Perri i Danmark

Reverse Culture Shock

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 11:37:03 -0500

I’ve been back for almost a week now, and the transition was actually easier than I thought. The worst part has been the jet lag, which I seem to be almost over at this point. But of course, there have been a few instances in which I’ve been kind of confused or overwhelmed by American culture. I waited until yesterday to brave the loudness of the mall, and American money is kind of confusing and weird. I also can’t quite get my head around why prices on things are not actually what you pay at the register because taxes aren’t added on yet. Overall, though, it’s been pretty easy to fall back into life at home.

I think this will be the last post of my adventure. I’m back in America and adjusted to life, so thank you for reading. It’s been a great semester. If I’m ever back in Denmark, this is where you’ll find me. Until then, you can keep up with my photos on my other blog or on Facebook.

England, Part 2

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 18:03:49 -0500

Our second day in London was my favorite. In the morning, we went to Camden market, where I had never been before. It’s basically this huge market full of hippies and punk rockers and really cheap Chinese and Indian food. I wished I could have spent all my money there. It was seriously such a cool place. When it’s warm out it must be a pretty happening place.

The afternoon was just as awesome because Mariska has a friend who works in Parliament, so we got a special tour of Parliament! It was amazing. We got to see the only original part of the building (built in 1097!), a chapel that is only for members of Parliament, the lobby for which the word lobbying was created, and we went out on a terrace on the river that is also for members of Parliament only. So cool.

On our last day in London, we squeezed in a bunch of things so that we could meet friends in the afternoon. We saw Tower of London, the Globe Theater, the Tate Modern, and St. Paul’s from the outside, Tower Bridge, and Millenium Bridge. It was so warm and sunny, so it was a great day to be out walking around. We were a little sad not to have time to go into all those places, but there’s only so much you can fit into a few days.

In the afternoon we met up with our friends to go to the Hyde Park Winter Wonderland, which was so much crazier than I expected it to be. It’s basically a giant Christmas market, plus an amusement park, all in Hyde Park just for December. There were tons of people, but it was a lot of fun. We also went to Harrods (also full of people) to wander around and see the Christmas stuff. It was giant and crazy, but I imagine it’s a pretty fun place to shop if you have the money. There’s even a whole section for pets!

Overall it was a fantastic trip. I absolutely love London, and it was so good to see a lot of old and new friends that I might not see otherwise. I hope that someday I’ll be able to go back and do even more.

England, Part 1

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 17:45:17 -0500

When I left Denmark on the 18th, I was sad to leave, but also really excited to go to England! Lisa and I met up there, where we were staying with our friend Lucy for the first few days. Lucy conveniently lives pretty close to some cool things, so for the first couple of days she gave us a tour. We went to Windsor Castle briefly, and also to Oxford, where Lucy goes to school. It was awesome to get an insider tour and see some of the places where Harry Potter was filmed. This is the Harry Potter infirmary!

We also had some really great food while we were there. I love English pub food, so I was really excited to have pie, fish and chips, and mushy peas. The best thing I had was a mint and lamb pie in Oxford.

After Oxford, we went to stay with our friend Mariska for a few days, and she showed us around London. Even though I had already done a lot of the touristy things the last time, it was still a lot of fun to do them again. The London Eye is definitely worth doing more than once. It has a great view of the city.

We also went to Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery, and Covent Gardens, and walked around a lot. It was really good to just wander around and enjoy the city because London is one of my favorites. And there were lots of Christmas markets, so I had a little bit of Denmark to keep me from missing Copenhagen too much :)

Home

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 09:52:42 -0500

I just wanted to let everyone know that I am finally home and will finish updating about my travels after Christmas. I hope everyone is having a great holiday season!

London!

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 16:19:21 -0500

I haven’t had time to update, and probably won’t until I am back in the states, but I’m having a fantastic time in London. I’ve been here before, but it’s a city I would be happy to visit over and over again. Pictures and stories when I get home. I can’t believe I’m going to be back in Massachusetts in 2 days.

