My trip, part 1

I will present you the cities I have visited in Denmark.

Aarhus:

            I spent only one a half day in there. I mostly appreciated to see the city centre, along the fiord by night. In this following picture you can see that a specific character trait in common with Venice and Amsterdam as well. If you look at the guidebook they don't say that it reminds that architecture. It is true that during the day it doesn't look like those cities.

There's a particular vibe at night that makes you feel peaceful. You can't hear at the water stream. I got the impression that the water was chilling with a sleepy sleepy behaviour that called me to sit for a while.

I was facing coldness of the wind. That didn't demotivate me to watch “Her” flirting with the canal's square edge, made of stones.

            Seems like if the pavement in the ground paved the way for an encounter point, between the business prosperity and avid shoppers. The prices of the restaurant along the fiord were quite hight, then I decided to go further.The city wasn't charming anymore and the freezing humidity reminded me that it was going to be late. Hence, that was wiser to find a ship (and good) restaurant at first.

I had a very tasty Asian restaurant for a reasonable price for 60DKK for one dish.

Once I have had my fill, I slept in a very cozy flat, booked with Air B&B for 28 E per two people.

Retrospectively, it was one of best accommodation I have booked.

#

Lorianne.

My feelings about Aalborg so far

Do you want to know what I think about Aalborg so far ?

Many students, that I've met, come from Eastern Europe and Portugal ( states with negative natural increases). They see Denmark as a prosperous country (because of its salaries). So in Denmark you can reach very good incomes.

First instance, I met people who are studying management and economy in UCN (aalborg) as well. And they chose this destination because they actually think that they will be allowed to set up their business in Denmark much more easily.

            One of those student told me that for his final year (the fifth one), the university helps them to star up their own company. They show them : how to mitigate the Danish taxes ; the project management steps specified to Denmark because of the administrative requirements ; and so on...

            But, in return, the university ask them to get a percentage of their companies' income for few year. Someone told me that this income in like 10 percent of the benefit.
I have no idea if it is true or not and tried my hard to find if it was. I asked my teachers and it seemed  to be a point that has to be deeply hidden. Then, there as no way to discover the reality...

Moreover, my surprise isn't limited to this system that would be implemented in business (if it was true). I have been much more surprised when I asked to this person if he was prospecting to settle in Denmark. There was no doubt at all when he asserted. I asked him why. He said it was because of the incomes. I asked him :

 “Yes... But I mean... do you like this country ? Are you feeling good in here ? Wont you miss you home country ? Do you think the life in here is much more pleasant than in you home town ?”.

            What he answered blowed me away. Actually, I was facing many existing question at this particular moment and days after as well. Because he said that he doesn't like this country at all. Moreover, he thinks that there're no activities to do because everything is way too expensive. And even if you have enough money to hang out or to  subscribe to a club, there're not so much interesting things to do. He added that after being few times to the “Gingantium” (the well-known place where you can find the spa, the swimming pool, and many sport devices and amenities), you get bored about it.

Furthermore, foreign students agreed to assert that after few times in Aalborg the student life is becoming boring. And trust me, they don't have any issues with money. They can get everything they want because their parents have really good incomes. Then tey're supposed to be quite satisfied about their life in this city where “everything is expensive” (as we – foreign students – daily say).

They todays, don't want to party anymore because they got bored about the famous “bar street” (Jomfru Ane Gade).

They said it is the only thing to do in the week end, and going to the restaurant or walking around. In addition, we meet every time the same people. Seems like if me are joining again our family when we go in this street. From my point of view, it is a good thing because it is a very peaceful and friendly vibe. Like, you don't have to care too much about you stuff when you leave them if you're going to dance.

You don't care as well about hanging out alone because you can be pretty sure that you'll find at least someone to share times with. But, yes, I agree to say that it is a kind of microcosm and it could be stifling after few times.

So after all of those testimonies that I gathered, I still having this question : Would it be wiser to settle in Denmark, only because of the good incomes ? Or staying in France in the south (with its sun and diversified and rich landscapes that I really strongly sincerely miss), with a lower incomes and an uncertainty to don't find placement for jobs that I'm expected to get ?


Lorianne.

Danish cuisine again !

This my second article regarding food.

Quite everyday, we discover new dishes during lunch time at UCN.
The buffet is separated into two different parts.

