together yet! But they are not only beautiful, they are smart as well. The educationsystem at AU (Aarhus University) - and all over Denmark - seems very good. Before the first class starts the students are expected to read and prepare a ot already. The professor expects an interactive discussion during the lecture, what can be really interesting with people from all over the world. Of course you are free to choose to go to class. There are no mandatory lectures or scoring points for answers in class but it will help you to study the course efficiently. And at the end of the semester we have an oral exam, so it can be pretty useful the teacher alreday saw your face in class :) My first class starts Wednesday so I will see what that will bring!
At this moment I still don't know what to expect and how this adventure will look like. I still don't realize I am here for the next four months. I need to stay here, live here and make this my home. My life in Ghent was hectic last semester. This can be my opportunity to come to peace with the world, life, myself and just find some relaxing time during the hard studying and social events. I am not sure I can handle all of this and that I can really demand myself to relax this way. I Always expect a lot of myself, maybe too much to enjoy things fully. So let this be my chance to learn to enjoy what life brings me!
We hebben om te starten ook al een reeks extra's toegevoegd aan uw blog, zodat u dit zelf niet meer hoeft te doen. Zo is er een archief, gastenboek, zoekfunctie, enz. toegevoegd geworden. U kan ze nu op uw blog zien langs de linker en rechter kant.
U kan dit zelf helemaal aanpassen. Surf naar http://www.bloggen.be/ en log vervolgens daar in met uw gebruikersnaam en wachtwoord. Klik vervolgens op 'personaliseer'. Daar kan u zien welke functies reeds toegevoegd zijn, ze van volgorde wijzigen, aanpassen, ze verwijderen en nog een hele reeks andere mogelijkheden toevoegen.
Om berichten toe te voegen, doet u dit als volgt. Surf naar http://www.bloggen.be/ en log vervolgens in met uw gebruikersnaam en wachtwoord. Druk vervolgens op 'Toevoegen'. U kan nu de titel en het bericht ingeven.
Om een bericht te verwijderen, zoals dit bericht (dit bericht hoeft hier niet op te blijven staan), klikt u in plaats van op 'Toevoegen' op 'Wijzigen'. Vervolgens klikt u op de knop 'Verwijderen' die achter dit bericht staat (achter de titel 'Proficiat!'). Nog even bevestigen dat u dit bericht wenst te verwijderen en het bericht is verwijderd. U kan dit op dezelfde manier in de toekomst berichten wijzigen of verwijderen.
Er zijn nog een hele reeks extra mogelijkheden en functionaliteiten die u kan gebruiken voor uw blog. Log in op http://www.bloggen.be/ en geef uw gebruikersnaam en wachtwoord op. Klik vervolgens op 'Instellingen'. Daar kan u een hele reeks zaken aanpassen, extra functies toevoegen, enz.
WAT IS CONCREET DE BEDOELING??
De bedoeling is dat u op regelmatige basis een bericht toevoegt op uw blog. U kan hierin zetten wat u zelf wenst.
- Bijvoorbeeld: u heeft een blog gemaakt voor gedichten. Dan kan u bvb. elke dag een gedicht toevoegen op uw blog. U geeft de titel in van het gedicht en daaronder in het bericht het gedicht zelf. Zo kunnen uw bezoekers dagelijks terugkomen om uw laatste nieuw gedicht te lezen. Indien u meerdere gedichten wenst toe te voegen op eenzelfde dag, voegt u deze toe als afzonderlijke berichten, dus niet in één bericht.
- Bijvoorbeeld:
u wil een blog maken over de actualiteit. Dan kan u bvb. dagelijks een bericht plaatsen met uw mening over iets uit de actualiteit. Bvb. over een bepaalde ramp, ongeval, uitspraak, voorval,... U geeft bvb. in de titel het onderwerp waarover u het gaat hebben en in het bericht plaatst u uw mening over dat onderwerp. Zo kan u bvb. meedelen dat de media voor de zoveelste keer het fout heeft, of waarom ze nu dat weer in de actualiteit brengen,... Of u kan ook meer diepgaande artikels plaatsen en meer informatie over een bepaald onderwerp opzoeken en dit op uw blog plaatsen. Indien u over meerdere zaken iets wil zeggen op die dag, plaatst u deze als afzonderlijke berichten, zo is dit het meest duidelijk voor uw bezoekers.
- Bijvoorbeeld: u wil een blog maken als dagboek. Dagelijks maakt u een bericht aan met wat u er wenst in te plaatsen, zoals u anders in een dagboek zou plaatsen. Dit kan zijn over wat u vandaag hebt gedaan, wat u vandaag heeft gehoord, wat u van plan bent, enz. Maak een titel en typ het bericht. Zo kunnen bezoekers dagelijks naar uw blog komen om uw laatste nieuwe bericht te lezen en mee uw dagboek te lezen.
