Exchange Report-International Office´s students-2020

BASIC INFORMATION

General information

Surname Lexmond

First name Noa Britt Yael

Exchange Lexmond, Noa Britt Yael - exchange studies - 2020/21

Exchange country Denmark

Exchange city Aarhus

Exchange university Aarhus University

Duration of the stay

Academic year 2020/21

Start semester/term Autumn Semester 2020/21

Duration in semesters/terms 1

Your exchange in brief

Level of studies at the exchange university Undergraduate / Bachelor

Subject area Aesthetics

Other 0220 - Humanities (except languages), not further defined

Your studies at Uppsala

What are you studying at Uppsala University? Master of Science in Sustainable Management

How many years of study had you completed before going 1 on exchange?

STUDIES

Studies/Semester description The text field will expand to allow you to write as much as All in all, I greatly enjoyed my exchange at Aarhus University. I did three you like international courses amounting to 30 ECTs at the Faculty of Arts. The courses were Film Culture, Emotions, and Eco-Media: Environmental Aesthetics in Film and Theory. I chose these courses since I wanted to expand my knowledge beyond economics and into different areas. Nevertheless, I wanted to follow courses which I could apply in my future studies or in the shape of a potential PhD. I found all three courses to be highly successful. Especially Eco-Media was a course which I greatly enjoyed through its mixture of aesthetics studies and its link to current sustainability/environmental crises. The teachers were professional and knowledgeable of their teaching themes. Every teacher was very helpful in case an issue arose for which you might need their assistance (e.g. missing literature, misunderstandings, questions, and so on). The level of English was very good and up to standard for an international research university. I would recommend my courses and teachers for students who are willing to create foundational knowledge on aesthetics, arts, and psychology. The exams were all essay and report based. There were no written exams for which you could study beforehand. This is something to keep in mind whilst considering doing your exchange at Aarhus University: the majority of exams will be a final essay or a portfolio exam. I would recommend to bring your own laptop with you for your exchange studies at Aarhus University. There were computer rooms available, but in all honesty, I never used them. I know that it could become quite busy, so booking a computer in advance is highly recommended.

ORIENTATION AND RECEPTION

Orientation and reception

Tell us about how it was to arrive and settle in. I travelled with a friend of mine by car to Denmark. Since it allowed me to bring more stuff with me from my home. The travel itself went quite well since the Covid-19 restrictions still allowed me to cross the border without a negative test result or certification of vaccination at the time. I booked my accommodation with the Student Housing service of Aarhus University. I could move in the weekend after my arrival, so my friend and I stayed in an AirBnB in the meantime. The move in procedure went smoothly. I received my key and housing contract. I paid my first month rent in advance and after I moved in I was supposed to pay the second months rent and a deposit. This also all went smoothly. I lived in a dorm with nine other people. I had my own private bedroom with bathroom en- suite. I did share a kitchen. My housemates were mostly Danes and a few other internationals. They were all very welcoming and helpful whenever I had questions about the dorm, language, Danish culture, or anything else.

ACCOMMODATION Your accommodation: Aarhus University offers accommodation opportunities for exchange students. However, you need to sign up for it. You can sign up for accommodation at the same time you sign up for your exchange and courses at Aarhus University. You have different housing options and you are asked to select a top three of most preferred options. The options include room in dorm, room in dorm with private bathroom, room in house, room in house with private bathroom, studio apartment, and sharing a flat with one other student. Based on your top three, you are offered one proposal by the housing service. Remember, you only receive one offer which you can accept or decline. If you accept, you have guaranteed accommodation. However, if you decline, you are expected to find accommodation by yourself. This is a personal choice which you can decide to make. I preferred to have my accommodation secured. So I chose to accept my offer. As mentioned before, I stayed in a student dorm room with a private bathroom. The dorm could house 12 students in total, but we lived with ten people during my stay. Six housemates were Danish and the other three were also internationals. Everyone was helpful and very nice. We were all people who had their own schedules and plans so we did not see each other during the day very often. However, this suited me quite well and I really enjoyed my time there.

YOUR FINANCES

Your finances: Living in Denmark is expensive. I was fortunate to have an accommodation which was reasonably priced. This would lower my monthly costs by a lot. Groceries are also expensive here. Luckily there are a lot of discount supermarkets with good weekly offers on fruit, bread, shelf goods and so on. I recommend keeping an eye on the different offerings of different supermarkets. Due to Covid-19, most sport and entertainment activities were closed down or highly restricted. I signed up for yoga classes which offered student discounts. In Denmark, you can count on the monthly cost of living to be around 700-900 EUR. In big cities such as Copenhagen and Aarhus this can extend to 1,200 EUR due to expensive accommodation. At Uppsala I rented a studio apartment. However, since my room had an en-suite bathroom I felt that the accommodation price was similar to my apartment in Uppsala when it comes to price-product ratio. I did not undertake a part-time job during my stay in Denmark. Most of the part-time jobs require the student/applicant to be able to speak Danish. I had a few acquaintances that did take a part-time job. However, I know too little about the process to give good feedback on it.

FREE TIME

Your free time: Again, due to Covid-19 regulations, most of the students organized activities of their own and small gatherings in order to get to know each other and participate in hobbies. I spend most of my free time travelling within Denmark, exploring Aarhus, reading, yoga, and meeting up with friends in (mostly) public spaces. The university arranges an introduction at the beginning of your exchange and a farewell ceremony at the end of it. The university also assigns you a Buddy which is usually a Danish student to show you around the city, get you acquainted, and to help you out with potential issues regarding your studies, visa, CPR number and so on. There is also the Erasmus Network at the university which organizes travel trips and a student house which organizes pub quizzes, game nights, language cafes and sometimes concerts. Unfortunately, a lot of these events got cancelled as the Covid-19 restrictions became more severe. At times, you were on your own. However, I was able to establish a nice, small group of friends in which we organised our own small gatherings, parties and trips.

YOUR EXCHANGE ON THE WHOLE Your exchange: All in all, I greatly enjoyed my exchange at Aarhus University. I was able to gain new insights of a different culture, language, and environment. I learned greater self-managing skills and I have learned to become more independent, problem- solving, proactive, and multicultural oriented. If I could offer some tips to future exchange students, I would say to simply go for it if given the opportunity. Most people that I know were quite afraid of going on exchange during these times since everything is so different and uncertain. I would say that the majority of us had a great time on our exchanges and we were able to learn a lot about ourselves and improve on current skills, as well as learn new ones.

Finally, why do you think a future student should go on - Meeting a new culture and the people that inhabit it - Having the possibility of exchange? exploring a country which you may have never visited before - Improving self- managing skills and gain confidence in yourself and your qualities - Language skills - Make friends/get to know people outside of your current private bubble - Exploring new opportunities and establishing a network for future studies or potentially employment

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