VIA University College, Campus Viborg

The Moustache
the 8th of April 2011

Volume 1, Issue 1I
Contents:
Victors thought : find out Victors
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 Erasmus students who went to Romania
on page 3;
Taste some music and find out more
about the Mogwai concert in rhus
on page 3;
Dont 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 semester in the Animation module on page

6;
Xavi can tell you more about campus sporting life on page 7;

ERASMUS CULTURE

Spanish Oasis
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 temperatures, short skirts and sandals. I
find this fantasy a good way of
keeping warm while walking
through the streets of Viborg.
Its 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 Ive 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 Bora Bora.
However, these places
much too far away for me. Then
I think I should remain in Europe and focus on a sunny but
still exotic place. So I have decided, Barcelona! Can you imagine walking around in a colourful, loose dress, little sandals,
sunglasses and maybe a big,
brown hat? This is just delicious! The best thing about this

fantasy is that I can get pretty

close to Barcelona daily, by living in our multinational hostel.
This happens because I can always 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

Xavis special sandwich

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 another slice of bread on top of the two
he had already put together! So he
started eating a triple pate sandwich. 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 explanation. We soon got used to seeing Xavi eating his famous sandwich everywhere but still nobody
dared to try it, yet!
The surprise sandwich was
one thing, but after a while I discovered 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 never say no to anything, Xavi will always 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)

Lets have a talk about moustaches

Inside this issue:

Victors thought - more fun with serious hilarious thoughts

News - the biting birds over the lake

have a sense for English people

VIA Talk - Danish students in Romania and did Erasmus work for them

Interview - Caroline talks about

Animation as a Learning Tool Mod-

Movie Night - what can you see in

the drama room or enjoy at home

Erasmus Pulse Check - whats new

these weeks for the two modules

5-6

Origami art - one more interesting

story about sculpture through folding

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.

The moustache, the

Danes call it overskg, 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 upper lip with their personality?
Or is it a way to gain attention?
Are moustaches edible? In order to find answers to these

questions, we must first take a

look at some famous moustaches 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 reputation for being quite grumpy.
Yet this important fellows
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)

THE MOUSTACHE

CREATIVITY CORNER

VICTORS THOUGHT

You're not alone!

Random thoughts
Revolution is in the hearts of people 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 really 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 paedophilia. And how can a kid guard or pleasure
me if it cannot even hold food in its
mouth?

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 toilets. 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 presence of a girl, shell fall in love with you immediately. I hate it when I share a pizza
with someone and that person takes the biggest slice. And I also hate people who say,
after 12am, "today" and not "tomorrow".
I dont like old people, they are holding on to their lives too much. Why wont
they just die already so I can replace them
and get their jobs? (Victor PREDA)

Where does a balloon go after a kid

loses it?

Dont say no.

Dont say to my heart:
Leave me alone and...go.
You know Ill stay,
you know Ill die.
You know that every second
youre not here I cry.
Don t throw away the memories,
dont close your eyes
and walk away.
Please,
Im begging youto stay.
I need the heat of your arms.
I need your heart,
because without it,
Ill be torn apart.
Just think about it,
before you leave,
before you say lies.
Just think of us,
Think of butterflies.

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. People get hit and beaten up with bats, shovels, pans, vases or even dildos, but I would
really like to see someone get beaten with
a microscope. I do not understand people

(Alin OSTAFE)

NEWS

Birds Attack
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 its happening 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 surrounded me. I didnt react to this as I just
presumed they wanted some food of which I
had none so I thought to myself, theyll get
bored and go away. I hadnt 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

