Short Study Tour to Western Denmark

On Thursday, I woke up at 5am, because we had to meet at Frue Plads at 7 to leave for the study tour. Before the trip, no one knew what was on our agenda, so we were all a little nervous—especially since the days were obviously going to be so long. The bus ride was a little over two hours, and we arrived in Odense. 

Our first stop was the H.C. Anderson Skolen, a multicultural school with many non-ethnic Danes. We were given a tour (and lots of coffee and candy!), and we learned a lot about the school’s mission. It is filled with passionate teachers who support and encourage their students, while giving them the structure that that they often lack in their home environments. Many of the children come from immigrant or refugee families, with parents inflicted with PTSD. 

Next, we spent a bit of time eating lunch at “Volmuse Kulturehus”, a community center in a so-called ghetto of Denmark. The “ghetto” actually reminded me of a college campus. After lunch, we were given a tour of the Volmuse area by volunteers from Unge 2 Unge, an organization formed to make a positive difference to kids in the area, providing them with activities and other ways to keep them out of trouble, as well as strong positive role models. 

Then, we participated in a workshop run by the Act Now Theater group, which is typically for ethnic minority youth. The workshop was interesting but didn’t really have much to do with our class, so we were a bit confused. Later, Maja explained that her reasoning for choosing the workshop was to take us out of our comfort zones and experience something new—something that teachers should be able to handle. 

After that, we rode the bus to the hostel. This was my first hostel experience, and I was actually a little nervous. The hostel ended up being more like a hotel, and everyone said that that was because hostels in Denmark are typically a lot nicer than many other places in Europe. For dinner, we walked to a Turkish buffet, which was DELICIOUS!!! For dessert, they served us something that tasted like liquid cake, which sounds weird but I loved it. 

Friday

On Friday, we woke up at 8 and left for the Rosengårdenskolen, one of the largest public schools in Denmark. The school was very large and modern. What stood out to me the most were their playgrounds. They were electronic, and they were called “Education in motion”, with the capability to compete with children in playgrounds in other countries on academic and physical activities. What also stood out were the facilities available for handicapped children, such as a large heated exercise pool. 

We were given a couple hours to explore Odense and have lunch. Ironically, I ended up eating at a pizza place.

After a little eating and exploring, we made our way to the Frytøjet, or “The Tinderbox”, named after one of Hans Christian Anderson’s fairytales. He was the original writer of The Little Mermaid and tons of other famous stories, and he is one of the most well-known Danes. The Tinderbox is a cultural activity center geared toward children, which incorporates drama, theater, music, and storytelling. There, we got to dress up, paint, and hear the true story of the Little Mermaid, which is a lot different from Disney’s version. 

This is the plot of the H.C. Anderson version (it’s actually really interesting and worth reading):

“The Little Mermaid lives in an underwater kingdom with her father the sea king; her grandmother; and her six elder sisters, each born one year apart. When a mermaid turns 15, she is allowed to swim to the surface to watch the world above, and as the sisters become old enough, one of them visits the surface every year. As each of them returns, the Little Mermaid listens longingly to their various descriptions of the surface and of human beings.

When the Little Mermaid’s turn comes, she ventures to the surface, sees a ship with a handsome prince, and falls in love with him from a distance. A great storm hits, and the Little Mermaid saves the prince from a near-drowning. She delivers him unconscious to the shore near a temple. Here she waits until a young girl from the temple finds him. The prince never sees the Little Mermaid.

The Little Mermaid asks her grandmother whether humans can live forever if they do not drown. The grandmother explains that humans have a much shorter lifespan than merfolk’s 300 years, but that when mermaids die they turn to sea foam and cease to exist, while humans have an eternal soul that lives on in Heaven. The Little Mermaid, longing for the prince and an eternal soul, eventually visits the Sea Witch, who sells her a potion that gives her legs, in exchange for her tongue (as the Little Mermaid has the most intoxicating voice in the world). The Sea Witch warns, however, that once she becomes a human, she will never be able to return to the sea. Drinking the potion will make her feel as if a sword is being passed through her, yet when she recovers she will have two beautiful legs, and will be able to dance like no human has ever danced before. However, it will constantly feel like she is walking on sharp swords, and her feet will bleed most terribly. In addition, she will only get a soul if the prince loves her and marries her, for then a part of his soul will flow into her. Otherwise, at dawn on the first day after he marries another woman, the Little Mermaid will die brokenhearted and disintegrate into sea foam.

