Hej, lykkelig, glæde og forventningsfuld!
This and more inexpressible words are the new sounds of communication one hears when arriving in Aarhus. (Spell: Ooohus) Aarhus in Denmark is the city I chose for my second semester of ESST (from 01.02. – 30.06.2011). I will be attending the specialization “Analysing IT, Organisation and Agency” (see for more information: http://www.esst.eu/master/specializations/aarhus.htm), because it appeals to my interests of how technologies (internet for instance) mediate moral values and how society can shape technologies in turn. The theories (like postphenomenology) we will be discussing here go beyond the standard claim that society is technologically determined – instead we will focus on the normative impact of how values, ideas about identity, etc. are being mediated, shifted, enhanced and what this means for politics of knowledge in general.
Aarhus is windy, cold but sunny today! Alex, co-ESSTler and my boyfriend, and I came from Maastricht till here by car which was fully packed with stuff, expectations and anxieties. We had never been in Aarhus before and did not know how our accommodation would look like and how the University will be. Luckily we arrived well and 
moved into a lovely house with a backyard shared with four other international students. We have a double room on the top floor which was offered by the international office of Aarhus University (for student-couples there are luckily special “rights” 🙂 ).
1km from our accommodation down the street is the university, library, science park and student house. The forest is near (1km) which ends directly at the beach (2kms). There are many offers by the University to finally realize my new years resolution of doing -…of course, what can it be?- some sports. More information on Aarhus University activities:http://www.au.dk/en/exchange/arrivingandlivingindk/oncampusfacilities/
The introduction week was rich of events: there were presentations hold on Danish Culture, Academic Culture in Denmark (about expectations and grading system), a funny interactive language session (where we were vehemently encouraged to sing loudly “We will rock you” in Danish following the lyrics on the lecture slides…), a flea market on the Campus along with some refreshments like sandwiches and soft drinks. A remark concerning food prices: the prices in the discount supermarkets (e.g. Aldi, Netto, etc.) are more or less like in Maastricht – which means not cheap. One exception: meat and some fresh vegetables are a kind of luxury item especially when being a student looking for offers. But my hopes raised when I heard about a fish market close to the harbour, which needs to be discovered asap!
The Danes we met outside the Campus (when getting lost in the many alleys of the beautiful old city center of Aarhus) were very open, friendly and caring with good English language skills. The same counts for the academic environment like the student house staff, international center and housing department – who managed to organise everything as smooth as possible. More on Aarhus University and their information for exchange students on: http://www.au.dk/en/exchange/welcome/
4 other ESST students from Maastricht chose as well Aarhus University for the second semester (one among them is Jessica writing as well in this blog), we form the largest group of ESST Maastricht in a host University. Additionally there will be few other ESST students from other countries. I am excited to experience our first seminar! It will start coming Wednesday from 9am until 4pm for which we have to be prepared for two seminars (seminar 1 and 2). Moreover, we are asked to write for each seminar a short essay about our readings (summary plus reflections). This is already a difference to the ESST program at Maastricht University: we had two until three seminars per week à two hours plus lectures. The writings/presentations for the seminars varied from module to module though.
The days are getting longer and longer and the sea is becoming tempting…our backyard is waiting for some bbq´s. With these inspirations I hope the topic for my master thesis is getting in good shape – another of my new years resolutions……
More about the ESST course in Aarhus next week,
Indtil da, Sarah
ESST Maastricht University 