The Moustache

VIA University Col lege, Campu s Viborg

Contents:

Victor’s thought : find out Victor’s

funny thoughts when he thinks about

baby angels, this issue on page 2;

The strange phenomena of the lake

birds as been seen and experienced

by Sir Steve, find out more on page 2;

Grab the opinion of 3 Danish Eras-

mus students who went to Romania

on page 3;

Taste some music and find out more

about the Mogwai concert in Århus

on page 3;

Don’t miss the interview with sweet

Caroline, our Animation Teacher, on

page 4;

Try not to let your mouth water

while you are reading about the

Bring and Bite on page 4;

Investigating Practices and Animation

as a Learning Tool - what did the

Erasmus students do up to now on

pages 5-6;

Peter shares the thoughts of a semes-

ter in the Animation module on page

6;

Xavi can tell you more about cam-

pus sporting life on page 7;

Victor’s thought - more fun with seri-

ous hilarious thoughts

2

News - the biting birds over the lake

have a sense for English people

2

VIA Talk - Danish students in Roma-

nia and did Erasmus work for them

3

Interview - Caroline talks about

Animation as a Learning Tool Mod-

4

Movie Night - what can you see in

the drama room or enjoy at home

5

Erasmus Pulse Check - what’s new

these weeks for the two modules

5-6

Origami art - one more interesting

story about sculpture through folding

7

Inside this issue:

Walking through this

Danish cold wind, with my head

buried in my thick scarf, my

hands thrust deeply into my

pockets and my hair violently

hitting my semi-opened eyes.

This makes me dream of sandy

beaches, 35 degree tempera-

tures, short skirts and sandals. I

find this fantasy a good way of

keeping warm while walking

through the streets of Viborg.

It‟s not always like this though.

There are a lot of days when I

crave for this wind to wake me

up and give me that good feeling

that I‟ve started the day the

right way. But today is just not

one of those days. I really feel

like dreaming of warm places I

could visit so I let myself travel

to the Caribbean, Hawaii or Bo-

ra Bora.

However, these places

much too far away for me. Then

I think I should remain in Eu-

rope and focus on a sunny but

still exotic place. So I have de-

cided, Barcelona! Can you imag-

ine walking around in a colour-

ful, loose dress, little sandals,

sunglasses and maybe a big,

brown hat? This is just deli-

cious! The best thing about this

fantasy is that I can get pretty

close to Barcelona daily, by liv-

ing in our multinational hostel.

This happens because I can al-

ways find Xavi here, a 27-year

old Spanish Erasmus student,

who comes from the very very

near, beautiful and famous city

of Barcelona.

Naturally, I met Xavi for

the first time in the kitchen and

of course, I was again surprised

by his unfamiliar Spanish ways

of eating. We were having

breakfast when Xavi came into

the kitchen with his bread and

liver pate. He took a plate, a

knife and started making a

sandwich. Nothing unusual

about that. But when he

reached the second slice of bread he

did the “unthinkable”, he added an-

other slice of bread on top of the two

he had already put together! So he

started eating a triple pate sand-

wich. I have never before seen

something like that but he acted

like it was the most normal thing

ever, for which, sadly, he had no ex-

planation. We soon got used to see-

ing Xavi eating his famous sand-

wich everywhere but still nobody

dared to try it, yet!

The surprise sandwich was

one thing, but after a while I discov-

ered that the second most favourite

thing Xavi eats is mayonnaise. First

I saw him boiling the pasta and just

adding mayonnaise on top and then

I saw him using it with chips or

sandwiches. I quickly figured out

that if I ever need mayonnaise, Xavi

is the man to look for! All I have to

do is ask and he will wisely rub his

chin and nod affirmatively. He is

just the kind of person that can nev-

er say no to anything, Xavi will al-

ways play cards with us until dawn,

he will always watch horror movies

with us in the Drama Room, he will

never say no to a beer or a game of

poker, soccer or volleyball.

(continued on the last page)

ERASMUS CULTURE

Spanish Oasis

the 8th of April 2011

Let’s have a talk about… moustaches

The moustache, the

Danes call it “overskæg”, the

Spanish call it “bigote” and we

call it “our newspaper”. You see

them every day on TV, on the

streets, in the newspapers, in

pubs, at the supermarket, at

weird gay parties and in Iraq .

Yet few people ever really think

“why would someone wear such

a weird thing on their face?” Is

it that they identify the growth

on the outer surface of the up-

per lip with their personality?

Or is it a way to gain attention?

Are moustaches edible?” In or-

der to find answers to these

Volume 1, Issue 1I

The Erasmus Students newspaper - find out about the fun and read the great stories from

Camp Logos, BETA Hostel and much more. A newspaper about Erasmus Experience in VIA

University College, Campus Viborg, written by students for students but not only for them.

Xavi’s special sandwich

questions, we must first take a

look at some famous moustach-

es back in history.

Adolf Hitler was an

angry little man who looked

like Charlie Chaplin without

the hat. From time to time he

used to send jews “camping” (to

quote Victor) and he has a rep-

utation for being quite grumpy.

Yet this important fellow‟s

moustache has marked history

with its funny looking shape.

Salvador Dali was a weirdo

who liked to paint weird stuff.

