Rector welcomes international students

The traditional Matriculation Ceremony at Ceremonial Hall Thursday drew crowds of new international students. They listened attentively to speech made in English by Rector Ralf Hemmingsen.

In his speech, the Little Mermaid took centre stage. Since she has been sent to Shanghai to be part of the 2010 EXPO, Hemmingsen compared the tiny world-famous statue to the newly-arrived international students.

»Perhaps you have something in common with the Little Mermaid: you will recognise the feeling of being in between two cultures,« he said.

Participation is expected

Top 5 places to get free or cheap stuff

For international students arriving in Copenhagen, housing is the top priority.

But once the key to the anticipated dorm room or shared apartment has been collected, it is time to make the tiny bare space feel like home – a cosy refuge from the social whirlwind and new experiences that lie ahead.

For tips on how to decorate on a budget, the Copenhagen way, here is our top 5 list of places to scavenge, barter or buy cheap stuff:

5. Flea markets

Black humour and culture shock at intro event

High summer means new students in town, and the first introductory meeting for international students was held Monday 9 August.

Around 500 curious students packed into the Christian Hansen auditorium at the Faculty of Social Sciences (CSS) Monday afternoon.

See our photo gallery of the event here.

The first hour of the meeting was highly practical: the Danish welfare state has a lot to offer, but requires a whole list of papers to be filled out. Unfamiliar with these, the audience had to take notes continuously.

Culture shock preparation

Student Café in January

October is Studenterhuset month

Whatever your preferences in music or entertainment, chances are you will be satisfied if visiting the address of Købmagergade 52 the upcoming month.

»International night is always a big thing«, manager of Studenterhuset, Kristian Skjøth Madsen says referring to the bash every Wednesday.

Christmas beer opening

This month, he also wishes to emphasize two other events:

»At the end of the month, on Friday 30 October there is the ‘Christmas beer’ opening. It is a very Danish tradition with free beer and Danish bands«.

Events for gays at the Studenterhuset

If you belong to a sexual minority you might want to put a big rainbow-coloured cross on every 'Tuesday' in your calendar. Events include free muffins and a host of other activities.

BLUS, the organisation for LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender/transsexual, and queer) students, is the host every Tuesday at the Studenterhuset (Student Café) this Autumn.

For everyone from everywhere

The University Post wanted to know more about it, so we met up with Daniel Noesgaard Rasmussen, the head of BLUS.

Say it again please

It is a hot Wednesday afternoon, and over 100 students have filled the ‘Dansk Kantine’ in the Faculty of Humanities building. But while the canteen's name connotes Danishness, the language of choice is English.

The students are part of a three-week crash course in Danish language and culture, designed to introduce them to Denmark before they branch off to their own departments at the university. They are just a few of the more than 2000 international students who will study at the University of Copenhagen this year.

'iWin' - as prorector is allowed Macbook

Countering resistance from university IT staff, new pro-rector Thomas Bjørnholm has been granted permission to use his Mac computer. The IT department has even been forced to loosen their tight grip on the university-wide Mac-ban and invested in two MacBooks to further study how they work as a result.