Vi ses, Danmark.

Sat, 17 Dec 2011 12:00:33 -0500

Today was my last full day in Denmark. I can’t believe it at all. This semester flew by, even if there were times where it felt like time was only inching along. It is so hard to believe that tomorrow morning I’m leaving a place that I now consider my home. I will never forget this experience and the things that it taught me. Yesterday at our closing ceremony, someone mentioned that sometimes you need to leave what you know as normal to grow because you need to be forced outside your comfort zone. I completely agree with this. I have learned so much, all because I was willing to make myself uncomfortable and try things I wouldn’t have in any other situation.

So thank you to everyone at home who helped me decide to come here, and thank you to everyone here who made my experience in Denmark amazing. Vi ses, Danmark. Jeg elsker dig, og jeg skal savne dig.

Dyrehaven, Christmas markets and more.

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 06:38:00 -0500

Wednesday ended up being my final day of adventuring due to studying for my last final and a train worker strike, so I’m really glad I got to do all of the things I was excited about by then. My first stop was to Klampenborg, where I met up with some of my friends to go to Dyrehaven (the deer park). It’s basically this huge fenced in forest full of deer. When we first got there we were unsure of whether or not we’d really see any deer because the first area we walked through was relatively empty. But eventually we looked off the path and saw probably about 50 deer just standing around. It was amazing.

There were the larger deer, like in that picture, but there were also many smaller deer that were much less afraid of people. There was actually one that let us get about a foot away from it and it didn’t run away. We later found out that we weren’t supposed to be in that area so close to the deer, but the sign was in Danish, so we had no idea. The guy who found us was pretty understanding because the signs really were not helpful if you don’t know very much Danish.

For the afternoon, we decided to check out some Christmas markets. We had been lucky all morning with the weather, but by the time we got to Nyhavn, it started to pour. Fortunately, the Christiania Christmas market is indoors, so we hopped on the metro and only had to get wet walking from the metro stop to Christiania. I’d already bought all of my Christmas gifts, but I wished I hadn’t when I saw this market. It was a huge room filled with different vendors with all kinds of amazing things. There were really cool candles, jewelry, and clothes, among many other things. It was definitely the coolest Christmas market I’ve seen in Copenhagen.

After some shopping, we decided we wanted to be warm and dry, so we headed back to my friends’ house for dinner. It was a lot of fun to see someone else’s house and meet their host family, but also spend one last night with friends before we go. It was definitely a great way to spend one of my last days here.

I’ve gotten more than one question about housing, but...

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 07:08:34 -0500

I’ve gotten more than one question about housing, but I’m going to answer them all here. I can only give a definite opinion about living with a host family, because that is what I chose, but I can talk about how I came to that decision when I applied to DIS.

I love living with my host family. I think it is one of the only ways to get the real Danish experience while studying in a program full of Americans. You get to eat Danish food, learn a lot of Danish words, and feel like you are a part of a Danish family. I know people who live in kollegiums, and many of them are jealous of the culture I’ve experienced. And it does help that your host family feeds you :)

The only possible disadvantage to living with a host family is that there is usually a long commute. That sometimes makes it a little hard to stay out late in Copenhagen, or forces you to get up very, very early for a class. But at this point, I love my commute and I’m happy I have it. Maybe I missed out on some partying in the city, but it doesn’t bother me all that much.

I think where you live all really depends on what you’re looking for. If you want to get a serious cultural experience, a host family is definitely the way to go. If you’re worried about going back to living with parents and want to be with people your own age, it might be better to live in one of the other housing options. If you’re not sure, you can always have a visiting family or choose a Danish roommate. If you’re looking for a short commute, DIS housing might be the best choice. It’s a very personal decision, so it’s really up to you. These are just some things to think about.

Castles & Cupcakes

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 06:49:00 -0500

Ok, I guess it was really only one castle and one cupcake, but you get the point. Tuesday’s adventure was to Kronborg castle in Helsingør, also known as the castle from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. It wasn’t the best day to go because it was ridiculously windy and rainy, but when you have a limited number of days left in Denmark and all of them are forecasted to be rainy, you take what you can get. And it was definitely worth it. The castle was beautiful inside and out.