(continued on the last page)

Revolution is in the hearts of peo-

ple these days, but the only thing that I

can think of is “Why do old people go to

the beach?” But Victor, one day you will be

old and will look like an orange. No, I will

not because I will stretch my skin like

Muammar Muhammad al-Gaddafi. I real-

ly find it interesting that he was betrayed

by his Foreign Minister who is called

Moussa Koussa. Talking about funny

names, Barack Obama is black. If God did

not love the US, why would he carve its

presidents heads onto a mountain? I have

never understood why people would like to

go to heaven where there are little naked

angels, yet everyone is against paedophil-

ia. And how can a kid guard or pleasure

me if it cannot even hold food in its

mouth?

Where does a balloon go after a kid

loses it?

Another thing is that children are

not allowed to see naked, even half naked

women. That is if there is not a magic

trick or any other circus performance. Peo-

ple get hit and beaten up with bats, shov-

els, pans, vases or even dildos, but I would

really like to see someone get beaten with

a microscope. I do not understand people

who clap at the TV, the cast of Jersey Shore

cannot hear you. I believe that if faeces were

to smell like flowers there would be no toi-

lets. I would like to see someone fart special

effects. I believe that when we fart, the butt

cheeks sing a mating song, because, from

what I have noticed, if you fart in the pres-

ence of a girl, she‟ll fall in love with you im-

mediately. I hate it when I share a pizza

with someone and that person takes the big-

gest slice. And I also hate people who say,

after 12am, "today" and not "tomorrow".

I don‟t like old people, they are hold-

ing on to their lives too much. Why won‟t

they just die already so I can replace them

and get their jobs? (Victor PREDA)

Don‟t say no.

Don‟t say to my heart:

“Leave me alone and...go.”

You know I‟ll stay,

you know I‟ll die.

You know that every second

you‟re not here… I cry.

Don‟ t throw away the memories,

don‟t close your eyes

and walk away.

Please,

I‟m begging you…to stay.

I need the heat of your arms.

I need your heart,

because without it,

I‟ll be torn apart.

Just think about it,

before you leave,

before you say lies.

Just think of us,

Think of butterflies.

(Alin OSTAFE)

stared at me through her empty black pearl

eyes. I tried to reason with her, I thought

maybe we could talk it through, come to

some sort of compromise, but there was no

response. The staring continued, what do you

want from me? I didn‟t smoke my cigarette

and didn‟t stop running until I was far from

the lake.

A few days later I was taking a stroll

with Manu around the same part of the lake.

We discovered a lovely spot, right by the lake

on a jetty. However upon sitting down they

descended. Swarms of gulls circling over our

heads awaiting the call to attack .They were

getting lower and

lower, we jumped

up and swiftly

moved off. They

f o l l o w e d , we

walked faster but

they continued to

circle, looming

over our heads

getting closer and

closer. Thankfully

we reached a

more populated

area of the lake.

Cawing from a nearby tree told us that the

leader had called off the attack and we would

live to see another day.

In July of 2008 a headline in the

Guardian newspaper read “Woman injured

in 'Hitchcock-style' bird attack.” The article

goes onto explain that the incident “…

resembled a scene from Alfred Hitchcock's

The Birds” and that “the …adult gull

swooped and started stabbing her head

with its beak.” Now you may chuckle as you

read this, I certainly did but I think there

is definitely something afoot and it‟s hap-

pening right here in Viborg.

Last week I decided to head down to

the lake to relax after doing some shopping

in town. When I arrived a chose a bench

with a pleasant view and proceeded to roll

myself a cigarette. As I was doing so a flock

of birds flew down from nowhere and sur-

rounded me. I didn‟t react to this as I just

presumed they wanted some food of which I

had none so I thought to myself, they‟ll get

bored and go away. I hadn‟t accounted for

the ringleader though, the giant white

beast of the lake, known often as the swan.

It approached me and took a peck at my

arm as I was rolling my cigarette. I moved

my arm away but it kept going for me. My

pulse was racing, could this be the end?

Pecked and eaten alive by this beast and its

army, in broad daylight, down by the lake

in the Danish sun. I stood up and moved

away, the beast did not move, she just

These are no isolated incidents; some fellow

students were also followed by a flock from a hot

dog stand then cornered by them as they tried to

enjoy their snacks and coffee. Luckily the only

physical scars were some coffee burns. However the

psychological scars remain. Diana still refuses to

this day to even talk about the incident that almost

reduced her to tears. Kate is plagued by nightmares

of flying beasts swooping at her head, trying to

steal her favorite hats. Sam, a true scouser was

reported to be seen fleeing the scene screaming

“fucking hell!!!!!!!” with a hot dog in her mouth and

coffee sloshing all over the place.

So when will the end come? When will the

birds finally rise up and take over?

Only time will tell. In the meantime

I r e c o m m e nd s o m e s a f e t y

precautions such as wearing a

helmet when out of the house to

protect your head, never wear

clothes made out of bread or carry

bread on your person, ever! Some

scientists also say that dressing in a

bird costume when walking by the

lake or in areas with high bird

activity could also work as this will

confuse the beasts. Or just don't

leave your house unless absolutely

necessary, board up your doors and windows or

maybe even build an underground shelter. Then

and only then can you be 99% certain of avoiding

the oncoming struggle. (Steven GIBSON)

VICTOR’S THOUGHT

Random thoughts

NEWS

Birds Attack

T H E M O U S T A C H E

PAGE 2 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1 I

CREATIVITY CORNER

You're not alone!

