Exchange life in Denmark

"Daily Interests" is a podcast where I chat with my various classmates about our daily life and interests, which can be found by searching for "Daily Interests" on NetEase Cloud and Himalaya. In the latest update, I chatted with my classmate about what she learned and felt about Danish society in Denmark during the half-year exchange.

The following is the text of this chat, Q is me, A is her.

Q: For the daily interests of this issue, we invited a classmate of mine from junior high school. We would like to talk about her experience of exchange and exchange in Denmark for half a year. You can first introduce your major or the form of going there, so that everyone can have a general impression.

A: I studied environmental science in China, and the exchange university is Aarhus University in Denmark. However, the autumn semester I exchanged did not have environmental courses, so I had to choose related courses. I took three courses in total, two of which were in geo science, probably in the Department of Earth Science, and the other one was of biology. I chose the course of the Department of Earth Science because my undergraduate major is the course of the Department of Earth Science, so I have a relatively certain foundation and can continue to learn.

Q: So in terms of atmospheric science, what is the main research? I know that after graduation, can you go to the Bureau of Meteorology to do the weather forecast if you are right?

A: Yes, in fact, the things of the undergraduate course are relatively basic. Our basic courses are mainly mathematics, physics and computer, and then involve some atmospheric related knowledge, such as atmospheric sounding, atmospheric physics, dynamics, meteorology, fluid mechanics, these course. In fact, forecasts are still calculated by supercomputers, and forecasts are made using the solutions obtained from those particularly complex equations. If you graduate from an undergraduate degree, it is equivalent to going to work in these departments of the Meteorological Bureau. Although it is said to be making forecasts, these forecasts are not artificially made. Of course, there may have been some old observers in the past who could report more accurately after decades of experience, but this is also a process of accumulating experience.

Q: So there are basically two ways of weather forecasting. The first way is that we use experience, such as looking at the clouds, because before junior high school or high school, there is a text called looking at the cloud to know the weather. Then there is another method, which is to use fluid mechanics to establish some mathematical and physical models, and then solve this equation and let the supercomputer calculate it.

A: Using supercomputing is actually a method of models, and now it is generally a combination of observations and models. And you are talking about manual observation. Now there are all kinds of instruments, and the accuracy of the instruments is getting higher and higher, and then continuous detection will be carried out throughout the day.

Q: So for example, if you write a thesis professionally, it may be to propose a new mathematical or simulation model or the like.

A: Maybe as a student, most of them are still applications. Even scientists are still applying models. In fact, when a new model is proposed, someone will do this, but it is really too difficult to propose a new model.

Q: Yes, because there may be too many variables.

A: At present, China has developed its own model, but the results of China's model still need to be improved. At present, we may trust the model of the European center and the model of Japan. In fact, our Chinese weather forecast will learn from them, and use the results made by these two centers to make forecasts.

Q: Europe and Japan, are they a software? Can China get their algorithms or something? This is also a core technology.

A: China should not be able to get their algorithms, but China can get their results.

Q: I understand. Undergraduate is atmospheric science, what is graduate student?

A: Environmental Science. The environment involves the atmosphere, soil, water, and solid waste, all of which are solids. Then when you are doing it, it is divided into ring section, ring engineer and ring pipe. Ring Branch may focus on this theoretical thing. Then ring engineering is an experiment, and then to solve practical problems. Environmental management is equivalent to the government issuing regulations and documents. It is biased towards a major in liberal arts and social sciences. They also issue a degree in management, and environmental management does not do experiments. Doing experiments is divided into those who do computer simulation experiments, those who do biological experiments, and those who do chemical experiments d.

Q: It is equivalent to how some people put forward a methodology to solve the problem, and some people care about everyone. For example, in Shanghai, they let everyone do garbage sorting and so on.

A: It seems that garbage sorting does not belong to the Environmental Protection Bureau. It seems that it belongs to another department, but I forgot which department.

Q: OK. So after you went to Denmark, you just said there are related courses, right? Can you tell me what you got on there next?

A: I took three courses, and the one in geo science is climate through earth history. It is probably about a process of climate change from a long time ago to the present, and then some famous climate events are marked in it. In fact, there are many research bases for studying climate, such as bubbles stored in ice cores that were frozen millions of tens of millions of years ago, and then those sediments, and then rocks can be used as evidence, including later pollen of some plants.

