Museums and Traveling

I finally got to get out of Aalborg for a couple of days this past week and went south on the Jutland Peninsula to a small town called Viborg to visit some family friends. We had a great time with a traditional Danish dinner of whole boiled potatoes, red cabbage, pork roast with crackling, and a dessert of baked pineapple with red chili sauce and vanilla ice cream.

Some of the Photos on the way home from Viborg, beautiful country side and its not even spring yet!

On Sunday I joined some other ISEP and international students to go to an underground Museum in Aalborg about a Franciscan monastery in the Greyfriars Friary in central Aalborg called the Gråbrødrekloster Museum(hint its not pronounced the way you read it, first lesson in danish). It covered the history of the monastery, its daily functions, the burials of monks and citizens from the area, and some brief history of the Viking influence with the monastery. It was a lot of fun to see the local history and understanding the fact almost everything around you that's historic in usually as old or older then the United States as a country.

One of the graves of a local female from the era, her age is estimate around the early to mid 20's when she died.

 Some of the other ISEP students. I'm the one in the red jacket.

The layers of building floors, trash, and graves from that era, you can see the year dates on the metal post in the picture. The two things sticking out of the ground on the right of the picture are two human leg bones from a grave.

Someone who was killed with an axe or sword, you can see were they were hit in the face and the top of the head.

A model of the monastery.

Ruins of the monastery.

And another picture.

So Everything is going very well and I'm enjoying every bit of it. Might be taking a side trip to Sweden soon, but have to hammer out the plans before that happens. An updated count on the number of times I have seen the sun in the 4 weeks I've been here is 8 for about an hour each time at the most. 

Classes and the City

Everything has been going really well here in Denmark. Classes are in full swing and I'm getting into a routine for day to day operations for school. I don't have classes on ever other Friday so I plan to start doing some traveling over the long weekends in the country soon. Classes here are very different then in the States, most have a project or paper due at the end of the semester and that's the only thing determining your grade. The classes can be either graded for a specific mark or they are just pass/fail, and their grading system here is a lot different, there are no letter grades they use a number system.

Here is the break down of the Danish grading scale.

Danish Scale      U.S. Grade Equiv.
-12                    -A
-10                    -B+
-7                      -B
-4                      -C+
-02                    -C
-00                    -F

Classes for actual lectures also run differently here, you meet for most classes once a week for 2 hours and that goes for about 8 weeks. So for the Spring 2014 semester actual classes are in February and March and you have April and May to work on your papers and projects then the Month of June is all the due dates, presentations, examinations, etc. all totaling for about a 20 week semester. Depending on the classes you take it determines what you have to do for your final as some classes are just lectures that you have to attend to pass.

More on classes and academics to come.


Now for the city. The city of Aalborg was founded by Vikings during the Iron age at the narrowest point of the Limfjord which is the river that the city was built next too. it was a trading city and the roads in the city center were all canals for boat traffic to move around the city. As a result none of the old canals that are now roads are very straight. The city has a modern Art museum, a Zoo, a huge park, an underground museum in the catacombs beneath the city center(more on that later, going to see that this coming Sunday) and there is a Viking burial site just out side of the city that is very beautiful during the spring and summer. (plan to go see that as well) Here are pictures of the city from the welcome tour the school had for new international students.

Pictures of the Park in Aalborg

The Famous Aalborg tower that you can go up into and see the city and surrounding area.

Some of the former canals that are now roads.

The Limfjord

Part of the Aalborghus built by King Christian III of Denmark in 1539 to around 1555. It was original built as a fortification/castle but became the center of government in Northern Jutland the part of Denmark Aalborg is in.

And finally the Sun! I have only seen it 3 times in two weeks here because of the weather. But Spring and summer are supposed to be better. Lets hope!

More posts to follow about the people and other adventures.

The First Week and having fun!

So I'm getting into the swing of things in Aalborg and I'm enjoying it immensely! Things here can and are very different in many ways but are similar to things in the States. Everyone were I live is a mixture of Danes, and other international students from and outside of Europe and most of them are very friendly. English is spoken to some degree by everyone and getting around town and the country so far has been very easy. The commute to campus is only a 1km walk or .6 of a mile and classes are taught in English. but it can be hard at first to get use too non native English speakers at first. But more to come on classes in the coming posts when I'm in full swing for them.

The City is a fun place with historical buildings and sites everywhere and typical shopping departments, but I like the little shops more. But things can sometimes be and are more expensive here then in the US, but not too bad if your smart about special deals and sale items at the stores for both food and non food items.

-This is from my first Grocery run to the local føtex which has a little bit of everything. They are more expensive then Netto and other stores. but are closer so most of the students use them. Just a little bit of advice to everyone the milk and other dairy products are not pasteurized so they will go bad faster, but for me I think they taste better.

-Each location might be different, but in Aalborg you will need to cook your meals as there is no "meal plan" like NAU and eating out can be very expensive about 200kr or $36 and up for simple basic things. There are cheaper places, to go too, which can be around 30kr or $6 but they are usually the street vendors and fast food.

I have a room to myself with a bathroom and a small kitchen, everything from the bed to the dishes were provided for myself and the other ISEP students I've talked to. Here are a few pictures:

The Electrical plugs are different here so make sure you have an adaptor for your computer charger and other devices.

 View of the outside with week old snow.

Beds here are different sizes then in the US, this one is longer then a normal twin sized bed and in Denmark they have a cover sheet for the mattress, a pillow case and a duvet which takes the place of the top sheet and blanket. Its basically a big comforter that just stays on top of you and keeps you warm.

That's all for now more to follow with more adventures and pictures.

Finally Here!

Finally in Denmark! The flight from the States was not bad as it was a fairy flight for the plane to go back so I had the center row all to my self. Then a short hopper flight from Copenhagen to Aalborg. Have been here for a few days now but finally getting adjusted with jet lag and all the new information. Classes start tomorrow and it will be interesting how things are different here then in the US. Pictures to follow soon once I get a free chance to download all the photos.