It looks ready to attack!

An evil spirit or a devil as it could be trans-

lated, the post-rock band called Mogwai, played a

concert showcasing their new album in the city of Århus last Thursday. Steve and I couldn‟t have

missed that, so, after one hour of trying to find the

venue (Voxhall) we finally arrived at the gig.

There is no sound close to what Mogwai

could be. Just random tracks running around the

stage, instrument checks and Danish students

starting to get drunk. Well, actually they already

were, given the fact that the concert was 1 hour

late. There were also empty cans of beer every-

where and empty glasses which used to contain

vodka or whiskey at some point in their lives; I

guess they were waiting for the performance as

well. Everything was waiting for the Scottish band

to begin their musical manifesto.

The public started to applaud, it could be a

sign for the beginning of the concert, the room

turned dark and then, little white spots on the

back screen started bouncing in such a great cha-

os, they were creating shapes, they were one with

the rhythm and they started dancing in circles,

around our minds.

I was wondering, will anyone in the crowd

remember all of that? What is the point in getting

so drunk that you won‟t even be able to talk about

it the next day, to meditate, to keep it in your spe-

cial pocket of memories? Most of them probably

just don‟t care. Life is easier when you can‟t re-

member the past. In that way you leave no room

for regrets, I guess. I tried to step out of the dead

drunken crowd, who was influenced by the song

`I‟m Jim Morrison, I‟m dead`, probably, and I was

enjoying the second song while creating my own

story, my own world, accompanied by rational

tears. `White noise`, a song from their recent al-

bum and `Hardcore will never die, but you will`,

stopped us all for a moment, the crowd couldn‟t

move anymore but they all had their eyes closed

so they could `sing` the song as personally as they

could. The way my heart started beating it was

close to bursting out of my chest.

Mogwai don‟t have any lyrics in their songs

and that makes everything so much more personal

and closer to the listener. And if no one can under-

stand that or think that you would be crazy to lis-

ten to that, maybe Nietzsche would answer with

`those who were seen dancing were thought to be

insane by those who could not hear the music`.

Finally, the concert was beyond my expec-

tations. The music could be, not only heard, but

also seen on our faces while the band members

treated us with an amazing show of light, feelings

and sound. If you didn‟t know about them before,

you should check them out. Enjoy! (Manuela

ENACHE)

VIA TALK

Confessions of VIA Erasmus

NEWS

Mogwai - music to self

about my own country and culture and it

was an eye opener for me. I realized that we

really have to appreciate our system in

Denmark and that we shouldn‟t complain all

the time. I met a lot of wonderful people in

Romania and they helped me to have a

wonderful time as a guest in their country

and it wouldn‟t have been the same without

them.

I have learned a lot about myself and I see

myself as a much more open person. These 6

months really changed my life. The Danish

author, H.C. Andersen once said: "To travel

is to live", and he was so right. These 6

months had been the best experience of my

life and I wouldn‟t change them for anything

else!” - Klaus (Adina PĂUN)

Bring back memories

Alexandru Andronic, also known as

Ducu, had his lifetime experience at VIA

University College when he enjoyed 4

months in the Animation room one year ago.

On his personal blog he talks about his last

trip outside of Viborg. The first stop was

Frederikshavn, which is a very important

city for water naval transportation and its

connections with Sweden and Norway. It has

been said that the reason many Swedish

students come to Denmark is just to get

drunk because the booze is so expensive in

their country. Because of this, there is also a

local saying that if you ever find a Swede,

just put him on a ferry. After having a cold

Viking bath in the North Sea, Ducu said

goodbye to Viborg and this year is coming

back so he can enjoy the warm weather

again. (Manuela ENACHE)

Back to Århus

Thursday, the 7th of April, the Eras-

mus students from Beta Hostel, Viborg, had

the pleasure to enjoy another great trip to Århus where they could visit Åros art muse-

um and the science museum. Even if the trip

was close to 4 hours the contemporary art

and the great photo gallery amazed every-

one. Also, there was a strange guy there, re-

ally huge, he has been the real attraction.

But the Bazar was actually the hit of the

day. Crowded in fruit market and lots of

small shops full of things that you never

need, the students went back with full bags.

They are still asking themselves what did

they buy. I guess it was close to our every

Tuesday flea market. Everyone is waiting for

the bus photos… while sleeping most of

them. (Manuela ENACHE)

Who knows Gilbert?

We received a nice surprise, after

working on the first issue of The Moustache,

we had the chance to go and see Gilbert

O‟Sullivan‟s concert at the Tinghallen. The

surprise was, and I quote: `he is not dead`.

Actually he had some new songs next to the

ones about tea, about hair, about marriage

and some photos with his little girl on the

back screen. All in all, it reminded me of my

dad and great oldies but goldies, so it was a

great evening after all. It was awesome to

see the jump on the piano anyway.

Trine, Camilla and Klaus are three

Danish students who decided to discover a new

culture by spending six months in a different

country, as part of their education practice.

They chose Romania, where they volunteered

in an orphanage working with children from 1

month to 6 years old.

