Bryan School Study Abroad Program
Joseph Frinzl
Aarhus, Denmark
When preparing to go abroad for a semester I had many different fears, mainly because I had never traveled alone before and I was worried about the language barrier (not being able to speak Danish). I hoped to meet new people and to gain a new and more global perspective. When I arrived in Aarhus, I didn’t know anyone or where I was going, but I asked someone and they helped me out with directions and where I needed to go. At first it was difficult figuring out where everything was and how to get around, but once I figured out the bus passes and directions, it was much easier.
Aarhus
Aarhus is a college town that has lots of different activities and things to do. I saw bands play free
shows out in parks, saw a skateboarding show, and participated in a huge Christmas celebration throughout
the whole city. I even played ultimate Frisbee games on a team with Swedish and Canadian friends of
mine from school. There was also a lot to do on campus, with many different organizations you can
join.
Accommodation
I stayed in off-campus dorm-style living that was a 2 minute walk from campus. I recommend getting
your housing preference in early, because we were all put into a lottery and some of the housing was farther
away from campus. In my dorm, there were 12 rooms on each floor with a kitchen at the end of the
hall. We didn’t have a common area, but many of the other halls did. Each student had
their own personal room and their own bathroom, which was really nice. There were also students
from all of the different universities in the area, so it was not just from Aarhus School of Business.
A home-stay option was also available if you wished to live with a Danish family.
Classes
I took business classes that were taught in English. Most of the classes that I took were lecture or
seminar-type classes. That means that we met once a week in large to medium-sized groups for a
lecture and then we had a small group tutorial session, which was more personal. This is different
than the UNCG-style of teaching. The workload was different than at UNCG because it was mainly
reading assignments and an exam at the end of the class. I also had to do presentations for two of
the classes.
Travel
I was able to travel around to different places. I recommend you get a Eurail pass if you plan on
traveling in Europe. It would have been very helpful to have one. I traveled to Sweden,
Denmark and the Netherlands. Most of my traveling throughout Denmark was with friends who had
cars. When I traveled by bus, train or airplane, I would plan ahead and get a hostel reservation
before I left. The International Program Center at Aarhus also offered different trips. I
went on one trip to Brussels, Belgium with the exchange group, which was a great experience. There
were about 80 international students who went and we got to see the European Union building, sit in on a
European Parliament session and have a guided tour throughout the city.
Advice
- Buy a Eurail pass before you go if you plan on traveling in Europe
- Get a bus pass immediately once you know where you’ll be living
- Buying a cheap cell phone and using prepaid phone cards is cheaper than installing a phone
- Bring books and music with you because you might not be able to download through the Danish Internet system
- If possible bring your laptop and buy a world adapter.