Another course is the renewable energy of the earth. In fact, it is to give a more detailed explanation of each of some of our current renewable energy sources, but our explanation is actually equivalent to the scientific level. on an engineering level.

Then there is a biology course, tropical eco system management and human security. In fact, after I took it, I realized that it was jointly opened by the Department of Biology and the Department of Anthropology, and most of the class were anthropology students. , they mainly consider from the aspect of human security.

In this class, all the ecosystems in the tropical region are explained, and some basic biological knowledge is briefly introduced. I think a very important point of this course is that we wrote a project report in practice. We select the Mara River basin in Africa, Tanzania and Kenya, to solve their environmental problems such as soil erosion, put forward our proposed plans, and then improve them. In fact, it has many problems, such as the deterioration of water quality, and then the reduction of water quantity, including the fact that they have built such mines in order to survive, and then it will cause pollution. And in order to survive, maybe they need to burn the wood, and then they're going to cut down the trees like crazy, and then it's going to cause further this deterioration. In fact, this is a cycle. We will choose a point from it, and then it will probably involve how much money will be provided to us. We will analyze the background of this project according to a logical framework, and then provide the money for this project. Some provide money, some are responsible for supervision, and then from problem analysis, target analysis, and then as the output and activities of this plan, as well as some input and those who supervise, including the risk of the entire project, and finally make an overall report.

Q: I can branch off one first. I recently watched a netflix documentary about the Bill Gates Foundation. There are three episodes in total, each about three things the foundation does. The first episode is about toilets, because like India, for example, most people probably don't have clean toilets, and then it can spread disease. So he hopes to not only build a toilet, but also that the price of this toilet is low enough, if possible, without the use of water, or without the construction of sewers or the like. One of the methods that the Bill Gates Foundation has done is to hold a competition, and then let universities or companies participate in the competition to win prizes, and they will come up with various methods. In the end, they formed a solution, which is equivalent to having a bucket or the like. Anyway, it is to recycle the feces, and after recycling, they can be burned, and there will be no impurity garbage at all. When it is burned, it can also push the turbine to generate steam, and then generate electricity, which is equivalent to the whole system being self-sufficient and does not require external power to him.

A: But it will always produce slag. Conservation of mass, right?

Q: You might have a point in saying that, I kind of forget what they said. And then the second episode is about polio or measles and so on. Although they have vaccines now, the real problem is that it is difficult for the vaccinated medical staff to access those remote areas. Moreover, people in remote areas may listen to rumors such as religious organizations, and think that these people who come in for vaccination are actually spreading the disease, and even local armed groups will attack the vaccination personnel, so this is one question. And including some countries in Africa, they can't find maps at all, the existing maps are like the 1950s, maps left over from the colonial era. Therefore, it is impossible to detect which areas are currently concentrated in cases.

Then in the third episode he talked about nuclear energy, which is related to another class you just took, which is about clean energy. The problem with nuclear energy is that everyone knows Chernobyl and Fukushima. These two nuclear accidents have made many people in the world have a negative attitude towards nuclear energy. According to the documentary, even the most advanced nuclear power plants, the technical foundation they have built is still the technology of the 1940s and 1950s, and there may be some minor iterations, but in fact there is no change in essence. , so this will bring a variety of security risks. Then the Gates Foundation proposed a nuclear power plant construction technology that is completely different from the current model. But they still encounter problems. The problem they encounter is that they want to build a nuclear power plant. If they want to do this experiment, it seems that it is impossible for legal reasons in the United States. But China is now vigorously developing nuclear power, and they signed an agreement with the Chinese government. Then it was supposed to carry out related experiments in China, but after Trump took office, he began to fight a trade war again. The attitude of the United States now is that your new nuclear power technology cannot be leaked to China, so they can no longer conduct their experiments in China, and then they cannot do it in the United States. So it seems like a bit of a standstill right now. So it gives me the feeling that, like the Gates Foundation, first of all, he probably has no shortage of money, but in fact, if you want to solve a problem in a really poor area, there will actually be all kinds of interference factors that you can't think of. . So you also need, for example, wisdom, management, technology, all kinds of things.

A: Yes, it needs to be coordinated in all aspects. So in fact, this is also the meaning of a group project, because there are more people, and then everyone can brainstorm and think about the problem more comprehensively.

Q: Can you talk about your case, the problems in it, and how you solved it.