They have done many things including

travelling, meeting new people, and have

experienced

and tasted a

whole new

way of living.

Now they are

back in their

home

country,

resuming

life where

they left

off.

It‟s been

almost

two

months

since they

have

returned, which is now long enough for them to

evaluate and look back on the time they spent

abroad.

I asked them how and if this experience

influenced and changed them in any way, and

this is what they said:

“The half year in Romania has been the

greatest thing I‟ve ever done. It was so

interesting to be a part of another culture and

travel around the whole country. We met a lot

of great people and I really miss our friends in

Romania and all the kids. “ – Camilla

“Being in Romania for six months in my

practice period, as a part of my education in

VIA has really been a fantastic experience for

me. After I have tried to live in another

country and be a part of that country, I have

really learned a lot about myself, and who I

„want to be‟. It has been very nice and funny to

travel to Romania and to have tried to stand

on my own two feet in this, for me, very

different culture. I see myself as a much more

open person now, and after seeing this other

culture, I think I understand „my own‟ culture

better. I think everyone who has the

opportunity to travel to another country for a

longer period should do it. It has been a life

changing experience, and a trip I will never

forget.” - Trine

"I went to Romania as a part of my

education, and I stayed there for 6 months.

During my time in Romania, I learnt a lot

about how to live and how to be a part of a very

different culture. Discovering the differences

between Denmark and Romania I learned a lot

T H E M O U S T A C H E

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1 I PAGE 3

CHN: I try to listen to myself and change

path when it is needed. I don´t know if

there is a destiny. I am who I am, and I will

probably do the good I do again and again,

and the mistakes I do again and again until

it all stops one day.

TM: How would you animate... God... or

something close to that idea?

CHN: I wouldn´t.

TM: And what is your favourite animation

character?

CHN: I don´t have a favourite character,

but I like the story about Mary and Max,

and the characters in Børge Rings short

films

TM: Is there a recipe for a great anima-

tion? What should it mean in the end?

CHN: Yes there is a recipe and a lot of rules

of movement, in order to make it look alive

and believable, but the most important

thing for me is the story of the film.

TM: If you would animate yourself in one

movie, how would you look?

CHN: Some kind of confused animal, run-

ning in circles, biting its own tail, trying to

understand what is going on.

TM: What should be the right purpose of

an animation: entertainment or food for

thought?

CHN: Both, preferably, and teaching :)

TM: Is Disney a `rich monster` in the world

of animations or a really good brand?

CHN: They are big but I do not see Disney

as a monster. They did really nice anima-

tions. They discovered and developed many

techniques that have been used and inspired

many, all through the history of animation.

TM: How do you feel about Animation as a

Learning Tool and the students here?

CHN: I think that Animation as a learning

tool is such an interesting combination of

practical work and theoretical work. I think

that the students are challenged on many

levels and every semester I am amazed with

all they learn in

the short time that

they are here.

I find it to be such

a pleasure to meet

and work with the

students. I like

that they are all so

different, from dif-

ferent places in

the world, and yet

still manage every

time to find a com-

mon language.

(Manuela

ENACHE)

The Moustache: What would be your self-

description?

Caroline: Someone with patience and energy,

holes in her clothes and stains on her shirts.

TM: What did you do before Animation and how

did it all begin?

CHN: Before I found out that I wanted to work

with animation, I was travelling a lot. I would

work all sorts of jobs in Denmark, save my mon-

ey and then go on journeys to Indonesia, Aus-

tralia, New Zealand, and different places in Eu-

rope.

TM: How did Animation change your life?

CHN: It changed my life because I found what I

wanted to learn and be skilled with in life. I was

very happy to start the education of becoming an

animator, and I had spent so much time wonder-

ing what would be my field of knowledge, so I

was 26 years old when I started.

TM: Why did you choose teaching?

CHN: When I finished my bachelor in animation

I worked as an animator for one year. I got in

touch with the teaching with animation through

a friend of mine, and I found it very interesting

to use animation for a different purpose than

entertainment. I also found that working with

students was such a pleasure for me and I decid-

ed to quit my animation job and focus more on

teaching with animation.

TM: How do you see your way until now: like a

part of destiny or something that you have built?

You might recognise Caroline, our lovely Animation teacher by the music that starts playing whenever she

walks into the classroom: sweet Caroline, pam pam pam. That would be Victor singing. After one week of practice we

are more than happy to have Caroline around us in school. We’ve spent one animation night in the drama room, we

ate Danish pastries together, she always gives us a big beautiful smile and great advice about our animation films. In

a nutshell she makes our day every time we have one of her lessons. I had the honour of interviewing her for The

Moustache; here’s what she had to say:

T H E M O U S T A C H E

INTERVIEW

Caroline Henriques-Nielsen - Teaching through Animation

PAGE 4 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1 I

Caroline Henriques-Nielsen

Last Thursday,

all plates and pots full

of international food

h a d o n l y o n e

destination: Bring and

Bite, at Via University

College. The Erasmus

students, some for the

first time, were to

cook delicious food

from their home

countries.

The dinner was

set to begin at half past

five, and in just a few

minutes a table in the

canteen area became

filled with food. The

international students

from the spring semester brought their

dishes, which they had been preparing for

almost two days. At the same time, all the

buddies and almost all our teachers also

brought a “bring and bite” meal.

