kuipersleon@gmail.com
Organization studies MSc
Spring 2014
Syddansk Universitet Odense (University of Southern Denmark, location Odense)
Denmark!
Syddansk Universitet
This university is even worse than building Prisma! The building blueprints look just
like a spider, a long (almost 1 km) main corridor with smaller corridors on both sides.
This does mean that you almost always walk in the wrong corridor and have to go
back all the way to find the right one, but luckily they have an app that can show you
the way. Everywhere between these corridors are tiny gardens, little ponds, grass
fields, etc. There are tons of perfect places for coffee breaks!
The biggest benefit is that it is situated on the southern part of the city, just outside the
rural area (it’s a small, so don’t worry, it’s not that far!). So the entire university is
surrounded by nature and it’s open 24/7 so you can study whenever you want, and
have the best breaks in the little gardens!
Odense
Then moving on to the city, Odense is the hometown of Hans Christian Andersen, and
believe me… They will let you know… basically in every way possible, until you are
sick of it. Other than that, it’s quite similar to Tilburg, it has a compact city centre,
almost no flats, and lots of cafés etc. I think the biggest difference is the way
Denmark works with culture. Basically everywhere you go in this country, there are
museums that have an ‘open night’ every week (no entrance fee), there are culture
houses that provide room for bands, comedians, and all other kinds of artists to
display their prowess. Besides that there are tons of festivals, which you really MUST
visit whenever you can. It’s always tons of fun, interactive, and there are
performances of pretty cool musicians. Also, there are tons of art galleries and
workshops that you can just visit and ask questions. Which leads me to the next point,
Danish people are friendly. Yes, it’s a huge difference, and you WILL have to
readjust to Dutch culture afterwards. Everyone wants to help, and is friendly in doing
so. Another big point is that nobody steals in Denmark. You can easily leave your
wallet, phone and laptop in the library for a couple hours while you have a extremely
pleasant outdoor lunch. Of course this took some careful adjustments in my behaviour
when I came back to the Netherlands!
Important information
 Free beer in Heidi’s, the Australian bar and The Gym. Basically it will feel
like you are in ‘de Boekanier’, except that you have an hour of free beer.
 If you want to go a cool place for coffee: http://densmagloesecafe.dk/ it’s
super cool (and hipster!).
 If you want to have fun while going out, go to: http://www.slagteriet.com/
 If you want to chill in a park, just go to Munke Mose.
 Cool piece of nature nearby (5km city centre) is Stige Ø
Some practical information
Basically everything is super smooth in Denmark, getting visas, information and
welcome committees. Everything is organized and if you just do what they say, you
will experience no problems whatsoever. There is a local ESN who organize some
start up activities (nothing close to a TOP-week though, it’s way smaller. Takes place
in the first weeks of February), and appoint you a buddy. The university organizes a
day to show you around (tours by fellow students), tell you some important
information and dates (also first week of February). They also organize that the
municipality employees come to the university so you can hand in your visa
documents etc.
Accommodation is possible through the university. They appoint you a place to stay
and if you decline that offer (which you get like 1,5 month before departure) you have
to find something yourself. You can end up in flats, student houses in all sorts and
varieties, shared apartments etc. For me it worked out fine in a shared apartment, we
had both our separate bedrooms and shared a kitchen / bathroom.
Money, money, money
Yes, Denmark is expensive, yes you will tear in your savings. University already
warned me in the beginning, so there was no problem. Beer can be expensive (in cafés
or restaurants), groceries are almost 1,5 times more expensive and renting cars is even
worse. Don’t buy study books, borrow them from classmates if necessary. If you go to
markets (fyn bazaar, or on Wednesdays and Saturdays there is a real market), food is
a bit cheaper (and very fresh of course!). Another great thing in Denmark is second
hand shops, you can basically find them everywhere, and they have practically
everything! Final tip: look up facebook pages. There are several trading / second hand
facebook pages where you can get decent stuff for cheap.