PAGE 2

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
A few days later I was taking a stroll reported to be seen fleeing the scene screaming
with Manu around the same part of the lake. fucking hell!!!!!!! with a hot dog in her mouth and
We discovered a lovely spot, right by the lake coffee sloshing all over the place.
on a jetty. However upon sitting down they
descended. Swarms of gulls circling over our
So when will the end come? When will the
heads awaiting the call to attack .They were
birds finally rise up and take over?
getting lower and
Only time will tell. In the meantime
lower, we jumped
I recommend some safety
up and swiftly
precautions such as wearing a
moved off. They
helmet when out of the house to
followed,
we
protect your head, never wear
walked faster but
clothes made out of bread or carry
they continued to
bread on your person, ever! Some
circle,
looming
scientists also say that dressing in a
over our heads
bird costume when walking by the
getting closer and
lake or in areas with high bird
closer. Thankfully
activity could also work as this will
we
reached
a
confuse the beasts. Or just don't
It looks ready to attack!
more
populated
leave your house unless absolutely
area of the lake.
necessary, board up your doors and windows or
Cawing from a nearby tree told us that the
maybe even build an underground shelter. Then
leader had called off the attack and we would
and only then can you be 99% certain of avoiding
live to see another day.
the oncoming struggle. (Steven GIBSON)
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 didnt smoke my cigarette
and didnt stop running until I was far from
the lake.

VOLU ME 1, IS S U E 1 I

THE MOUSTACHE

NEWS

VIA TALK

Confessions of VIA Erasmus

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

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 shouldnt 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 wouldnt 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 wouldnt change them for anything
else! - Klaus (Adina PUN)

Bring back memories

home
country,
resuming
life where

they left
off.
Its 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 Ive 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

VOLU M E 1, IS S U E 1 I

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 rhus
Thursday, the 7th of April, the Erasmus students from Beta Hostel, Viborg, had
the pleasure to enjoy another great trip to
rhus where they could visit ros art museum and the science museum. Even if the trip
was close to 4 hours the contemporary art
and the great photo gallery amazed everyone. Also, there was a strange guy there, really 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?

Mogwai - music to self

An evil spirit or a devil as it could be translated, the post-rock band called Mogwai, played a
concert showcasing their new album in the city of
rhus last Thursday. Steve and I couldnt 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 everywhere 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 chaos, 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 wont even be able to talk about
it the next day, to meditate, to keep it in your special pocket of memories? Most of them probably
just dont care. Life is easier when you cant remember 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
`Im Jim Morrison, Im 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 album and `Hardcore will never die, but you will`,
stopped us all for a moment, the crowd couldnt
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 dont have any lyrics in their songs
and that makes everything so much more personal
and closer to the listener. And if no one can understand that or think that you would be crazy to listen 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 expectations. 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 didnt know about them before,
you should check them out. Enjoy! (Manuela
ENACHE)

We received a nice surprise, after

working on the first issue of The Moustache,
we had the chance to go and see Gilbert
OSullivans 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.

PAGE 3

THE MOUSTACHE

INTERVIEW

Caroline Henriques-Nielsen - Teaching through Animation

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. Weve 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; heres what she had to say:
The Moustache: What would be your selfdescription?
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 money and then go on journeys to Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, and different places in Europe.
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 wondering 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 decided 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?

CHN: I try to listen to myself and change

path when it is needed. I dont 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 wouldnt.
TM: And what is your favourite animation
character?
CHN: I dont have a favourite character,
but I like the story about Mary and Max,
and the characters in Brge Rings short
films
TM: Is there a recipe for a great animation? 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, running 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 animations. 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 different places in
the world, and yet
still manage every
time to find a common language.
(Manuela
ENACHE)
Caroline Henriques-Nielsen

REPORT

Erasmus food at VIA

Last Thursday,
all plates and pots full
of international food
had
only
one
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

PAGE 4

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 Choc 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
yesterdayand 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 Farca)

VOLU ME 1, IS S U E 1 I

THE MOUSTACHE

PULSE CHECK - INVESTIGATING PRACTICES

ERASMUS AGENDA

Climb, you lazy Erasmus student!

Youre invited to...

A full week for the Investigating Practices students consisted of presentations, climbing
and for some of us the first contact with the institutions 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!!!!! Its not the presentations we have to do for Amelas 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 wordHABERMAS. He will almost

So what else besides Habermas? We actually had some fun doing the PowerPoint
presentations for Amelas subject. There was
Xavi trying to read from a PowerPoint slide on
which he put a picture the colour of the picture 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 going 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 didn't sound like a native English speaker at all!
She confused the teacher so much that she began 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 challenging 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 parachuting 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.

Their last chance to escape climb Ioan!

