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Two weeks at AAU

Not that many updates in the last past week, uh? Well, I was working… hard.

Here are a few things from the courses & project I have at AAU. 

I have three different courses, all are technical. They are all based on the principle that you have to read a chapter before coming. Then, during the course, the professor is telling you quite the same thing but with more details. He can also help you to get what you have not understood… yet. I am not used to that kind of way to do but I would like to say I think it is better and I hope it will work fine for me!

Lectures are divided in two (but not evenly): a first part with the course itself, the second part is you, doing some exercises while the professor is away. He comes back later, every half and hour or so, to help you. And he speaks Danish to the students, and sometimes looks at you, saying “well, we were talking about quick summary of the last past 5 minutes" then goes back to Danish. Each lecture is 3.45-hour long.

During the second lecture, the professor has to tell you when the exam is, what is it about and how it is graded. I have two courses with an oral exam and one which is pass-or-fail. Basically, the pass-or-fail one is already acquired unless you do not really work. It is graded on how well you behave and understand during the lectures.

There is a total of 12 lectures per course.

Next lecture is on Monday… and then next Monday.

In the mean time, we have a project running. All the spare time during weekdays is dedicated to the project.

Aalborg Centrum

After a couple of hours considering what I was going to do for the next couple of hours…

I WENT TO THE CENTRUM! (or central, or downtown, or whatever the way you call it)

Did I already tell you that I had a bus stop just down the apartment… with a stop close the very center? Well, that’s convenient.

So, without telling you the story of Aalborg (or it would be a copy-paste from Wikipedia or Frommers or… well, you get it), Aalborg is:

- really nice (otherwise* would I have come here?)

- near the Limfjorden (which is the sea, therefore has some seagulls)

- full of students… and Danes

- many other things…

* to be honest, I just browse flickr and read some student reports on the town to make my decision.

So, yesterday was Saturday, today is Sunday, Sunday, sunny. So I stayed outside. Went to the Docks (on the Limfjorden). It was also “Aalborg i Rødt”, Aalborg in Red. There were some concerts, activities and even a fashion show. I did not attend a thing from it though.

I went East on the Docks. There is the Utzon Center (Museum of Modern Art). Jørn Utzon is Danish and he designed the Sydney Opera House… and this museum. I have not visited the museum yet, but the building is nice.

Continued East to an industrial place. Most of it is stopped and closed. In the middle of that, there is Platform 4, a ‘center’ for young artists. I would say… it is really nice :)

Then went to the West by the Docks. A lot of people there, walking, drinking beer (not that much in fact) or cycling. There is a lot of mixture between old buildings (with the year on it, always!) and more modern glass-and-brick buildings.

Bad luck… the new building does not have any bricks on it.

You can find some more pictures here.

First day in Aalborg (including some weather statement!)

First of all, the flat is REALLY AWESOME. I will do a post about that later, but there is already some around on twitter :)

Wake up kind of early, time to get some cash (DKK), and get some basic expensive food before letting my friend go back home*.

At 9.45am, there was no one in the streets. At 10.15pm or something like that, big and small supermarkets are opened, on a Sunday! Paid ~140 DKK (~20 €) for two bags of pastas, two bottles of fresh milk with weird % on it, some potatoes, some (very) salty raw fishes in a bottle and some bread (including rye bread). 

It was fresh outside but nice with the glowing sun though. The weather forecast said it was between 17°C and 11°C. I guess I will always have a jacket with me even though it is still summer…

Drove quickly downtown. Google Maps says it is 4 km away. It is also a nice road going down a small hill… should be nice when I will have a bike!

Slept till four (jet lagged? oh no, not anymore, not even for lunch & dinner!) then there was a no-fun afternoon…

The weather is… well… very nice sun, no clouds… then, clouds, shower… then clouds get away, sun again… shower again… oh, and there is shower with a very nice sun light too. All of that in a day! Aalborg also has an average of 18 raining days per month…

* well, I won’t say anything about it, but it could have been better.