Getting to Know the City #HogsAbroad in Denmark #WanderlustWednesday

I have just moved into my cozy one person room in Denmark. I have been to Denmark before to visit my Danish family from my father's side. We have always visited for no more than 3 weeks at a time. I am now so excited to use my Danish citizenship to its full use in Denmark for the next 6 months.

When I first arrived I was welcomed by 14 other people living on my hall. We all have our own rooms, but share a kitchen and a bathroom. This is something very different that we do not experience much of in the states. As 15 total, we share 2 meals a week that one will prepare, and we all will take turns each week to lead in cleaning and various other chores. Something that was shocking to me is that all of the boys and girls share two toilets and two showers. Coming from a school that does girls and boys floors, this is different and unique.

Everyone on my floor is so kind and helpful. There is so much to learn and know about the systems in Denmark. I have found my self asking several times and each time all of my floor mates are so kind and patient with me. We join each other in the evenings for board games and movies.

Since Denmark is on full lockdown there is not many restaurants to go to, but there is still a lot of site seeing to do. I have been running around the city and finding cozy areas that seem to only be native to Denmark’s culture. 

For example, I was running through the city block after block of normal urban buildings and out of nowhere there is a sign that says Gamel By, with my limited Danish, I knew meant “old town”. I walked through two brick pillars and was greeted by cobble stoned streets and colorful cottages that varied between red, yellow, and white. As I walked through the town, I felt as if I had been transferred into a story book setting. There were so many streets and buildings that all had different purposes in the old days.

I am starting to realize that because of COVID, there is a different experience of studying abroad, but it is still an opportunity to really see a city and marvel at the charms of the culture.

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Marketing major Annika Nielsen is spending the Spring 2021 term at Aarhus University in Denmark with the help of our Office of Study Abroad Scholarship.

You can start planning your adventure abroad today! Dive in to our Explore page at https://studyabroad.uark.edu/explore/index.php, and start your program search at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/search/

Everything Goes #HogsAbroad in Denmark

Changed? Yes, lots of changes. I’ve been having the same thoughts for weeks and today I confirmed how much I’ve changed as a person and I don’t know if it’s something good or bad? From what I can tell, experiences and just life make one change; It is inevitable, isn’t it? But I don’t know why I feel bad. I feel like I am losing my essence and that is something I don’t want to change, NUNCA. As I wrote in my first blog post, I am currently studying abroad at the University of Aarhus, Denmark through one the University of Arkansas programs. I am halfway through meaning that I’ve only got two more months to come back to America. I will be visiting Panama first for a month, then, in January, I will start a new phase back in the US: my last year of college. I’ve learned so much in these two months and I am so grateful for that. The people I’ve met, places I’ve been and just the little things I’ve seen. If someone asks me to define Denmark, especially Aarhus, I will say happy green. 

Just like everywhere else in Europe, everything is so small and minimalist-like. The architecture is breathtaking. I’m not a specialist in building engineering nor interior design, but to me, it focuses on sustainable architecture juxtaposing the old and modern architecture. It’s beautiful. 

Dome of visions, Aarhus

In Denmark, everything has to be with bicycles; therefore, a highly recommended thing to do to the international student community, is to get a bike once arriving in the city of Aarhus. So I did, but instead of buying it, I decided to rent it because I was less expensive. I know how to bike, but years have passed since the last time I rode one. Thus, the obvious happened. I fell, hahaha, got scrapes on my legs and hands, and had back pains for weeks. It was such an awful fall and the worst: someone saw me! And I was so embarrassed, but he was so gentle telling me that bike falls were so much more common than I thought. 

Right now, one of my favorite things to do (and I found it a smart way to save money) is cooking. Every week I try to implement new and different dishes to my diet, so going grocery shopping is always fun to me (I know, I’m weird) plus almost everything if not everything is organic and fresh, and it does not necessarily cost a lot of money as going to whole foods, for example. It is just the way Danish goods are produced here. 

What I eat

Market's goods

Even their clothing stores and brands give these minimalist bio-organic type of feeling. What really awed me when I got here is their sense of style. Everyone is so fashionable or maybe that was my first impression since I am not used to seeing people so dressed up. During my first weeks, I was having a tourist moment, walking all over the city and I saw these two girls walking towards me and first thing comes to my mind: they are definitely celebrities. They were giving these looks and just the way they were dressed wow! 

& other stories, Aarhus

The Danish have worked hard to get their country at where it is now. There is technically no corruption; from my perspective, their tax, health, and education system is brilliant just as the taste of Smørrebrød, which is the Scandinavian version of Tapas. I mean who would not be happy having all these living facilities? To be honest, I wish I could Ctrl C and Ctrl V all these things to my country. To expand your cognition abilities, Denmark has been placed among the happiest countries in the world for years. 

