Okay so it's now June 19th? It's been about a month since I've been home from Denmark and it already feels like my study abroad experience was months ago, as if I went last fall rather than this past semester.
Looking on the bright side of things, I am working at a sleepaway camp for the summer. While I will not disclose the name of the site, since I'm writing this on a public blog, I'll just say that the camp serves kids from 6-16 with life-threatening/chronic illnesses. So far I'm into my fourth day of training and it has been great so far. I'll be working with girls ages 9-12 but I won't be sleeping in the cabin. Instead I will be sleeping in the program staff building, which is essentially like old hotel rooms with 2 queen-size beds and private bathrooms in each room. Although I haven't had a roommate since freshman year, I'm digging the queen-size bed and the privacy. It will be nice to have my own place to go to at night and not get woken up at 2am by a camper. So far in training we have gone over the various illness of the population we serve: blood disorders such as hemophilia, sickle cell, and HIV; neuromuscular disorders such as cerebral palsy and spina bifida; cancer, and some others. It was a lot of information to take in at once and I left feeling a bit overwhelmed and nervous about forgetting how to take care of a camper. However, everyone here is extremely helpful and friendly, and all the returning counselors were helpful in reassuring us that not only will we learn over time, but there will always be other counselors around to work with us. Some of the things are easy to remember, such as hydrating the kids (especially for sickle cell) and sunscreen (especially for cancer), which are things we should be doing for all the kids anyway since it is summer. Although the pictures of the various types of catheters, which are tubes that go into a child's body be it in the chest, side, or stomach, were a little disturbing and made me feel a bit queasy. I think that will take some time getting used to. Today we went over how to lift children safely out of wheelchairs so as not to hurt ourselves or the child, which was not only extremely important information, but helpful.
I've already cried about three times this week, so I'm sure it will be an emotional summer. Everyone here talks about how magical this place is, and I cannot wait to experience this for myself. This camp allows children to be a normal kid for one week and to have fun. For one week in their entire life they get to be out of the hospital, run around, and do fun summer activities that the rest of us take for granted. For some children, this will be there first time getting into a swimming pool, or their first time on a horse or the high ropes course. These children who are told "no, you can't do this" their whole life, get to prove everybody wrong. So I can't wait to experience that. Listening to some of the staff's stories, there are counselors here who were former campers. They all have such moving stories. Two individuals who were former cancer patients, talked about how they don't regret having cancer, and how they are happy they had cancer, because then they never would have come to this camp as a camper and found this place. Isn't that so amazing? As human beings, we tend to focus on the negative things in our lives, especially on the negative aspects of illness; yet it takes a really strong person to look at something so difficult as cancer, and find the goodness in it. So I'm already feeling inspired to do good things and to stay optimistic and I've only been here for 4 days!!
Friday, June 19, 2009
Saturday, May 9, 2009
the beginning of the end
So I literally have 1 week left until a leave the place I have called home for the last 4 months. It's unreal, and I had to keep myself from crying when I thought about it today in the car ride home. Copenhagen has truly become my home. 4 months may not sound like a long time, but I did so much more than study here, I really did live here, which made my 4 months seem so much longer. I feel like I have kind of settled here. And now its time to pack up everything and leave.
How do you say goodbye to someone you know you will never see again? It's a strange feeling, really. This past Thursday was my last day at my practicum, and it was really hard to find the right words to say goodbye, because I knew, and they knew, that I would never see them again. I was saying goodbye to Lila, and she actually said to me "so, I'm never going to see you again". It's hurtful in a way that makes you want to apologize for leaving. One little girl, my favorite girl Mathilde, cried when she realized I was leaving. That was really touching. I am going to miss her so much. She is the cutest girl I have ever seen, the epitome of Danish: blond hair, big beautiful blue eyes, and so cute and small (she's about 2 1/2). Every Thursday her face would light up and she would grin as I walked into the classroom. She would immediately put out her small hand for me to take and would say "come. come here!" I wish I could take her with me.
My host family has by far been my greatest experience here in Denmark. Without them, I would have been much more homesick, and I don't think I would've liked it here as much. The Danes are really reserved, so having a close-knit family to come home to at the end of the day instead of going back to a quiet 5 x 9 dorm room, was wonderful. I've learned so much about Danish culture through them, and I really really feel like I am part of their family. Without getting sappy, words really can't explain how much they mean to me, and I know that they will forever be in my heart.
