Setting the scene, two months later

Yikes it's been a long time since I've updated my blog. This entry is basically a fact dump. It's very likely that I've said all these things before but just for the record here:

Århus is spelled with the letter Å but it is also spelled as Aarhus. This is because the letter Å was introduced in 1948 to replace Aa. The name of the university is technically Aarhus Universitet because it was established before the new letter was  used. But the name of the city is Århus. Å is also the last letter of the alphabet. After z comes æ, ø, å in that order.

I'm taking classes at Aarhus University. Two of my three classes are regular courses open to Danish students. The other is a Danish politics course only for non-Danish students. Danish college students don't need to learn the names of Denmark's main political parties. That's what we're learning now.

I have never lived so close to all my classes. They are all within a five to seven minute walk from my house, which isn't on campus but is just across the street. It's so close to the university buildings that I can get their wireless internet (though the signal is weak). Even when I lived in Case Hall, I still had classes or work in a distant corner of campus.


From my window, the university -- the yellow building with the orange roof -- is literally across the street. 

Århus is also the name of the city where the university is located. It's the second largest city in Denmark with 300,000 residents but it's really quite a small city by the standard size of cities. It's also a college town. There are something like 40,000 students here.

Århus means literally "the mouth of the river" because there used to be a river running through the city. But in the 1930s the river was filled in in order to make a street. But now a section of the river has been reopened and there are lots of expensive bars and cafes along it. If you've seen any photos of Århus that show a river, it's that bit of river.

EDIT: I'm not sure why the river was filled in but I'm guessing it had to do with its declining significance for trade. I was surprised to hear about it too especially because the river gave rise to the city and its name.

Like this photo, taken in the summer