The Little Mermaid drinks the potion and meets the prince, who is attracted to her beauty and grace even though she is mute. Most of all he likes to see her dance, and she dances for him despite her excruciating pain. When the prince’s father orders his son to marry the neighboring king’s daughter, the prince tells the Little Mermaid he will not, because he does not love the princess. He goes on to say he can only love the young woman from the temple, who he believes rescued him, but adds that the Little Mermaid is beginning to take the temple girl’s place in his heart. It turns out that the princess is the temple girl, who had been sent to the temple to be educated. The prince loves her and the wedding is announced.

The prince and princess marry, and the Little Mermaid’s heart breaks. She thinks of all that she has given up and of all the pain she has suffered. She despairs, thinking of the death that awaits her, but before dawn, her sisters bring her a knife that the Sea Witch has given them in exchange for their long hair. If the Little Mermaid slays the prince with the knife and lets his blood drip on her feet, she will become a mermaid again, all her suffering will end and she will live out her full life.

The Little Mermaid cannot bring herself to kill the sleeping prince lying with his bride and, as dawn breaks, throws herself into the sea. Her body dissolves into foam, but instead of ceasing to exist, she feels the warmth of the sun; she has turned into a spirit, a daughter of the air. The other daughters of the air tell her she has become like them because she strove with all her heart to gain an eternal soul. She will earn her own soul by doing good deeds, and she will eventually rise up into the kingdom of God.”

After the Tinderbox, we saw the H.C. Anderson museum which was built off the actual house he lived in. 

Finally on Friday we went bowling as a class, which was really fun, even though I’m awful. 

Saturday

By Saturday we were all exhausted, so luckily the day was shorter. 

We took the bus to a different city, Næstved. 

There, we went to a museum which explained the history of the town, and after we traveled to a nearby “castle” (which was more like castle ruins where the Vordingborg castle used to be. The only part still standing was the goose tower, which we got to climb to the top of.

The tour was interesting, and view was really cool, but it was absolutely freezing inside and outside the tower, so I was glad when it was over, and it was time to go back to Copenhagen. Overall the tour was a lot of fun, and we learned a lot about Danish culture—especially different types of schools. The next study tour is March 5th, and we will be spending a week in London! 

Amanda takes a tumble

Yesterday goes down in the books as the first day that I rode my bike in the city of Copenhagen, and also the first time that I fell off my bike in the city of Copenhagen. Don’t ask me how it happened. I’m going to blame the bike. Thankfully, there were no cars coming, so I only ended up with a dirty jacket and some bruised knees. Besides that slight mishap, yesterday was great. I went into the city for class in the morning, then after class hung out at a nice little coffee place called The Living Room. It was dimly lit with huge comfortable couches, soft music, candlelight, and tons of “hiding” spots in different rooms. The only downside to the place is that it would be too dark to do reading or homework. In my next post, I’ll show a picture that Alex took there, which gives you a good sense of the atmosphere. I’ll definitely go back again! After that, I met up with Emil and biked to his apartment in Frederiksberg, which is about 5 kilometers from DIS. Then, we met my Danish language and culture professor and some other students for dinner at a nearby cafe where I had pasta with filet mignon. Thank you DIS!!! 

Today is Wednesday which means I have no class. Many Wednesdays I will have field studies in or around Copenhagen, but today there is nothing scheduled for me. Instead, I’ll be hanging out at home, doing laundry for the first time here (wish me luck), and then going into the city tonight for an event at the Studenterhuset, a cafe for students in Copenhagen: http://studenterhuset.com/

High heels and cobblestone streets

…not the best idea. Being in Denmark has been great for me so far—for the first time in my life, I can wear heels and not tower over everyone.  I’m 5’10, and that’s taller than the average American man, not to mention 95% of American women.  Here, the average height is around 6 feet for men. I’ve seen plenty of guys at least 6’4, which is rare in the U.S.. The only problem is that when I’ve tried wearing heels, they sometimes get stuck between the stones in the streets, resulting in an awkward stumble. I suppose that’s the price I have to pay.

