Experience report
Name:
Study Program:
Exchange semester:
Academic year:
Host University:
Country:
Anonymous
Master Human Resource Studies
Spring 2015
2014-2015
Syddansk Universitet (University of Southern Denmark,
location Odense)
Denmark
I GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL
Syddansk Universitet
Syddansk Universitet (SDU) has more than 27,000 students and consists of five faculties:
engineering, health sciences, humanities, science, and business & social sciences. SDU is
represented in six cities: Odense, Sønderborg, Esbjerg, Kolding, Slagelse and Copenhagen.
The majority of these cities are situated in the southern part of Denmark which explains
the name of the university. Most of the courses which SDU provides can be followed in
Odense.
Around 12,500 students are studying in Odense which is almost the same amount of
students who are studying at Tilburg University (Uvt). In Odense SDU has two locations:
SDU’s main campus and technical faculty (which the students called “Tech”). In addition,
the main campus is as well home of The University Library of Southern Denmark. Currently
a construction on a new building of SDU which is located next to the main campus is almost
finished. In this new building some education programs of Tech will be move to but I do
not know if this will be already the upcoming semester and if the whole Tech will move
over there because they postponed the initial plan for this building multiple of times. The
distance between main campus and Tech is around one kilometre. Both locations are
situated in the south-eastern part Odense which is a quiet and forest area that is quite
similar to the wandelbos area in Tilburg. Whereas Uvt’s campus consists of different
buildings where every faculty has her own building, the main campus of SDU is one huge
building in which all the faculties are situated. The main campus consists of a main corridor
which is around 750m and on both sides there are different smaller corridors and therefore
it is a labyrinth that is even worse than the P-building of Uvt. When you walk into the main
corridor and a vehicle is entering you be aware to not walk between the white lines that
are marked on the floor because this is some kind of ‘path’ (like a bicycle for bikes) for the
vehicles that is used by the janitors and they really claim “their” vehicle path because they
will not move away for you or lower their speed limit. The first time that I walked into the
main corridor I did not about this unwritten rule and luckily I could jump away on time
otherwise I had an accident with one of those vehicles!
Next to the main campus there are a swimming pool, two sport halls and an outdoor
running track. At the service desk of SDU you can get a card for the swimming pool so that
you can get free access to it. Furthermore, there is a fitness centre in the building of the
main campus but unfortunately during my exchange period you needed to have a Danish
banking account or a Visa card to enter the gym. The main campus has two canteens but
due to the limited opening hours you cannot have a dinner over there. However, close to
main campus there is the Rosengardenborg shopping mall and inside it and around it there
are some places to have a dinner (e.g. Bilka, Ikea, McDonalds and Burger King). In contrast
to the library of Uvt, SDU’s library is pretty small and there are just a few computers
available because the majority of the Danes bring their own laptop (mainly MacBooks) to
the university. If you want to study beyond main campus’ opening hours there is a silence
room which is 24/7 open.
The city Odense
Odense is the third largest city of Denmark with 160,000 inhabitants which is comparable
to a city like Nijmegen. Odense is situated in the middle of Denmark and it is the capital
of the island Fyn. Odense is well-known as the home town of Hans Christian Andersen who
was a famous writer and poet and well-known of his fairy tales. The city centre is quite
similar to the city centre of Tilburg and consists of one main shopping street with a few
side streets. If you want to buy cheap food or have a cheap haircut you can visit Bazar Fyn
which is located on the northern side of the railway station. The cheapest groceries in
Odense are Lidl, Aldi and Rema1000. Interesting to visit is the Hans Christian Andersen
museum and in addition to follow the H.C. Andersen footsteps which are spread over the
entire city centre and they will bring you to the main places of H.C. Andersen. Other
interesting places to visit are Odense fjord, Kerteminde beach and Odense Zoo.