A: In fact, the teacher gave us a sustainable development project in the Mara River Basin. There are about 9 points in it, and then each group can choose one, and each group has about four or five students. . The points he gave are basically the water quality, the flow of water, but actually the amount of water, because it is soil erosion, and then the water will become less and less, including the reason for rainfall. Then there is the production of agriculture, then animal husbandry, the management of livestock. We chose to reduce trees due to deforestation. There's also increased tourism that can lead to stress on ecosystems, then human-wildlife conflict, and mine pollution, as well as urbanization and population growth.

The main approach we propose has two aspects. Probably gave us a very generous amount of euros as the start-up capital for the project. Our project is expected to be about 5 years, starting from the cooperative. Because their local area is also based on counties, there is already a cooperative in a nearby place in the literature we can find, and what they have developed is beekeeping. Because you know that he controls soil erosion, whether it is to plant trees or implement any measures, it will take a certain amount of time, and during the time when the trees are growing, you will not let farmers cut indiscriminately and cut firewood for maintenance, they always need income. So beekeeping can provide them with benefits in the early stage. This is the first method we offer, to give them business, and there are other neighboring counties that have done it, we can go to the cooperatives in neighboring counties to provide experience to our county, and then as supervision and expert guidance. The second method is agricultural forestry, which is actually a mix of agriculture and forestry. Roughly speaking, if it is farming, crops and trees are interspersed. In this way, the soil will not be hardened, and the ecological richness will be higher. Maybe what crops are planted in this row, and then plant trees in that row, it will play a role in maintaining soil and water and optimizing the ecology.

Q: If this is the case, the shadow of the tree will block the plant, and the plant will not be able to grow normally.

A: Of course you don't want to plant so densely. For example, planting a few trees in the middle of a field will not affect it. What we mean is that the field used to be all the same crop, and now we grow some other fields in the field, including some cash crops that you can also grow. For example, we found avocados, passion fruit, bananas, pomegranates. It is a cash crop and can also bring benefits to farmers while increasing this rich availability of land. We also proposed that in order to achieve land diversity, there is just that kind of nursery, and flowers are another way.

Q: When you proposed these crops, did you consider whether the local area is suitable for planting flowers or bananas and pomegranates?

A: We will ask specialized experts to evaluate the most suitable local planting. In fact, we do not need to be particularly specific, we must propose what to plant, because we are not experts in studying biology, and we are not particularly familiar with Africa. In our proposal, we will invite experts, and then come forward, and communicate with them well in the early stage, because experts are not something that needs to be thought about, because they already have knowledge, they know what can be planted there. And because we have several levels of sponsors, and then someone supervises, someone pays, someone is responsible, and then these are service fees paid to experts.

Q: OK, so now there are two methods, but it still sounds a bit idealistic, and it reminds me of an association that everyone has in northern Europe, that is, northern Europe is all white and left, living in a fairy tale since childhood, surrounded by love and peace. Then you come to solve the problem of a war-torn region in Africa, or a place where there is no clean water.

A: There are cultural differences. My classmates, except me, were very insistent on advocating, and they made this an important part of our solution. Although I think that the initiative may be straightforward, it is actually useless, but as a weak and helpless team member, I really can't talk about them.

Q: What do you mean by initiative?

A: The initiative may propose initiatives for local residents, farmers who actually farm, schools, and the government.

Q: So it would seem a little naive.

A: We think naive and they think it is very important. And I suggest you change the word, I don't think the word naive should be here. Because everyone has different opinions.

Q: It may be more idealistic.

A: Yes. I think because this is a group assignment, I want to talk about group assignments. Although there are group assignments in China, basically only one or two people in a group are doing it. But if we are here, in fact, every student has contributed his own strength. Of course, there are still some students who are particularly persistent and persistent in certain aspects, and then he also contributed a lot. But I think everyone is actively participating, and I think that the students here are all ready to study again, and there are very few messing around. In fact, I have basically never seen this kind of messing around, and everyone is still eager to learn.

Q: This is still in line with our inherent impression of Northern Europe. For example, they seem to choose majors that they are interested in, and at the same time they are very idealistic.

A: I think there is another point. There are times when they don’t want to study, and then they say they don’t want to study, they don’t study, and they say gap year is gap year. The classmates I know, they may be in the stage from high school to entering undergraduate study, they say that some people do not have a gap year, but according to everyone I know in the past six months, they all have a gap year, and they do some What they want to do, then figure it out and come back to learn. If they get tired from studying in the middle, they may take a break from school in the middle, then continue the gapyear, and then study when they are ready.