Culinary diversity as long

as five tables lay before us.

Stuffed eggs, spinach roulade,

beans with sausages, pork steak,

mamaliga, meatball soup and

salad, all of which represented

Romania. Then, “Scouse”, the

English soup displayed in a large

pot, like “the queen of soups”.

For me it was a special evening,

mainly because I had waited so

long to eat. The table was full of

food, tempting us with each

stare. I was thinking: When will

Bo finish speaking? When can we

eat? Anyway, everything was

delicious. „‟I really liked the

Romanian and English soup”,

said Victoria, who is by the way, the only girl

from Poland. Victoria cooked pirogue, which

were little pieces of flour dough filled with a

secret composition of which I remember only

potatoes and cheese. It was delicious.

“What I think about the meal is that it

was an amazing combination of different

taste, flavors and most important of culture

and ways to understand cooking”, said Xavi.

The students from Spain, Xavi

included cooked tortillas and also provided

other kinds of meat.

Desert with songs

Of course they had not deprived us of

the desert course. Elephant eyes, biscuits

salami, cake, gem and Belgian Chocó mouse.

Payment for each dessert meant a row of

students waiting half an hour to wash their

own dishes. The evening was then complete

with a few guitar songs and love in the air.

“Thank you so much for a nice evening

yesterday…and all the nice food! You all did

a great job”, Birgitte wrote to us the next

day. We are still dreaming at her delicious

strawberry cake. (Daniela Farcaș)

REPORT

Erasmus food at VIA

During the next couple of weeks there

will be people, as in the previous weeks, wait-

ing for the first movie to end so that they can

go home.

Tuesday the 29th at 8:31pm, The Gold

Rush (1925) and The General (1926), two

movies that you would not want to see be-

cause they are silent and were shown last

week. The Gold Rush features Charlie Chap-

lin and the other one Buster Keaton. On

Wednesday the 6th, the cinephiles are invit-

ed to the Drama Room for Duck Soup(1933)

and The Apartment (1960), another two mov-

ies that you will not want to see because they

are in black and white. The fact that the

Marx brothers (nothing to do with the com-

munism guy, they were Jewish actually) and

Jack Lemmon will appear in the movies will

not make any difference.

Saturday, the 9th day of the 4th

month we will have stand up. Bill Cosby:

Himself(1983) and Richard Pryor: Live in

Concert (1979) are two stand up performers

which you will not like because they do not

have ventriloquists dummies.

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1 I PAGE 5

T H E M O U S T A C H E

A full week for the Investigating Practic-

es students consisted of presentations, climbing

and for some of us the first contact with the in-

stitutions in which we are going to be doing our

field work.

You might think that the hardest work

we had to do for school this week were the

presentations, but think again. Do you want me

to tell you what scares the Erasmus students

from Investigating Practices the most? Keep it a

secret… it's Habermas!!!!! It‟s not the presenta-

tions we have to do for Amela‟s subject, (she is

our coordinator and is really strict and serious

when it comes to school) or the hard sports

training which Claus puts us through every

week. For example, just approach Pavel and say

to him one word…HABERMAS. He will almost

start crying, he will look at you and beg you not

to torture him anymore. If you don't know who

Habermas is, just be glad that you don‟t!

...Origami Workshop every Tues-

day from 2pm, room F180

… Movie Night : Monday, 11th of

April, at 8 pm, in the Drama Room;

… the traditional Thursday Dick-

ens Night out. Every Thursday, the Eras-

mus students enjoy themselves at the

karaoke night.

… the birthday parties every week-

end. With or without music, playing

cards, talking nonsense or telling jokes,

we‟ll be there, ready for fun, in Beta Hos-

tel, 3rd floor.

… Pilates with Adina, every

Wednesday, Friday and Sunday starting

at 8pm in the drama room.

… volleyball, handball, football

every week in the gym, check the pro-

gramme by joining the „Erasmus Viborg

2011‟ group on Facebook;

…write to us with your sugges-

tions, feedback or thoughts at themous-

tache@rocketmail.com.

PULSE CHECK - INVESTIGATING PRACTICES

Climb, you lazy Erasmus student!

The other week will start with Lenny (1974)

and Being there (1979), which will be screened on

Monday the 11th. Two movies that will ruin your

good disposition, so it maybe be better if you either

heckle or find another classroom and watch a movie

with some real life situations.

Every Thing

You Always Wanted to

Know About Sex * But

Were Afraid to Ask

(1972) and Monty Py-

thon and the Holy

Grail (1975) don't fea-

ture fraternities, so

they must suck, but

yet again one is about

sex. I bet that caught

your attention! They

will be shown on Sat-

urday and on Sunday

we will have another

night of funny stand

up with Mitch Hedberg, Steven Wright and Jimmy

Carr.

They are just bad so don‟t come! One of them

died of an overdose, another one is boring and the

last one is an asshole.

