Ayush Bhaskar Even before joining IITB, I had always been looking forward to study a semester abroad in my college life. I have been fascinated by the idea of it since a long time. Being in a completely different world, far away from home, living by yourself, exploring different cultures, travelling around, making friends from all over the world are just some of the reasons why I wanted to go on a semex. In this article, I am going to share my experiences, starting from the application process till the end of semex. How to apply Initially I had decided that I’ll apply for an exchange program in my 3rd year. But after attending the Exchange 101 during my 3rd semester and talking to one of the seniors who went for an exchange in 2nd year itself, I decided to apply for it in the 4th semester. In my mind, it was a long shot, since the application deadlines were very near, and I hadn’t started anything on it yet. Thankfully, it turned out to be one of the best decisions I have ever made. For Chemical Engineering Department, the criteria for going on a SemEx is to have a CPI>7 and no active backlogs. Also, no SemEx for final year students. After deciding on a university for exchange, you have to map your courses in IITB for the semester with courses there. There is a list of universities which has MoUs with IITB for exchange program, along with the application deadlines, and whether any scholarship is provided or not. For DTU, there was a scholarship provided for Chemical Engineering students, but only if the courses taken are in the field of Biotechnology. Now since the courses in the 4th semester are all core courses and none of them related to biotech, I couldn’t get the scholarship. Along with mapping the courses, you also need to plan your subsequent semesters in IITB. I was lucky that the course mapping was already done by my seniors, and with a few changes to it, I got my application ready in no time. The next step is to get the course mapping approved by the Faculty Advisor. Then the application is forwarded to the DUGC, and then finally to Dean IR. It is always advised to stay in contact with the IR office regarding the whole process, especially if you are running late and the deadline is just around the corner, like in my case. As simple as the whole process seems to be, it is quite tedious. Due to the MoU between IITB and DTU, it is not required to pay the tuition fee of DTU. Instead, you are required to pay the tuition fee of IITB only, as you would any normal semester. Next in line is getting a visa. Since you’ll be living in Denmark for an entire semester, you have to get a Danish residence permit. After all the approvals, the International Education Office from DTU starts the process. It is quite a straightforward and simple procedure. I had to visit VFS twice, first to submit all the documents and getting the biometrics done, and second, to submit my passport for the stamp. It took around 20 days to get the residence permit. Now you have to book your flight! First time in Europe! I reached Denmark on 25th January and this marked the beginning of the best period of my life. The Air India flight was a direct one from Delhi to Copenhagen, and since I had a student visa, I was allowed an extra piece of baggage, which was quite helpful. I was given accommodation in the campus itself, in Campus Village, which basically consists of a number of ship containers turned into residential blocks. It’s quite ideal to live in campus, since you’ll be not commuting to the university for classes, and public transport is expensive in Denmark.
This is was my home for four and a half months!
Introductory Week: DTU organizes an introductory week for the exchange students which is meant for interaction and getting settled in the university. A lot of fun activities and parties are organized throughout the week, with one day dedicated to exploring Copenhagen. The week ends with a gala dinner. I also took part in the Dragon Boat Festival, a traditional Chinese festival where I participated in a dragon boat racing competition. I rowed in a nearby river with the co-interns and the local students, which was a lot of fun.
The lectures and teaching in general in DTU were completely different from that in IIT. A lot of emphasis is given on group work, and nearly each course involves projects and assignments which are to be done in groups. There are generally no quizzes and midsem, and the evaluation of the course is based on these assignments/projects and a final exam. Since, we Indians are used to a rigorous and intense methodology of teaching since a young age, academics in DTU did not come to be of any trouble. In fact, my priority was to travel across Europe as much as I could. I was very excited about this, but then the pandemic happened, and the only travel I did was from my room to the supermarket :p. But luckily, I got to travel a bit before everything got shut down. I got to visit Sweden, Germany, Belgium and Netherlands. Sweden: Mälmo is a city in Sweden which is just half an hour bus ride away from Copenhagen. So, very convenient to add a country to your list! The two countries are connected by a famous bridge, which is the Øresund Bridge. For the football fans, Zlatan’s home club is Mälmo FC, and there was a statue of him in front of their stadium, which was recently vandalised. Too bad, I couldn’t get to see it. Germany: I am a fan of Bayern Munich and have been supporting them since many years, so catching a Bayern match was a must for me. Fortunately I got the tickets to a Bundesliga (German football league) game and planned the whole trip to Germany accordingly. The match was scheduled to take place at night, so the day was spent exploring the beautiful city of Munich. There is something about this city which made me fell in love with it instantly. The Bavarian culture, cuisine, architecture and more makes me want to revisit the city again.