Q: Can you give some examples? What are you doing during the gap year? Do you work part-time?

A: As far as I know, there is a girl in our group. After her gap year, she went to Africa for three years. went to Uganda. In fact, because our educational system in China is longer than that in Denmark, I am a graduate student in the last year, but in fact I am about the same age as them.

Q: What did you do in Africa during those three years?

A: She is actually similar to poverty alleviation in Africa, which is equivalent to supporting education. Maybe I think it is more popular, and she is probably giving some knowledge to local African children. But in fact, unlike the domestic support education, the domestic support education may really need to use love to generate electricity. But they will have very generous financial subsidies, and the state will give them. They are different from the Chinese teaching institutions. In addition to doing this, they may also travel around the world, and they do not mean that they spend their parents' money to eat and drink. They might play somewhere, say, and then work there and continue to support their travels. But these things seem to be difficult to imagine in China. For example, you are getting older and older, and there is a general comparison mentality in China. I think it seems that I have not seen much of this in Denmark.

Q: Yes, including the famous ones in Northern Europe, the other is egalitarianism. Although we say that we are a socialist country, in fact, our comparison psychology is much heavier than theirs, and they don't want to be outstanding or anything.

A: And they really live very leisurely and casual lives. In fact, their average salary is higher than that of Chinese people, it should be more than twice as high. But in the process of communicating with my classmates, there was a classmate who said that she never wore new clothes before she was 13 years old.

Q: Maybe it's because there are older brothers and sisters on it.

A: No, maybe for example, the neighbor's clothes may also be given to him. Just like this kind of good friend's house, I think foreigners will readily accept second-hand things. At that time in China, it may be because of the lack of materials, but they thought the clothes were good, why can't they wear them? And their income, if compared with the average income in China, is really much higher. But I often feel that it is actually a bit expensive for our family, and my Danish classmates always say that it is very expensive. In fact, my heart has been beating drums, I think their salary is not expensive anymore. They're still very practical, they'll put their money where it's supposed to be, and then they won't go after the luxury craze as hot as China. They may be used in life. However, the price of food in northern Europe is to eat, and the ingredients are quite expensive, which is indeed quite expensive.

Q: Go back to your report just now. Therefore, these two solutions are proposed. The first is to plant trees. In short, we will do everything possible to provide them with side jobs, and then allow them to maintain a living, and at the same time control the ecology to increase biodiversity. Have you ever thought about the obstacles you may encounter in this process? For example, if there are some inherent interest groups in the local area, it may prevent people from joining cooperatives or something.

A: Yes, it is possible that the farmers we want to join, they themselves do not want to join. And we want to seek support from another county, that county won't help us. Then, as you said, some local organizations will prevent farmers from joining, and the local government does not encourage them. After all, we are foreign projects and personnel. In fact, these have risks, and then these will be included in the risk assessment. Of course, these are solutions, and it is hard to say whether it can really be solved.

Q: Did you learn some successful examples in reality in this class? For example, there is really one, whether it is an NGO or a government organization, that can really help Africa or Latin America get rid of poverty. If you ask me to think directly now, I don't seem to be able to think of other examples that really seem to have achieved this goal other than the example of the Gates Foundation just mentioned.

A: Actually, there should still be some, but if you want to say whether to get rid of poverty, I think it depends on how you define poverty alleviation. But they do have a lot of these establishments and they do it locally. Because I found out that even our teacher has a piece of land in Africa and is running it.

Q: Does having a piece of land mean that he has a piece of property right?

A: Yes. Then he gave us a class, and suddenly he couldn't take it in the middle, saying that he was going to Africa. I'm not very clear about the specifics, but I feel that he should be doing ecological things at the time.

Q: Sometimes we feel that we really can't understand the Nordic world, for example, what is a piece of land in Africa or something. It's a little bit living in the cloud, or feeling their way of life, sometimes we Chinese people don't even dare to think about that.

A: Yes, I think their lives are very free. And you said that their freedom doesn't seem to be a problem, because they don't pursue big brands or anything. In fact, their food and clothing are enough. You will think that they are usually very simple and do not compete with each other. nor pursue. Of course, eating better is actually better for life. But they don't drive expensive cars, or buy things that are expensive and impractical.

Q: Yes, because in Denmark, bicycles are famous.