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 dont!

So if you still think that Erasmus life is

boring and all about studying youre wrong!
It's all about having the time of your life and
learning as much as you can, even through doing activities such as climbing and hard sports
training. (Alexandra MARIAN)

Happy Birthday Ruana!!

...Origami Workshop every Tuesday from 2pm, room F180

Movie Night : Monday, 11th of
April, at 8 pm, in the Drama Room;
the traditional Thursday Dickens Night out. Every Thursday, the Erasmus students enjoy themselves at the
karaoke night.
the birthday parties every weekend. With or without music, playing
cards, talking nonsense or telling jokes,
well be there, ready for fun, in Beta Hostel, 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 programme by joining the Erasmus Viborg
2011 group on Facebook;
write to us with your suggestions, feedback or thoughts at themoustache@rocketmail.com.

Laugh your ass off

During the next couple of weeks there
will be people, as in the previous weeks, waiting 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 because they are silent and were shown last
week. The Gold Rush features Charlie Chaplin and the other one Buster Keaton. On
Wednesday the 6th, the cinephiles are invited to the Drama Room for Duck Soup(1933)
and The Apartment (1960), another two movies 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 communism 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.

VOLU M E 1, IS S U E 1 I

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 Python and the Holy
Grail (1975) don't feature fraternities, so
they must suck, but
yet again one is about
sex. I bet that caught
your attention! They
will be shown on Saturday and on Sunday
we will have another
night of funny stand
up with Mitch Hedberg, Steven Wright and Jimmy
Carr.

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)

They are just bad so dont come! One of them

died of an overdose, another one is boring and the
last one is an asshole.

PAGE 5

THE MOUSTACHE

ANIMATION MEMORIES

PULSE CHECK

Animation as a Learning Tool

As I wrote in my previous
article, the word which can best
define Erasmus student life is experience. In the time that has
passed since our previous meeting we can say that we have explored new horizons of the meaning of experience. We have had
moments that for some of us
helped to consolidate some pedagogical theories, while others
have had the chance to compare
teaching techniques from back
home with those used at VIA University College. For others there
was an opportunity to understand
what it means to teach others as
opposed to being taught themselves. 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 students and in turn, implement
them.
The students from Animation as
a Learning Tool had the opportunity to practice their Fieldwork
in a state school, two kindergartens 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 actually means for children aged between 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 situations and had to act spontaneously. 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. Lupinmarken , 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 observe 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

PAGE 6

by the feedback we received

from the pupils and teachers.
The work could be seen in the
animations made by the children 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 fieldwork goal. It was then that we
realised that we were all really pleased with the fieldwork,
for it was quite difficult to
choose one moment which related to the proposed theme.
At the same time, it also
helped us reflect on our fieldwork 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 although we work a lot with cutting 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 anything we had seen before,
which gave us the opportunity
to enter a magical space created 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 students tried their hand at
drawing animation.
This week started with Caroline and two guests from China, we received the VIA University College teachers` feedback about our fieldwork and
we also received some advice
on our final report.
Now I have to finish my article, but not before telling you
that we are going to visit Aarhus 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
CEAUESCU)

80 hours a week
It was just before Christmas
and we had just begun studying our
main subject when a breathless Borge Pugholm popped his head into
the drama hall at Reberbanen to
tell us about the wonders of the animation module. Very few of the people in the drama class took any notice 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 weve had for many
years.
After having further discussions with Borge we decided to join
the module after Christmas. Flemming and I were the first Danish
people on the Animation as a Learning 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 students 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 dont
know is hard for a Jutlander. But
our fellow students were very approachable 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 attempt at cross-european cooperation. And you know what? It went
pretty fucking well! As the weeks
went by we made more animations
in various groups. Meanwhile everyday life, in a manner of speaking,
crept up on us - but it was everyday
life where you work hard and dont
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 average time could
easily add up to
around 40 hours
per
week
and
sometimes up to
80 hours! But
what does that
matter when everything 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.