In contrast to Tilburg, the city centre of Odense does not have one particular area where
you can go out just like the Piusplein but the pubs and clubs are spread around the city
centre. The Monday café is a nice place to visit on the Mondays (just as the name of the
pub explains) and have a dinner for relatively cheap prices. When you do not want to go
out but drink a beer for a cheap price you can go to the Student House because here you
can order a 0.5 litre of beer for just €1.40 with your ESN student card. Places to go out
are: Australia bar (A-bar), LA-bar, Heidies, Gap, Gym and Bodega. A-bar is the place where
(on Thursday) most international students are going, mostly until 2AM. If you like to play
the game beer pong than you definitely should visit Heidies on at 10 PM on Thursday
because than there will be a beer pong competition (where need to sign up yourself before
8 PM). If you do want to dance and prefer to chill, drink a beer and being in an environment
with the Danes the pub Bodega is a great place to visit. If you want to party in a club the
Gap and Gym are awesome places to go.
In Denmark almost everything is more expansive and unfortunately Odense is not
exception on it. To give an indication, the price for 0.3 litre of beer varies between the
€4.00 and €7.00. However, there is a way of going out and save some money! Because in
Odense they know the concept of a “free beer hour” which means that you get an empty
plastic cup at the entrance with which can order free beer at the bar for one hour. Every
Thursday there is a free beer at the A-bar and from 11 PM – 12PM
II PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Information before you left
I applied myself a few days after the application deadline of SDU which resulted that I did
not received the information related to my application in the correct chronological order
(e.g. I first received an accommodation offer and later my letter of enrollment). However,
I received all the information around six weeks before my actual exchange period started.
Fortunately, the international office of SDU was really supportive to help me with
everything and they responded quickly to my questions.
Visa procedure and arrival
When you stay for more than three months in Denmark you need to have a Civic Personal
Registration (CPR) number which are provided by the municipality of Odense and a yellow
card (related to health insurance). During the introduction day representatives of the
municipality visited the university which resulted that I could arrange everything around
this kind Danish visa. Enclosed to the pre-arrival information that I received there were
included one or two forms which I needed to filled in and handed in during the introduction
day. Seems the municipality representatives were present at the introduction day and the
information which was sent in advance were clearly formulated everything went smooth.
Orientation/Introduction activities
In contrast to Tilburg, SDU did not have an introduction week like the “top-week” but there
was one introduction day which was mandatory. One part of the introduction was only for
all the international students and exchange students of SDU Odense. During the program
general information about living in Denmark/Odense and studying at SDU were provided.
The second part of the introduction was with all the students from the faculty (so as well
with Danes) and the provided information was about the faculty-specific information such
as blackbord, study program and plagiarism.
Every international student has a buddy which was a student of SDU. The buddy was
responsible for the arrival of the international student and supports the international
student during his or her stay in Denmark. In my case my buddy was a German girl who
studied her bachelor in Enschede and she did want to maintain her Dutch proficiency so
she was one of the few people which who I had conversations in Dutch. She supported
me with searching for a bike and buying used student books.
Housing
SDU itself does not supports you with seeking for an accommodation but there is a housing
association/(external) accommodation office was responsible for student housing in
Odense. By e-mail the accommodation office only gives you once an offer for an
accommodation and if you refuse it you need to find an accommodation by your own. The
accommodation office has different accommodations in Odense but as an international
student you probably will receive an offer for one of the following places:
 Birkeparken
 Rasmus Raskkollgium
 Dalum Landbrugskkole
I received and accepted the offer for Birkeparken which is in the north-eastern part of
Odense in the neighborhood Vollsmose. Birkeparken is the name of the street where
around 100-120 students are living and they are spread around three blocks of flats which
are located next to each other. Each accommodation in a flat is shared by four students.