So do not show your scrawny/

lard asses in the Drama Room and

expect to see A beautiful mind. All the

movies start at about 8:30, that is if the

movie lovers don't have anything better

to do, like prancing around the gym

looking at the Mercantec girls' boobies

wiggling about. (Victor PREDA)

So what else besides Habermas? We ac-

tually had some fun doing the PowerPoint

presentations for Amela‟s subject. There was

Xavi trying to read from a PowerPoint slide on

which he put a picture… the colour of the pic-

ture was so bright that he could not see the

writing; he got so close to the wall on which it

was projected we were worried that he was go-

ing walk into it! Then we had Diana, she is

from the UK and while presenting her part of

the project she mumbled so much that she did-

n't sound like a native English speaker at all!

She confused the teacher so much that she be-

gan to wonder whether Diana was actually

English!

That was all about our indoor activity.

Now for climbing we got to go outside… but do

not imagine that we started to climb the

University! We had the time of our life chal-

lenging our bodies and our courage.

I am so proud to say that we were all

brave and had a go at climbing. We also did

some spinning exercises at one of the Fitness

clubs. All we have to do now is some parachut-

ing and bungee jumping and then we can say

that we have had it all here in Denmark! For

that we can use the University I guess. Only

then our Erasmus experience will be complete.

So if you still think that Erasmus life is

boring and all about studying… you‟re wrong!

It's all about having the time of your life and

learning as much as you can, even through do-

ing activities such as climbing and hard sports

training. (Alexandra MARIAN)

Laugh your ass off

ERASMUS AGENDA

You’re invited to...

Their last chance to escape– climb Ioan!

Happy Birthday Ruana!!

As I wrote in my previous

article, the word which can best

define Erasmus student life is ex-

perience. In the time that has

passed since our previous meet-

ing we can say that we have ex-

plored new horizons of the mean-

ing of experience. We have had

moments that for some of us

helped to consolidate some peda-

gogical theories, while others

have had the chance to compare

teaching techniques from back

home with those used at VIA Uni-

versity College. For others there

was an opportunity to understand

what it means to teach others as

opposed to being taught them-

selves. Everything I've described

here can be defined as Fieldwork,

a chance for us to show that we

have understood the concepts

learned so far as Erasmus stu-

dents and in turn, implement

them.

The students from Animation as

a Learning Tool had the oppor-

tunity to practice their Fieldwork

in a state school, two kindergar-

tens and a school for children

with special needs. Our goal was

Language development through

Animation but first of all we had

to discover what language actual-

ly means for children aged be-

tween 5 and 13 years old.

“We tried to achieve our

goal and were lucky to work with

some very smart kids who quickly

learned how to do animation. We

were faced with unexpected situa-

tions and had to act spontaneous-

ly. For example, on one day we

had to work with a group of ten

children, which was not

planned. Our fear was that they

did not understand English and

we do not speak Danish, but we

used non verbal communication,

which proved to be effective.” Lu-

pinmarken , Daniela

If you were to ask each student

from our module their opinion on

the fieldwork experience, they

will reply with a single word;

awesome, and actually, it was.

We had the opportunity to ob-

serve Danish lessons, to interact

with children of different ages

and to play with them. We also

got to experience what it means

to be a teacher and how to, in a

nice and non authoritative way

make children listen to you and

also how to combine teamwork

with fun.

Even if at first it seemed a

little bit difficult all the teams did

a great job, which was proved

PULSE CHECK

Animation as a Learning Tool

T H E M O U S T A C H E

PAGE 6 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1 I

by the feedback we received

from the pupils and teachers.

The work could be seen in the

animations made by the chil-

dren which were presented by

each team last week when we

had to show everyone the

memories collected during the

Fieldwork.

Being excited but sad

at the same time because we

have no more work with the

children for two weeks, we

returned to the animation

room, where the aim was to

make a movie in which we

had to capture the moment in

which we reached our field-

work goal. It was then that we

realised that we were all real-

ly pleased with the fieldwork,

for it was quite difficult to

choose one moment which re-

lated to the proposed theme.

At the same time, it also

helped us reflect on our field-

work and to discover how we

can improve our methods for

the second week.

During the past week we have

had a guest teacher from the

Netherlands present, who was

here to learn about animation.

He also showed us that alt-

hough we work a lot with cut-

ting out paper it is difficult to

make 3D objects in a short

space of time. Last Friday we

watched a play which was

completely different from any-

thing we had seen before,

which gave us the opportunity

to enter a magical space creat-

ed by numerous tunnels and

small rooms full of curtains.

After that, we returned to the

animation room, where each

team finished their movie

about fieldwork and some stu-

dents tried their hand at

drawing animation.

This week started with Caro-

line and two guests from Chi-

na, we received the VIA Uni-

versity College teachers` feed-

back about our fieldwork and

we also received some advice

on our final report.

Now I have to finish my arti-

cle, but not before telling you

that we are going to visit Aar-

hus on Thursday. It may be a

place you know well but for

most of us it will be only our

second visit. Despite this we

are already starting to fall in

love with the city. (Ruana

CEAUȘESCU)

It was just before Christmas

and we had just begun studying our

main subject when a breathless Bor-

ge Pugholm popped his head into

the drama hall at Reberbanen to

tell us about the wonders of the ani-

mation module. Very few of the peo-

ple in the drama class took any no-

tice and after putting up a poster

Borge left the room. However, his

words were music to our ears and it

would turn out to be the best

Christmas gift we‟ve had for many

years.

