Monday 25 July 2011

Memorial Ceremony

Not much has happened lately in connection to my upcoming internship and therefore I have not been posting any updates. Unfortunately this weekend gave me a reason to post when a horrible terror attack happened in Oslo and on the small island UtøyaAny incident as horrific as this obviously makes a deep impression on everybody and when this then happens in Oslo and is an attack on the democratic institutions in Norway it makes an indelible impression on me also. It is incomprehensible how this Christian right-wing terrorist managed to convince himself that what he did was right and needed to be done. My heartfelt condolences go out to who lost friends or family and my hope is that the Norwegians will stand by the words of Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg: “We meet terror and violence with more democracy and will continue to fight against intolerance,”. On Saturday I went to a memorial ceremony, outside the Norwegian consulate in Aalborg, for the victims in Oslo and Utøya.




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Tuesday 17 May 2011

I am no threat to the nation

This is becoming old news but happy news none the less. I have got my security clearance last Thursday. I consider this to be my last hurdle and with this out if the way I see no reason why I should not be going to Oslo. I got an e-mail from the Danish ambassador in Oslo with the decision of Danish Security and Intelligence Service/Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark/SIK. This e-mail I have forwarded to the International Office at Aalborg University since they consider the security clearance a confirmation of the internship. I am very happy about this development even though some friends on Facebook were arguing that giving me a security clearance must be a mistake. :-)
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Sunday 8 May 2011

Turist

On the third day in Berlin we went sightseeing, starting at The Fernsehturm where we about 204 meters up had great view over Berlin. Then we went to The Reichstag where we were not able to enter, because of the fear of terrorism you have to order tickets in advance. After The Reichstag we went to the Brandenburger Tor then to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe before the Berlin Wall and Checkpoint Charlie. We ended the day at Alexa Shopping Center which had more or less the same shops as Aalborg city.



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Computer nostalgia

Second day in Berlin was spent on a short visit to the gourmet department of Galeria Kaufhof where my mouth water was dripping all over the culinary specialties from around the world.  After Galeria Kaufhof we had a small walk in the area around Alexanderplatz before my family went to the Berliner Dom and I went to the Computerspielemuseum. The Computerspielemuseum was interesting especially interesting was it to see all the different video game consoles that has been made since 1979, but it was a bit small and I would have liked the opportunity to interact more with the machines and the games.

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A zoological experience

The first day in Berlin we spend in Berlin Zoological Garden, this was also the first real test for my new camera (more about that at my other blog). The trip to the zoo was very nice and Berlin Zoological Garden is very big when you are used to Aalborg Zoo the only regret about the trip was that I only brought a very light jacket which was not really sufficient since it was a bit cold. For dinner that day we picked up Indian food at the Taj Mahal India (www.tajmahalindia.de) which cannot be recommended since the food was unfortunately close to tasteless.


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A Trip to Berlin

Last Monday I went to Berlin. My mother and her husband had rented an apartment in Richard-Sorge-Straβe in East Berlin so my sister and I went to spend a few days with them there. Due to being very late at deciding to go and being a bit cheap we decided to go by bus. The bus leaves from Aarhus and not Aalborg so I had to leave Aalborg by train at 06:01 to be in Aarhus for the bus at 08:00, on 09:35 the bus arrived in Kolding and we picked up my sister and on 17:00 we arrived in at Berlin ZOB. The trip was very comfortable with tables and power outlets for our computers and the price was also very reasonable for students 450kr (60,35 Euro) for a one-way ticket or 810kr (108,62) for a return ticket. If you are planning to go to Berlin from Jutland I can easily recommend Abildskou, more information can be found at http://www.abildskou.dk.


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Saturday 30 April 2011

Zagreb

When I applied for the internship at the Danish Embassy in Oslo I also send out applications for a few other internships among them the political/economic department at the Danish Embassy in Zagreb. Two days ago I then received a rejection of my application, but apparently they do not think that I am completely useless because they asked me to consider an internship in their trade department.  Obviously I am very happy having got the internship at the Danish Embassy in Oslo and I would not trade that for the position in Zagreb not least because I will rather be an intern in a political-economic department than in a trade department. There is though especially one thing that I do find particularly interesting about the position in Zagreb and that is that the internship is 12 instead of the normal 6 months. I can imagine that spending the double amount of time on an internship could be very beneficial for both the intern and the embassy. Anyways it is always a nice feeling to get a somewhat positive response to an application.


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