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The education at the university

In the application to DTU (the technical university of Denmark) for being granted the possibility to do an exchange, I wrote the following as one of the reasons for me wanting to do an exchange:

“I wish to do an exchange to try another teaching culture. The teaching method in Britain is seemingly very different from the one in DTU. It is more self-governing compared to DTU, where the students are guided more. Studying in Britain will be an interesting though also a bit testing challenge.”

I was correct in the teaching method being different, and the students kind of having to be more self-governing. However, I wouldn’t use the term ”testing”. At DTU I’m used to two hour lectures followed by two hour tutorials where the students do all the calculations. Often we don’t manage to finish all the questions and should do them as homework besides the 2 to 12 hand-ins we have for every module.

At Loughborough it’s a bit different. The lectures and tutorials are only 50 minutes and they aren’t on the same day. The lectures of different modules are rarely grouped together, so there is a lot of waste of time as there isn’t enough time to get engrossed in homework between classes. It is nice with the variation, though very easy to skip classes if you are a bit late (or just skip them altogether – the bed is worth much more than 50 minutes of lectures). At the tutorial the students get up to 5 minutes, if any, to solve the question before the teacher does them at the blackboard. This is very relaxing for us and we don’t get any extra homework. However, it’s nearly negligible what we learn from the tutorials. This is a bit worrying, as you (an engineer) learn the most by doing.

The students are also treated as infants, apparently 1 + 2 = 3, and the theory stops when it gets complicated, which is nearly where it begins at DTU. Though, it’s nice to be treated as not being able to understand/know anything, when you are an exchange student having to get help with understanding the ways things are done at a foreign university.

I was very fond of this teaching method as it gave me more time to sleep and party, though I didn’t manage to do so well in the exams (if I went to them), as I was too busy enjoying life. I don’t regret skipping any exam or lecture.

In England it is also possible to do a master totally different from your bachelor. In my opinion this less knowledge as the master doesn’t build upon the knowledge of the bachelor. This means I won’t take my whole master in England as I simply won’t learn enough. Besides the independency of the bachelor and master, a master in GB: 90 ECTS points = 1½ year, whereas in DK and the majority of Europe: 120 ECTS = 2 years.

It has been a good night out when this is the view greeting you when you come home.

Just because it is exam period doesn't mean you shouldn't enjoy life ^^

P.S. I think this is the first time I have tried to wake up at 4 pm in the afternoon - interesting experience.

Borrowmydoggy

I'm really missing Gina and big/hug dogs. This is particular evident when I see a dog across the road and thinks/says "uhh, doggy, cute doggy!" and starts staring adoringly at the dog (embarrassing for me, and creepy for the owner).

So I have signed up to a society in England where you can burrow/lend your dog for a walk or two during the week.

The internet page is borrowmydoggy.com. They often use words like "Sniff time" "doggy friend" "pawprints of happiness" <3 and "woof woof".

I get all mushy when going on the side. It's a shame I haven't heard about it before, but I hope I'll manage to meet a dog a couple of times^^

#Dog

Cycling in Loughborough

The bicycle

One of the biggest culture shocks I have gotten is with the cycle. Anything that can be different between a British and Danish cycle is different.

First there are the gears; in Denmark normally internal gears are used. These can shift faster between all gears, also directly from the lowest to the highest gear. As the gear is internal dirt is kept out and the gear works better. The only negative aspect of internal gears is that water in the small hose protecting the gear cable can freeze during the winter and thereby freezing the gear. This can be solved by simply giving the hose a blow through with e.g. a compressor.

Of course it is only in Denmark that internal gears are used. This means that because my bike is British I have had to get used to external gears - bad quality external gears. This means that the chain often doesn’t engage the gear when I change it, which effectively set the whole propulsion of the bike out of work. This is rather dangerous if I suddenly need to get away. And I use quite a lot of time looking at the gears instead of the road and traffic.

Very interestingly which wheel the handle brakes are connected to is depended on which side of the road you are supposed to cycle on! The front wheel is on the right handle (opposite in Denmark) which is a bit dangerous as at high speeds you are more likely to fly over the handlebar.