A: Yes, the city of Aarhus where I live has a dedicated bicycle lane, and it seems to be the most famous city for bicycles. When it comes to cycling, I thought their roads were all plains at first, but after I went there, I found out that it was not. In fact, there were some kind of uphill and downhill. Maybe it’s because I’m not physically fit. When I first started cycling, I found that there was an aunt who was probably about the same age as my mother and who was riding faster than me. In fact, my heart was broken.

Q: And they have a long winter, and the comfort level of cycling in winter is actually very low.

A: But I think Europeans don't care about this at all. In winter they are still wearing shorts, not only adults but also children. It's the kind of boy who wears little shorts. In fact, when I went in the summer, I had to wear two clothes at that time, and I thought it was quite cold. But because it is affected by the warm current of the North Atlantic, the climate is humid, and in fact, it has been maintained at 234 degrees in winter, which is above zero anyway, so I think it will be a little warmer than in China.

Q: OK, so if you are in Denmark, have you ever learned that the government will actually hire consulting firms or something, or that their internal government personnel will conduct these assessments?

A: I think they may not be government actions, they may be individual actions or corporate actions.

Q: I just wanted to ask if something similar might happen in China. In China's impoverished areas, such as the Loess Plateau, are there any organizations or governments that use more scientific thinking to guide poverty alleviation?

A: China does, and there is one in Guizhou, but it is mainly government behavior. I think the most important thing for non-governmental organizations or NGOs is funding, and the Chinese government is more powerful. But you have to say that NGOs may not have enough funds, and solving problems is a very important point.

Q: Do you know the case in Guizhou?

A: I don't know the specifics, but I know Guizhou has it.

Q: Then we can talk about your other two courses, the renewable energy course.

A: This course first introduces some basic energy content. Our most basic energy sources are, of course, coal, oil, and natural gas. Then some basic concepts of energy, such as it cannot be created out of thin air, nor can it disappear, are passed from one type to another. In fact, I think I should have understood this when I went to middle school in China. Some renewable energy sources are introduced later, such as wind energy, which will also include tidal energy and wave energy; solar energy will also be discussed later, and then he has photovoltaic cells and power generation; then biomass energy, as well as geothermal energy and geothermal energy, some of which are used To generate electricity, some are used to directly generate heat.

Q: Yes, in fact, China is a new energy source. I think it is quite advanced, or even a radical country.

A: I believe that our country's technology can be first-class. I think it is absolutely no problem for Chinese researchers to achieve first-class. It's just to say that the proposal of new energy is only one aspect of technology. Secondly, it may also involve politics, and then it also involves the subsequent capital, as well as production and utilization. Therefore, sometimes there will be some waste and the situation of doing political achievements. Of course, this kind of thing is not only available in China, so it is also a relatively hierarchical data, I think.

Q: Yes, for example, there are two interesting examples of new energy that I know of. The first one is Bitcoin. For Bitcoin mining, it requires a lot of computing power. Those computers are very power-hungry, including fans such as cooling it, so they choose to build these Bitcoin mines near the hydropower station. field, just keep those computers in those areas. For example, in Sichuan or Gansu, the electricity price of hydroelectric power generation is relatively low in these places, including the possibility that the temperature there may be relatively low, such as Guizhou, which will allow them to dissipate heat faster, which can save some electricity costs. Another example is wind power generation in Inner Mongolia, where wind energy such as deserts in Inner Mongolia may be prosperous. They built a lot of wind turbines, but the problem is that they can't use that much electricity there, and the pipes that send it out are not very smooth, so a lot of their electricity is actually wasted, or not connected to the grid at all. In any case, all these problems are ultimately implemented by people, and they all require close cooperation from the government, non-governmental organizations, and capital to achieve the best results.

A: In China, it is mainly government behavior, and then civil organizations may be an extremely weak auxiliary role, probably so.

Q: So what is the third course called?

A: Climate through earth history.

Q: Oh, the climate issue. You are just doing some understanding, or do you really have some experiments, such as collecting some ice cores as you said just now.

A: Actually, I have taken this class as an undergraduate student of the atmosphere. But in this class, if you want to do experiments, collect some ice cores. Do you know how difficult it is to collect ice cores? And these ice cores were sawn into sections, which must have been brought back to their laboratories by scientists who went there at the time. Such information can be published in nature and science. Do you think students like us can see it?

Q: All right. Are there any universities in the country doing this?

