As the days get shorter and darker...

I'm sitting here at about 1:00 am and thinking it's just as dark at 4:00 pm as it is now. I remember hearing about the cold darkness of Denmark's wintertime and dreading the idea of only a few hours of daylight. However looking back now, I can't say it has affected me much more than wintertime at WU. In fact, the days are clearer and it hasn't rained much at all yet. When the sun does go down, it is replaced with thousands of Christmas lights and ornaments decorating the entire city. I told my friend the other day, if it's got to be dark here in the wintertime at least the old city of Aalborg looks pretty at night. 

Santa and his elves have even come from Greenland for a couple weeks visit. They have set up shop in a little Christmas Village that has overtaken one of the city's plazas along with an ice-skating rink! I am personally very excited about trying this out. After all, I've only been once and I held onto one of those metal bar things to keep on my feet...like training wheels for ice-skates. Also, as a sort of gift to Aalborg residents, public transportation is now free on Sundays until the end of the month. This is actually very helpful considering how expensive a one time bus pass is (16 DKK which is about 3.50). 

Most of the long nights here are spent practicing Hygge-- the Danish word for relaxation, snug and cozy or comfort. My friends and I are constantly making big feasts together, having home-spa nights, or playing games like Norwegian Monopoly. I've become a fan of small gatherings, movie nights, sitting around the kitchen table with my roommates and a cup of tea, and even cooking! Yeah, I sound like an old lady...so sue me. While I'm a fan of going out, taking risks and am more than excited for upcoming travels and adventures, I've been learning that the simple things in life, if in good company, can be just as enjoyable. 

Besides hygge, I do work. With all of my homework these days, at least really nice warm weather isn't taunting me to come outside and play. However, my workload hasn't been nearly this heavy the entire time I've been in Aalborg. The university system here is very unique but not necessarily in a good way. The first two months of my stay in Aalborg I spent attending classes I didn't have to go to if I didn't want and learning almost nothing. The readings were not mandatory and fairly surface-level and there were no other assignments. I was lucky if I got a professor who sounded engaged in the subject-- though there were a couple who made going to class much less painful. On top of lame curriculum, my program is completely unorganized. In all honesty, we were basically told to "go to school, but let's have a beer first" leaving too many questions and concerns unanswered. While, a more relaxed vibe from a university was welcome on my part, this university is way too relaxed. Even if we pose questions, no one can or wants to answer them. I'm talking relevant questions that should obviously be figured out before launching a program and bringing in students from all over the world to study in it. The response is usually "Hmm, yeah...That's interesting. I'll look into that and get back to you," which usually never happens. I've practically had to corner them in their office with the door locked to get them to even consider my question. That is a little drastic, but it's almost that bad. Needless to say, now classes are over and I am all of a sudden up to my neck in work. At least I enjoy the topics I have to spend so much time researching and writing about, though they have almost no correlation whatsoever with the classes I took. 

The university system here has left me thinking a lot about my time at Willamette. I have much more respect for the way Willamette presents itself and encourages students. Even if the "independent student" is what Aalborg University encourages, they don't give enough incentive or motivation to make students interested and ambitious. Here a student can barge in the classroom 15 minutes late, on their cell phone, sit down and start talking to their neighbor. At WU, it's more likely a professor would tell a student who tried to sneak in quietly 5 minutes late to not even bother coming in. Maybe the difference is students here are paid by the government to be enrolled in university, where as we pay an un-Godly amount for education. In any case, even the Danes feel Aalborg University needs to improve it's plan of attack. On top of that, in my experience Willamette's classes are engaging and if the information isn't usually the professor is. We do work that keeps us on our toes and motivated the entire semester, where as here no one does anything until the end when it all hits at once. Another characteristic about Willamette that I've come to truly respect is it's community awareness and engagement-- student community and otherwise. There are always so many events and awareness campaigns going on at Willamette that it's hard to choose between them. At AAU, students are lucky if a speaker comes into town once or twice a semester and they use non-recyclable and non-reusable PLASTIC for everything! I truly wish I had some things to boast about AAU, but the reality is I am not impressed in the least. However, what this university experience has given me is a respect for the "Willamette Bubble" that I think I lost amidst the stress of past semesters. So, my advice to you other Bearcats is take as much out of your time at Willamette as you possibly can and bring it with you into the world, because many opportunities won't be available to you elsewhere.

Excuse the rant. Even though I am here to study and the study is not up to par, I have been enjoying myself otherwise. I learn from the amazing people I meet and the new things I experience everyday. Most of this knowledge couldn't be taught in a classroom anyway and I consider it priceless. I feel like I've been catching up from he lack of "world history" taught in the American education system (in my experience anyway). 

For now, I will say ciao. Hygge calls :)

Megan

P.S. There are 2 pigs for every Dane in Denmark.