- Bijvoorbeeld: u wil een blog maken met plaatselijk nieuws. Met uw eigen blog kan u zo zelfs journalist zijn. U kan op uw blog het plaatselijk nieuws vertellen. Telkens u iets nieuw hebt, plaats u een bericht: u geeft een titel op en typt wat u weet over het nieuws. Dit kan zijn over een feest in de buurt, een verkeersongeval in de streek, een nieuwe baan die men gaat aanleggen, een nieuwe regeling, verkiezingen, een staking, een nieuwe winkel, enz. Afhankelijk van het nieuws plaatst u iedere keer een nieuw bericht. Indien u veel nieuws heeft, kan u zo dagelijks vele berichten plaatsen met wat u te weten bent gekomen over uw regio. Zorg ervoor dat u telkens een nieuw bericht ingeeft per onderwerp, en niet zaken samen plaatst. Indien u wat minder nieuws kan bijeen sprokkelen is uiteraard 1 bericht per dag of 2 berichten per week ook goed. Probeer op een regelmatige basis een berichtje te plaatsen, zo komen uw bezoekers telkens terug.
- Bijvoorbeeld: u wil een blog maken met een reisverslag. U kan een bericht aanmaken per dag van uw reis. Zo kan u in de titel opgeven over welke dag u het gaat hebben, en in het bericht plaatst u dan het verslag van die dag. Zo komen alle berichten onder elkaar te staan, netjes gescheiden per dag. U kan dus op éénzelfde dag meerdere berichten ingeven van uw reisverslag.
- Bijvoorbeeld:
u wil een blog maken met tips op. Dan maakt u telkens u een tip heeft een nieuw bericht aan. In de titel zet u waarover uw tip zal gaan. In het bericht geeft u dan de hele tip in. Probeer zo op regelmatige basis nieuwe tips toe te voegen, zodat bezoekers telkens terug komen naar uw blog. Probeer bvb. 1 keer per dag, of 2 keer per week een nieuwe tip zo toe te voegen. Indien u heel enthousiast bent, kan u natuurlijk ook meerdere tips op een dag ingeven. Let er dan op dat het meest duidelijk is indien u pér tip een nieuw bericht aanmaakt. Zo kan u dus bvb. wel 20 berichten aanmaken op een dag indien u 20 tips heeft voor uw bezoekers.
- Bijvoorbeeld:
u wil een blog maken dat uw activiteiten weerspiegelt. U bent bvb. actief in een bedrijf, vereniging of organisatie en maakt elke dag wel eens iets mee. Dan kan je al deze belevenissen op uw blog plaatsen. Het komt dan neer op een soort van dagboek. Dan kan u dagelijks, of eventueel meerdere keren per dag, een bericht plaatsen op uw blog om uw belevenissen te vertellen. Geef een titel op dat zeer kort uw belevenis beschrijft en typ daarna alles in wat u maar wenst in het bericht. Zo kunnen bezoekers dagelijks of meermaals per dag terugkomen naar uw blog om uw laatste belevenissen te lezen.
- Bijvoorbeeld: u wil een blog maken uw hobby. U kan dan op regelmatige basis, bvb. dagelijks, een bericht toevoegen op uw blog over uw hobby. Dit kan gaan dat u vandaag een nieuwe postzegel bij uw verzameling heeft, een nieuwe bierkaart, een grote vis heeft gevangen, enz. Vertel erover en misschien kan je er zelfs een foto bij plaatsen. Zo kunnen anderen die ook dezelfde hobby hebben dagelijks mee lezen. Als u bvb. zeer actief bent in uw hobby, kan u dagelijks uiteraard meerdere berichtjes plaatsen, met bvb. de laatste nieuwtjes. Zo trek je veel bezoekers aan.
WAT ZIJN DIE "REACTIES"?
Een bezoeker kan op een bericht van u een reactie plaatsen. Een bezoeker kan dus zelf géén bericht plaatsen op uw blog zelf, wel een reactie. Het verschil is dat de reactie niet komt op de beginpagina, maar enkel bij een bericht hoort. Het is dus zo dat een reactie enkel gaat over een reactie bij een bericht. Indien u bvb. een gedicht heeft geschreven, kan een reactie van een bezoeker zijn dat deze het heel mooi vond. Of bvb. indien u plaatselijk nieuws brengt, kan een reactie van een bezoeker zijn dat deze nog iets meer over de feiten weet (bvb. exacte uur van het ongeval, het juiste locatie van het evenement,...). Of bvb. indien uw blog een dagboek is, kan men reageren op het bericht van die dag, zo kan men meeleven met u, u een vraag stellen, enz. Deze functie kan u uitschakelen via "Instellingen" indien u dit niet graag heeft.
WAT IS DE "WAARDERING"?
Een bezoeker kan een bepaald bericht een waardering geven. Dit is om aan te geven of men dit bericht goed vindt of niet. Het kan bvb. gaan over een bericht, hoe goed men dat vond. Het kan ook gaan over een ander bericht, bvb. een tip, die men wel of niet bruikbaar vond. Deze functie kan u uitschakelen via "Instellingen" indien u dit niet graag heeft.
Het Bloggen.be-team wenst u veel succes met uw gloednieuwe blog!
