First Week of Lectures
Stopping and taking a breather can be life-saving sometimes, especially when I feel anxious. I just finished my first week of classes and was then to fill out the final form with the changes of two of my management courses to the history and literature classes.
The week have gone by fairly smoothly but today, I had another "moment" when I was unable to fill out the form online. I hushed along to the student services help desk in the hopes the could help me. The lady tried her very best and even allowed me to use one of their computers to fill out the form but I still couldn't properly access it.
She referred me to the mobility office and asked if I knew my way there. Since all campus buildings are labelled in numerical order, I didn't think it would have a problem finding it, but I did. I walked down the main walk on campus but the number wasn't where it should have been. I sighed, pulled out the campus map I still had in my bag from introduction week and gathered that it was somehow hidden behind the row of buildings.
I walked back a long way to find an opening to go through, I went down a set of stairs and followed the signs. Already by then I felt on edge because I knew I was walking a huge way around and surely there would be a direct route. Nevertheless, I found the right building, although a level too low. I shrugged it off and entered thinking I could just climb the stairs one level and be in the right place.
There were no stairs in sight. None at all. I wandered through halls of offices and felt very uncomfortable. Having looked everywhere for a lift or a flight of stairs and have come up empty handed, I walked out again. Behind the building was a flight of stairs and above I could see a long platform leading into the same building.
I could feel my heart in my chest and the annoying burn in my eyes but I pushed through and found the right room behind the first door. Unfortunately, they couldn't help me as my department does things differently with the bloody forms and I should talk to them directly.
I exited quickly and tried to regain my composure. This was getting ridiculous and I had just sat through four hours of lectures with little sleep and my head felt heavy. I just wanted to go home.
From the raised platform I found the direct way I hadn't seen before: because it was through a building! Thankfully, it was that very building where my department's international coordinators resided, I should know, I've visited their office three times so far.
I finally got to the right people and she promised to e-mail me the form and then I should just fill it out and return it to her. Easy, right? Yes, the last part seems to have gone smoothly but I hate the administrative work of running around between the different departments. I went to the library to sit down, fill out the form, return it and now, I'm still sitting here, writing this because I needed to get it off my chest.
I hate that I get flustered from being unable to find the right location or the right people. It's actually ridiculous as I was done for the day and had plenty of time to get that one mission completed. Nevertheless, the tenseness still sit in my muscles 20 minutes later. Hopefully, it'll leave me by the time I'm done writing.
Now for a re-cap of my courses:
Monday:
Modern British Society
The lecturer wasn't actually at this lecture as she's abroad this week. However, they guy who introduced it was very kind and helpful with questions. The unit sounds interesting and the course outline will touch on subject I've been through on my British and American history class from back home, but I'm excited to learn about it in depth.
In the end of the lecture, we did a little quiz of questions that the lecturer could think of off the top of his head and it was both informative and fun. Furthermore, we were asked to take a training test for gaining British Citizenship. I did it the following day and was surprised when I got 79 % correct without research or cheating.
Tuesday:
My day off
Wednesday:
Business & the natural environment
This was my first class that I had to get up early for. I left my accommodation an hour before it started and I actually came in a few minutes late. Firstly, I waited almost half an hour to get on a bus as they kept being full and driving past me. Secondly, when I got to campus with only 5 minutes to spare I got lost in the building as I hadn't been there before.
The course was very interesting and appealing and we talked mostly about the different forms of pollution and the business aspect of being environmentally friendly. Either most people hadn't heard of "the business side" or they didn't bother to raise their hand but I did and felt happy to be able to contribute already from the first class. Furthermore, I felt a pang of pride when the lecturer mentioned the many windmills of Denmark. Country pride right there.
Thursday:
Writers of the West County
I had been looking forward to this class a lot and I was not disappointed. We were only 9 students but I actually prefer being a small crowd. The lecturer was very sweet and attentive and seemed knowledgeable on the author we discussed in our first seminar. She even made us say our names and a bit about ourselves or why we picked this course, which I normally wouldn't be a fan of, but I actually liked because I got to talk briefly about my passion for reading and writing. The lecturer printed copies of a short story written about this city and it was very intriguing to "see" it from someone else's perspective now that we've had time to watch the city ourselves. We discussed it afterwards and I actually think I was the student who spoke the most.
Very excited to see what this course will bring and to read one of Jane Austen's books that takes place in this city.
Friday:
My only day with two classes and they're back to back from the early morning, so again it took extra time to get to the university because of over-filled busses.
E-business
Initially, I had looked forward to this course but having heard talk from my fellow exchange students that it contained a big project, I was a bit more sceptical as I entered the class room. I had e-mailed with the lecturer the day before to sort out the fact that I hadn't taken the prerequisite and now, I was slightly worried.
I liked the sound of the lecturer and even though it did in fact contain a big project that he encouraged that we should start working on right away, I also have a feeling that I'll learn a lot in this course. I'm extremely interested in using technology and social media in a business context and the fact that the course is centred in practical use and real companies makes it feel like an assignment from my home university. Apparently, this is very unusual here though. I was also able to flaunt the knowledge that when we create profiles for free on websites, we're actually the product.
Decision making
Another course I had looked forward to and for this I had only heard good things. One challenge that I already recognise now is that I might be slightly tired out after the previous course. I'll just have to get used to it.
The lecturer encouraged out of the box thinking and introduced many crazy but interesting examples from real life. I was especially keen on his discussion of how well intuition can pan out, he had examples of both good and bad cases. As someone who actually puts a lot of trust into my gut feeling, this was fascinating. Also, learning that we have two systems; one that registers everything all the time but doesn't necessarily react on it, and one that only starts to process information when we purposely ponders something.
