THE Student HANDBOOK
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THE STUDENT HANDBOOK This handbook is made for the international students coming to study in Aalborg; as a help this will be provided for you with all the information needed regarding moving to Aalborg, Denmark. By Anna Høite Meersohn A great, warm welcome… …to our town, to your dream education, and to some of the best years in your life! The time we spend studying is a wonderful and exciting time – it is fun, challenging, difficult, and simply fantastic all at once. I am proud and delighted to wish you a warm welcome as a student in Aalborg. I am, of course, pleased that you have chosen Denmark as the country for your studies – but I am even more pleased that you chose Aalborg as the city that will set the scene for your studies in the coming years. And I am glad, too, that you chose us, because Aalborg is a city that really has a lot to offer you. In Aalborg we really appreciate all our students – whether they come from abroad or from Denmark – because every one of you helps to add color to the city and bring even more life and high spirit. In return, we make a very special effort to make it an attrac- tive town to study in. I hope you enjoy your studies and the town, and I hope you will have some fantastic years here in North Jutland. We will do our best to help you feel at home in our town. With best wishes Thomas Kastrup-Larsen Mayor 2 Content Accommodation .......................................................................................................................... 6 General about accommodation in Aalborg ........................................................................................... 6 Prices ................................................................................................................................... 7 Deposit ................................................................................................................................. 7 Heating, water, electricity and gas .................................................................................................... 8 What if I can’t find accommodation before I have arrived in Aalborg? ............................................................. 8 Internet ................................................................................................................................ 9 Furniture ............................................................................................................................... 9 Complaints about your housing situation ........................................................................................... 10 Costs of living ............................................................................................................................ 11 Transportation ........................................................................................................................ 11 Places to shop for groceries in Aalborg .............................................................................................. 12 Tips for when buying groceries ....................................................................................................... 14 Facebook pages for students ......................................................................................................... 14 Fitness centers and Sport activities in Aalborg ...................................................................................... 15 Health system and emergencies ........................................................................................................ 16 Emergencies .......................................................................................................................... 16 Medical ................................................................................................................................ 16 Pharmacies ............................................................................................................................ 17 Dental ................................................................................................................................. 17 CPR, taxation and S.U. in Denmark ..................................................................................................... 17 What to do when you come to Denmark? ........................................................................................... 18 Bringing a car with foreign number plates to Denmark ............................................................................. 20 What is S.U.? .......................................................................................................................... 21 Events in Aalborg ........................................................................................................................ 23 Annual events ......................................................................................................................... 23 Places to visit in and around Aalborg ................................................................................................ 24 3 Welcome to Aalborg There is a lot to learn about Denmark and we hope that this handbook will show you the way through some challenges and give you some knowledge about how it is to live in Denmark and especially Aal- borg. Denmark is a small country placed in Northern Europe, just north of Germany, surrounded by ocean and the other Nordic countries. It’s a country consisting of 5,6 million inhabitants who were known back in history to be the dangerous Vikings. It’s a country filled with stories and places to see our old history but at the same time one of the most developed countries in the whole world, in regards to technology, medicine, etc. Today we are very known for being the happiest people on earth; this is affected by feeling safe… the government in Denmark has always put the welfare of the people as high a priority as possible, which means that our taxes are very high but with this, you can get a university 4 degree without paying for it, everyone can go to school, go to the doctor without having to pay, we get help if we have children, we get help if we become unemployed or homeless; no matter what happens there will always be a way to get help; this makes us feel safe… that we don’t need to worry all the time and that we are living in a safe country filled with opportunities. We are also known for our culture and attractions, like our monarchy which is the oldest uninterrupt- ed European monarchy, or Hans Christian Andersen, a world-known writer who wrote tales like “The little Mermaid”, which we have a statue of in Copenhagen; we also have the best restaurant in the world! We have a lot more to see all over Denmark, you will be busy when coming here! So what about Aalborg? Aalborg is the fourth largest city in Denmark, placed in the Northern part of Jutland with over 200.000 inhabitants. A long time ago Aalborg was a Viking-city! Aalborg is a very international city with around 30.000 students, of these there is around 3000 inter- national student from over 20 different countries all over the world. Years ago Aalborg was mostly known for the industry, which created a workers city; since then it has changed into a city known for the culture, music and art affected by people coming from all over the world of all ages, implementing a little piece of their traditions into Aalborg; still this is a city filled with history and Danish culture, this mix makes it an interesting city filled with events and exiting things to see. Because there are so many students in Aalborg, the city is always working hard to improve the city to make the students who lives in Aalborg feel at home and give them plenty of possibilities for hobbies, activities, night-life and events throughout the year, so there is always something to do! In this handbook you will find all the information you need to prepare when planning to move to Aal- borg. 5 Accommodation When you get your acceptance from your uni- versity the first thing to think about is accom- modation. Aalborg is a university city, which means that there are plenty of opportunities for accommo- dation; but where should you go? What should you expect? There are many questions when trying to find a place to live in another country and here you will find all the information you and start searching; and don’t worry, the web- need. site is also in English! When you have signed up as a candidate you General about accommodation in Aal- borg are now inside the AKU-register of all student In Aalborg there are more than 6.000 dorms accommodations in Aalborg; here you will see a and youth-apartments, moreover there are map which shows the various areas of Aalborg, plenty of single rooms and private owned where you should click on the area which you apartments rented out for students. Further- would like to live in and look through the vari- more, Aalborg is always planning and building ous possibilities for accommodation in that new and modern facilities for new-coming stu- specific area. dents to develop the city to become more stu- The red area is the center of Aalborg, where dent-friendly and attract more students from you will find the city center, which is the most all over the world. expensive area to live in. Next to the center you see the yellow, brown, When you start searching for accommodation light brown and green area, which are the clos- in Aalborg you have to go to www.aku- est to the center and the various schools and aalborg.dk where you sign up as a candidate 6 are