One of the coolest (and creepiest) parts of the castle is that you get to go into the passages underneath it. That’s where the famous statue of Holger Danske is. I think the story is that if Denmark is ever in trouble, he will wake up and come to the rescue. But other than that, it was a little scary and I kind of wished I had someone with me.

I tried to get some photos of the ocean because I haven’t really been to the coast, but at that point I was getting pelted with freezing rain and was soaking wet, so it was a little difficult. After a little while I gave up and went back to the train.

At the end of the day, I needed a reward for freezing adventure, so I went to Agnes’s cupcakes. I’ve been meaning to go there all semester, but couldn’t bring myself to spend so much money on a cupcake. But this seemed like the right time, so I got what was probably the best cupcake I’ve ever eaten. It was a good way to end a great day.

what resources did you use to help you learn danish? im going to go to denmark at the end of the summer for 10 months :)

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 10:29:35 -0500

I took a Danish class through the program that I’m studying with. I’m pretty sure it’s not open to people not in the program, but I’m sure there are other Danish classes out there. I think that’s probably the best way to learn. Also, putting yourself in a lot of situations where you have to listen to people speaking Danish is always good. I’ve learned a lot more vocabulary just through listening to other people talk after I’d already learned some of the basics.

have you been to christiana? the 'free' city? and what have you heard from the danish about roskilde? i know its an awesome festival so planning on going!

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 06:43:35 -0500

I have been to Christiania. It’s a pretty cool place. Definitely worth reading up on before you go so that you know a little more about it. And I have heard that the Roskilde festival is great. It’s in the summer, though, so I won’t be going.

Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 07:45:00 -0500

Today I started checking off things on my Copenhagen bucket list by going to the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek because it’s free on Sundays. Of course, as soon as I got off the train I realized I forgot my camera, which was really disappointing because the indoor garden was gorgeous. (I just Googled to find this picture.)

I’m a little museumed out at this point because Europe is so full of museums, so I went through a few sections pretty quickly. There’s a ton of ancient art, but I really enjoyed the more modern Danish paintings and the French sculptures. For anyone planning to go on a Sunday, I might suggest not getting there right when it opened because some parts of the museum were pretty crowded right at 11. But it was a really cool museum and I would definitely recommend it, especially if you like sculpture.

I've realized that Denmark is a very expensive country. How did you do it to afford such a trip? Scholarships? Loans? Savings?

Sat, 10 Dec 2011 11:41:23 -0500

As far as I know, DIS has a few scholarships for people on financial aid at their home institution. Other than that, I don’t know if there are any other scholarships you can get. I saved up a bunch of money before I came to Denmark because I knew it would be expensive. I think it’s really a personal thing- it depends on how much money you have, whether your parents are willing to help out, and whether you’re on financial aid.

Thank you so much for your blog- it has really made me excited for the Spring semester at DIS. I'm also signed up for the Child Diversity and Development: Special Needs section and thought your perspective on the classes was really great. If there is any advice you have for a CDD student coming in the spring I would love to know! Also good luck with finals and everything :)

Sat, 10 Dec 2011 04:04:50 -0500

No problem. I’m glad you’re enjoying the blog. I guess my advice would be to step outside your comfort zone. You have a limited time with the kids at your practicum, and the semester is a lot shorter than you think, so take advantage of the opportunity to challenge yourself. Also, you’ll have Trine as a teacher, and she’s great. Make sure she tells you fun facts about herself :) Enjoy your semester!

How far do you have to travel to get to class? Do you have to purchase a bike to get around?