The benefit of living in Birkeparken is that there is a lot of space in the accommodation
and the costs are relatively low. In addition, the laundry is next to one of the flat and the
costs for using it is just around €3.00. Furthermore, in contrast to other accommodations
in Odense, Birkeparken has three mentor students which resulted in a nice community
around the students who were living there. Important to mention is that it is not without
a reason that there are only international students living in Birkeparken. Besides the
students the habitants of Vollsmose are mainly multi-ethnic families (from Arabic and
African-Muslim countries). Of all the neighborhoods in Odense, Vollsmose is the
neighborhood with the most criminality. We called it the “Ghetto of Odense” however, you
have to see this in a Danish perspective because compared to Tilburg, Vollsmose is just
nothing in comparison to neighborhoods North Tilburg or Broekhoven. I never felt myself
unsafety in Vollsmose! Personally I found the distance to SDU a disadvantage of living in
Birkeparken. From Birkeparken it takes 25 minutes by bike to reach SDU and compared to
other accommodation it is relatively far away, but the city centre is just 15 minutes by
bike.
By the way I have heard from other students that when do not want your offer which was
provided by the accommodation office and you request for another one the first couple of
times they will reject you request, but if you just ask a lot of times that you want to have
another offer they will provide you with another one. Thus, suppose that you receive an
offer for Birkeparken and you do not want to live there than there is a possibility to receive
a new offer but keep in mind that you need to ask for it a lot of times!
Living Costs
Yes, it is true that everything in Scandinavia is much more expense compared to the
Netherlands and unfortunately Denmark is on exception on it. However, during the
different trips that I have made I discovered that Denmark and Finland are both the
“cheapest” countries of Scandinavia. When I traveled to Sweden I discovered that
everything was more expensive and when I traveled to Norway I discovered that this is
the most expensive country of Scandinavia. Apart from the Erasmus grant I financed my
exchange period from the money which earned from my side job in Tilburg. During my
exchange period I spent most of the money on paying my rent and the different trips. I
only made trips in Denmark and abroad with ESN because mostly this was cheaper and it
included transportation costs.
The costs that I did make were each month approximately:
 Housing:
€ 350.00
 Food
€ 250.00
 Transport
€ 50.00 (In Odense I only used the bike)
 Books
€ 60.00  Only one time (I had the same book for two
courses and the other books I borrowed from the library)
 Miscellaneous € 350.00 (this includes the amount for the trips)
When you are younger than 25 years you can buy a DSB Wildcard which gives you
discount on train tickets. In addition, if you have a wildcard you have the possibility to
make a reservation for folding seat in the train which allows you to online buy a ticket
which is much cheaper than the normal tickets with a discount. However, in make sure in
this case that you really take a seat on a folding chair because between Odense and
Copenhagen the conductor will at least once walk around to check the train tickets! For
more about information about the wildcard see: https://en.rail.cc/train-ticketcountry/dsb-wildcard/denmark/69
Furthermore, I discovered that when your age is between 16 and 25 years SAS
Scandinavian Airlines gives you the opportunity to book only a youth ticket which gives
you a discount on the fly ticket.
Thus, however it is expensive to live in Denmark there are certainly ways to spent less
money, you only need to know it!
Academic Calendar
 Introductory day:
 First day of the semester:
 Last day of classes:
 Mid-term break:
 Examination period:
 Any special events:
29th of January
2nd of February
26th of May
First week of April
end of May – end of June
-
The International Office
SDU has an international office which was located in the main campus. Christina Gilling
was responsible for the incoming students. The international office was responsible for my
application and they sent me all the pre-arrival information. At the end of my exchange
period they supported me with the forms and documents that I needed to hand in before
I left. I am really satisfied with the service which was provided by the international office
of SDU. You could always visit the international office if you have questions and when you
sent an e-mail they reply at the same day or the day after it.
Social Activities
Similar to in I*ESN in Tilburg, Odense has an ESN association which is ESN Odense.
Fortunately, ESN Odense is the most active ESN association in Denmark and they have the
most members. In contrast to I*ESN, they do not have their own pub in the city centre.