Today was my first full Children in a Multicultural Context class—both the seminar and practicum discussion were today, so class was in “session” for a total of 4 and a half hours. Luckily, Danish professors seem to be more laid back than most American professors (so far). Maja, our professor for the class, gave us an hour lunch break, where our only tasks were to eat, and to ask random Danes on the street one of the following questions: 1) What is your definition of culture? 2) How do you feel about multiculturalism? or 3) What is your experience with or opinion on childcare in Denmark? The only thing that shocked me was that in Denmark, multiculturalism is almost seen as an issue that needs to be addressed.

In the U.S., we are a country of immigrants. We are used to our communities being composed of a plethora of ethnicities, and in schools, we try to teach our children to be tolerant and accepting of those different from us. In Denmark, immigration is a relatively new thing. For a long time, it was just the Danes here, with occasional European visitors. Some of the people on the street expressed distaste for multiculturalism, especially when the other cultures were not European. This is not to be confused with racism. There seems to be less racism here than there is in the U.S.. My host dad explained to me that since Danes pay such high taxes, even if they are suddenly unemployed, they will be financially assisted by the government, a lot more than we would be in the U.S. Recently, foreigners have been catching on to that, and that is part of the problem and why some people have negative attitudes about multiculturalism.

In class, we were warned about some of the shocking differences between the way Americans treat children and the way that Danes treat children. For one, adults in Denmark do not interfere with children’s playtime, even when there are disputes between two or more kids. Children are not punished for fighting. Instead, they are taught how to work out their differences on their own. Danish children are allowed to use normal forks and knives as toddlers. Sippy cups do not exist. Instead, children learn early that when they tip cups, the liquid spills, and then they are responsible for cleaning up the mess. On Thursday I will be working with kids for the first time, so I will be able to witness these, and probably many other differences firsthand. 

This morning I went for a run down a path near my house that’s right next to the sea. Even though it was only about 32 degrees, there were still tons of people outside running, walking and biking. Maybe that’s why I’ve yet to see more than a handful of people who look remotely overweight. Everyone seems to be active and fit. Speaking of active and fit, my host family has two other sons who are not living at home. One of them is 22 and is a swimmer at Arizona State. Today, Erik showed me a picture of him…MODELING with Candice Swanepoel, a Victoria’s Secret angel!!! If you don’t know who she is, I’d suggest looking her up to see just how big a deal that is. The other son Emil, who is 20, goes to the Architecture School at the University of Copenhagen and he lives in the city. I’ll be meeting him and his girlfriend today! 

Today for lunch, I tried herring for the first time. I usually consider myself very open minded when it comes to food, but this was actually scary at first. Uncooked, marinaded, silvery meat that actually still looks like a fish is not my cup of tea. But regardless, it’s very important for me to try everything at least once…no Mom and Dad, this does not include drugs or other illegal/morally compromising things :-).  

The herring wasn’t so bad, and since it’s a very common and traditional food in Denmark, I’d better get used to it! According to my host dad, I still have to try Carlsberg, because it’s “probably the best beer in the world”, and it’s as common in Denmark as Budweiser is at home. Speaking of my host dad and Budweiser, he told me a joke today that goes like this: 

“American beer is a little like making love in a canoe…it’s fucking close to water.” 

Pardon my language ;-)

Also, today I went to see the Queen’s summer castle, and did a little shopping with my host family. I bought a dress at the H&M (which is SOOOOOOO much better than the ones I’ve seen in the U.S.) for 30 Kroner, which is something like five dollars. 

In Denmark, the milk, yogurt, and sour cream are all packaged in cartons, like milk is in the U.S. I found that out the hard way today when I “poured” myself a large bowl of what I thought was yogurt for breakfast. After taking one heaping bite, I found out that even though it had pictures of strawberries on it, it was actually sour cream…yum.

Classes

Yesterday, I had my Children in a Multicultural Context class meeting, and found out that I will be working in a Kindergarten, which is like a preschool in the U.S., for 4-5 hours every Thursday. Today, I had my Criminology in Scandinavia, Human Trafficking in Europe, and Danish Language and Culture classes. All of my teachers are Danish but speak very good English. They are also all women, and seem very nice and approachable. Now, it’s naptime, and tonight is the Welcome Party at Discotek In, which is in the center of Copenhagen, near the DIS classrooms. 

