Healthy School - That is UCN

Today's post is going to be about UCNs promotion and its focus on health. I am writing about that because I may not be a health agent in the school but I am very interested in that subject and I think it is really amazing that our school initiates activities that are connected to our lifestyles. 

In 2011The Danish Sports Federation offered to our school a health certificate in order to originate in young students and in UCN employee the special interest on health. Creation of that kind of promotion goes with the known in our school concept of 'The Whole Person' (Read about that here ) which helps us, in understanding the school's concept which is focused on head, heart and legs. All these combined are to support us in creating a life, where we have a good knowledge on different areas, but  we are also able to put that into practice.

Behind all the UCN successful health campaign, stand the Health Agents who are the volunteers (students and teachers) in creating different health activities for all the members of UCN.

"The Health Agents’ job is about making healthy choices easy ones and communicating that health is not only about eating the right things and doing the right amount of exercises. Health is first and foremost about feeling good about yourself and others, and through this feeling, getting more energy to handle everyday life."

Personally I am sending you all, to this website Here since I do not know much details about that myself. Just from my perspective, I know that they are doing really a lot, to engage all of the students and employees of UCN in creating a healthy life style. Just when you come in, to the building in Lindholm (where my programme is thought), you can see a big poster saying : "You are the 30th person today that took the stairs" or something like that. :) 

Promoting sport and exercises, every student can get a discount to the famous in all Denmark sport centre called Fitness World, Fysio Fitness, swimming pools and sport wear. All of the students who are interested in loosing weight, can get discount to Danish Weight Consultants. All of us who are struggling with smoking addiction can go to "Stop Smoking" classes. Also UCN has organised every week a zumba or joga classes. Students can also dance in the sports clubs or play football or volleyball.

There are many more but I think the best initiative is created by UCN the Summer and Winter Sports Cups Days. Soon on the blog you will see the video and a blog post from Winter Cup so you know what to expect and what different activities you can do there. Anyway, I guess that most of you are coming in august, so remember to take part in Summer Cup that is organised in September! You can read about that here.

Remember that you can also become a Heath Agent and be more passionate about creating healthy life style for you and others! You can sign up , writing to Development Consultant, Anita Lindkvist Norbjerg on anln@ucn.dk . It will not only help you to get more energy and good feeling about yourself but also be an extra value to your CV! :)

Tell me what you think about UCNs and Danish focus on healthy life style? Remember my last post about Weather in Denmark? I also mentioned there, that Danes love sport! Write comment below if you think that it is a good idea from UCN's site to create this passion also in International Students? Looking forward to hear from you!

Stay healthy,

Aleksandra

www.meyouucn.blogspot.com

Party in the town!

Hope you had a good weekend! I guess you didn't miss me, since the last blog post was on friday, but honestly I am trying to do everything besides writing my project! (Hope my teachers don't read that!)

Actually I thought it's a great opportunity to show you a bit how the most popular street in Denmark - Jomfru Ane Gade - look like, so you are not surprised when going there :)

I think, this video is so promotional that speaks for itself of the awesomeness of this place,but I am going to write a bit more of my experiences with that street  and I am going to show you my video relation from yesterday's night.

Jomfru Ane Gade is the longest street with the bars, restaurants and discos along side in Denmark. It dates back til the 16th century and was used as a home for merchants. The first bar - Gaslight - was open in May in 1967. By 1970 there was 10 bars and 1992 they opened 16 new ones. Nowadays its over 30 and the amount of it is still getting higher. In the early 90's the street was a meeting and fighting place for the two biker gangs known in all Scandinavia,but after some years they left the street and the place became more and more popular for all ages people. During the day the street is open for those who wants to sit down and drink a nice coffe, or eat a lunch and during the evening,people are coming after work to sit and enjoy the atmosphere by listening to the music and eating the dinner. Around 24:00 the noise is getting all over the city since young people are ready for a party. Girls are coming to Jomfru Ane Gade full of makeup, short dresses and high, but comfortable heels. Boys are coming with the good mood, and of course - as danish ones - the fashion for them is as much of importance as for the girls.

Most of Danes and International students start a 'home parties', drinking alcohol together and enjoying the company but all of them are ready to hit the streets after 11 o'clock. 

