Scandinavia SUCKS

[warpus]

Wait, what...
You actually have to PAY for HIGHSCHOOL, or did I get this wrong ?

No, but here's one example of what I was referencing: Here in Canada high schools make shady deals with uniform manufacturers - and as a result parents have to pay marked up prices on uniforms, for high schools that mandate them. You can only get the uniforms through one company, they take full advantage of the sweet deal, etc.

It's similar to how students are ripped off for text books and on-campus food at universities. Full exploitation of the students, just so that money can be made.

 

[aelf]

No, people who choose to spend their money on useless crap over saving actual human lives perhaps should think twice about calling anyone selfish.

Then, again, you can't call anyone out for committing crimes if you've committed crimes yourself.

It's a matter of degree, get it?

 

[luiz]

Then, again, you can't call anyone out for committing crimes if you've committed crimes yourself.

It's a matter of degree, get it?

I certainly don't criticize anyone for committing crimes that I commit myself. In fact the only crimes I commit are the ones I don't think should be crimes in the first place.

 

[Terxpahseyton]

It's similar to how students are ripped off for text books and on-campus food at universities. Full exploitation of the students, just so that money can be made.

That brings us to another thing I always found very curious about America (or Canada, apparently). From Germany, I am used to that school books play no actual major role in school. Every teacher got his own personal plan and material to teach and textbooks only serve as an addition. But in American schools, they often seemed to determine most of the curriculum. Though okay, German teachers also have to attend special full-grown university programs to be able to teach, so that may explain that.
But then I heard about university courses doing much the same, while over here books are usually superfluous to follow a given university course. They rather serve as a means to expand or reflect on what was taught or most of all to do presentations or papers going beyond what is straight-up taught.

 

[warpus]

Though okay, German teachers also have to attend special full-grown university programs to be able to teach, so that may explain that.

That sounds like a very good idea. Over here all you need I believe is a phD. As such, people who have no idea how to teach end up becoming professors.. and they can never get fired if they suck, because tenure.

There were several Chinese math professors I had in university, who couldn't really speak English. One of them was so bad I could literally not understand a single word. He just stood there facing the board the entire time and continued scribbling stuff on it. No interaction with the class, because his command of English was so poor it wouldn't have been possible. I had to teach myself the material on my own time.

Shows you where their priorities lie, when they don't even make a point of trying to ensure that the people teaching can actually teach.

I am used to that school books play no actual major role in school.

From my experience books played a relatively large role - in that they had all the assignment questions and readings that you had to do, write essays about, etc. I spent a couple hundred $ per term on books. From my understanding things are even worse now - books costing $100+ each.

They've taken this exploitation to such a degree that new editions of each book are printed each year - and in many cases students are forced to buy the new edition - even though all that's changed is a couple words here and there. The old edition can be bought second hand, but they don't want that, because they want to make money. They want students to buy new editions - so they force them to pay up by forcing new editions on them every single year..

Another problem is the food costs on campus. Here where I work there is a Harvey's on campus - a fast food chain. There is another Harvey's, just off-campus, maybe a 15 minute walk from the food court.

Guess which one is cheaper.. guess which one offers $6 foot longs and which one charges $8. Guess which one accepts regular coupons and which one doesn't accept any.

It's blatant exploitation of students and nobody's really complaining about it (loud enough).

 

[Tahuti]

That sounds like a very good idea. Over here all you need I believe is a phD. As such, people who have no idea how to teach end up becoming professors.. and they can never get fired if they suck, because tenure.

There were several Chinese math professors I had in university, who couldn't really speak English. One of them was so bad I could literally not understand a single word. He just stood there facing the board the entire time and continued scribbling stuff on it. No interaction with the class, because his command of English was so poor it wouldn't have been possible. I had to teach myself the material on my own time.

Shows you where their priorities lie, when they don't even make a point of trying to ensure that the people teaching can actually teach.

"Sorry, we Canadians are so multicultural! Eh, Sorry!"