Trains and Peanut Butter

One of these things you will find everywhere in Denmark. The other, not so much.

This morning, I missed my train, which was supposed to leave at 1:08. I got to the station at 1:06 and there was a train that was boarding, so I figured mine would be next to the station

….nope! Turns out that my train was just a couple minutes early, so it left without me. The next one left at 1:28, which means it arrived in Nørreport Station in Copenhagen at 1:55—FIVE MINUTES before my class. WHOOPS! Luckily I booked it and was only a few minutes late. It’s a weird feeling for me just sitting there for 20 minutes waiting for a train, knowing that I’m going to be late and there’s nothing I can do about it.

On another note, I am very thankful that I brought a huge jar of peanut butter from home. For some reason, lots of Danes are disgusted by it. I won’t tell anyone that I just ate about 3 servings of it straight out of the jar :-) 

January 20th

I’ve been here for 5 days now and it has flown by! My host family, Erik. Dorte and their 14 year old son Mathias picked me up at the Hotel next to the airport on Sunday morning. I was exhausted from the flight. They took me around Copenhagen to see the city and to get brunch. As we were walking to the restaurant, a truck spilled a bunch of bread out of the back, and Mathias ran up and grabbed a loaf. That’s when I knew we would get along just fine :-). The restaurant was one of the only businesses open on Sunday—usually even grocery stores are closed. Brunch was a buffet that consisted of everything from fruit salad to cheese to seafood and meat to breads and pasta and eggs. It definitely put Ponderosa and SLU’s Dana dining hall to shame. After brunch, we walked to DIS, where my classrooms are, and I realized that I was probably going to get lost due to the winded roads and streets that all look similar. Then, we drove to my host family’s house, which is about 30 minutes north of Copenhagen by car, in a suburb called Rungsted Kyst, which is right next to the Baltic Sea. On a clear day, you can see Sweden!

The home is a flat style, which means it is similar to a condo. The rooms are big with a lot of natural light, and the decorations are simple and clean but beautiful. This part is sort of difficult to explain: there are two sections of the house. The first is four stories, with the first being where you walk in and where the coat room is. The second is the kitchen/dining room area, which is very big, the third is the living room which has a huge wrap-around couch, and the fourth is Erik and Dorte’s room, a spare bedroom, and a bathroom. Connected to the kitchen is an unheated, glass hallway that leads to the second part of the house, which is where Mathias’ room and my room are, as well as a bathroom and a study room. I’ll show pictures in my next post. 

They showed me around the neighborhood. Right behind the house are running trails which  I will take advantage of when it gets warmer, and the house is also very close to Mathias’ school, as well as the sea. We live about a mile and a half from the train station that I will be taking into Copenhagen. For dinner that night, we had Veal, potatoes, vegetables and bread. The food here is noticeably more healthy and less processed than food in America (YAY!!!), which is one of the big differences I’ve noticed so far.

Other things I have noticed are that Danes are more concerned with preserving energy. They always turn lights off when they leave rooms, do not take unnecessarily long showers, and do not run the washing machine with only a few things in it. Also, the prices of cars here are 3 times the prices in America, so usually families have only one. Though they do have a car, it is more common to bike or walk. I will be biking to the train station every day for classes. On the trains, Danes rarely converse. Erik explained that they find it superficial to talk to people they don’t know. When we ask someone, “how are you?” In the U.S., do we actually want to know?  He warned me that if I ask that question to a Dane, I should expect nothing, or the “ugly truth”.

Monday-Wednesday there was orientation at DIS in Copenhagen, where we did a lot of exploring around the city. I saw the Strøget (photo below), which is the longest pedestrian shopping street in all of Europe. SO MANY AWESOME STORES!!! For the orientation, everyone had to participate in two scavenger hunt-like activities that forced us to walk around the city and explore different neighborhoods. Besides the Strøget, I also saw the changing of the guards at the Royal “Palace”, Rosenborg Castle, took a taxi boat along a canal in the center of the city, and met a lot of cool people. Today I have an orientation for my Child Diversity and Development practicum.