Some things that I am going to miss about Denmark:
1. My host family DUHHHH! :-D
2. Mathilde and Assia at my practicum site. Cutest girls ever!
3. Danish pastries and cakes, aka the bane of my existence and the explanation for my food baby
4. Fløbeller. As Michael says, "what they eat in heaven".
5. Helle, my CMC instructor and one of the most amazing people I have ever met
6. The refugee school in Holland: such an inspiration
7. St. Peter's Bakery and their 12kr special aka the only thing in CPH that I could afford
8.Things being made from scratch: homemade sushi and thai food? That'll never happen again :(
9. The generosity of Danes: they always helped me when I got lost. Some would even come with me to show me the way! In NYC, it would take you 10 mins before you could even stop someone to ask for directions
10. The parks
11. hygge
12. My host parent's cooking esp. their thai dishes! DELICIOUS!
13. The trampoline in our backyard
14. Tea. Though my host parents gave me a teapot and tea for my bday so I'm bringin that back to the States!
15. The colorful buildings
16. The city's european feel, how old it is
17. Cobblestone streets. Though I may not miss this since walking on cobblestone starts to become painful after 2 mins
18. The narrow streets
19. The bike culture, and looking out for bikes instead of cars when crossing the street
20. How proper Danes look while riding a bike (think the 101 Dalmatians)
21. Nyhavn
22. The jam and butter. Though it's clear this is a good thing we don't have this at home, since bread, butter, jam, and cheese are also the cause of my food baby.
23. Room service
24. The misuse of "fun" and "funny" and using a "w" sound when it should be a "v"
25. Being in Europe
26. The long walk from my house to the train station. Okay, sometimes this was a pleasant walk.
27. the Roskilde fjord
28. Istanbul Pizza. Yes, I know I'm from NYC, but this stuff is delicious!!
I could go on but I'll stop here for now.
How do you say goodbye to someone you know you will never see again? It's a strange feeling, really. This past Thursday was my last day at my practicum, and it was really hard to find the right words to say goodbye, because I knew, and they knew, that I would never see them again. I was saying goodbye to Lila, and she actually said to me "so, I'm never going to see you again". It's hurtful in a way that makes you want to apologize for leaving. One little girl, my favorite girl Mathilde, cried when she realized I was leaving. That was really touching. I am going to miss her so much. She is the cutest girl I have ever seen, the epitome of Danish: blond hair, big beautiful blue eyes, and so cute and small (she's about 2 1/2). Every Thursday her face would light up and she would grin as I walked into the classroom. She would immediately put out her small hand for me to take and would say "come. come here!" I wish I could take her with me.
My host family has by far been my greatest experience here in Denmark. Without them, I would have been much more homesick, and I don't think I would've liked it here as much. The Danes are really reserved, so having a close-knit family to come home to at the end of the day instead of going back to a quiet 5 x 9 dorm room, was wonderful. I've learned so much about Danish culture through them, and I really really feel like I am part of their family. Without getting sappy, words really can't explain how much they mean to me, and I know that they will forever be in my heart.
Some things that I am going to miss about Denmark:
1. My host family DUHHHH! :-D
2. Mathilde and Assia at my practicum site. Cutest girls ever!
3. Danish pastries and cakes, aka the bane of my existence and the explanation for my food baby
4. Fløbeller. As Michael says, "what they eat in heaven".
5. Helle, my CMC instructor and one of the most amazing people I have ever met
6. The refugee school in Holland: such an inspiration
7. St. Peter's Bakery and their 12kr special aka the only thing in CPH that I could afford
8.Things being made from scratch: homemade sushi and thai food? That'll never happen again :(
9. The generosity of Danes: they always helped me when I got lost. Some would even come with me to show me the way! In NYC, it would take you 10 mins before you could even stop someone to ask for directions
10. The parks
11. hygge
12. My host parent's cooking esp. their thai dishes! DELICIOUS!
13. The trampoline in our backyard
14. Tea. Though my host parents gave me a teapot and tea for my bday so I'm bringin that back to the States!
15. The colorful buildings
16. The city's european feel, how old it is
17. Cobblestone streets. Though I may not miss this since walking on cobblestone starts to become painful after 2 mins
18. The narrow streets
19. The bike culture, and looking out for bikes instead of cars when crossing the street
20. How proper Danes look while riding a bike (think the 101 Dalmatians)
21. Nyhavn
22. The jam and butter. Though it's clear this is a good thing we don't have this at home, since bread, butter, jam, and cheese are also the cause of my food baby.
