jennstrater

As I near the three-month mark of my Fulbright grant, I reflect back on my experience thus far. Although I had a rough start with government paperwork and finding housing, I am now finally starting to experience life in Denmark. Adjusting has taken some time as I have learned how to bike with traffic and find the most efficient route to take public transportation between my apartment on the far southwest side and the university north of the city. For the educational aspect of my Fulbright experience, I am taking four classes this semester and one in January that will lead into my project work in February.  Every few weeks, I meet with my advisor to discuss how my coursework will impact my project in the Spring.  I also had a minor advisory role in the selection of a master’s thesis with the Groovy compiler for another student.  Students and professors have been mostly positive and open minded when I talk about the Groovy programming language. Some are familiar with Groovy from usin

After a series of unfortunate events from a delayed Residence Permit to thousands of dollars of last minute construction to my home in the US required to rent it legally, I arrived in Denmark frazzled, homeless, and after the other students attended orientation. I like to be prepared and knowledgeable before I enter a situation. I have been preparing for this move since I submitted my Fulbright application nearly a year ago. Especially since it’s been several years since I’ve been in school read lots of information on the DTU website months in advance of my arrival to avoid some of the confusion in my first week. However, my first week at DTU was still pretty terrible, and I really missed out by not attending introduction week. The biggest problem in my first few days was trying to find my classes. Although the building numbers are a great help, the auditoriums were difficult to find. I looked at maps at the entrances of the buildings hoping to find numbers on the floor plans but o