Seeing the differences from continent to continent, countries, people. Being present there, experiencing those differences. That’s not something that easy to do as people would think. How do you keep yourself from changing when everything around does? When everyday you discover something new, hygge, things that you did not even know existed, or learn to do something differently from what you used to. The world itself changes. There is this theory or hypothesis that the earth used to be one whole continent, yet there are 7 continents. I did change. I am not the same that left Panama neither the same that left the US. My levels of perception are constantly changing due to every-day experiences which help me to flourish and grow in this beautiful world.

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Electrical Engineering major Arantxa Morales is spending the Fall 2018 semester in Denmark with our U of A Exchange program at Aarhus University.

Don't miss your opportunity to study or intern abroad! Start your search at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/search/

Everything Went Wrong (But Then it Went Right!) #HogsAbroad in Denmark

Stepping out of your comfort zone is really a challenge and I think I’m starting to learn how to master it. 1996, I was born and lived for 18 years in the same area: Chiriqui, Panama. Back then, I used to think my dad wanted his daughter to have the hardest to pronounce-Hispanic name that could have ever existed: Arantxa. Seriously, how do you make the tx sound? Oh boy, but I love its uniqueness and how once people get it, they can’t forget.

I am a Senior Electrical Engineering student at the University of Arkansas currently studying abroad at Aarhus University. It is amazing how life can turn from one day to another. I swear I never imagined myself coming to Europe to participate in an exchange program, nor getting my Bachelor of Science in Engineering in the United States. I consider myself a pro-procrastinator with masters in not knowing how and when to make decisions unless I find myself under stress and panic.

To illustrate this statement, I successfully submitted the study abroad application for the Aarhus University Exchange Program minutes before the due date and gathered all the application requirements in less than 3 hours. Before coming to Denmark, the whole world seemed to be conspiring against me, and I will explain why. There are tons of things to get together (documentation, applications, documents and more documents) before leaving your residence country. First, I had to apply to the University to receive a confirmation of nomination or “acceptance letter” so that I could then apply for housing, the Danish residence permit for students, and thus get my “CPR number” which is the “Danish SSN”. Back to the letter of acceptance: the Aarhus University application form always asks for a contact to confirm you have been nominated as a student to participate in their exchange program or something like that where you list the name of the Assistant Director of Study Abroad: Brian Poepsel, but instead, I wrote Bryan Hill, the International Director in the Engineering College. For that reason, my letter of acceptance got delayed so I had to wait 3x more than my other study-abroad-mates to receive every document I listed before. 

Once I got my letter of acceptance (years later), I immediately started my application for the Danish residence permit which is an “in person” application, and it’s located only at some of the biggest cities of the US. The closest to Arkansas is located at Houston, Texas, so I got my appointment there somewhere between the first weeks of July. The day of the appointment came, I was sitting there in the waiting area since really early in the morning, it was past noon when they called my name; I went in and guess what? The biometric system broke, and they told the rest of the group (including myself) that if they didn't get it fixed before their closing hour which was at 4 pm, we would have to come on another day. That also implied that I had to pay another $100 to get a new appointment, and a $300 roundtrip flight ticket because I didn’t know anyone from Arkansas or Texas that could offer me transportation. I was so discouraged by then; at that moment, El Padre Nuestro was my only option so I started praying. They called my name like three times to get my biometrics done with none of them being a success. My patience was at its limits until I heard my name one more time, I went in, fingers crossed and wallaaaah! It worked and I could finish all the process to get the residence permit document. 

Minutes before departing to Fayetteville, Arkansas, I dropped my phone and the screen went dark. I couldn't see anything, I started receiving calls, text messages, etc., but I was not able to see any of it. At that point, I was so used to all the bad things happening at the same time, that I just turned off my phone and slept through the whole trip. I managed to talk to a stranger who was sitting next to me, told him what happened and borrowed his phone so that I could contact my friend who was picking me up and taking me home. Back in Fayetteville, three days had passed, and I still had no cell phone. I did not want to spend money on a new phone since I had more priorities at that moment (the study abroad money), so I just got it fixed. After I got it, I called my mom, talked to her for an hour or so, told her what happened almost crying.

Yes! Life is tough, the things you want the most are the hardest to get, and when one doesn’t get these things, we start to feel bad, have negative thoughts which let us feel even worse. For what? Everything comes back to place at its own timing, and if one works hard, greatest rewards start to show as we go on.

Aarhus, Denmark: Apartment Backyard

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Electrical Engineering major Arantxa Morales is spending the Fall 2018 semester in Denmark with our U of A Exchange program at Aarhus University.

Don't miss your opportunity to study or intern abroad! Start your search at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/search/