23. Room service
24. The misuse of "fun" and "funny" and using a "w" sound when it should be a "v"
25. Being in Europe
26. The long walk from my house to the train station. Okay, sometimes this was a pleasant walk.
27. the Roskilde fjord
28. Istanbul Pizza. Yes, I know I'm from NYC, but this stuff is delicious!!
I could go on but I'll stop here for now.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Prague and Mom's Visit
Okay so it's been about a good month since my mom came but I have yet to post about her visit and my third week of travel break. I know, I'm a bit behind.
So my mom came my second week of break end of March) which was super exciting for everyone: me, my mom, and my host family (my host parents couldn't wait to meet her). Thanks to the generosity of my host fam, she was able to stay with us at our house, which was great. She of course, she brought the wonderful kitchen aid mixer with her. I have told so many people here this story that when I got back from break all my friends asked if she brought it with her. The kitchen aid story: before I got here, I had been emailing my host fam back and forth. In one email, Michael had asked if I could purchase and bring him a kitchen aid mixer (he would pay me back) with me to Denmark, since everything, and I mean EVERYTHING in Denmark is ridiculously expensive. I saw one the other day for 4799DKK, which is about $850, while in the U.S. they run for $200-$300 dollars. Yet, asking me on a whim, Michael did not realize how ridiculously heavy those machines are. So I told him that while yes I could buy one for him, I wouldn't be able to bring it with me when I came to Denmark, but my mom would be able to when she comes in March. Thus the reason why my mom schlepped the gigantic machine with her on the plane from the States! :-D
Anyway, my mom arrived on Sunday, in which Michael and I picked her up from the airport. Michael took all her luggage to the house so that my mom and I could explore CPH for the day. I took her to the city museum, St. Peter's Baker, which is the perfect example of my life here in Denmark, Nyhavn and the Queen's palace, and just walked around a bit. In the afternoon I took her to the fjord in Roskilde which is around the corner from my house.
Tuesday we left for Prague! My mom booked us an apartment in the Mala Strana area of Prague, because she didn't want to stay in a modern hotel, and what a cute little place it was. Mala Strana is an area of Prague that's preserved and people are not allowed to build new buildings there, so everything is very European. Plus we were on the same street as the American Embassy and next door to a police station, so we were in a very safe neighborhood.
We saw the Prague Castle: Gothic-style architecture, HUGE, and very beautiful. Oh, and there were 297 steps to get to it. It is also where Barack gave his speech when he went to Prague, which coincidentally was only 2 days after we were there! We left on Friday and he was there on Sunday! Ahh, I was soo close to achieving my dream of meeting him! :-). Prague Castle is the largest castle complex in the world. They have guards outside that change on the hour. the guards of course are not allowed to move, so it was really funny to see everyone taking awkward pictures with them, including myself. The German troops also marched through the castle gates in 1938 during their invasion of Czechoslovakia, so the place has a lot of history. The cathedral on the grounds, St. Vitus Cathedral was absolutely magnificent and had lots of crypts where of the kindgs of Czech are buried.
On Wednesday we went to the Jewish quarter of Prague where there were the remains of the former Jewish ghetto from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. There were 5 synagogues, the Prague Jewish museum, which housed a memorial for the holocaust, and an old Jewish century that had some famous rabbis buried there. My favorite was the Spanish synagogue which was so ornate with all the gold details. Little did we know that we could have taken a tour to the concentration camp of Terezin, about an hour outside of Prague. In the Pinkas synagogue, which is Prague's second-oldest Jewish house of worship from the 1500s, the walls were painted with the names of 77,297s Czech Jews who died in the concentration camps.
That evening we walked over the famous Charles bridge, and got a wonderful view of the Castle at night, which was all light up. Absolutely beautiful.
Thursday, our last day, was more of relaxing and less sightseeing. We went to the mall downtown and did some shopping . We also saw Slumdog Millionaire, which was an experience just trying to get the tickets. The idiotic woman, not woman, stupid teenager I should call her, refused to sell us the tickets because it was an "Indian movie" and because we were speaking to her in English, she decided that we wouldn't be able to understand the movie because it was in Indian. She actually, would not give us the tickets. Seriously. She called over her co-worker, and proceeded to talk about us to him in Czech, explaining that it was in Indian and we wouldn't be able to understand it. I almost punched her in the freakin face. After explaining to the man that most of the movie was in English and that I knew some of it would be in "Indian" (WHICH ISN'T EVEN A LANGUAGE you stupid Czech lady) and yes, I knew that the subtitles would be in Czech, they FINALLY gave us our tickets! Needless to say I was pretty pissed off. WTF?!