After having further discus-

sions with Borge we decided to join

the module after Christmas. Flem-

ming and I were the first Danish

people on the Animation as a Learn-

ing Tool course. Maria joined later,

making it a total of three Danes in

the class of Spring 2010. Flemming

and I also volunteered to be buddies

for some of the international stu-

dents in our class. We each got four

people to take care of; half of them

were from Romania, one was from

Poland, one from Portugal and two

from Lithuania.

The first day was, as first

days usually are, awkward and a bit

embarrassing. Smiling and holding

conversations with people you don‟t

know is hard for a Jutlander. But

our fellow students were very ap-

proachable and smiled as they

talked to us, even though we were

eagerly looking down at the floor.

Without any warning we were

thrown into groups of four for our

first animation movie, our first at-

tempt at cross-european coopera-

tion. And you know what? It went

pretty fucking well! As the weeks

went by we made more animations

in various groups. Meanwhile every-

day life, in a manner of speaking,

crept up on us - but it was everyday

life where you work hard and don‟t

appreciate all the fun and good stuff

that happens.

We had never previously had

more than 20 hours school work per

week, but when

we were making

our movies the av-

erage time could

easily add up to

around 40 hours

per week and

sometimes up to

80 hours! But

what does that

matter when eve-

rything is so new

and exciting? The

work was so much

fun that we often

had no desire to go

back home when

we were done.

ANIMATION MEMORIES

80 hours a week

We were together with our

new classmates on a daily basis,

weekends and holidays, weekdays

and parties. There were always

plenty of cultural misunderstand-

ings but they were almost always

dealt with a smile, like this buddy

dinner in Bjerringbro, for example.

As part of our “job” as buddies Flem-

ming and I invited our “mentees”

over for dinner. The whole week be-

fore the dinner we told our guests

that they were more than welcome

to sleep at our place. (actually it was

more a demand than an offer!). Fri-

day came and we drove to Bjerring-

bro. After we had finished dinner

our guests started discussing with

each other what time the next train

home was and that they should

leave for the train soon. Flemming

and I were very disappointed. I am

non confrontational but Flemming is

determined. Flemming gave our

guests a good Old Danish lecture

about behaviour and gratitude. Then

we found out what the misunder-

standing was all about. It turned out

that the Romanian guests had wait-

ed the whole evening for me, as the

host, to insist that they stay over. A

custom that is normal in Romania,

but not here in Denmark. Anyway

our guests stayed over and saw

Bjerringbro by night.

Now we have friends all over

Europe, friends that have invited us

to festivals, on vacation and even to

a wedding. We have never met peo-

ple who are more open minded, so-

ciable and easy to get in touch with.

I have heard that it is some kind of

special Erasmus spirit, where the

students, at the beginning of the

course, put away their normal pre-

conceptions and become more open

minded and sensitive towards other

people. This is without any doubt

the most exciting experience we

have had in our time at the school

and we would highly recommend it

to everyone.(Peter Aagaard

Jensen )

Golden Venture or 3D origami is a

modular type of folding paper, that

combines hundreds and thousands of

triangular pieces of paper, which together

can be used to build different figures. The

assembly does not use glue as the pieces

simply sustain each other.

This type of origami was invented in

China, but it received its name and became

famous in 1993, when a ship called the

Golden Venture brought 286 illegal

immigrants from China to the United

States. They were imprisoned for almost 4

years and they used those years to make

impressive 3D figures, using recycled paper

and materials. The figures were exhibited

throughout the USA after their release.

ORIGAMI PEOPLE

Origami - The Golden Venture

T H E M O U S T A C H E

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1 I PAGE 7

Try to fold one piece, it may be useful

in case you go to jail! (Adina PĂUN)

So, if you want to give

folding a chance, we’ll be

waiting for you in VIA

University College Building,

room F180, every Tuesday, at

14:00.

Golden Venture

Easter egg

Erasmus sports life and the

sports of our Erasmus experience. In

writing this article my intention is to

describe how our relationship with

sport is, as everybody knows that

sport is good for our life, our health

and also for having fun. The purpose

of this article (if it makes any sense

and I can finish it!) is to try and relate

to and describe any sporting activity

that isn’t related to our classes or

studies, only the ones we do to have

fun.

I would like to begin my first report by

talking about the new sports that I‟ve dis-

covered during my time in Denmark.

Before my arrival in Denmark I thought

that the national sport here was handball

and I expected that we would play only

this. However it seems that this isn‟t true,

football is the most played sport here in

Denmark. So better for me, because foot-

ball is my favourite sport (normal coming

from Spain) but still I have to say that it

would be interesting to discover a new

sport (and for the rest of my classmates I

guess).

So much to my surprise when one day

one a classmate asked me to play in a flor-

ball match. Florball? What‟s this? I thought.

I had discovered a new game that I‟ve never

played before. It's a type of hockey, with the

same rules, but is played indoors. It was a

great chance to play a totally different game.

Florball demands a big physical resistance

and speed. At the end of the game you think

that you are going to die. It‟s very tiring and

also you have to fight against your state of

mind (which goes down as your fatigue ris-

es).

What about handball? Even if this sport is

not the national sport here, the people have

a great feeling for it.

And we could this in the two matches

in which we watched the female Viborg hand-

ball team. The stadium was full of people

cheering all the time. And it‟s a female

team... I say this because, if I think about

Spain, a female team would never fill the sta-

dium as these girls do. I want to say that

here the female sports have a better consider-

ation, and this is so good, supporting the fe-

male sport and elevating it at the same level

as the male game.

