Aarhus University Seal

A global gathering

Students from around the world meet at weekly International Night.


By David Vranicar
univers@au.dk

With a little imagination, a Tuesday at the University Studenterhus can feel like a bit like a gathering of the United Nations.
Sure, people are hunched over beers instead of microphones, and there is far more laid-back chitchat than political banter. But as international students make their weekly trek to the Studenterhus, with representatives from Switzerland, the United States, Australia, Brazil and elsewhere in attendance, there is a worldly air to the proceedings.
And that’s exactly the point.
“I think it’s really important to have an international night here – to have a place where the internationals can go,” says Lea Kristensen, a Dane and Aarhus University grad who works at International Night. “You can always go downtown on Saturday with four or five friends. But if you really want to meet people from all over the world, you should come here.”

A midweek break

International Night, which amounts to a beer-filled gathering of students from around the globe, has been going on for more than a decade. The weekly event offers a reprieve from the hassles of organising a night out (it starts at 8 pm every Tuesday) and the wallet-busting prices of a downtown bar (drinks start at about DKK 20).
In addition, the International Centre organises occasional events for the weekly party – a D.J. evening, for instance, or a Halloween party or St. Patrick’s Day shindig.
So no, it’s not the United Nations. But it’s still a place where different nations unite.
“Everyone comes here,” says Jane Mulhall, a 21-year-old exchange student from Ireland sitting at a table surrounded by students from Australia and the U.S. “You’re guaranteed people are going to be here on Tuesday, so you come. But at home, on a Saturday or whatever, you have to arrange to go out with people. But everyone just comes here.”

A place to get together

While International Night officially starts in the upstairs bar of the Studenterhus, students tend to migrate to the downstairs bar by night’s end. That’s where Conradin Coviezel, a quad-lingual Swiss student, found himself – and a slew of his friends – last Tuesday.
“For me, I just come to see the other guys on a regular basis,” says Coviezel, who was celebrating his birthday with a handful of Germans and Australians. “You have some chill-out time, hang out a bit. Nothing spectacular, you know. After class everybody has an appointment, and you have to be somewhere. And we all study different subjects, so we can’t meet at class. But we can always meet here.”


 

who

Both international and Danish students

what

A place to meet and socialise

when

8 pm every Tuesday

where

Studenterhus Aarhus, Ndr. Ringgade 3

Additional information about International Night and other events can be found at the Studenterhus Web site, www.studenterhusaarhus.dk