A couple of funny things about Prague. 1) The city was filled with high school Italian tour groups. I think all of Italy must have had spring break because every where we went we saw and heard Italian tour groups! I don't think I heard much of the Czech language while I was there because there were so many Italians! 2) There were no supermarkets where we stayed so we had to eat every meal out, which was fine, except that I don't know when the Czechs eat dinner because every night when we went out to dinner, which would be around 8pm (starting time for Europeans) we were the ONLY ONES in the restaurants! Strange. 3) PRAGUE HAS STARBUCKS! the only one in Copenhagen is in the airport and its 8 dollars for the small size. So I was very happy :-)
Prague was very beautiful and it was so nice to be there with my mom. It was her first time in Europe, which was very exciting! We left to go back to CPH on Friday, and spent the afternoon exploring CPH some more. Friday night was August's birthday, so the grandparents were over for dinner. Christina made my favorite thai dish for my mom and the fastelavn cookies for her as well, and it was just really fun and hyggelit (Danish word for cozy). Saturday, my host family and me and my mom went to Christiana, (a mini-Amsterdam), saw the new Opera house and the Little Mermaid. Another hyggelit dinner, and my host parents left bright and early the next day for their skiing holiday. Sunday was my last full day with my mom and we stayed at home, drinking wine and watching t.v. On Monday my mom was off to the airport, and I was off on my European journey to Berlin, Vienna, and Budapest. I couldn't believe how fast the week went by! I only wish she could've stayed longer!
So my mom came my second week of break end of March) which was super exciting for everyone: me, my mom, and my host family (my host parents couldn't wait to meet her). Thanks to the generosity of my host fam, she was able to stay with us at our house, which was great. She of course, she brought the wonderful kitchen aid mixer with her. I have told so many people here this story that when I got back from break all my friends asked if she brought it with her. The kitchen aid story: before I got here, I had been emailing my host fam back and forth. In one email, Michael had asked if I could purchase and bring him a kitchen aid mixer (he would pay me back) with me to Denmark, since everything, and I mean EVERYTHING in Denmark is ridiculously expensive. I saw one the other day for 4799DKK, which is about $850, while in the U.S. they run for $200-$300 dollars. Yet, asking me on a whim, Michael did not realize how ridiculously heavy those machines are. So I told him that while yes I could buy one for him, I wouldn't be able to bring it with me when I came to Denmark, but my mom would be able to when she comes in March. Thus the reason why my mom schlepped the gigantic machine with her on the plane from the States! :-D
Anyway, my mom arrived on Sunday, in which Michael and I picked her up from the airport. Michael took all her luggage to the house so that my mom and I could explore CPH for the day. I took her to the city museum, St. Peter's Baker, which is the perfect example of my life here in Denmark, Nyhavn and the Queen's palace, and just walked around a bit. In the afternoon I took her to the fjord in Roskilde which is around the corner from my house.
Tuesday we left for Prague! My mom booked us an apartment in the Mala Strana area of Prague, because she didn't want to stay in a modern hotel, and what a cute little place it was. Mala Strana is an area of Prague that's preserved and people are not allowed to build new buildings there, so everything is very European. Plus we were on the same street as the American Embassy and next door to a police station, so we were in a very safe neighborhood.
We saw the Prague Castle: Gothic-style architecture, HUGE, and very beautiful. Oh, and there were 297 steps to get to it. It is also where Barack gave his speech when he went to Prague, which coincidentally was only 2 days after we were there! We left on Friday and he was there on Sunday! Ahh, I was soo close to achieving my dream of meeting him! :-). Prague Castle is the largest castle complex in the world. They have guards outside that change on the hour. the guards of course are not allowed to move, so it was really funny to see everyone taking awkward pictures with them, including myself. The German troops also marched through the castle gates in 1938 during their invasion of Czechoslovakia, so the place has a lot of history. The cathedral on the grounds, St. Vitus Cathedral was absolutely magnificent and had lots of crypts where of the kindgs of Czech are buried.