One of them is cold dishes (mostly vegatables), and the other one is warm dishes (mostly proteines and starchy foods).

Hereafter I noticed few dishes that seem to be much more common in Denmark than in France.

The cold dishes :

-        raw broccoli with white cheese, onions and garlic powder

-        little rounded popatoas with whole-grain mustard

-        strips of coocked carrots with chopped beefsteack

-        slices raw leeks

-        red betroot with sugar

-        herring marinade with onion rolls

-        fried onion rolls (mostly in the salad bars)

-        almost raw green beans

-        oil marinade of garlic gloves with : hot pepper and dry tomato paste ; or basilico.

-        Sliced green hot pepper

-        raw cauliflower with feta cheese, dry cramberries nuts, peanuts

-        shrimps, herring chopped into square, potatoes and white asparagus into white cheese sauce

-        diced cucumber, boiled eggs, red onions, apples into a sauce made with mayonaise, creme fraiche, curry, dijon mustard, pepper

-        diced pineaple

What we can noticed is that they eat more raw vegetables and we do in France (such as leeks and broccoli).
They also really oftent use white cheese and creme fraiche to make their sauce. The chinese traditionnal doctors say that it is because the products made with milk have the proporty of mosturizing the bodie. But the two main attributes of such products are to be « cold and humid», as the chinese qualify them.
The mosturing proporty is advantageaous to struggle against the Dannish wind.

In order to counterbalance the « cold » effect of milk products, they eat « green sliced hot pepper ».

Moreover, with the aim of don't get depressed the Danish have done few nutritional adaptations.

Fistly : they eat many fish (mostly herring and shrimps) wich are source of vitamine D.

Secondly : they eat alot of nutrients (mainly we all need include vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, protein, and even a small amount of fat. A deficiency in any of these nutrients lead to our bodies not working at full capacity and can even cause illness)

Thirdly : As you maybe know, Danish cuisine has its most famous dishe: the open sandwich. They generaly put « Rye bread » (or black bread, which is a type of bread which is packed with different seeds, grains and cracked rye and is therefore a very healthy alternative to regular white bread.)

On the top of it, they put some of those cold dishes as it please them.
(This picture after isn't from me. I wouldn't have made such amount of sandwich only for myself, of course. But it permits you to have a broad spectrum of the different kinds that could be found).

So, getting back to our topic : why this dish is eventually a perfect ally against depression ?

Carbohydrate craving may be related to decreased serotonin activity (the good mood-boosting brain substance). For complexe reasons, it is way better to limit simple carbs (such as cakes and cookies) and favor complex carbs, such as whole grains (in addition with plenty of fruits, vegetables, and legumes, which all contribute healthy carbs and fiber, and foster the bioavailability of grain nutrients  thanks to vitamines, flavonoids...)
In denmark they eat that dish at the lecture break (at 10 a.m) or at noon for lunch. And we can conclude that it seems to me to e a wiser option, for the breackfast, that our sweets, cackes and very sweet cereals (like poped chocolate rice or whatever).

The hot dishes :

I can't really discribe it, because I'm not a big fan of pasta, lazagnes (expect if there're made in Italy or from my « Nonna » (grand Ma')).
Moreover I realy hate their
That's why I wont talk too much about that... But I don't think this is the best part of the Dannish cuisine.

Maybe I can just present you this dish that I like the most : the Roast pork served with both boiled and caramelized potatoes (brunede kartofler)
Maybe I like it because it looks and tastes more like a real meat.

Also, I really love their red sweet cabage dishe.

I don't think that I am the only one to think that Danish cuisine is quite poor with its hot dishes. When I was talking with the other foreign students, they all said that they miss so much their sweety home food. Actually, I have taken the expression « their cuisine is poor » from one of them.

Those students are usualy tacking « Røde pølser » for their breackfast ( around 10 a .m at the lecture breack) . They usually add both ketchup, Danish remoulade.
But the Danish alternately eat the bread and sausage, dipped into the condiments. And the foreign student are getting used to it and they imitate them.

(Personnaly speacking, I think it is so hilarious to notice how deep our environment can bias our behaviours. I still wonder if, generally speacking, we do adjust on purpuse to seem to be more adapted and almost seamless. Or, maybe there is this kind of unconscious mimicry that is taken us unawares.)