 

[jackelgull]

"Sorry, we Canadians are so multicultural! Eh, Sorry!"

Well, not being able to understand the professor is really a detriment to learning isn't it?

 

[Terxpahseyton]

That sounds like a very good idea. Over here all you need I believe is a phD.

Oh no don't misunderstand me. At that passage I only referred to school school. High School or whatever. I think our professors don't get to take any actual teaching classes, either. Though mostly I had no bad experiences. Except this one guy. He was not an actual professor. Just a guy pursuing his scientific career, trying to achieve professor-status I think (over here, you have to do a special scientific project to become professor, similar to how you have to do a special scientific project to achieve a doctorate - I think at least in the US it is different, professor is just some kind of title).
Anyway, I attended an advanced class on econometrics with this guy and he straight up told us that in his previous class on that, in the middle of the term, the students collectively got up in class and told him that they had no idea what he was talking about most of the time. And it wasn't much better in my class. He just got his head so full of mathematics that he would jump the mathematical steps and just kept on drawing crazy mathematical stuff on the board, living in his own little frame of mind where it was all so obvious. I never have felt so continuously dumb in a class I took...

and they can never get fired if they suck, because tenure.

From I gathered, that tenure can not possibly worse than our professor status.
I have read about 'publish or perish' in the Anglo-Saxon world. That may apply over here as well as long if you are not a professor. But if you are..
As I recall there actually was a court case where they tried to fire a professor because he was just lazy and enjoying his time. The court ruled against it. Because independence of science. I think you can pretty much do anything if you are a professor over her accept ignore your teaching obligations or just live on the Bermudas all-through the year or show up naked in class or something like that.

There were several Chinese math professors I had in university, who couldn't really speak English. One of them was so bad I could literally not understand a single word. He just stood there facing the board the entire time and continued scribbling stuff on it. No interaction with the class, because his command of English was so poor it wouldn't have been possible. I had to teach myself the material on my own time.

Wow that sounds terrible The worse I got in that regard was a guy who had immigrated from Turkey and who had a bad habit of swallowing crucial-to-understand-him-parts of his words. But it was manageable.

From my experience books played a relatively large role - in that they had all the assignment questions and readings that you had to do, write essays about, etc. I spent a couple hundred $ per term on books. From my understanding things are even worse now - books costing $100+ each.

Yeah nothing like that exists over here. If you have to read it, it will be ensured that you pay nothing for it. The rare exception are bundles of excerpts which may cost you 8-15 euros. But you rarely have more than two of those in a semester if you have them at all.

Another problem is the food costs on campus. Here where I work there is a Harvey's on campus - a fast food chain. There is another Harvey's, just off-campus, maybe a 15 minute walk from the food court.

But you do have cafeterias on campus, don't you? I know I have seen them. Any public German university has them (and there are mostly only public universities) and you pay about 1,50 - 3€ for a full wholesome meal. Whereas 3€ gets you fairly good quality. Though cafeteria food can also be a bit sucky. But mostly it is okay. And it is fairly healthy. No fast food.
My experience with American Highschool cafeteria food (two different high schools in two different states) was so abysmal it still seems like a bad stereo-type to me. The older kids with cars got their food at a fast-food-joint near by and it was better.

It's blatant exploitation of students and nobody's really complaining about it (loud enough).

Complain to your boot straps, man!

 

[warpus]

But you do have cafeterias on campus, don't you? I know I have seen them. Any public German university has them (and there are mostly only public universities) and you pay about 1,50 - 3€ for a full wholesome meal. Whereas 3€ gets you fairly good quality.

Yeah, there are cafeterias, but what I'm saying is that every single meal sold there is overpriced. You can get a lot cheaper if you eat off campus. The only place on campus where they have decently priced food is the Grad Club - which operates (as far as I know) independently of the university in many ways.

I work here, so it's even blatant exploitation from my point of view - someone who gets paid to come here, as opposed the opposite.. For lunch today I had a small hotdog and something vaguely resembling a poutine.. and a small drink.. came to $11. Off campus such a meal would cost less.

