Let the adventure begin !

The first week in Haderslev: The beginning of the real adventure !!

The first night was the worst. All alone in a big residence. But the next day when I woke up, I met 3 Spanish girl and Cédric ! The boy I met in the Students Café Friday afternoon. I was very happy to meet new people !
Then we went to the ‘city’. First we had our first ‘Danish meal’ in a Hamburger Restaurant in the center of Haderslev. Then we went shopping. The first weekend was quite long. Because we didn’t know what we could do.
Saterday night, two Czech people arrived at our residence. We were very happy to meet them ! We had some dinner all together and we tried some Danish beers.

The first day at school was very nice ! We met Jette and the University prepared some breakfast for us. We really enjoyed that ! Jette and Charlotte are so friendly ! They tried to make us feel as at home and they were always ready to answer our questions or to help us !

The first lesson was about creating our own weblogs. That was very difficult for me ! I had already a Belgian blog, but this blog was much more difficult to create and there was a problem with mine. Because the other students couldn’t see mine. I still don’t know why, because I created another blog, a few days later, and this one works.. So I don’t know what I did wrong, but the most important is, that this one works ! I’m very happy !

On Wednesday evening we were expected at the Students Café, where we had a great night ! But, we couldn’t stay very late, because the day after, we would go visiting a Danish ‘Kindergarden’!! I was really looking forward to the visit !!

And my expectations came true. We were very welcome there to have a look in their Kindergarden. It was very interesting ! The system is so different as we have, in Belgium !
- There are 2 parts, one for babies from 6 or 8 months until 3 years old. The second part is for young children from the age of 3 years old ‘til 6 years old. After that, they go to primary school.
- There are much more teachers as in Belgium. For about 40 children, there were about 4 ‘Pedagogies’ , 1 who prepared the lunch and about 3 pedagogic helpers !! So that means that there were about 7 or 8 adults for 40 children ! That’s amazing !
- All the ages are mixed up together. They have many different rooms, with each it’s own meaning or reason. So they’ve got a playroom, a gym class, a room for ‘art’, a room to relax,…
- They don’t have to do some activities prepared by the teachers.
- The teachers don’t have to prepare anything. They just have to play with the children or help them. But they don’t have to make any written preparations the days before.
- The teachers don’t have to prepare different activities for the children. The children can choose by themselves what they would like to do or play.
- They put the babies outside, even in wintertime to sleep.
And so on…
I was really very surprised ! I enjoyed the school visit a lot and I liked the people very much. They were so friendly and the tried to answer all of our questions. I was really satisfied after this school visit. I learned a lot about the Danish Kindergarden and their education system ! A was very happy, because I knew that it was very different from our own system, but I didn’t know in which way it should be different. But now I finally knew..

The walk in Haderslev was very interesting as well ! We learned a little about the history of this small city.

In the evening, we went to Jønnes Grill to have some dinner with some other Belgian girls. We had a great time and we liked the food a lot. And we were very surprised that it wasn’t that expensive !
After a good dinner, we went to the ‘Fredagscaféen’. There we met a lot of Danish students and also the other Erasmus students. We had a great time !

The first week was a very nice one ! We learned a lot about the Danish school system and about the Danes. We also learned our first words and questions in Danish ! One thing is for sure: the Danish language is very difficult, especially the pronunciation I think !! But we still have some time left to exercise and to make some progress, I hope ! :-)

The first meeting with Denmark and the Danes !!

Meet Denmark and the Danes !!

After weeks of preparation, finally I had to pack my bags for my 3 month during adventure in Harderslev! I was a little nervous, because I’d never been in Denmark before and it’s the first time that I’m leaving for such al long time!
It was very difficult to decide what I should take and what was a little less important. I was so afraid to forget something very important! I only could take 20kg with me on the plane. My suitcase weighs about 7kg ! So I could only take about 13kg with me !! But finally, I succeed!

That evening, I went to my horse to say goodbye. It was quite surprising, but it was like she felt that I was going to leave, because she was a little angry.. I hope she will be alright. But I’m quite sure, because my little sister and my best friend will take care of her. So I’m sure she’ll be alright!
After that, I went to a bar, where I could say goodbye to some of my friends. At that point, I realized that I would be leaving in the morning! It was quite difficult, but I was very happy that I could say goodbye to them!

At the morning, we left home very early because my plane was leaving at 7a.m. So we had to be at the airport at 5a.m.! I was very tired and nervous. I would meet 4 other Flemish girls at the airport. I was looking forward to meet them! Because I didn’t know them before. At the gates we met each other. They were very friendly and they ‘adopted’ me, so I wasn’t alone anymore.. I was a little more reassured.
After a very good flight, we arrived in Copenhagen! There we needed to catch the train to Vojens. But the system isn’t the same as in Belgium. So it’s not the departure time that’s written on the tickets, so we missed the train. But fortunately they changed our tickets. We had to run, but then we were finally on the train to Kolding. There we had to catch the bus to Haderslev.
Our buddies were already waiting for us at the bus station. They were very friendly. They brought us to our residence and to the supermarket. The adventure could start !!

My first impression of Denmark and the Danes? The Danes are quite friendly and Denmark is a very nice country, with a lot of nature and snow !!