Arrival in Aarhus – First Impressions & BSS Intro Week

After arriving for one night to Aarhus on the 15th, I came back after travelling to Hamburg and Prague and finally settled down.

8000, Aarhus postcode
My exchange city, Aarhus, is the second largest city in Denmark and 3 hours north west of Copenhagen in Jylland (Jutland). With a population of around 300,000 people, it is a big city in Danish standards but small in comparison to Sydney. It has a small town feel and is a student city and it’s the primary reason to why I chose to study and live here!

My dorm (Tandlaegekollegiet) is located right next to Aarhus Business School and is conveniently located – it is about 1km to the city centre and to the main campus of uni.

The stereotype with Danes is that they are very reserved. When I arrived at my dorm on the first day, this stereotype didn’t hold true as the Danes in my kitchen were super friendly and even made the first conversation. That night, we were pre drinking and went down stairs to another kitchen and this stereotype then held true. I came in with some new friends and I said “hello” but no one made the attempt to introduce themselves. I can’t say that this stereotype is true for all Danes as it really depends on the person and it does take a while for the Danes to warm up but I saw two stark contrasts which was interesting. I ended up becoming friends with the guys who weren’t so friendly at the start. That night I went out for the first time in Aarhus and got introduced to Danish liquorice (“lakrids”) liqueur! Some of the guys had free shot vouchers for Meatpackers which we took advantage of and then went to Heidi’s. 
 
The next day after my official arrival was spent at Ikea buying all my bedding including sheets, doona, pillow and a few bits and pieces for my room. It was nice to finally settle in with everything.
 

The Intro week for the Business and Social Sciences (BSS) students at the university was a week long of introductions, drinking and partying. The intro week was so well organised and made adjustment into uni and Danish life really easy. We were split into tutor groups and this was a great way to meet some of the other exchange students. Highlights included a visit to Tivoli Friheden and the Western Party at the Botanical Gardens and Klubben at the business school. The exchange students were prisoners and the tutors were the sheriffs and we were provided with ciders and beers and had a massive party.

Tivoli
Abby, Helena, me & Mark
All the first year Danes from BSS at Western Party
Our tutor group before the Western Party
Western Party
At Molleparken with the group

During that week, I also went to Dania Kollegiet for a dorm party and checked out some of the bars down town. A lot of the bars down town have free beer for an hour so we headed to Guldenhorne for that. Also had the first Tandlaegekollegiet dorm party for the semester and I was bartending for an hour which was fun as I got to meet more of the Danes and Internationals who live here and get used to the Danish kroner. I am keen to get out more to explore Aarhus and check our more of the nightlife here!

Botanical Gardens
Den Permanente
Classes start tomorrow – I’m taking Public Relations, Cross Cultural Negotiation and EU in the Global World which should be interesting than my usual business/accounting subjects back home! 

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