Personally I don't enjoy Jomfru Ane Gade so much because I am more a 'homy' person , adoring the valuable time with my friends when we talk all night, drink a good wine and dance a bit to the funk and 80's music. I am going to Jomfru (the short form of it) maybe once in 5 months, when there is a party in my friends house and all of the people want to go. Being honest with you - there is lots of pubs but in all of them there is a 'radio style' music (Rihanna, Lady Gaga etc - I don't really see a difference) However I enjoy a lot a variety of people and variety of cultures in a different bars. There is unique style and design what makes my eyes really happy.

My favourite club is No.16 - its my favourite because my best friend is working there but also because its a highly selective one. You see high and masculine security men all over the place so you feel kind of safe. Also when you are coming there you its hard to take your eyes off from a  long and luxurius drink stand.

I think the best part in the street is that it is so loooong and fulled with bars which compete for the customers,so most of them is giving free drinks so sometimes people are just going around, gathering the cards and they can get drunk just after entering every other place. Ok. I was used to do that as well. (You can see that on the video from yesterday)

Some tips for you

-Go to the street around 24 or 1:00 - that time the street is full of people and you can really feel the atmosphere - I remember one evening in october - there was so many people that I was going from one side of the street to the other 10 minutes!

- Don't be scared of drunk people - there are lot of them but Aalborg is a very safe place and people won't hurt you, especially when they are drunk.

- Don't worry about the crowd of people that is always there - when you want to go to the other site of street - just go and don't care. Danes on Jomfru are always doing so - they touch you, step on your feet and don't even say sorry - do the same thing - but -just on jomfru!:)

Guys let me know if you would like to feel this atmosphere of party here! I am really interested what do you think about Jomfru! Leave your comments below!

HAVE FUN GUYS!!

Hello Smart Students!

Today when I was doing little research for a blog post, I noticed a message written by one girl on official UCN facebook page. She asked how much does it cost to pay for water, electricity and internet. I made already a blog post about water and trying to save it here. Now I think it's time for electricity!

I am going to leave you with a mistakes that I made in the past and now I turned them into tips into saving more money on my bills.

I am living with my boyfriend in a 2 room apartment, 1 kitchen and one bathroom. Even though our bills for electricity are still very high. Sometimes we pay 1200 DKK for 3 months, sometimes 1400 DKK. Counting into that also rent,water, internet+tv and phone bills it can be very expensive. When I was noticing such a huge bills I invited very good friend of mine, a lady on a pension who is my neighbour. I showed her our bills and she was truely shocked. We started to go around the flat and she was showing me all the ways how to save some money on electricity bills. Some of them I added myself but you can totally trust them and believe me - its good to involve all your flatmates into saving on electricity - it can help our planet and your money.

1. The most important for all of us. Even though I am still forgetting doing that before going to sleep, I am trying to improve! Turning off the charging of our laptops, monitors, TV, radio and other divices.

2. Turning off the lights every time when we don't need them - sometimes candles can be cheaper alternative. AND summer in Denmark is coming - there is bright outside til 23:00 - just take off the curtains and enjoy natural light! Also remember to buy energy saving light bulbs - they are really helpful and last longer, you can buy them everywhere in Denmark really and try to find the lowest amount of Watt (something like 15 will be good enough)

3. The heater is using much more energy when windows are open! Turn off the heaters before opening a window!

4. Do not use the air conditioning. Ventilate your flat naturally! Just open the doors from the one site and the windows in the opposite one. By the way - the flat needs that at least 10 minutes every day to destroy all the bacterias and bring a nice and fresh air for our brains when studying!

5. Wash the clothes once in a 2-3 weeks when they are really dirty and the basket is full. Don't dry them in a machine, put them on a sun! ALSO you do not have to wash your sheets so often when you put them to the fresh air at least for a 2 hours every week.

6. When cooking, keep the lid on the pot - it will keep the meal warmer and save much more energy AND also remember that the size of the pot should match the size of the stove plate!

7. When baking or preparing something in the oven - don't open the small door too often. Every time you do that the temperature is going down 15 degrees.

8. Boil the water for a tea or coffee just as much for a cup as you need - it is going to be faster and the water will not be wasted.

9. I do that very often - eating in the night, or drinking water - I am too sleepy sometimes to notice that I didn't close the door of the fridge.

10. Great in the summer - shower in not so hot water and also remember to keep windows open - the bathroom will be fresh and there will be not so much mold after all.

I hope those little tips helped you a bit and now you are going to change your habits and also save some money for a student parties? Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading that and it is going to be helpful for you. 

Do not forget to check Me You UCN on facebook to be always informed :)

Me You UCN on Denmark.DK with the other great writers! Do not forget to check them out! http://blogs.denmark.dk/authors/

Healthy water in Denmark?

