Aarhus? Never heard of it.

Hello dear ones,

after a total of about 12 hours of travel time and an overnight stay in Kassel, I have been in Aarhus since Sunday, the second largest city in Denmark.

My parents were so kind and drove me up here and took the opportunity to go on vacation themselves. I somehow imagined the city to be more Scandinavian, but actually you can even find some Italian flair here. There are small cafes everywhere, a little river flows through the city, which ends up in the harbor, people walk around (for now) with summer dresses, Birkenstocks, and shorts. The Danes are zooming around on bicycles everywhere and there is a much more relaxed atmosphere than in Germany. You notice that right away.

So my parents and I spent the first few days until Wednesday together and explored Aarhus a bit. For example, we went to the famous old town 'Den Gamle By'. In a kind of open-air museum, around 80 houses from different eras were rebuilt after being dismantled in various regions of Denmark. You really feel transported to different times there. Very worth seeing!

We also visited Marselisborg Castle, the summer residence of the Danish royal family, and walked around the castle park. Because the weather has been unusually nice in the last few days, we even spent a few hours on the beach there. But the sea with a water temperature of 14 degrees Celsius was too cold for me.

Today my parents left and I moved to another apartment which I found on Airbnb. I made a really lucky find and ended up in a kind of modern loft located in the student district Trøjborg near the university. I will stay here until Sunday, then I can move into my final apartment. I was already there yesterday when I brought my luggage. My landlord is still in the apartment until Sunday, but he said I can already store my luggage with him. After all, I have no idea how I would move with the 3 heavy bags on foot on Sunday. So lucky me! Pictures of my actual apartment will be available next week. You can already be excited! :)

After my parents left, I met with my mentor, who was assigned to me by the university. He was so kind and took me to the International Center of the university, where I had to register and received a lot of information. I will go through them all tonight. We had a little something to eat and he showed me a bit of the university and the city and gave me tips on where to find things, which buses to take where, etc. The university campus is beautiful, very green, but above all huge! You can really get lost there...

Gradually I am getting settled in, but I'm glad when I can move into my apartment on Sunday, unpack everything and set it up. I will use the next few days to explore the city and meet some other exchange students. The orientation week at the university will start next Monday.

See you soon!

Yours Carolina