Danes and Rain
So, apologies for the delay - study has been keeping me rather busy!!
The rainy season has begun in earnest here, it now rains almost every day, and it is getting colder, as well as pitch black at 4pm - it's certainly a big change from my usual December!
I have completed one oral exam, with flying colours, although rather large nerves, and have two more to do this week, and after that, I have officially finished my law degree!! This is very exciting, as it means no more study! So the next phase of my life will begin - onto the UN! In between studying, I have been looking for places to live in the Hague, which has proved interesting, with very fussy landladies a premium - I have settled on a nice looking place with other interns.
Last weekend, I had the good fortune of a visit from home - Dad and Odette, who have been in London, came over to Aarhus for a couple of days.
It was great to be able to show my city off - I showed where I live (including the exciting experience of the 25 minute bus ride through the housing estates), the shopping street, the Viking Museum at Moesgaard (including my favourite bog discovery, Graubelle Man), as well as a nice taxi ride through some of the nicer areas of Aarhus!
We also went to Den Gamle By, which is The Old Town, basically a Danish version of 'Old Sydney Town' - people here rave on about it, and many of my flatmates were there, but with all the rain, we didn't find it quite so exciting!
Dad and Odette were staying in the lovely Hotel Royal, in the city near the funky Latin Quarter, so I was able to show off the lovely little cobbled streets and narrow passageways that make this city so pretty!
We also fitted in some lovely restaurants, and a spot of shopping, so now I am fully equipped for my new 'smart casual' UN position! So thanks again guys for coming to visit - with the wonders of internet and phone communication, it didn't feel like 5 months since I had seen you, so hopefully the next year will fly by also!
Last Sunday night, my flatmates and I had the traditional 'Julefrokost', which means Christmas meal. We ate the Danish 'smorbrod', which is basically rye bread with a variety of toppings - pickled herring, curried salad, eggs, tomatoes, liver paste - my flatmates all eat this stuff regularly, whereas it was a bit of an eye opener for me!! The main course was pork with brown sauce, and caramelised and ordinary potatoes - yummy! The dessert was a rice pudding with almond slivers - the game was for the company to eat the whole dish, and then whoever had found the one whole almond in the pudding got a present!! We also drank extremely strong schnapps (38%!), and generally made merry.
It's really nice living with Danish students, because I learn about the Danish traditions, such as their focus on 'Nissa', which are Santa's elvish helpers - they are the major form of decoration, in red and white, to match the Danish flag, which also regularly appears in every home!! The Danish as a whole are rather patriotic and conservative, which is why the Turkish and Lebanese immigrants in my area are treated with great suspicion. However, the Danes do have a great sense of ironic humour, which is why they get on well with the Aussies!!
Oh, and on Thursday night, we went to see a stage production of 'My Fair Lady' - it was an English company, and it was really well done! So nice to go to the theatre - we got cheaper preview tickets, one of the advantages of being in a student town!
Allrighty, back to study - I can't believe Christmas is in a week, and my time here in Aarhus is almost over - it goes so quickly!! It's getting sad, that people are leaving, who I may never see again - but I have made some really good friends here, with whom I will definitely keep in touch in the years to come.
The rainy season has begun in earnest here, it now rains almost every day, and it is getting colder, as well as pitch black at 4pm - it's certainly a big change from my usual December!
I have completed one oral exam, with flying colours, although rather large nerves, and have two more to do this week, and after that, I have officially finished my law degree!! This is very exciting, as it means no more study! So the next phase of my life will begin - onto the UN! In between studying, I have been looking for places to live in the Hague, which has proved interesting, with very fussy landladies a premium - I have settled on a nice looking place with other interns.
Last weekend, I had the good fortune of a visit from home - Dad and Odette, who have been in London, came over to Aarhus for a couple of days.
It was great to be able to show my city off - I showed where I live (including the exciting experience of the 25 minute bus ride through the housing estates), the shopping street, the Viking Museum at Moesgaard (including my favourite bog discovery, Graubelle Man), as well as a nice taxi ride through some of the nicer areas of Aarhus!
We also went to Den Gamle By, which is The Old Town, basically a Danish version of 'Old Sydney Town' - people here rave on about it, and many of my flatmates were there, but with all the rain, we didn't find it quite so exciting!
Dad and Odette were staying in the lovely Hotel Royal, in the city near the funky Latin Quarter, so I was able to show off the lovely little cobbled streets and narrow passageways that make this city so pretty!
We also fitted in some lovely restaurants, and a spot of shopping, so now I am fully equipped for my new 'smart casual' UN position! So thanks again guys for coming to visit - with the wonders of internet and phone communication, it didn't feel like 5 months since I had seen you, so hopefully the next year will fly by also!
Last Sunday night, my flatmates and I had the traditional 'Julefrokost', which means Christmas meal. We ate the Danish 'smorbrod', which is basically rye bread with a variety of toppings - pickled herring, curried salad, eggs, tomatoes, liver paste - my flatmates all eat this stuff regularly, whereas it was a bit of an eye opener for me!! The main course was pork with brown sauce, and caramelised and ordinary potatoes - yummy! The dessert was a rice pudding with almond slivers - the game was for the company to eat the whole dish, and then whoever had found the one whole almond in the pudding got a present!! We also drank extremely strong schnapps (38%!), and generally made merry.
It's really nice living with Danish students, because I learn about the Danish traditions, such as their focus on 'Nissa', which are Santa's elvish helpers - they are the major form of decoration, in red and white, to match the Danish flag, which also regularly appears in every home!! The Danish as a whole are rather patriotic and conservative, which is why the Turkish and Lebanese immigrants in my area are treated with great suspicion. However, the Danes do have a great sense of ironic humour, which is why they get on well with the Aussies!!
Oh, and on Thursday night, we went to see a stage production of 'My Fair Lady' - it was an English company, and it was really well done! So nice to go to the theatre - we got cheaper preview tickets, one of the advantages of being in a student town!
Allrighty, back to study - I can't believe Christmas is in a week, and my time here in Aarhus is almost over - it goes so quickly!! It's getting sad, that people are leaving, who I may never see again - but I have made some really good friends here, with whom I will definitely keep in touch in the years to come.
posted by Laura B @ 9:24 am
1 Comments:
At 1:19 pm,
Anonymous said…
Hey Laura. Just a quick note to say hi. Sounds like you're having a ball. Computer has been out of action (42 - count 'em - 42 viruses) due to a re-formatting exercise that took longer than I expected. I'm getting Skype tonight and we can have our long awaited chat!
Love,
Eoin
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