On Wednesday we went to the Jewish quarter of Prague where there were the remains of the former Jewish ghetto from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. There were 5 synagogues, the Prague Jewish museum, which housed a memorial for the holocaust, and an old Jewish century that had some famous rabbis buried there. My favorite was the Spanish synagogue which was so ornate with all the gold details. Little did we know that we could have taken a tour to the concentration camp of Terezin, about an hour outside of Prague. In the Pinkas synagogue, which is Prague's second-oldest Jewish house of worship from the 1500s, the walls were painted with the names of 77,297s Czech Jews who died in the concentration camps.
That evening we walked over the famous Charles bridge, and got a wonderful view of the Castle at night, which was all light up. Absolutely beautiful.
Thursday, our last day, was more of relaxing and less sightseeing. We went to the mall downtown and did some shopping . We also saw Slumdog Millionaire, which was an experience just trying to get the tickets. The idiotic woman, not woman, stupid teenager I should call her, refused to sell us the tickets because it was an "Indian movie" and because we were speaking to her in English, she decided that we wouldn't be able to understand the movie because it was in Indian. She actually, would not give us the tickets. Seriously. She called over her co-worker, and proceeded to talk about us to him in Czech, explaining that it was in Indian and we wouldn't be able to understand it. I almost punched her in the freakin face. After explaining to the man that most of the movie was in English and that I knew some of it would be in "Indian" (WHICH ISN'T EVEN A LANGUAGE you stupid Czech lady) and yes, I knew that the subtitles would be in Czech, they FINALLY gave us our tickets! Needless to say I was pretty pissed off. WTF?!
A couple of funny things about Prague. 1) The city was filled with high school Italian tour groups. I think all of Italy must have had spring break because every where we went we saw and heard Italian tour groups! I don't think I heard much of the Czech language while I was there because there were so many Italians! 2) There were no supermarkets where we stayed so we had to eat every meal out, which was fine, except that I don't know when the Czechs eat dinner because every night when we went out to dinner, which would be around 8pm (starting time for Europeans) we were the ONLY ONES in the restaurants! Strange. 3) PRAGUE HAS STARBUCKS! the only one in Copenhagen is in the airport and its 8 dollars for the small size. So I was very happy :-)
Prague was very beautiful and it was so nice to be there with my mom. It was her first time in Europe, which was very exciting! We left to go back to CPH on Friday, and spent the afternoon exploring CPH some more. Friday night was August's birthday, so the grandparents were over for dinner. Christina made my favorite thai dish for my mom and the fastelavn cookies for her as well, and it was just really fun and hyggelit (Danish word for cozy). Saturday, my host family and me and my mom went to Christiana, (a mini-Amsterdam), saw the new Opera house and the Little Mermaid. Another hyggelit dinner, and my host parents left bright and early the next day for their skiing holiday. Sunday was my last full day with my mom and we stayed at home, drinking wine and watching t.v. On Monday my mom was off to the airport, and I was off on my European journey to Berlin, Vienna, and Budapest. I couldn't believe how fast the week went by! I only wish she could've stayed longer!
Monday, April 27, 2009
Sweden Adventure Trip!
Okay, so I know it's been about a month since my last post, sorry! I had an amazing rest of travel break, and now as the semester winds down I am swamped with work. I had a 2 1/2 hour nap last night as I stayed up to 4am to finish my portfolio for my CMC Practicum class. And I have two more papers due next week which will mean that next Sunday will be a repeat all- nighter, yaayy!!! FML :-D
Anyway, this weekend I went rock climbing and canoeing in Sweden! It was absolutely amazing and a wonderful trip. We went to Kullenborg, a tiny town kind of in the middle of nowhere in Sweden but it was absolutely gorgeous. On our bus ride to go climbing, we passed this little town on the water with all these cute Swedish summer houses. I was really nervous to go rock climbing, seeing as though the last time I did the activity was for my best friend's birthday in elementary school...and that was on an indoor wall. So yeah..I wasn't too enthusiastic. But they had added rock climbing about a week before our trip, and since my biking skills are not up to par, and you can also bike anywhere, my classmate convinced me to try climbing. And I'm so glad I did! We went climbing on this magnificent cliff overlooking the ocean, in the distance you could see Copenhagen. The cliff was covered with green pasture and COWS! giant, hairy cows. I felt like I was in Ireland (though I've never been there, it looked like what I imagined the country to look like). So it was peaceful and beautiful. I was a little terrified at first going up the rocks, but everyone cheered each other on which created such a positive environment and really gave me the strength to keep going up! Although the next morning, and even today, I am still sore. My triceps and thighs were killing me the next day, since you literally have to pull yourself up onto the next rock ledge. But it was worth it! And I'm really glad I stepped out of my comfort zone and tried something new.