Hope you have been very well and thank you for all the support I am getting from you on Me You UCN facebook page. 

Last week we had 3 days free of school + the weekend, so I thought I would make a surprise for my parents and me and my boyfriend, went to Poland. It was an amazing trip because I haven't seen my family from Christmas Holidays and they did not expect anything but they were very happy to see us both.

While being there and eating amazing polish food, I asked everyone if they want something to drink. 

As I am in Denmark I do not buy any sodas or juices here, because it's 3 times more expensive than in Poland, so I got used to drinking water. 

So, I started pouring some water from the tap to the 1st glass and I was amazed how the water was dirty. Of course it was not yellow or brown but it had so many white pieces of I have no idea what and it started to get so heavy, kind of. 

Then my mother told me that you can't drink the water from the tap because it has lots of bacteries. I totally forgot about that, in Denmark I am drinking at least 1 l of water from the tap every day. The water here is clear as the air, nothing really is swimming there. Sanitation coverege of a public water in Denmark is 100% and comes entirely from ground water. Tap water in Denmark is one of the safest in the world. You can feel free and drink it without any concerns about your health.

You can say that it's a way to save some money but you should also remember that the water in Denmark is the most expensive in the world. Water in Denmark costs 6,70$ per cubic meter, where in Mexico it's 0,50 cents/cubic meter. It is because the price includes cleaning and disposing the water.

That has led danish consumers to save a water a lot, also me. Earlier when I did not know that the water here is the most expensive in the world I was taking hot shower 40 minutes every day, doing laundry very often and I was very surprised when my bills were coming so high! GUYS! I wrote this post to aware you all, that Denmark is a very expensive country when it comes to rent apartment, bills for electricity, internet and water. Be aware that how much you use - this is how much you will pay.

Also one small tip for you. If you are going around Denmark in a hot day, you can ask in the restaurants for a tap water and you will not pay for it. It is obligatory in Denmark that when you ask for a water from a menu, they have to bring it to you with a fresh lemon and ice cubes. Then you can pay for it.

Hope you enjoyed this water - informative blog post.

Talk to you soon!

Aleks

What Can You Do in Denmark When You Are Bored.. :)

What Can You Do in Denmark When You Are Bored.. :)

Hi Clever People!!

Do you already feel the summer?! Today when I was finished with school and work, I knew I have to come home and study, but when I felt the warm wind, sun shining onto my face, I just couldn't help myself and eventhough it was already 17:30, I packed blanket, pinouts, beers and I went with my boyfriend to the park. It was really nice! But write me how was your evening and what do you do when it's so warm!

Few days ago I had a discussion with one of the teachers in my school and she told me, that the student are complaining a lot, that sometimes they feel bored in Aalborg, so they just sit home and watch tv shows on their laptops. When I heared that, I decided to make a new series in my blog about fun and interesting activities that you can find here. Some may be for free and for some you have to pay,  but it's worth trying at least!

As I am a member of one organisation that provides young people with discounts to some activities, on last sunday I was trying aero gliding. I know it does not say you much, so - gliding is a recreational sport activity in which pilots use different sources of lift to climb into the air and fly with avarage speed of 80km/h. The plane has two seats and the club that I went to, uses winch launching which is a stationary, ground-base method on a very heavy vehicle with the strong engine that takes the plane in the air in 3 sec. - Amazing!

I was there the whole sunday, from 9:00 til 18:00 - we were a group of 5 people and we got to know some members of the club  and the natural resources that they use. I know now a lot about sailplanes, how they go up to the air, how to repair engine and how nice it is to be all day in the nature, waiting for your flights, and work in a team. 

The club that I was in, is called Aviator and their location is close to Aars and this is their website. The clob consist of 50 members but if you are interested to become a pilot and fly to Slovakia for example for the biggest competition in gliding, I know that they have discounts for students. It cost monthly around 700 DKK and you can fly how much you want on wednsdays after 16:00, saturdays and sundays after 9:00. The experiences club members with license will teach you everything from the basis and one day you will fly all by yourself! I think it is an amazing experience and great inside into some danish culture and social life. - Really worth recommending!

Therefore I made (obviously) a short video for you to show you a bit how it is there:) I am also leaving you with some pictures:) 

For those who are in Aalborg and love going to the restaurants, trying new meals, I can recommend you a 30-50% discount card for 180 restaurants. All you have to do is register Here :) Good luck!