A: Alas, you must be able to participate in top universities. And this is also a money-burning industry, but I think Chinese Academician Qin Dahe was the first person to cross the Antarctic at that time. He may have had something similar. Of course, some very excellent graduate students in our country may have also participated in scientific expeditions in Antarctica or something. But generally, the number of such people is very small. This kind of scientific examination activities are global, and people from many countries may join together, and then there may only be one or two Chinese students participating each time.

Q: Ok. I'm a little curious, does it have any practical significance to study the ecological changes of the earth?

A: You have to know that those equations have a lot of uncertainty, and then it is not accurate to every parameter. We can predict the future by revisiting this past from existing observations. In fact, it is equivalent to when we predict the future climate, you can correct the parameters inside. You can also learn more about the past, probably.

Q: But climate is still something that spans a long time. Even if we know the climate in 100 or even 10,000 years, what guiding significance does it have for us now? Because we all know that the global climate is warming now, if an academician who studies climate publishes a paper and says that he can predict the climate in 30 years, who knows whether he is right or wrong?

A: After 30 years, someone will know. So doing climate in the field of meteorology is also one, because it is a relatively long time, you may not have a way to judge whether it is right or wrong at the time. And when you do climate, you don't say you predict what the temperature will be in 30 years, and it won't give you such an accurate thing. He will probably give you a trend. Then you don't actually say what the temperature or precipitation will be on a certain day in the future. It may also reflect the relationship between sea ice. Suppose we predict whether Arctic sea ice will melt in the next 30 years. Are you saying Arctic sea ice is melting, is it just Arctic sea ice melting? Because that ice is freshwater, it's saltwater around the sea, and if it melts, the salt content of that piece will decrease. Then it will affect the ocean currents in the Arctic, and the ocean currents in the North Atlantic may be affected, and the climate of the entire European region will undergo great changes, which may even be a problem for human survival.

Q: Can you cite some factors that affect the climate? Except people. Because of the things you studied tens of thousands of years ago, why did the climate change happen tens of thousands of years ago?

A: The most important point is the sun, followed by the rotation and revolution of the earth and the deflection angle of the earth. You need to know that the formation of climate, normally if only the influence of the sun, the main amount of radiation is near the equator, and then gradually decreases to the poles, forming a gradient of this pressure. The heat of the earth rises from the equator and then falls at the poles, which is actually a single-circle circulation. Then why are there three circulations? Because the earth is still rotating, its revolution will form the four seasons. There is also the deflection angle of the earth, because the axis of the earth has an angle, and the axis is still changing. While turning his inclination will change. So these will lead to such a process of climate reincarnation.

Q: I've seen it before that every time the climate gets colder, there will be a change of dynasty in Chinese history. In other words, when the dynasties are changed, the climate is getting colder.

A: You are probably a study of historical geography, but it is actually a liberal arts, because our school has a famous historical and geography institute, and I once took their courses. If it is said that extreme weather is encountered, for China in the past, the main thing is actually farming. Then, in fact, relying on the sky for food, water conservancy construction is definitely not as developed as it is now, and the impact will be greater. If something bad happens. Then everyone's hearts are unstable, social turmoil, and dynasties are likely to change. What you said happened to be that I went to the class and read some literature and content. But I was in that class, and everyone had a lot of historical knowledge. Their research was mainly based on local chronicles, some poets' essays, diaries, and some historical materials, official history and unofficial history, such as heavy rain and light rain. . Then I felt that the method they used was the statistical method, but there was one thing wrong. Those students either studied history or geography, and their mathematics was not very good. If they stepped up a bit, maybe the research would be better.

Q: However, I feel that this major has no practical value, because the people around me are all majors in science and engineering, or majors with high practical value. Sometimes I think, when we were kids, what we fantasized about growing up to study, it's all like the dinosaur universe Balabala. But when I grew up, no one around me studied dinosaurs.

A: Did you know? So much for studying dinosaurs. First of all, he has to be ambitious. Secondly, he must have a platform, he has a good price, and then our generation needs to earn a little life, and studying dinosaurs may not bring life value.

Q: I know, I just have this feeling, the fantasy when I was young is completely different from the real one when I grow up.

A: Yes, I think I went to graduate school, and my scientific knowledge research methods and programming ability have not improved much, but I think my thinking has really changed dramatically. Like you said, you think their possible research is not so meaningful. valuable. I used to think that the ones we studied in science and engineering were particularly useful, and I couldn’t say that they were particularly useful. Compared to them, they felt more meaningful and could solve problems. But I now find that it is not like that. We have methods, but you have to know that this matter is really complicated. Maybe a liberal arts classmate can take care of you.

