Settling Down
Hello All,
Since my last post, I have witnessed a lot more things about Denmark, and DTU as well.The place is very clean and hygenic, except only for the cigarette butts that are found everywhere :P. That is something very coomon here, smoking. Apart, danes are also known to be heavy drinkers. This is what I have received from students coming from other places in Europe, that after a big party, one might easily imagine a Dane lying on the ground, being completely drunk. Though I have not been able to see that, but this seems to be a joke among outsiders. And, what should I say of partying, its a common phenomenon in the whole of Europe. So now I dont get surprised, when someone bangs into me, and says hey dude, we are having a prty tonight, at this and this place, and you could buy a beer for yourself for just this much, do come over. And I reply back, sure dude, see you around tonight :P. So since I have been here, there have been two official parties, one for the international students, and one for the freshers this year. In addition, there is a party every Tuesday, which is open to anyone and everyone.
Traffic in Denmark is extremely disciplined. Something strange I noticed was that cars here run with their headlights on for the whole day. So, I've finally been able to make out the real sun, from among a numerous of them around :P. Cyclists are given the highest priority on roads. Everyone in Denmark owns a cycle, and it is considered the best way to travel. So on roads, a car has no other option to stop by, if it sees a cyclist crossing through. And more so, cars stop by for people crossing the roads as well. I have been confused several times liek this. Having expecting a car to rush by me, I face the scene of the driver stopping and indicating me to cross by. I dont find any better reaction than to look at him with some kind of a surprise, and then wave a thankyou and cross through.
Danish as a language, is considered one of the most difficult languages to learn. And I have been able to figure that out after having heard some weird kind of pronunciation that it has in general. Its an extra set of vowels that Danish includes, which are so different in their pronunciations, that what one would perceive in normal English. Rather, one has to use the throat a lot while pronouncing the words (either one might have a sore throat or else a sore throat would be cured easily :P). I have registered for the Danish language, and would be starting my stint with it from next week. Will see which of the above possibilities I incur.
Education here is truly world class. I really cannot compare with USA, since I have not seen the strategy followed there, but from an abstract level, I think European Universities (specially the ones which offer International Programmes) should be very much comparable to USA Universities. I have taken 3 courses this semester, and the only thing that comes to my mind is that, one would have to keep working regularly on them, in order to have a good grade. It is unlike Indian education, where one could leave a good mark, even after having prepared over the night (or some may still live by sheer luck :P). But for things here, that wont work. The reason is that, there generally are no midterms here. So to avoid getting a huge pile of things to do at the very last minute, it is recommended to be regular. In addition, there are a lot more exercises and practical work, which keeps one well stuck to the course, and not ever breathe free air. But the professors are world class, and many of them have books published, which are consequently used in their courses. For 2 of the 3 courses, we would have to use books written by the professor teaching the course. So we are talking of a greater level of expertise in education.
Life in general is very good. I stay in a shared block, which has 9 rooms, with shared kitchen and bathrooms. Cooking as I previously mentioned is an activity one would practice anyway. So that is a bit more time consuming than I previosuly thought, since dish washing comes as a necessary supplementary (:P). It sounds interesting initially, but when one has to do it everyday, it rather becomes an obligation. I am happy that case has yet not arrived at my doors. And yeah, I feel more hungry these days, than ever before :P. I hope I live on, to be able to write the next chapter.
Regards,
Rajesh
Rajesh Bachani
MSc Student (Computer Science and Engineering)
Technical University of Denmark
Since my last post, I have witnessed a lot more things about Denmark, and DTU as well.The place is very clean and hygenic, except only for the cigarette butts that are found everywhere :P. That is something very coomon here, smoking. Apart, danes are also known to be heavy drinkers. This is what I have received from students coming from other places in Europe, that after a big party, one might easily imagine a Dane lying on the ground, being completely drunk. Though I have not been able to see that, but this seems to be a joke among outsiders. And, what should I say of partying, its a common phenomenon in the whole of Europe. So now I dont get surprised, when someone bangs into me, and says hey dude, we are having a prty tonight, at this and this place, and you could buy a beer for yourself for just this much, do come over. And I reply back, sure dude, see you around tonight :P. So since I have been here, there have been two official parties, one for the international students, and one for the freshers this year. In addition, there is a party every Tuesday, which is open to anyone and everyone.
Traffic in Denmark is extremely disciplined. Something strange I noticed was that cars here run with their headlights on for the whole day. So, I've finally been able to make out the real sun, from among a numerous of them around :P. Cyclists are given the highest priority on roads. Everyone in Denmark owns a cycle, and it is considered the best way to travel. So on roads, a car has no other option to stop by, if it sees a cyclist crossing through. And more so, cars stop by for people crossing the roads as well. I have been confused several times liek this. Having expecting a car to rush by me, I face the scene of the driver stopping and indicating me to cross by. I dont find any better reaction than to look at him with some kind of a surprise, and then wave a thankyou and cross through.
Danish as a language, is considered one of the most difficult languages to learn. And I have been able to figure that out after having heard some weird kind of pronunciation that it has in general. Its an extra set of vowels that Danish includes, which are so different in their pronunciations, that what one would perceive in normal English. Rather, one has to use the throat a lot while pronouncing the words (either one might have a sore throat or else a sore throat would be cured easily :P). I have registered for the Danish language, and would be starting my stint with it from next week. Will see which of the above possibilities I incur.
Education here is truly world class. I really cannot compare with USA, since I have not seen the strategy followed there, but from an abstract level, I think European Universities (specially the ones which offer International Programmes) should be very much comparable to USA Universities. I have taken 3 courses this semester, and the only thing that comes to my mind is that, one would have to keep working regularly on them, in order to have a good grade. It is unlike Indian education, where one could leave a good mark, even after having prepared over the night (or some may still live by sheer luck :P). But for things here, that wont work. The reason is that, there generally are no midterms here. So to avoid getting a huge pile of things to do at the very last minute, it is recommended to be regular. In addition, there are a lot more exercises and practical work, which keeps one well stuck to the course, and not ever breathe free air. But the professors are world class, and many of them have books published, which are consequently used in their courses. For 2 of the 3 courses, we would have to use books written by the professor teaching the course. So we are talking of a greater level of expertise in education.
Life in general is very good. I stay in a shared block, which has 9 rooms, with shared kitchen and bathrooms. Cooking as I previously mentioned is an activity one would practice anyway. So that is a bit more time consuming than I previosuly thought, since dish washing comes as a necessary supplementary (:P). It sounds interesting initially, but when one has to do it everyday, it rather becomes an obligation. I am happy that case has yet not arrived at my doors. And yeah, I feel more hungry these days, than ever before :P. I hope I live on, to be able to write the next chapter.
Regards,
Rajesh
Rajesh Bachani
MSc Student (Computer Science and Engineering)
Technical University of Denmark
posted by Rajesh at 9:08 AM
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