The next day I went canoeing down this river that went through the town of Angelhorm in Sweden. Such a cute town, with really pretty houses lining the river. It was more of a lazy river, but at times when the wind kicked in, we were canoeing in the opposite direction of the current, which made it a little difficult. We did 4 hours of canoeing, so I was excited to be done with it by the time we got to the end, but it was also beautiful, relaxing, and a lot of fun!
Next weekend I will be going sailing around the islands of Denmark, which should be fun. I only hope the weather was as picturesque as it was this past weekend!
Anyway, this weekend I went rock climbing and canoeing in Sweden! It was absolutely amazing and a wonderful trip. We went to Kullenborg, a tiny town kind of in the middle of nowhere in Sweden but it was absolutely gorgeous. On our bus ride to go climbing, we passed this little town on the water with all these cute Swedish summer houses. I was really nervous to go rock climbing, seeing as though the last time I did the activity was for my best friend's birthday in elementary school...and that was on an indoor wall. So yeah..I wasn't too enthusiastic. But they had added rock climbing about a week before our trip, and since my biking skills are not up to par, and you can also bike anywhere, my classmate convinced me to try climbing. And I'm so glad I did! We went climbing on this magnificent cliff overlooking the ocean, in the distance you could see Copenhagen. The cliff was covered with green pasture and COWS! giant, hairy cows. I felt like I was in Ireland (though I've never been there, it looked like what I imagined the country to look like). So it was peaceful and beautiful. I was a little terrified at first going up the rocks, but everyone cheered each other on which created such a positive environment and really gave me the strength to keep going up! Although the next morning, and even today, I am still sore. My triceps and thighs were killing me the next day, since you literally have to pull yourself up onto the next rock ledge. But it was worth it! And I'm really glad I stepped out of my comfort zone and tried something new.
The next day I went canoeing down this river that went through the town of Angelhorm in Sweden. Such a cute town, with really pretty houses lining the river. It was more of a lazy river, but at times when the wind kicked in, we were canoeing in the opposite direction of the current, which made it a little difficult. We did 4 hours of canoeing, so I was excited to be done with it by the time we got to the end, but it was also beautiful, relaxing, and a lot of fun!
Next weekend I will be going sailing around the islands of Denmark, which should be fun. I only hope the weather was as picturesque as it was this past weekend!
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Holland!
Hello all! I just got back from Holland with my CMC class and what an amazing trip it was! We left last Sunday at 8am, which meant I had to leave my house by 6:30 to catch the 6:45 train into CPH (joy), and had a wonderful 8 hour bus ride to look forward to! We went to Groningen and Amsterdam, and it was a great trip.
Sunday night around 7pm we arrived at our hotel in Groningen after a grueling day of traveling, and our hotel was beautiful. We had a group dinner at an Indonesian restaurant which was very spicy but also delicious, and then the rest of the night on our own. I was too exhausted to go out so I went back to the hotel with most of the group. We had to walk both ways, which we found out the next day was about 4 miles!!
Saturday we had a group visit at the University of Groningen's Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences. This trip to Holland was my long study tour with DIS, which meant that it combined both academic and cultural visits. We walked around Groningen and then climbed the Martini Tower (named after Saint Martin, no idea who that is). This reminded me of the tower I climbed in Spain ( I don't remember if it was Sevilla or Cordoba), but at least that was just a long winding ramp, this was a narrow spiraling staircase to the top of the tower, so I tried very hard not to feel claustrophobic. After almost passing out, we made it to the top of the tower which gave us a magnificent view of the city of Groningen. After that, we had time on our own, which we used for walking around/shopping, and we found a nice little mexican restaurant for dinner. Most of us have been deprived of cultural food in CPH because the restaurants are soo expensive and not always delicious, so we were all excited to have mexican food for dinner. We each ordered nachos, a gigantic portion, and it was fantastic!
