Denmarked at last

We arrived in Denmark August 23. Not knowing the exchange rate was really to our advantage at this point, as it made the $9 transit ticket from the train station a lot easier to swallow. That was one of our first observations: Denmark is expensive. The cheapest grocery store is Netto, and I’d say the prices are about on par with an expensive, specialty grocery store in Canada. Fuel is something like twice as much, although this isn’t really a concern of ours. Just about the only thing that’s cheaper is beer. At least we have our beer.


Beer

The first week was an orientation for international students. Most are from Europe, although we did meet a few Americans, Mexicans, Australians, Chinese and Koreans. The Spanish, Polish and French are particularly abundant. There are a few other Canadians, mostly from Waterloo as well. Not a single English person, maybe Denmark is too close to home?

Our house is just about perfect. There are six rooms, each with a bed and desk. The kitchen is large, but the best part is the backyard which has a charcoal grill, roofed area and three picnic tables. If this wasn’t enough, it’s only five minutes from campus!


View from the front


...and the back

The area is pretty interesting, it's about a 20 minute bus ride from Central Copenhagen and we're right next to a farmer's field and a wooded deer reserve with hundreds of deer. All that separates us from campus is a highway.


The view down the road from our house


The highway we cross to get to class

So far the term has gotten off to a great start. Our classes are almost all about building design, specifically sustainable building design, which I am loving. The work is much more project oriented than at Waterloo, so there are fewer tests and more large assignments. None of our courses have final exams, so we will be done at the beginning of December (this is highly unusual, we just got lucky). The tentative plan is to go to Italy before we head home in late December, but this could change.

Mark and I have also developed a solid group of friends. Almost all are other international students, but we do know a few Danish people. Our house is perfect for groups of people and has already become a central location for having dinner and hanging out.


Dinner #2

It has been a good couple weeks in Denmark. Our next goal is to explore.