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 14:36:00 -0500

I personally travel about an hour to get to class, but it’s different for everyone. Some people walk, some people take the bus, some people take the train. I don’t use a bike at all, but again, it’s different for everyone and really depends on where you live. Most people I know that use bikes a lot are in kollegiums, DIS housing, or have host families that don’t live within walking distance of a train station. I would say you can probably decide once you get here because then you can always return your train pass for cash if you don’t need it. You might have to buy one, but you can definitely get around without one. And often host families will have one for you to borrow.

Time to answer some questions. Ss- Not entirely sure what you...

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 09:00:22 -0500

Time to answer some questions.

Ss- Not entirely sure what you mean by this, but I’ll try my best. It is probably more expensive to fly to countries very nearby than to take the train. It’s good to look into prices of both before you buy tickets. It’s also relatively more expensive to fly out of Copenhagen to certain places, but it really depends. Flights to London and Stockholm tend to be cheap, based on my/my friends’ experiences.

Worried- This is pretty much the same as at your home university. If you don’t want to drink, don’t let anyone pressure you into it. Find things to do with your friends that don’t involve drinking, or if they go out for a beer, drink soda instead. Just try not to isolate yourself at home because you don’t drink. I don’t really party, but I still do things with my friends and have a great time.

Anonymous- I don’t know anything about the class and haven’t come across anyone taking it. I have a friend taking a different leadership class, though, which she loves. Sorry I can’t be more helpful on that. Try some of the other student bloggers?

I’ll answer some more questions in the next few days. If you have more, keep them coming.

DIS Top 3

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 16:25:03 -0500

DIS is a program that has a lot of great qualities, and definitely has a lot of improvements to be made. But here are the few of the things I’ve really enjoyed about DIS.

1. Field Studies/Study Tours. I have learned so much from going to different places (and different countries, for that matter) and hearing from people that are working in the fields I am studying. There is only so much time you can spend sitting in class and listening to the same teachers every day. Going out and learning by experiencing different things is so important, and I think we are really lacking in this kind of study in the U.S. We could definitely incorporate more field studies into our education system to make our classes a lot more interesting. In fact, my best two classes at Smith have both involved going out and doing, rather than sitting and listening.

2. Teachers. The teachers here are so enthusiastic about their subjects because they are teaching the subjects they enjoy. Most teachers are working at DIS on the side of their regular job, so they really want to be in class with you. And when the teachers want to be there, it makes me want to be there and makes class much more interesting. They also really care about the students. On the last day of my core class, my teachers handed out hand crocheted Danish flags to the entire class and hugged us. After class when I talked to them, they told me how much they really enjoyed reading this blog and having me in the class. Having that kind of connection with the students is what makes great teachers. They genuinely care about us and about helping us learn.

3. Social Aspect of Classes. All of the classes at DIS have a social budget, and that makes a huge difference in how close the class becomes. In the classes where did more together, we became closer. My Danish class bonded over smørrebrød and my Adolescence class became friends though ice cream. And who doesn’t love getting a giant pastry in the middle of a cold and windy field trip? Of course, my core class was the closest, but all of the teachers tried to use social activities to bring us together. It’s nice to really know people in your class, and DIS definitely helped to facilitate that.

My last day of classes is tomorrow. I definitely don’t regret choosing this program.

Random Observation #14: Toilets

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 11:22:29 -0500

All of the toilets here have two functions: half flush and full flush. So much water saved just by pushing the right button. I don’t know if newer toilets in the U.S. have this option, but if they don’t, they should.

Christmas decorations!

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 09:45:45 -0500

Candle that counts down the days.

Advent candles.

Christmas decorations!

Big news...

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 03:46:00 -0500

I’m the blogger of the semester at DIS! Last night all of the bloggers (you should read their blogs too) got together and had a fantastic dinner to celebrate the semester, and it was announced that I had the blog of the semester. Thanks so much for reading- this blog would be nothing without everyone who reads, comments, and asks questions. But don’t worry. I’m not done just yet. I still have a week and a half to tell you about all of the exciting things in Denmark, and I’m traveling to England afterward, so you’ll hear about that, too.

But thanks again! It’s been a great semester, and I’m sure the last 10 days will be just as awesome :)