Every week ESN Odense organizes an activity in Odense and every two weeks they
organize a trip outside Odense (or abroad). I participated in a lot of activities and trips
which were organized by ESN Odense. Besides trips in Denmark I visited as well Lapland,
Sweden, Norway and Tallinn (Estonia). During the ESN activities I have met a lot of people
with different cultural backgrounds and I made a lot of new international friends. Just like
in the Netherlands it is hard to get in contact with the local people because they have their
own life and friends. Furthermore, in all the lectures which I followed more than the half
of the students were Germans and just a few were Danish. During the second part of my
exchange period I wanted to have more contact with the Danes instead of only having
contact with the internationals student so I joined one of the student sport associations of
SDU. This gave me the opportunity to experience how the Danes were and it resulted that
I made some Danish friends.
Culture and Language
I did not experience any culture shock because the Danish the culture is quite similar to
the culture in the Netherlands. A lot of international students summarize Denmark as:
“Beer, Bikes and Blondes” which is quite similar to the Netherlands because Dutch people
drink a lot of beer, the Netherlands is bicycle country number one and you have a lot of
blond girls in the Netherlands. Of course there are some differences between the Danish
culture and the culture in the Netherlands. The Danish culture can be characterized as
respectful and peaceful whereas in the Netherlands all the people are in a hurry and
impolite. A good example which indicates that Danes are respectful for rules is that when
Danes are riding on a bike they wait for a red light even though there is no traffic coming
from the other streets. Another remarkable example which I experienced during my
exchange was that you can leave your belongings such as your laptop unattended in the
library without the risk that it would be stolen. Another characteristic of Denmark is that
the (living) environment is a cleaner than in the Netherlands. For example, in the university
canteen Danes clean up their mess, but if you see the canteen at Uvt in the afternoon than
this is really dirty because people do not clean up their mess. A culture differences for me
is that there is hardly any power distance between teacher and students. I am used to say
“sir or madam” to the teacher but in Denmark nobody does it and this refers to another
Danish characteristic which is equity.
What I do not like about the Danish culture is there food. During an international dinner
event I tried some Danish food but it was really horrible! In addition, I am now aware how
good the quality of breath (even of from the grocery) is in the Netherlands.
I did not experience any language problem with the faculty or other students because they
all were able to speak a good level of English. In addition, I did not experience language
problems with the local people because almost all the Danes were speaking English. The
municipality of Odense provides the opportunity for international students to follow a
Danish language course for free. During my exchange period I followed the Danish
language course. Danish looks a little bit like a combination of German and Dutch however
the pronunciation is very difficult and one semester was too short to learn Danish.
Personal Development
The exchange period made me aware to be open-minded to strangers. When international
students asked me for help I was always prepared to help them. However, now I have
experienced how kind it is if you are abroad and people started to help you spontaneously
when you face some kind of problem even if you do not asked for it. So, when I see that
people from abroad have some problems (e.g. simple things as searching which train they
need to catch) I will help them. My exchange period has developed my self-reliant
competence in an unknown environment which is beneficial for further career possibilities
because this is an aspect that employers find important. What I did not expect a couple of
years ago is that I have now discovered that I really like to live and work in an international
environment which resulted that I would like to work for an international orientated
company. During the trips that I made I have spent a lot of time with German and Italian
friends, the German were always on time whereas the Italians were always late which
remarkably resulted that I have learnt to be always in time. My best experiences during
my exchange period have been the people that I met and the friends that I have made.
What I never will forget about my exchange are the trips I have made, mainly the Lapland
trip. My worse experiences have been two of my exams which were exams of five hours
on a computer and where all the students did have problems to finish it on time. What I
have learnt during my exchange period is to be open-minded. Furthermore, I have
perceived that I am blessed to live in a prosperous country and therefore it is important
appreciate even the smaller thing in life.
III ACADEMIC INFORMATION
Academic level at a host university
Seems I wanted to extend my knowledge I chose for courses which were only indirect
related to HR. Because I was interested in the areas of strategic management and
organization studies I chose to follow the two courses: business strategy and corporate
strategy & organization design. Furthermore, I was interested to a course which was
related to leadership and therefore I followed the course: leadership & organization
communication. In my opinion the provided literature and course material were very
interesting and therefore I can recommend all the three courses. However, it is important
to notice that the exams of the courses business strategy and corporate strategy &
organization design are both really hard and therefore I would only recommend students
with a background in business administration or organization studies to follow these
courses. The course leadership & organization communication was not difficult to follow.