Q: Yes, I feel that way too. Liberal arts students still dominate science students.

A: So in fact, you have a method, but whether you can use it or not is two different things. You have mastered the solution, but you still can't solve the problem. That's probably the case.

Q: OK, we are equivalent to saying the three courses you took one by one. I have already mentioned a lot of differences between the Danes and the Chinese. Do you have anything else to add?

A: I think they are very friendly. Although the school sent us a handbook for freshmen before we went, they would say that the Danish classmates may be slower, if you don't take the initiative to ask for help, they will not help you, because everyone has their own problems, and they may not Extremely enthusiastic or something. But when I went, I didn't feel like that at all, because often before I asked them, they would take the initiative to help me, and it might be a passerby on the road, or the opposite of me. people. And it's not just me, I have some other Chinese classmates who have also received all kinds of warmth and help.

For example, on the first day I went to school, although the Danish people are quite English, but after all, they are in Denmark or mainly Danish, so their buses are all in Danish. The first time I went to school, I actually didn't know where the station was, so I was completely unfamiliar with it. After I got out of the car, I looked for my school. Maybe the direction was not right, so I wandered around there. Then someone came over and he asked me where I was going and he could help me. Then take me there. In fact, he didn't know exactly where I was going to the teaching building, and then he would go there to communicate with the students in the school, and then ask the students to take me there.

And when I was in Copenhagen, I took the wrong subway and missed the last subway. Its subway is different from China's. It is a subway on the same track. Different trains do not necessarily go to the same place. I didn't catch the first train and ended up taking the second train. Then I looked at the map on my phone and noticed how it was off track. I asked the grandma next to me and she said you were sitting in the wrong place. Then there was another guy who said you can get off with me at the next stop and he took me to the direction of the airport. Then after he got off the bus, he patiently took me to the station where I should change trains, and then he left.

And there will be some, of course this is not helpful, but I think it is unlikely to happen in China. At that time, I met a girl from Ukraine when I was going to take an exam, and we both went to take the exam together. Because it was Christmas at that time, she said that her parents sent her Christmas gifts from Ukraine. In fact, it was chocolate, and then she gave it to me. I just took it out and was about to put it in my mouth. There were two children on the way. , may be the age of teenage, one of them walked up to me and said can I eat one? Then we said yes, and gave him one, and then another of his little friends came over and asked if they could eat it. I think it's hard to imagine in China that a child asks a stranger for candy, right?

Q: It means that the atmosphere of the whole society is harmless to humans and animals.

A: Yes. And their children will go home by themselves, so they are very small and short. They took off their jackets, and their sleeves drooped to the ground. Just a little kid who was not tall enough to wear clothes, the little radish jumped up and went home by himself. I think in China maybe parents think it's too unsafe, that's all.

Q: I understand. You make me think it would be nice to immigrate to Denmark.

A: I also think that I especially like the Danish ones. Yes, the very important point is that the Danish people are very handsome, boys, tall and handsome, you know? I went to a party, it's the kind of dance that goes from night to day, although my friends said I might be drinking too much, I really think everyone is too handsome. Those boys are not above 1.8 meters, they are all above 1.9 meters. Because it was New Year's, and then everyone was wearing suits and white shirts, and then we were dancing again. But maybe Westerners are a little more open, maybe you're on the dance floor, and when they come over, they'll put their hands around your waist. Maybe I think it's a difference in Chinese culture, and I would feel a little uncomfortable at first. I think it may also be a cultural issue, they will talk to you normally, as if you already know each other, and I think in China it may be considered as neurotic or something.

Q: OK, let’s go back to the main thread of the interview. Can you think of any shortcomings in Denmark?

A: Actually, this is not a shortcoming of Denmark. It may be the case in Western countries. You have to make an appointment to see a doctor. If you don't make an appointment, you may have to wait for a long time. Maybe your symptoms are already cured. You can go to the doctor, that's about it. I just said that the comparison with China is a problem, but this is not a problem in Denmark, such as Germany and France.

Q: OK, this seems to be a disadvantage, but apart from the slowness of the hospital or foreign countries, for the Chinese, the food is not very good or something. Hey, it seems that the food in Denmark is not necessarily bad. I saw a report before that IKEA's restaurant is now one of the top chain restaurants in the world. Aren't all the food in IKEA selling Swedish meatballs? ?