And don't even get me started with the horrible selection - it's pretty much all fast food. The "middle eastern eatery" that just opened up at the central food court here - $8.50 shawarmas that aren't even made by people who know anything about shawarmas. I can get a $6.50 shawarma off campus made by someone who grew up on the food that's 100 times more authentic, not to mention tastier.

Whenever the food people hand out "rate us" cards, I tell them to stop exploiting the F ing students.

 

[GenMarshall]

Yea I never got that part about American culture. In Denmark you usually just meet and kinda hook up, usually at parties, until at some point you decide you like each other more than just physically. The whole eating out/dating thing usually happens after you're something of an item when you're kind of figuring out the first phase of your actual relationship.

Somehow, if it wernt for the fear of rejection on my part, I'd fare much better in the dating/relationship department.

 

[Farm Boy]

On campus cafeteria systems have a hard time of making a go of it. They generally pay their employees better than McDonald's minimum wage and that's enough to kill price competitiveness right there.

But yea, ''food court'' private restaurants on campus generally really suck.

 

[BirraImperial]

I heard Danish girls tend to be much more forward with men... I definetly would've done much better there...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Tahuti]

I heard Danish girls tend to be much more forward with men... I definetly would've done much better there...

Don't overromanticise it too much. Sometimes, women who take the initiative are likeable, though sometimes their advances kinda resemble sexual intimidation. Of course, they are women, so you have to shrug it off. That's life.

 

[Traitorfish]

Don't overromanticise it too much. Sometimes, women who take the initiative are likeable, though sometimes their advances kinda resemble sexual intimidation.

Hey, wow, that's almost like the experiences of all women everywhere.

 

[gay_Aleks]

Then again, most exotic places for some reason contain the following things: wealth, deadly monsters and exotic, raunchy women.

Then again, perhaps calling Danish women (no offence meant!) "exotic" might be an overstatement. At least, in Europe. Somewhere, over in Chinese mainlands, this is the hottest thing ever.

If they have Internet connection. They probably do.

 

[Tahuti]

Hey, wow, that's almost like the experiences of all women everywhere.

Well, while I do not consider females to be subservenient to males, I do consider double gender standards perfectly healthy. So I consider the heavier treatment of sexual intimidation towards women compared to men not as a bad thing.

 

[Farm Boy]

Then again, most exotic places for some reason contain the following things: wealth, deadly monsters and exotic, raunchy women.

Then again, perhaps calling Danish women (no offence meant!) "exotic" might be an overstatement. At least, in Europe. Somewhere, over in Chinese mainlands, this is the hottest thing ever.

If they have Internet connection. They probably do.

Well, porn is still illegal in the PRC. Though, from what I hear the government doesn't really care so much unless the women in it are Chinese.

 

[Angst]

It's not uncommon for girls to grope men in Denmark. Well, for both genders to grope each other. We grope a lot.

 

[Terxpahseyton]

I had been slapped on the butt once in a while by a girl a while back. It was a bit odd - and I never quit understood why this even happened (it isn't exactly common in Germany from my experience)
But in the end I liked it (am I now a whore?).
I think it could only be any kind of serious problem for me if in some sort of professional environment a superior woman did it. However, I can see how it could be also unpleasant in a private context. Though I can not imagine it to not be something I could very well handle.

In my teens I also occasionally slapped a class mate with a really good butt on said butt. Even though we did not actually know each other very well. It was just a very slap-able butt. I am pretty sure she liked it. However, nowadays I just have to laugh when thinking of it, because I definitely would not do this these days and I am actually baffled that I did back then.

 

[Tahuti]

It's not uncommon for girls to grope men in Denmark. Well, for both genders to grope each other. We grope a lot.

I have been groped by women in the past. I'm okay with it since I considered it acompliment, though I'm also pretty sure that if I did the same with women I would've ended up in jail, so I wouldn't think of ever doing it myself.

Simply put, a female who gropes a male finds the guy attractive. A male who gropes a female is a pervert.