First real week complete but I have yet to start properly studying. We haven't had any reading due this week but boy, that changes for the coming week. Welcome back to university.
The week have gone by fairly smoothly but today, I had another "moment" when I was unable to fill out the form online. I hushed along to the student services help desk in the hopes the could help me. The lady tried her very best and even allowed me to use one of their computers to fill out the form but I still couldn't properly access it.
She referred me to the mobility office and asked if I knew my way there. Since all campus buildings are labelled in numerical order, I didn't think it would have a problem finding it, but I did. I walked down the main walk on campus but the number wasn't where it should have been. I sighed, pulled out the campus map I still had in my bag from introduction week and gathered that it was somehow hidden behind the row of buildings.
I walked back a long way to find an opening to go through, I went down a set of stairs and followed the signs. Already by then I felt on edge because I knew I was walking a huge way around and surely there would be a direct route. Nevertheless, I found the right building, although a level too low. I shrugged it off and entered thinking I could just climb the stairs one level and be in the right place.
There were no stairs in sight. None at all. I wandered through halls of offices and felt very uncomfortable. Having looked everywhere for a lift or a flight of stairs and have come up empty handed, I walked out again. Behind the building was a flight of stairs and above I could see a long platform leading into the same building.
I could feel my heart in my chest and the annoying burn in my eyes but I pushed through and found the right room behind the first door. Unfortunately, they couldn't help me as my department does things differently with the bloody forms and I should talk to them directly.
I exited quickly and tried to regain my composure. This was getting ridiculous and I had just sat through four hours of lectures with little sleep and my head felt heavy. I just wanted to go home.
From the raised platform I found the direct way I hadn't seen before: because it was through a building! Thankfully, it was that very building where my department's international coordinators resided, I should know, I've visited their office three times so far.
I finally got to the right people and she promised to e-mail me the form and then I should just fill it out and return it to her. Easy, right? Yes, the last part seems to have gone smoothly but I hate the administrative work of running around between the different departments. I went to the library to sit down, fill out the form, return it and now, I'm still sitting here, writing this because I needed to get it off my chest.
I hate that I get flustered from being unable to find the right location or the right people. It's actually ridiculous as I was done for the day and had plenty of time to get that one mission completed. Nevertheless, the tenseness still sit in my muscles 20 minutes later. Hopefully, it'll leave me by the time I'm done writing.
Now for a re-cap of my courses:
Monday:
Modern British Society
The lecturer wasn't actually at this lecture as she's abroad this week. However, they guy who introduced it was very kind and helpful with questions. The unit sounds interesting and the course outline will touch on subject I've been through on my British and American history class from back home, but I'm excited to learn about it in depth.
In the end of the lecture, we did a little quiz of questions that the lecturer could think of off the top of his head and it was both informative and fun. Furthermore, we were asked to take a training test for gaining British Citizenship. I did it the following day and was surprised when I got 79 % correct without research or cheating.
Tuesday:
My day off
Wednesday:
Business & the natural environment
This was my first class that I had to get up early for. I left my accommodation an hour before it started and I actually came in a few minutes late. Firstly, I waited almost half an hour to get on a bus as they kept being full and driving past me. Secondly, when I got to campus with only 5 minutes to spare I got lost in the building as I hadn't been there before.
The course was very interesting and appealing and we talked mostly about the different forms of pollution and the business aspect of being environmentally friendly. Either most people hadn't heard of "the business side" or they didn't bother to raise their hand but I did and felt happy to be able to contribute already from the first class. Furthermore, I felt a pang of pride when the lecturer mentioned the many windmills of Denmark. Country pride right there.
Thursday:
Writers of the West County
I had been looking forward to this class a lot and I was not disappointed. We were only 9 students but I actually prefer being a small crowd. The lecturer was very sweet and attentive and seemed knowledgeable on the author we discussed in our first seminar. She even made us say our names and a bit about ourselves or why we picked this course, which I normally wouldn't be a fan of, but I actually liked because I got to talk briefly about my passion for reading and writing. The lecturer printed copies of a short story written about this city and it was very intriguing to "see" it from someone else's perspective now that we've had time to watch the city ourselves. We discussed it afterwards and I actually think I was the student who spoke the most.
Very excited to see what this course will bring and to read one of Jane Austen's books that takes place in this city.
Friday:
My only day with two classes and they're back to back from the early morning, so again it took extra time to get to the university because of over-filled busses.
E-business
Initially, I had looked forward to this course but having heard talk from my fellow exchange students that it contained a big project, I was a bit more sceptical as I entered the class room. I had e-mailed with the lecturer the day before to sort out the fact that I hadn't taken the prerequisite and now, I was slightly worried.
I liked the sound of the lecturer and even though it did in fact contain a big project that he encouraged that we should start working on right away, I also have a feeling that I'll learn a lot in this course. I'm extremely interested in using technology and social media in a business context and the fact that the course is centred in practical use and real companies makes it feel like an assignment from my home university. Apparently, this is very unusual here though. I was also able to flaunt the knowledge that when we create profiles for free on websites, we're actually the product.
Decision making
Another course I had looked forward to and for this I had only heard good things. One challenge that I already recognise now is that I might be slightly tired out after the previous course. I'll just have to get used to it.
The lecturer encouraged out of the box thinking and introduced many crazy but interesting examples from real life. I was especially keen on his discussion of how well intuition can pan out, he had examples of both good and bad cases. As someone who actually puts a lot of trust into my gut feeling, this was fascinating. Also, learning that we have two systems; one that registers everything all the time but doesn't necessarily react on it, and one that only starts to process information when we purposely ponders something.
First real week complete but I have yet to start properly studying. We haven't had any reading due this week but boy, that changes for the coming week. Welcome back to university.
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