Danish Diaries #2

Yesterday, after another long walk in Aarhus, it was time for the first official Erasmus get-together! Studenthus Aarhus organised a Welcome Dinner for all the new-comers and their empty stomachs. There I met my first Erasmus people! I have no idea if they’re going to be my friends for the rest of the semester — it’s only 5 out of 100 Destination DK participators (the early goers such as me for the language and culture program) and over ~600 exchange students in total for this semester– but who knows, right?

Today with said friends we headed a bit outside of Aarhus to the annual Viking fight and horse-riding show. It was part of a greater Viking festival with tens and tens of tents with all kinds of craftsmen making everything and anything related to Vikings, from mead to shields with runes, from traditional Viking food to ornaments. Everything was produced on the spot. The fight and horse show were sure impressive, with all the combatants yelling and their swords and spears clanging. No picture will do this experience justice of course, maybe in time some videos are going to find their way on Youtube.

But I’ll admit it. What I was most fascinated by was not the vikings, not their cooking or their runes but the location of this happening. The viking festival took place on a grassy hilly clearing next to a beach. But surrounding this clearing was a beautiful forest with trees so tall, leaf canopies so thick they were practically hiding the sky, creating the musky, cozy atmosphere of the deep forest. It was complete with running water and light washing in on the streams from the few openings among the leaves… We reached the festival through that forest starting at Moesgaard Museum. It’s very easy to reach from the center of Aarhus (we just hopped on bus 6 from Nøregade), so I can definitely see myself returning preferrably together with my bike!

The other big thing of today was that I went to the hospital. When I woke up in the morning I could feel, together with my dry and brambly throat, my left ear just clogged with fluid and hurting as hell. “OK”, I thought, “this is not another of those my-throat-hurts-for-a-few-days-it’s-gonna-take-care-of-itself. Reluctantly, I decided to get checked up after returning from the Viking festival (as Dulce said: ‘why miss it, if you’re not about to die…’ and I hold the sentiment close to my heart) Turns out I’ve got a “mouth infection” and that only penicillin can put an end to the bacterial menace once and for all. If I had a CPR number (I’ll get it when I get my Danish residence permit, that is next month) I’d be eligible for completely free examinations and medication, in contrast with today when I had to pay for my penicillin in the end because I didn’t have a CPR number and thus belonged to the ‘tourist” category…

But these Nordic people… They make even their hospitals good to look at.

I have to sign off now, get some sleep and let the antibiotics do their thing. Tomorrow we’ve got brunch at 10:00 at Studenthus Aarhus and eat well we must cause it’s Museum Day! Gotta get my rest, no? I’ll up new pictures as soon as possible.

Author: Cubilone

This is me. Or so I believe. View all posts by Cubilone