Lorianne.

The UC House

Hello everyone !

Today I’ll talking about my student life at the UC House. First of all, UC House is a student residence for people who study in UCN Hobrovej or UCN Sofiendalsvej (For my part I study in the second campus). It’s a small flat situated in the Aalborg’s suburb, but it’s not very far from the center.

When I have class, I usually take about 20 minutes to go by foot. During my spare time, I like going to the living room because I think it’s the best spot to meet other foreign students and to know each other. It’s a wonderful experience to discover new cultures ! However my favourite activity is to play table tennis, because I often play amazing games with Marijn, one of my Dutch friends.

Otherwise there is the UC House bar. At the beginning nobody knew this area, but when Dutch guys and I have discovered this, we said it’s the perfect area to welcome some people in order to organize parties ! Thus we decided to clean up, and now we can spend good time there.

When I moved in UC House, I was so disappointed because there is not a fitness room, and I cant’t do my workout exercises inside because I live with a roommate. Fortunately I found a small vacant room: I decided to clean up and to take out dirty stuff, so now I work out every day in this room.

Also I like cooking, all the more so as my room is situated close to the kitchen ! When I was in France, I didn’t use to cook but now I do. For instance I cooked plates of lentils and carrots (usually serve with sausages), rice and pastas. My favourite plate is the first one because it takes a lot of time and you’re so happy to savour it after !

Actually I spend little time in my room. I prefer working on my computer in the living room or at the university. For the everyday life It’s easy to use the washing-machines, even if it costs 20 Danish Kroners. However the price is not a problem: I always do the laundry with one of my French friends (yes of course I met French guys  too!).

To conclude, I think UC House is a good student residence to find a balance between student life and class at the university. The main issue here is we have to pay the bus to reach the city center because it’s about one hour to go by foot there…

Thank you for reading!

Olivier.

My studentlife in Aalborg

Lorianne.

Danish cuisine

Anytime we go abroad, the main thing we are all concerned about is FOOD.

Many times, when I was traveling abroad, I used to miss so much French dishes. It is said that French people are very connected home speciality food. France is a kind of the cradle of the « cuisine ».

After approximately one month, the "goat cheese salad syndrome" - as I call it - begins to awaken. This is the time after what anytime we wanted to eat something, we firstly think about our favorite dish (for me the salad with goat cheese).

However, it is also very interesting to discover different new way of cooking, eating and dishes.

The kitchen reveals a lot about the country's climate and culture.

Traditional Chinese doctors say that food traditions are naturally set up so that the human body is getting used to environment.

Therefore, given that we want to be well integrated in this new environment, we discover the culinary specialties.

However, it seemed redundant to draw you a simple array of local cuisine. That doesn't make sense. You can find all the recipes from all countries on the internet.

Furthermore, these are not necessarily the most renowned culinary specialties that are most consumed by the local inhabitants.( For example, in the Hautes-Alpes, we do not eat tartiflette every day.

For you I am therefore interested in recipes that are found most often and those that are most original).

1) The first original thing (at least, the thing that we seem to be late late in France), the dietary hamburger. It contains a fat-free matter grilled chicken, lots of raw vegetables and sauce is a sauce made with red cabbage juice. (More later we'll talk again about the red cabbage, because it is used in many dishes).

2) The waiter said that in Dennemark, every healthy products are reported by using the little green icon. (the "swedish keyhole symbol").

3) This is just normal fish eggs.. This is not sturgeon's eggs with a kind of green weird color that I have never seen before in France.


Lorianne.

From the air

We have not arrived yet... But it seems to us that there is going to be a lot of moisture over there.

First step in Aalborg !

First of all you might be curious to know hom to get to the UC House from the airport.
Let me explain you.émoticône smile

Take a bus to Busterminal, number 2. Many buses go there because that's the main bus stop, then switch to any number 1 (they have letters after the number) but ONLY the ones that go towards the south of the city.

The right ones go from the same platform, people will tell you émoticône smile Then get off at Dyrskuevej stop, turn left, at the crossroad turn right and you will pass burger king on your left. You will see the uc house buiding on your right.

When it comes to bus ticket, one costs 22 kroner (you pay with cash to the bus driver) and you can go with it within one hour, so when you switch the lines just show it to the next bus driver. émoticône wink

Lorianne.