So because I’m new to the blog I thought I’d back track a little to an entry I wrote at the beginning of September, to give you some idea of where I am in the world...Just warning you - there'll probably be a bunch of entries from me in the next couple of days to try and get me up to date!
Despite leaving Australia on 16th July, I've only just begun uni herein Aarhus - a town in the north of Denmark. So far the courses seem great...though quite different to Sydney. Of course, you've got the language barriers as people in my class come from all over... Japan, China, Denmark, Germany, Spain, Peru, Italy and Turkey just to mention a few...but that does make it really fun. I almost feel like a walking English dictionary sometimes!! Haha. I remember a Polish girl asked me where I was from because I was "so fluent in English"...I hope so!!
The lectures are more like tutorials too. For example, in my media lectures there are only 19 people, instead of the usual 100 at home. There are fewer contact hours too, and not too much reading. There are also no assessments during semester - only a 100% exam at the end of semester, which means we're free to travel on weekends. I'm off to Copenhagen this weekend for example!
So what have I been doing since leaving Australia? Well I decided to take full advantage of the extra holiday time and being in Europe, so spent two weeks travelling around Ireland- absolutely awesome! I then participated in a Danish language and culture course, here in Aarhus. I'd been warned that Danish was difficult...actually it's the 3rd hardest language to learn apparently, behind Japanese and an Ancient Cherokee dialect!! It was really hard!! The writing and reading of the language was okay, but the pronunciation is crazy! A Norwegian, exercising the Scandinavian rivalry, described the Danes as sounding like they're talking with a potato stuck in their mouths!
The course was really great, and I'd recommend something similar to anyone going on exchange to a country where English isn't the first language. We learned all about the Danes and their Christmases, their love of alcohol and of various foods, of nude bathing and sauna-ring (yes, learnt that one the hard way!!) and yes...some of the language too! We received a Diploma in Danish for finishing the 3 week course, and then it was off to Turkey for 2 weeks for me before semester started here.