All the three courses were primary practical focus which is in general typical for the Danish
education system. In all the three courses the teacher expected a lot of participation of the
students during the lectures. Teachers encouraged the students to create their own opinion
by involving them into group discussions during the lectures. Thus, the lectures were
interactive. In addition, a group presentation about a case study was as well a
characteristic of SDU’s the education system.
The level of the courses is quite similar to the level in Tilburg. Of level of English of all my
teachers was quite good and even better than in Tilburg. During the lectures the workload
was quite similar as during the bachelor courses at Uvt. However, the workload for the
exam was really high because each course was 10 ECTS and it was definitely on a master
level. As I already mentioned before a characteristic of the Danish culture is a very low
level of power distance and this is something you could see back in the relationship
between teacher and students because you do not say sir/madam to the teacher.
Furthermore, the teachers were always willing to help you when you face some problems.
Exams
In terms of exams form SDU knows a lot of different forms such as written exams, oral
exams, take-home exams, exams on the computer and a group assignments. For one
course I had an oral exam. For the other two courses I had a written exam on the computer
for 5 hours. During this exam it is allowed to bring notes, summaries and books with you.
Important to notice it that however five hours sounds like plenty of time for an exam, you
will face a time pressure!!
Other
There is one library which can be found at the main campus and for the first time it is a
little bit difficult to find. The library consists of different small areas at the second floor.
Seems the Danes bring their own laptop (mainly MacBook) there are not a lot of computers
such as in the library in Tilburg. As a student you will receive a student card with money
on it with which you can make 200 copies at the printer of SDU.
Description of Courses
Please list all courses you have taken
Course
Prerequisites
8904502 Business Pass one
Strategy (MA)
written group
assignment
at the partner university in the form below:
Exam
ECTS
Comments
Written 10
A five-hour on the computer
exam
which is difficult!
Besides the exam you have
to do one written group
assignment which is a case
study, but you only need to
do it for one of the lectures
and you might need to
present the results of your
written assignment during
that particular lecture.
8904602
Corporate
Strategy and
Organization
Design (MA)
Pass one
written group
assignment
Written
exam
10
A five- hour on the computer
which is difficult!
Besides the exam you have
to do one written group
assignment which is a case
study, but you only need to
do it for one of the lectures
and you might need to
present the results of your
written assignment during
that particular lecture.
None
Oral
exam
10
Two group presentations
9851002
Leadership and
Organizational
Communication
(MA)
Tips for the future students:
I definitely would recommend students to go on exchange! You will meet a students from
everywhere around the world with different cultural background which expands your
horizons. It is a once in a life-time opportunity to study abroad. However it will cost you
money, certainly in Scandinavian countries, but in my case it gave me a lot of beautiful
memories and new friendships back! I can really recommend SDU as a host university
because everything for exchange students is arranged very well. If you faced some
problems you can always ask your buddy or the international office for help because they
are always willing to support you. When you are going on exchange I can recommend you
to bring a credit card I did namely experience this as really practical because for the trips
that I have made it was only possible to pay with a credit card. Furthermore, I would
recommend you to become a member of ESN Odense and participate in their activities,
mainly the Lapland trip I can recommend you!!! As an exchange student it is in general
difficult to come in contact the Danes but the best way to get in contact with them is to go
the place where they are going to for example, join a sport association or going out to
place where not only international students are coming. The Danes have a little bit a
reserved attitude but when you start to have more conversations with them they will be
open and you will discovered that they are really nice!
Some useful websites:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/brugteboegersdu/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/Citybikes/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/555647407786416/
www.wilweg.nl/deel-van-je-studie
www.lonelyplanet.com/denmark
http://studyindenmark.dk/