A: Actually, I think working at IKEA is also a very happy thing.

Q: What kind of work does IKEA do? Salesperson?

A: Designer. But in fact, you are a salesperson. Look at you, you are still prejudiced. What is wrong with being a salesperson? You can be very happy as a salesperson. His work and other people do scientific research, and those who do other jobs with particularly high income are jobs. .

Q: And their incomes are not necessarily much worse.

A: No, their income must not be much worse. Indeed, there will be a chain of contempt for such discrimination in China. In fact, although those classmates said that the graduate students were about the same age as me, there were also classmates who were several years younger than me. They had stopped going to school and were already working. But I don't think it's anything.

Also, I think they are really good for students. For example, going out to take a train, etc., and then including your visit to various exhibitions, there are also discounts.

Q: I originally asked you about the disadvantages, and now you are talking about the advantages. There is not a single fault unique to Denmark that is cited.

A: Actually, I think that good and bad are relative. For example, they leave work very early, maybe they leave work at 3:00 in the afternoon. If I have to do things sometimes, it is really too late.

Q: Did you leave school at 3 pm?

A: If you want to watch classes, you won't be able to go to school when your class is scheduled. If you don't have class that day, you will be dismissed of course.

Q: So for the teacher, there is no off-duty at 3 o'clock in the afternoon.

A: Once we had a question, when did our Christmas break start? Then I remembered that another classmate said whenever, and he understood whenever we like. In fact, we take classes when we have classes. When we don’t have classes, we control all the time by ourselves. It doesn’t matter if we have vacations or not. There will be no such situation in China. You have to do experiments yourself. . Even if we are postdoctoral fellows abroad, they may not say that they don’t work on Saturdays and Sundays, but if you want to work, you can do it, but you won’t say that the whole building is full of experimental researchers. They will pay attention to a life and work balance.

Q: All right. I feel that after your summary, Denmark has become the best country for immigration.

A: Actually, I think Denmark is good. You may not think Denmark is good when you come here. Because I also talked to people who came to Denmark for maybe a little longer. They don't have to be very old, maybe in their thirties, and they don't think it's good. For example, if they think China is better, developed and interesting, they may feel that life here is boring. And in fact, as foreigners, it is very difficult for us to integrate. Although I didn't feel it, maybe I didn't want to fit in either. In fact, I stayed at home except in class every day.

Q: I think you have blended in a lot. You have Ukrainian classmates, French classmates, Danish classmates, and handsome Danish classmates who are 1.9 meters tall.

A: No, I think it is related to the environment. If you say that there are many Chinese people in the laboratory, you do not need to know Americans. It's like me because I don't have Chinese people to know, and there are no Chinese people in class, and in fact, everyone still chooses similarity. For example, we went out together to participate in a climate mitigation event, to visit a plastic processing plant in Denmark. They are still very proud, but they said that in the past, these plastic wastes would have been shipped to China. As the only Chinese present in China, I feel very heartbroken. Because then we banned this kind of plastic waste from a certain year, that is, we in China no longer receive these plastic wastes from Western countries, and then they can no longer need to transform themselves. They first collect those plastics, and then use some machines, such as remodeling, reheating, to change some properties of the original plastics, and then do a process of reuse to minimize pollution.

Q: So the garbage collection in Denmark is very perfect like that in Japan?

A: I think at least at the forefront of China, their garbage classification is still relatively good. Yes, I just mentioned that we were going to the disposal site. I just wanted to say that we will still find the same sex. Although I don't know any classmates, there is a Korean classmate. Of course, we have met before, so I have been there for the whole journey. is with her. Still looking for this similarity, I wouldn't say just looking for a European partner. If there are similar ones, such as those from mainland China or China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, or else go with Korean classmates.

Q: So actually Denmark, at least in terms of schools, is very international.

A: I think it is quite international. These schools do not charge tuition fees for EU countries, but they charge tuition fees for AU and non-EU countries like China.

Q: Okay, I think we're almost done talking today, I think it's quite comprehensive. In fact, to sum up, some of your inherent impressions of it are actually correct to a certain extent. Their social development level exceeds ours by a whole number of positions, so they have some lifestyles, which we don’t quite understand. , can be summed up like this.

A: But I think it may be more suitable for the development of human nature and more people-oriented.

Q: Yes, so I think this may be the direction of our country's efforts in the future.