I also have to mention the regular vol-

leyball matches played with my classmates. I

think I‟ve played more volleyball in these two

months than I have in my entire life. It‟s a

good sport too, with a high level of under-

standing and knowledge between the players.

If one player fails, the rest of the team do the

same.

In conclusion, my Erasmus experience

in Denmark has provided me with much

more sports and activities than I thought it

would. I‟m discovering new dimensions, new

rules, new skills and most importantly, new

ways to have fun with people from all over

Europe with the same intention as me, to en-

joy as much as possible our time here in Den-

mark. (Xavier Sáez )

ERASMUS SPORTS LIFE

Discovering new games and sensations

The two teams after a great game

You can find us at:

VIA University College, Campus Viborg

Prinsens Alle 1, 2 ,- 4, Camp Logos, BETA Hostel, 2nd floor, Viborg, 8800

Diversity: the art of thinking independently

together. Forbes

The

Moustache

T H E M O U S T A C H E

EDITORIAL BOX

Xavi is and will always be the one to

count on. You will know that, the minute

he starts rubbing his beard. I experienced

the same reaction when I asked Xavi to tell

me a few more things about Barcelona so

that my dreams could be as close to reality

as possible. This is how I found out that it

is actually not a very expensive city to visit.

After talking about food earlier I have to let

you know that if you find yourself in Barce-

lona you have to try the fish and the

“paella” in the port, or the traditional

“tapas”, “patatas bravas”, “chipirones” or

“tortilla de patatas”. This doesn‟t make too

much sense to me, maybe not to you either

but the way it sounds trust me, it will wake

up your culinary senses. Of course, every-

thing you eat there has to be accompanied

by a good wine, usually found in most

Spanish pubs or restaurants.

I guess that one Spanish word that

everybody knows is “fiesta”. Well… Xavi

told me that I do not have to worry about

anything regarding this, as there are places

and party zones all over the city. So, as a

well known saying here in our campus

goes; “la gente esta muy loca”; “all day and

all night in Barcelona.”

However, I must not forget to

mention the best football team in the

world (Xavi‟s words), Football Club Barce-

lona, most commonly known as Barça.

The best time to visit its famous stadium

is on a match day. I was told that I then

would have the possibility to feel the great

ambience inside there, but I don‟t think I

really want to experience it that close.

Still, the way our Spanish Erasmus mate

always supports and praises his favourite

team makes me very curious and eager to

get to know it better.

I think I now know enough things

about this sunny warm place to make me

survive another cold day in Viborg. I hope

it will create the same summer fantasy for

you as it has for me and you will learn to

ignore the wind and just enjoy the Span-

ish sun everywhere you are! And don‟t for-

get, if you ever need mayonnaise, our

kitchen is the place to be! (Diana

CĂCIULEANU)

This issue’s Photo

ERASMUS CULTURE

(continued from the first page)

Let’s have a talk about… moustaches (continued from the first page)

Assistant Editors Adina PĂUN Kate FURLONG Xavier SÁEZ

Alexandra MARIAN Ruana CEAUȘESCU Tiberiu PINTILIE

Daniela FARCAȘ Samantha FRANCIS Victor PREDA

Diana CĂCIULEANU Steven GIBSON

Editor in Chief Manuela ENACHE

Special thanks to VIA Universi ty Col lege, Campus Viborg

Apparently, that weird stuff is now worth a lot of

money. His moustache looked like two antennas

and rumour has it that Dali could talk to aliens by

sending signals to the cosmos through his

whiskers. Albert Einstein is widely known for

being a really cool grandpa. He used to play the

piano and in his spare time he used to party with

formulas and physics. His moustache is friendly

and fluffy, and it looks really nice. You go, Albert!

Let‟s not forget other proud owners of moustaches

which marked history such as: Freddie Mercury,

Nietzsche, Hulk Hogan, Che Guevara, Britney

Spears, Joseph Stalin and so on.

For more insight on the moustache issue, I

decided to ask Steve from England and Xavi from

Spain, two different guys with two different types

of facial hair what they think. Here‟s what they

said:

Myself: For how long have you had a

moustache?

Steve: It‟s hard to remember. Since I was born, I

think..

Xavi: 4 years, more or less. Since I had a

girlfriend..

Myself: In a word, how would you describe

your moustache?

Steve: Sandy/Dry.

Xavi: Black.

Myself: How would you describe the

relationship between you and your

moustache?

Steve: We‟ve grown very attached.

Xavi: It‟s a nice relationship. I take care of it, I

shave once a week.

Myself: Is there anything you would like to

say to all the people who don’t have a

moustache?

Steve: Having a moustache is something people

should experience at least once in their life… even

the ladies. If you can‟t grow one, make one out of

animal fur.

Xavi: Try to have a moustache! When you look in

the mirror, you‟ll see the person inside.

Well, there you have it: moustaches are not edible!

Nevertheless, everyone can see the must in the

moustache. It‟s an undeniable part of a man‟s life.

And don‟t forget, if you plan on going to Italy, try

growing a moustache… I‟ve heard it‟s very popular

in that country! (Tiberiu Pintilie)