The last thing I would like to complain about the bicycle itself is the valves to the tube in the tyres. I had brought my own pump from Denmark with me (because there’s nothing wrong with it and I’ll save money by not having to buy a pump in GB). However, the valves are very strange and I can’t use my own pump and had to buy a new one that is very strange. It nearly lets more air out of the tyre when mounting the pump to the valve than what it puts in the tyre.

The bicycle path

I can live with the British bicycles being weird comparing to the madness that is cycle paths in Britain. One moment you are directed up on the pavement and suddenly you are told to go down on the narrow road and rub shoulders with a lorry (or you are supposed to be on both the road and the pavement - see the first attached picture). If that isn’t bad enough the cycle path on the road will suddenly end with no indication what so ever you are supposed to do (see the second picture attached to this post). The only constancy is that you are always supposed to join the cars when at a traffic light, even if it’s only when crossing the transverse road. Please don’t expect the curb to be lowered when going on or off the road.

It’s very strange being directed up on the pavement as in Denmark you will get a hefty fine for it. In principle you will also in England, but the police don’t seem to mind where or in which direction you are going on a bike.

The whole cycling business in Britain is mad and quite dangerous, very few set the saddle height correctly or wears a helmet, except barking mad and selfish cyclist doing sport on very narrow main roads where the cars goes 50 mph or more!!

Britain may be beginning to make cycle paths, but they are very sporadic and unconnected, nearly making it more dangerous. So I put my helmet securely on, contact my insurance and go on the pavement.

#Bicykling

Loughborough town

(Loughborough pronounced “lufbra”)

If you are looking for a trip in vintage clothes drinking tea with a bank advisor, Loughborough is the place to be.

Prior to my arrival at Loughborough I was told it was a very small town. At first sight I didn’t agree. The town centre has a pedestrian zone, melange of travel agents (an extinct species in Denmark) and a battle of the charity shops on every corner. It also seems as if Loughborough is inhabited by very economical conscious individuals, who enjoy a blessed cup of tea with a biscuit between the meetings with their bank adviser, when looking on the sheer number of banks and cafés. However, they seem to enjoy take-away more than eating out when considering the ratio of take-away shops to decent restaurants.

After my first meeting with the town’s Waterstones (a book shop), Loughborough shrunk. Even though they have a pedestrian zone there are very few “high street” clothes shops - few as in two. So when us internationals want to spice up our wardrobe or go somewhere exciting we usually go to either Leicester or Nottingham.

However, in the night time Loughborough transforms from dull to a town where you have the time of your life. As the town is feeding on the steady flow of students there are loads of pubs and clubs in walking distance. There is always a place to go^^

Question time

Question time is a television program where the audience can ask questions (and comment) to a panel of 5 politicians. It is fairly subjective and people are allowed to finish sentences (which very often isn't allowed in Danish political debate programs).

One of the topics of discussion is the British membership of the EU and population density in the UK. The opposition and a part of the audience believe that the UK has a too high a population density and that there aren't room for all the people. I can't speak about the economical aspect and ect. but population density wise I don't agree.

Position relative to the country (or depended territory) with highest population density in the world (Macau: 19610) and population density [pop/km^2]

24#. Netherlands: 497

34#. Belgium: 365

51#. UK: 260

88#. Dk: 130

(And the Netherlands still have agriculture!)

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_and_dependent_territories_by_population_density

P.S. I also discovered that "Holland" is only a region in the Netherlands. So calling the Netherlands "Holland" can be rather offending. I think it's like calling the United Kingdom for England (the Scots or Welch wouldn't be too happy) or Denmark for Jylland.

#General knowledge

Pink flying elephants

Am sitting in my room listening to classical music while my house mates are seeing pink flying elephants and drinking tea.

Lovely with a wide span of diversity under one roof. ^^

Contributions to my blog

There are three ways to comment/leave a message on my blog.

