The First Weeks

 It’s been two weeks since I arrived here in the capitol of Denmark, and I’d like to say that I’m settling in quite nicely.  I’m getting to know parts of the city, and learning the way these Danes do things.  I even feel comfortable shopping for groceries with everything written in a language I don’t know (just look at the pictures on the package).

First of all, the school I’m enrolled in, the Danish Technical University (DTU), is located in Lyngby, about 10 km to the north of central Copenhagen. It’s a 20 min ride by bus or train to the downtown tourist area, a trip that I make a couple times a week for the nightlife or other explorations. 

DTU Campus

Waiting for this to turn green.

The Library

I’m living in housing run by the university, in a little abode named Campus Village, harkening back to collegiate images of yore.  These ‘containers’ as they called are literally large shipping containers, stacked next to each other and furnished with all the comforts of home.  They were constructed in an ad hoc manner, but hey, it’s a place to sleep, and the people aren’t half bad.  They are reserved for international students studying here who have a fairly large presence on campus. 

Campus Village

My Pad

It’s an interesting experiment to take people from all different parts of the world out of their comfort zones, away from their friends and family and have them live together.  Most are very open to getting to know you, and I’ve learned a lot about many different cultures in this short time.  I’ve befriended people from Italy, France, Spain, Latvia, China, Sweden, Greece, Turkey, and Germany amongst other places.  I’m often asked, “Are you Erasmus too?”  English is the common language as all courses are either taught in Danish or English.  It’s funny, I haven’t gotten to know many Danes yet, but will soon throughout my classes and friends.

Our intro group. Photo as edited by Adam.

DTU has a student population of about 6,000 all of technical backgrounds.  Even though it’s a much smaller school that my beloved UW, the programs that I’m involved with are comparable in size.  My semester includes 4 courses with some Danish Language instruction on the side.  ‘Electrical Machines in Wind Turbines’ and ‘Power Electronics’ both have to do with wind power generation, and who better to learn these concepts from than the Danes (they source 20% of the electricity from wind).  I’m also getting an eye into their view of sustainability in a class titled ‘Energy End-Use’ that has proven pretty interesting so far.  And for fun I’m taking ‘Planetary Physics’ because astronomy is sweet, and people don’t look up anymore.  I have most classes only once a week for 3 to 4 hour blocks, which takes some getting used to, but hasn’t been too skull numbing so far.

Oh yeah, but why did I really come here..  It’s been thrilling to plan different trips throughout Europe that I want to do, and I hope to get a fair amount of traveling in during my 5-month stay on the continent. This Thursday I leave for Amsterdam to see exactly how it is that the Dutch live their lives. I’ll be sure to update on the trip and all those that follow.

With the Pack in the Super Bowl on Sunday night, I had no choice but to watch the game.  It started at midnight here, and class came far too early at 8:00 the next morning.  My sleeping habits are as consistent as Brett Favre.  Go Pack!

Super Bowl Party 2011