At this point, I’m halfway through the semester and let me tell you, it’s been HECTIC. But, I still want to catch up on significant things that have happened throughout the semester. So, let me tell you about Core Course Week! Core Course Week was from February 7, 2022 to February 9, 2022.
After I came back from my trip to Berlin, I immediately went to meet up with my Core Course the next day to head to Aarhus together. What is Core Course week you may ask? It’s a week where you don’t have classes and you get to travel to a place nearby with your Core Course! Classes typically visit some place in Denmark (ie. Aarhus), but other classes went to neighboring countries like Sweden and Germany. This gives students a chance to explore their studies in different contexts, and it’s a type of learning that differs from our traditional classroom learning experience.
Back to my experience with Core Course Week, on February 7, 2022, I packed for the next 3 days and we met up to hop on our 4 hour bus ride to Aarhus, Denmark. We arrived at around 12 PM and stayed at Cabinn Hotel (other DIS students visiting Aarhus that weekend were also there). After dropping off our belongings, we went out to do the first thing on our itinerary – Food Tour! My professor, Mie, chose this activity as she knew that our entire class had a love for food, so she felt like this was a great way for our class to bond.
The food was absolutely delicious, and it was a great way to get a taste of a variety of restaurants in Aarhus. Here’s a list of the 5 places we ate at:
- Sjovinisten: we had red wine paired with bread salami and ham with a side of liver paste. I LOVED the liver paste, it reminded me of the Vietnamese pate I would eat at home
- Nice Cafe: specialty in eclairs – I got pistachio since it’s my go-to flavor
- S’vinbar: charcuterie board place, so the classic bread with different cheeses and meats
- Hamanns Emma 1990 Cafe: special twist with their iced tea, a croissant, brownie, and banana bread
- Bardok Aarhus: dumplings – one of the best dumplings I’ve had in my life tbh, the flavors just exploded in my mouth
*Among the places, Sjovinisten and Bardok were probably my favorites.
Here are some photos!
After we finished eating, we did an Escape Room together and my group took 50 minutes to complete it. We barely finished with time to spare. Then we went out for dinner even though we were hella full! It was time to eat, so we had to…
We went to Faour and got an assortment of dips that went along with our falafels and pita bread. Faour serves Arabic cuisine and is inspired by Turkish and Lebanese foods.
The next day, February 8, we headed out for an academic visit at DokkX. This company focuses on welfare technology which is equipment used to aid the elderly. I had never heard this term before, so it was very fascinating to learn about this topic and to first-hand use these devices to see how they worked. For example, there was this airbag belt that you can put on your waist which breaks your fall and it’s there to support you – we tested it out and it works!
Then, we went to explore Aarhus. Very cute city that has vibes that resemble Copenhagen’s. We wanted to look for lunch and ended up at this amazing food hall with some of the best food I’ve had in a while. There was a huge variety of different foods you could get ranging from Asian, African, and more! We ended up getting Jamaican food which was rice with a side of Jamaican chicken. Finishing off, we had ice cream for dessert.
Later, we went to visit Kaos Pilot, which is a special academic institution that puts an emphasis on collaboration and projects to learn and gain skills. We had a variety of workshops which entailed listening to their academic experiences and team-building activities. I felt inspired after this meeting as I learned about the importance of communication in a team setting and also cultivating meaningful relationships within groups.
Afterwards, we went to ARoS – a museum that EVERYONE goes to, and you can tell that people are there based off of the colorful circular skyroom. I wish we had more time to explore the museum, but there were some cool pieces that we saw and ofc, the rainbow skyroom was an incredible way to get an outlook of the city and in different colors as well!
Finally, we had a 3 course meal for dinner at Madklubben. Very yum, nuff said.
The following day, we went to Odense to visit the Hans Christian Andersen’s Museum. It was a different museum experience that I was used to since we learned about the artwork through an audio guide.
The last thing from our trip was a visit to a brewery to Midtfyns Bryghus. The owner of the brewery, Eddie, was so hilarious. He shared personal stories while also educating us on the different types of beers he served us. I was never a fan of beer, but after visiting his place, I now see that there are some good quality beers out there, you just have to get the right one. He also gave us the beer glass as a souvenir which was super neat!
It was a wild 3 days in Aarhus, and a super fun and educational way to explore another part of Denmark. I’ve really loved my DIS experience so far, and Core Course week is definitely another benefit to this program (: Peace out!