We were together with our

new classmates on a daily basis,
weekends and holidays, weekdays
and parties. There were always
plenty of cultural misunderstandings but they were almost always
dealt with a smile, like this buddy
dinner in Bjerringbro, for example.
As part of our job as buddies Flemming and I invited our mentees
over for dinner. The whole week before 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!). Friday came and we drove to Bjerringbro. 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 misunderstanding was all about. It turned out
that the Romanian guests had waited 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 people who are more open minded, sociable 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 preconceptions 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 )

VOLU ME 1, IS S U E 1 I

THE MOUSTACHE

ORIGAMI PEOPLE

Origami - The Golden Venture

Try to fold one piece, it may be useful
in case you go to jail! (Adina PUN)

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

Easter egg
Golden Venture

So, if you want to give

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.

folding a chance, well be

waiting for you in VIA
University College Building,
room F180, every Tuesday, at
14:00.

ERASMUS SPORTS LIFE

Discovering new games and sensations

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 isnt related to our classes or
studies, only the ones we do to have
fun.

So much to my surprise when one day

one a classmate asked me to play in a florball match. Florball? Whats this? I thought.
I had discovered a new game that Ive 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.

I would like to begin my first report by

talking about the new sports that Ive discovered 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 isnt true,
football is the most played sport here in
Denmark. So better for me, because football 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).

VOLU M E 1, IS S U E 1 I

The two teams after a great game

Florball demands a big physical resistance

and speed. At the end of the game you think
that you are going to die. Its very tiring and
also you have to fight against your state of
mind (which goes down as your fatigue rises).
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 handball team. The stadium was full of people
cheering all the time. And its a female
team... I say this because, if I think about
Spain, a female team would never fill the stadium as these girls do. I want to say that
here the female sports have a better consideration, and this is so good, supporting the female sport and elevating it at the same level
as the male game.
I also have to mention the regular volleyball matches played with my classmates. I
think Ive played more volleyball in these two
months than I have in my entire life. Its a
good sport too, with a high level of understanding 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. Im 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 enjoy as much as possible our time here in Denmark. (Xavier Sez )

PAGE 7

THE MOUSTACHE

Lets have a talk about moustaches

This issues Photo

(continued from the first page)

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!
Lets 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. Heres what they
said:
Myself: For how long have you had a
moustache?
Steve: Its hard to remember. Since I was born, I
think..

ERASMUS CULTURE

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

girlfriend..

(continued from the first page)

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 Barcelona you have to try the fish and the
paella in the port, or the traditional
tapas, patatas bravas, chipirones or
tortilla de patatas. This doesnt 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, everything 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.

The
Moustache

Myself: In a word, how would you describe

your moustache?
However, I must not forget to
mention the best football team in the
world (Xavis words), Football Club Barcelona, most commonly known as Bara.
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 dont 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 Spanish sun everywhere you are! And dont forget, if you ever need mayonnaise, our
kitchen is the place to be! (Diana
CCIULEANU)

Xavi: Black.
Myself: How would you describe the
relationship
between
you
and
your
moustache?
Steve: Weve grown very attached.
Xavi: Its 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 dont have a
moustache?
Steve: Having a moustache is something people
should experience at least once in their life even
the ladies. If you cant grow one, make one out of
animal fur.
Xavi: Try to have a moustache! When you look in
the mirror, youll see the person inside.
Well, there you have it: moustaches are not edible!
Nevertheless, everyone can see the must in the
moustache. Its an undeniable part of a mans life.
And dont forget, if you plan on going to Italy, try
growing a moustache Ive heard its very popular
in that country! (Tiberiu Pintilie)

EDITORIAL BOX
Assistant Editors

Diversity: the
art of thinking
independently
together.
Forbes

Steve: Sandy/Dry.

Editor in Chief

Adina PUN

Kate FURLONG

Xavier SEZ

Alexandra MARIAN

Ruana CEAUESCU

Tiberiu PINTILIE

Daniela FARCA

Samantha FRANCIS

Victor PREDA

Diana CCIULEANU

Steven GIBSON

Manuela ENACHE

You can find us at:

VIA University College, Campus Viborg
Prinsens Alle 1, 2 ,- 4, Camp Logos, BETA Hostel, 2nd floor, Viborg, 8800
Special thanks to VIA University College, Campus Viborg