How to make friends: Here’s our survival guide for new students in Aalborg

Written August 31, 2022 kl 12:03 pm by Vera Dvorakova

The women's team in Aalborg Basketball Club.

So you moved to Aalborg to start your studies: welcome!

As fulfilling as your studies might be, a big part of student life is finding new friends and experiencing a rich social life.

But we also know that it’s hard for students who are coming to Denmark from abroad and often alone. So whether you’re a social butterfly or an introvert, here’s our advice on how to make friends in Aalborg.

Attend parties

This might seem like stating the obvious, but parties – especially those organized for students – are a great way to make friends.

Aalborg University organizes an annual study start party at Gigantium and your study program will surely have a “RUS period” where your tutors take you out to pub crawls and organize various social activities for you.

And, if you live in a dorm (a kollegium in Danish) or have friends at one, you can be sure to join a kollegium party to meet people outside of your study program.

Search on Facebook

In this day and age, there’s no shame in finding friends online.

Luckily, the international community in Aalborg has various Facebook pages (like International Aalborg) where you can post if you need help, advice, or just someone to hang out with.

Apart from that, every university program often has its own Facebook or WhatsApp group to connect you with your new classmates.

Oh, and don’t forget to follow Facebook events in Aalborg to search for parties, concerts, and all sorts of other activities.

Find yourself an university association

Pretty much every department at Aalborg University has its own student association.

There are associations for everything from sports, student politics to psychology, journalism, and activism. Find the list of all of these here.

Hang out at a Friday bar

Friday bars are a bit of a Danish specialty.

On Fridays, most universities and university colleges open their volunteer-run bars which offer cheap drinks and the opportunity to meet people from other study programs and sometimes some members of the staff.

Who knows, some of them might become your friends!

Join a sports club

Sports and other hobbies are some of the best ways to get yourself Danish friends.

Danes love their hobbies and make sure their sports clubs and associations also include the social aspect.

It means that if you join a sports club, you can expect summer camps, shared dinners, and various social activities where you can bond over your favorite sport.

There are lots and lots of clubs in Aalborg, so our short article can’t cover it all, but you can get inspired to join some of these:

Learn how to play table games

The popularity of table games has been on the rise, especially in Denmark.

It’s a great way to meet new people and skip small talk – you just have to play.

Every other café or bar in Aalborg now offers some board games. You can definitely check out the board game guide our Danish sister site made here.

But if you are more of a board game geek, you will definitely enjoy a visit to Aalborg’s own board game café Dice ‘n Drinks and choose one of their many board games.

Alternatively, KFUM & KFUK (Danish YMCA) has its own volunteer-run board game café which opens every second Friday evening.

Both cafés also usually have volunteers ready to help you with the rules, which brings us to our last piece of advice…

Become a volunteer

Probably the safest bet on making friends in Aalborg is by becoming a volunteer.

The possibilities are endless, depending on your interests. You can become a bartender at the Student House, helping to organize some of their international nights and concerts.

Or you can get involved in your preferred sports club when it comes to clean-up or preparation for a competition.

But there are also various associations and NGOs, which will allow you to organize events, attend demonstrations, try out managing a team of people, or become an activist.