After Munich, it was time to visit Berlin. This city has so much historical significance and many attractions, that 2 days are not enough to explore it. The famous Döner kebabs definitely live up to their expectations! Belgium & Netherlands: Our plan was to visit Brussels and Amsterdam in a long weekend. Brussels is famous for its chocolates, fries, waffles and beer. Needless to say, all of these were impeccable.
Atomium in Brussels
Amsterdam is a 3-hour bus ride from Brussels. The city is very calm, and has very mellow vibes. The city is packed with cyclists, and if you’re not careful enough, chances are you’ll get hit by a speeding cyclist. Main attractions are the van Gogh Museum, Anne Frank House, Heineken brewery etc.
One of the many canals in Amsterdam
Lockdown Just 2 days after returning from the above trip, a lockdown was announced in Denmark due to increasing number of COVID cases there. DTU was also closed, although teaching continued through online lectures. Some of the exchange students were called back to their countries by their universities. With nowhere to travel, we got to spend a lot of time with our container mates, and other people living around. We used to sit in the kitchen, get to know each other, discuss and talk about a wide variety of topics, play some games and so on. There were dinner parties, where everyone would cook a dish, then there were a few birthday parties. With the cleaning staff not coming due to the lockdown, we had to clean the container ourselves, making weekly schedules so that everyone contributes to the maintenance of the place. Spending so much time together brought us all close to each other, something which I am really grateful for.
One lucky night it snowed!
I got to pick up some new skills as well, like cooking and cleaning. Before this exchange, I could only cook a very few items, like tea, maggi and eggs. But now this list has expanded and includes a variety of dishes. Only now I realize how granted we take these “small” things to be. With exams about to start during mid-May and DTU being still closed, it was decided that the final exams would be conducted completely online. Our exams got over on 20th May, and I and Adamya had booked our flight back to India for 30th May way before during March, hoping to travel more during these 10 days (well, this decision did not age well :p). Meanwhile, Denmark was slowly opening up, and with the start of summer, people were out enjoying the pleasant weather. It’s in the summer when you’ll realize why Denmark is one of the happiest countries in the world. The borders were still closed though, so it was a great opportunity to explore Denmark.
Danish countryside is a delight to the eyes.
Møns Klint
I still regret not going on long bike rides during summer. Denmark is a heaven for those who love cycling. The infrastructure is so well developed, be it in the cities or in the countryside. The Final Days With all international flights to and from India being suspended, we had to wait for a repatriation flight which would take us back home. There were other exchange students from other IITs as well, and we were a group of 5 who were in contact with the Indian Embassy in Copenhagen. There was no single flight arranged from Copenhagen in the Vande Bharat Mission, and so we were offered to go through Helsinki (can I add Finland to the list of countries visited? :p).
The last days were quite bittersweet, there was excitement in returning home after such a long time, and at the same time it was so nostalgic thinking about all the good times spent with such wonderful people during the last couple of months. We said our final goodbyes at the DTU bus stop, and started the long and tedious journey, which took almost 24 hours.
The last pic in DTU!
Due to the pandemic, I had a completely different experience of semex from what I had initially hoped, and from reading blogs of the seniors who went before. But in no way it means that my semex was ruined. I’m so glad I went on this exchange, it has been such a great experience with respect to my personal life. I have gained a new perspective towards life and in general and I feel so changed in a positive way. The memories made during this period will stay forever!
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