Det er mange studerende enige om. Men hvordan

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Polit´en har bedt udvekslingsstuderende om at berette om deres oplevelse af mødet med Danmark og studielivet på Økonomisk Institut ... exchangestudent in copenhagen.. - Richard Knight, University of Melbourne Denmark.... a land founded by liberal attitudes, overflowing with sumptuous pastries and inhabited by beautiful people. These are some of the stereotypical perceptions that I brought with me on exchange to Denmark, a country that in reality, I knew very little about. My ignorance was made quite apparent in the first couple of days. Coming off the plane expecting a mild Scandinavian summer, and having invested large amounts of cash in puffy jackets and thermal underwear, I found myself bathing in 28 degree heat and heading for the beach or to Islands Brygge for a swim almost every day. Studying in Copenhagen has proved to be different in many ways to studying in Australia. As far as university life is concerned, the most initially striking thing was the stunning nature of some of the old university buildings (OK maybe not the first thing.... I began with a Danish course out at the old KUA campus, which doesn’t quite have the same degree of splendour as the main building on Frue Plads). Coming from a University where a large proportion of the buildings were erected in the late 1960’s early 1970’s (a period of architectural splendour in Australia’s history..... ikke), one preserves the ability to appreciate buildings of such grandeur. Another foreign feature of the University for me was the lack of tutorials. At my home university your weekly study plan is essentially set out for you by your professors during lectures and revised in weekly during tutorials. With no tutes I strongly doubted if I had the ability to take my study plan into my own hands, and given the thousand plus pages of reading on my “to do” pile I am beginning to think that perhaps those initial perceptions were correct. Having said this I think in many respects having more onus on the student has its benefits as far as rewarding those who are organised (unfortunately I do not currently fall into that category), but on the other hand I think it often fails to highlight specific areas of importance within the course material. I think it is often impractical to assume students will be able to retain every ounce of information from thousands of pages of readings, and perhaps more specificity in some areas of my courses could help. Whilst 8am classes four days a week has been somewhat of an issue for me, I can honestly say that I have thoroughly enjoyed the content of my courses. They differ substantially from the courses that I took in Australia, in that they’re more practically based, with the occasional use of relevant theories. Personally, this generates far more interest than 12 hours a week of theory and mathematics, where after five minutes of a lecture you find yourself dreaming of the Bahamas. But perhaps the biggest concern for me is the prospect of sitting through three, four hour exams at the end of the semester..... I’m not going to lie, I’m absolutely petrified. Whilst a lengthy exam for economics at home may be up to three hours, four hours of closed book examination is unheard of as far as I know. Coming from Australia I would have considered it an advantage being a native English speaker in a class full of Danes, but having spent 3 months here I have found that the English competency of many of the Danish students is at a level that puts me to shame. I think it makes it twice as frustrating when you consider I have been here for three months, and my Danish vocabulary is limited to a few random, and essentially useless phrases, such as ‘Jeg har en aftale med min sagsbehandler’. Fortunately I have not yet had the necessity to contact my social worker, but perhaps if that “ to do” pile is not dealt with in the near future my sagsbehandler could be helping me find a job that does not require an economics degree. Finding accommodation in Denmark has definitely posed the largest dilemma of my stay here. I initially found myself living in Husum, in a room that lacked the the modern conveniences of a working refrigerator, toilet and kitchen sink, and finding a new place to stay probably wouldn’t have happened without the help of a good friend. So if I have one criticism of the university it is perhaps that some staff at the international office appear at times to be a little overworked and underpaid. With so many students choosing Copenhagen as a destination for exchange, I think that the University could consider investing more resources in helping out the staff at the International office, especially in regard to accommodation matters. Having said this my experience in Copenhagen thus far has been thoroughly positive. I love the city, the people and the culture, and the time just seems to be disappearing far too quickly. I know when the moment comes I will definitely have difficulty leaving.
- Karin Ruëtz, University of Münich When I was asked to write something about life as an international student in Copenhagen I wanted to say I couldn’t put all my experiences into words. I was told to write a short critical article, which has actually proved to be very difficult….. but here is my attempt! I want to start with how glad I am to have the opportunity to study here at the University of Copenhagen, and I think I speak for all international students when I say this. Copenhagen is the most beautiful city I know. After two days I fell in love with the historical buildings, the atmosphere and everything else it has to offer. After initially being accepted as an ERASMUS-student by the Universities of Munich and Copenhagen a couple of problems arose. Contacting the international office proved to be very difficult, and I was often unable to get a response. I only received my letter of admission three weeks before I left Germany, unfortunately for me I had needed to hand in this letter weeks before! Two days before I left Germany I received a letter from the international office telling me that they had found a room, but they had forgotten to tell my mentor. By this time she was already searching for a room for me on her own! All in all the communication could be better between The International Office, students, mentors and landlords. But all these problems were forgotten when I came to Copenhagen on a really lovely day and was welcomed by my mentor. She accompanied me to my room and managed everything, with the day ending in a fabulous dinner at her place. That was a fantastic introduction, which paved the way as to how life would be for me in the coming weeks. To this day I can still call her in the middle of the night and she would do anything for me! Tak skal du have! As far as I know it is not common to have a mentor at the University of Munich, but I think it’s an excellent idea. It amazingly simplifies the start in a new city and a new university. I know that there were not enough mentors for all of the international students this semester, so if you’re thinking about being a mentor for an international student next year - just do it. It’s not only work, I also think it’s also a lot of fun. The semester began with many special events for international students, there was a breakfast, boat trip, dinner, and international day amongst other things. Everything was very well organised and helped to make all the international students feel at home here in Copenhagen. However, there were also some surprises when classes began, the Auctions and Monetary Economics lectures simply “vanished” (quotation Peter Erling Nielsen), which was slightly unfortunate for those who came with the intention of taking one of these classes. The more personal relationship students have with lecturers is very different from the way things are conducted in Germany. Back home a professor would never be addressed by his first name
Page 1 and 2: POLIT EN #4 - december 2002
Page 3 and 4: n leder de fremmede kommer! I den a
Page 5 and 6: countries. I still recall Hong Kong
Page 7: internationalt studiemiljø ? Af Vi
Page 11 and 12: polit pt 1. Why did you choose Denm
Page 13 and 14: Årets gallafest blev et vellykket
Page 15 and 16: Af Emil Uhre Petersen i forbindelse
Page 17 and 18: HOVEDSPONSORER: FORFØLGER DU DRØM
Page 19 and 20: s aktiespil 1. årsprøve i særski
Page 21 and 22: I den tid man er ansat hos jer, hvo
Page 23 and 24: VIDENSKABSBUTIKKEN Står du foran s
Page 25 and 26: politrådet Nethe Veje Laursen Stud
Page 27 and 28: og hvordan investorer ofte er mere

Det er mange studerende enige om. Men hvordan

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?