It’s been a little over a month since I moved into my dorm, in Aarhus. I would like to share my experience so far, especially if you are also planning to move and study here!
I also made a video on this topic, whitch covers the main points. In the blog, I’ll try to provide more details and resources.
The Dorm
Well, let’s start with the dorm. For privacy reasons I won’t disclose the exact dorm. However I can compare it to Hungarian Dorms. I “lived” in a Hungarian dorm for 3 days, and I’m glad it was just 3. I shared the room with 30 other students. The bunkbeds? Loud as hell. So you can assume the hygiene was not the best either…
Here though, I have my own room and my own bathroom. While I looked at other Danish dorms, this seems to be pretty standard here. However it’s common that the kitchen is shared, which is also the case for me.
The City
I usually hate large cities, and Aarhus is Denmark’s second largest. However, it feels different. Probably because the wide bicycle lanes add a lot of space, the fact that almost everyone bikes, and the sea being so close by.
Again, I can only compare it to Budapest, and I always hated Budapest. So, yeah, in Aarhus, I don’t feel like I’m in a large city. I feel like I’m in a large village.
Another fun-fact about Aarhus is that a large number of its population are students. So the average age is pretty low here.
Culture Shock?
Many people say they have a culture shock moving to Denmark, but I more like had a “finally great culture”! I feel like my soul was born here, but a large gust of wind made it end up in Hungary.
The thing is I hate being formal, and I hate when people are formal to me. In Denmark an important value is equality. This means that the vast majority of people are very informal, and they don’t really have any hierarchy. You can call everyone by their first name, even the professors.
The Weather
I’m not surprised my soul ended up in Hungary, the winds can be quite strong here, especially near the sea. However, I think the rain deserves more acknowledgement. It basically rains daily. My raincoat, which was fully efficient in Hungary, failed hard here. If you live here, you need to invest in a full rain suit. Almost every biker has one.
Transportation
During my stay, I never took a bus once. I travel by bike everywhere in the city, after all, the city is built for it. Public transportation is on the pricier side.
Education
Lastly, let’s talk about education. It was a bit unusual talking to teachers like they are your friend, but I got used to it, and it’s much better. Classes are also more interactive, not just listening. There are almost weekly projects.
I study Multimedia Design, which is an AP Degree. It is a 2-year-program, and they just cancelled the AP degree, after us, the last class started. However they are working on another way to upgrade it to Bachelor in the future.
For now, that’s about it. I hope you found this post useful or at least entertaining! Follow my page if you are serious about moving, as I’ll share some crucial information here, which people usually don’t talk about :P