International Office
They will contact you when you are registered and from then you hardly see or hear
from then again. They will give you information updates when needed, and also
organize a welcome package with the key of your place (if you arranged
accommodation through the uni). Some friends of mine where dissatisfied with their
assigned rooms, they complained and got transferred somewhere else. Which I
thought was pretty flexible of the international office! I had no problems, so I don’t
know anything about them.
Social activities
It’s pretty difficult to get in touch with ‘real Danes’ mostly because you are involved
in the international community. I made some Danish friends because I went couch
surfing at the beginning because my room wasn’t available yet. Also during
groupwork you have the opportunity to meet all kinds of people. But basically it’s the
same as in Tilburg, they already have their own friends, and talking English all the
time is a bit of an ‘effort’ so you don’t usually hang out with a lot of Danes.
Traveling is fun ofcourse! A bit expensive but worth the money! Denmark is a
beautiful country with way more nature then we are used to in the Netherlands. Also
the ESN organizes some trips, to nearby castles, Copenhagen and of course Legoland!
I recommend:
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Egeskov castle http://www.egeskov.dk/en/castle This place is amazing, you
can get there by bike (it’s a really awesome bike trip aswell, allround 65 + km
so be prepared!)
The beach city Kerteminde (has a great beach)
http://www.visitkerteminde.dk/danmark/kerteminde. A great place with a cool
little sea museum (with dolphins etc http://www.fjord-baelt.dk/index.php/en/ )
and also a little historical museum.
If you bike to Kerteminde, this is a great stop on the way, a real Viking ship
from the 10th century! http://www.visitkerteminde.com/ln-int/danmark/thevikingmuseum-ladby-gdk613576
Møns Klinthttp://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%B8ns_Klint Really far away
but it’s super awesome!
Personal development
For me Denmark was an amzing experience. It’s such a great relief to be in a place
where nobody has expectations! I had the time to figure out what I wanted to do, why
I wanted to do it and when I wanted to do it. It gives so much insight into why we
people are doing what we doing by going abroad. So that you can view all the things
you’ve been doing in a different perspective, and even better, from far away.
Besides that you obviously meet so many cool people. At some point you realize that
these people became your friends, and they become real close friends in such a short
amount of time. Just because everyone who is abroad wants to have fun, meet new
people and do stuff they feel like doing. This whole mindset is completely different
from the one you have in Tilburg.
Academic information
From 1st of February until the 30th of June. Exams are in the entire month of June.
And can be written, oral exams or term papers. Because the exams are spread out over
an entire month you usually have time to study before, but it’s always smart to keep
up-to date with the reading materials!
Classes are all in English, the courses I followed where all related to my own studies.
Which was a very nice addition to the program of the TiU. I had three courses:
 New market development and Innovation (NMDI)
 Organization of Innovation(OI)
 Leadership and Organizational Communication (LOC)
OI was my favourite course, the professors where super smart and the literature
provided was fascinating. Compared with the quality of education in Tilburg it comes
very close to what you are used to. It is however based on completely different
principles. There is a lot less focus on theory, the Danish educational system is
focussed on practice. So although you might have a theoretical advantage, you will
see that those students are way ahead in practical knowledge. Teaching methods are
basically the same, there a classical lectures, there is group work and there are
seminars for some of the classes. The teachers are approachable and encourage
discussion.
Sneaky tip: there are plenty of computers on the campus. Since everyone has an i-pad
or laptop, if you go to the computer labs, you are most likely to find nobody sitting
there and have full focus for some die-hard work!
As said before, examinations are also the same as in Tilburg, there are term papers,
oral, written examinations and assignments! In my case, LOC had an oral exam,
NMDI was group work and individual assignments, and OI had a term paper.
If you are interested in more information / pictures or whatsoever. Add me on
facebook (Leon Kuipers) or send me an e-mail: kuipersleon@gmail.com
Cheers!