“Ask me anything”

This is a way of leaving a message/question/request on my blog (public). It’s possible to be anonymous. So if you are curious about something or feel I'm being to lazy with my blog feel free to "Ask me anything".

The button “Ask me anything” is situated in the long menu to the right.

“Submit”

This is a way of submitting either a, Text post, Photo, Link, Quote or Video. It isn’t possible to do this anonymously.

The button "submit" is situated just to the right of the "ask me anything" button. When you click on the "Submit" button you will come to another page (see picture). You should click on the small arrow to choose what you would like to submit to my blog. It could be a picture of your new sofa, or the trees blossoming or a video of your cute pets (<3). Be creative!

“Comment”

It is now possible to comment on any post on my blog. You will have to state your name and email address where it is required.

If you regret submitting something or a post, I'm not sure you can delete it, but just sent me and email and I will do it.

#General

Gina in the snow.

In the week before I went to Loughborough I played paparazzi running after Gina with my mobile trying to get a film of her rolling around in the snow.

I finally succeed once, even though she does it whenever she can, except when I am running around after her pointing a mobile at her (what on earth is off-putting about that?)

Enjoy!

#dog

”Danish isn’t a language, but a throat decease”

The Danish language is spoken very low in the throat, so when speaking the throat is under more strain than when speaking another language. When shouting, as in a club, the strain can result in a rather sore throat.

It seems I have inherited my father voice, who spoke lower in the throat than normal. So

One night in the disco => sore throat for a week

End that week with two days in a row of social gathering in noisy environment = no voice

Speech is silver, Silence is gold!

It was the end of my first week in Loughborough that my mother called me to tell me of my Gran's passing.

I didn't really have time to fully comprehend it, as I by chance were doing several other things at once; talking with my international friends, telephone calls to Denmark and England, figuring out where I were and where I was supposed to be for lectures and ect.

I ended up staying in Wore by Stoke-on-trent during the weekend, with the lovely Stuarts. By Monday morning I was fully rested, gotten a big dose of dog-love (the Stuarts' lovely cocker spaniel Rhoum <3 <3) and an invitation to stay with some friends of the Stuarts in Oxfordshire.

That week I went back to Denmark for the funeral. It wasn't until I sat looking at Gran's casket as the ceremony began, that I started to understand what it meant Granny was dead.

I was also rather in awe of Gran. I don't think there are many 91 year olds who can boast of such a long row of flowers (there weren't even room for all the flowers - look at the back of the right row of benches!). There came many elderly friends who we hadn't seen in a long long time, because they didn't feel they had the energy to come to our regular parties. There also came friends from Århus (other end of Denmark), just for the funeral!! With so many friends coming to show their respect* there weren't enough seating for everybody. That just shows how good my Gran was at speaking with people no matter age and personality and what a deep impression she made on people.

After my dad's passing it was only us three women who were left, and now it is just my mum and I.

This is a rather ungrateful thought as Gran's passing doesn't mean we have lost our friends. And my family are strong believers in friends (we don't choose our family, but we choose our friends). I think my mum and I should be very diligent in remembering that we can be fully open with some few special friends without being afraid of being judge and trust them to tell us the truth (which is what I think is the special thing with family).

*I'm not sure to whom you are showing your respect to when attending a funeral. The main character is dead, and often you don't attend a funeral for only the remaining family....or???

My room.

Including my lovely double bed. There's room for books, laptop and me^^ I'm not sure how I ever can get used to sleeping in a single bed again. Probably going to be rolling out every night.

The video ends with a wild window nursery box in the gutter - very romantic.

#room

General

The posts on this blog will be a bit sporadic, as I haven't quite figured out how tumblr work.This also means I haven't figured how to make another page in by blog to post "Dog and animals" which is just pure cuteness and happyness-inducing^^ Please feel free to send me pictures and videos of your pets!!

Besides sporadic the posts will probably be rather random with spelling and typing mistakes sprinkled around as I also am supposed to do a bit of studying besides being social and figuring the last practical stuff out (and keeping you updated on my misdeeds.

Gina and her friend Viki Jo playing a sunny day in January 2013.

#dog

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