Tuesday we left Groningen and headed for Nijeveen where we had a visit at a refugee school, actually it is called a receiving school: Eerste Opvang van de Woldstroom, the first receiving school for refugee children ages 4-14. This was by far the highlight of the trip. Our core class is Children in a Multicultural Context (CMC), so visiting a refugee school fit perfectly with our studies. We had a presentation about the school: the children at the school are from the ages of 4 to 14 and they are there to learn Dutch. After the age of 14 they are put into the public school system in the surrounding areas. The children that attend the school come from asylum centers (refugee children), but also adopted children who therefore do not speak Dutch. Of the refugee children who attend the school, they often come and go, because they are moved around a lot from one asylum to another, so the teachers don't know how long each child will be there for, which can be upsetting and difficult to deal with. Yet the teachers are much more than teachers to these kids, they are like a mother to many of them. Their work extends beyond the classroom. One teacher explained how the young girls often want to talk to her in private about topics such as sex and their periods, so she must teach them about their menstrual cycle, as well as safe sex. She is worried that two girls in her class might be prostitutes. because on Mondays they often come in wearing brand new clothes. I really enjoyed my visit with these children. They were so friendly, and eager to talk to us. Many of them spoke English because they came from African nations (one girl from Somalia said that back home you can't go to school if you don't speak English). In one class, they all introduced themselves by telling us their name, where they live in Holland (which meant nothing to us), and their home country. Many of the kids in that class were from Burundi. We had the opportunity to play with them at recess, which was just so much fun. The kids really wanted us to play with them, which is the complete opposite experience that I have with the Danish toddlers at my practicum site, but that could be because three-year olds are often quite independent and are often exploring in their own imaginary world. Some of us played football (soccer) with the older boys, they seemed like they were all having a blast; some of us played with the younger kids (4-6) on the jungle gym and helped them do flips on the monkey bars; I played some games with the older kids. One of the games was with a rope and whoever jumped out of the circle last had to do something silly. The "silly action" rotated from telling someone in the circle they were beautiful, to giving someone a kiss, to having to sing and dance in the middle. The girls all told me I was beautiful and they gave me kisses, which was soo sweet and really made me feel included in their game! When I lost and it was my turn to do something silly, I sang a Backstreet Boys song. :-) After recess the young children performed a song and dance for us, which we joined in on, and then showed them some American song and dances for young kids, such as the hokey pokey. Then the older kids came in and we were all singing and dancing together in Dutch, it was so much fun! It was then time to say goodbye to the kids (it was 3pm). The teachers make a point to wave goodbye to the buses each day (the kids are bussed in from the asylum centers and camps) because they never know who is going to come back the next day. So we got the chance to do the same. I really connected with some of the kids (the older girls said I was chill and nice to hang out with), so needless to say it was extremely difficult for me to say goodbye to them. One girl asked me if we were coming back the next day and I said, "no, we're only here for today". That's when I realized that I was never going to see these wonderful children again, which broke my heart. What made it worse was that the kids asked for our email addresses, and we weren't allowed to give them out because then the kids would try and contact us and ask us for help. This also broke my heart, and I couldn't bring myself to give them a fake email address. When it came time to say goodbye and watch them board the bus, and as I was hugging one little girl ( the one who had gave me kisses and told me I was beautiful during the circle game), I lost it and started crying. It was heart wrenching to know that I was never going to see them again, and I really felt like I had bonded with them in such a short amount of time. As I was standing there crying, the little girl came back over and gave me the biggest hug ever to cheer me up, which only made me cry more because she was being so sweet. Later, I was saying goodbye to the other girls, and I lost it again, started crying, and they wiped away my tears and were giving me hugs, which again just made me cry harder. By this point I was bawling. But the teacher told me that those girls are there everyday, which made me feel better that they would be there tomorrow. We had a wrap-up with the teachers who told us that only a small percentage of children don't return, which made me feel slightly better. We said goodbyes and thank yous to the teachers and then departed for Amsterdam. What an amazing but emotionally draining day!
As if that wasn't enough, that night when we went to the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam. I thought I was going to cry but I didn't. It was absolutely amazing and unbelievably eerie to walk past the bookcase and up the narrow stairs to the annex where Anne Frank hid for a year and a half. I could almost feel her presence in the house, and it was so surreal to stand in her bedroom. Unbelievable.
The next day we went to an International school in which the majority of the kids who attend the school are Dutch, British, and American. This visit wasn't nearly as exciting as our visit to the refugee school; we didn't get to go inside classrooms are talk to the students directly, but there was definitely a lot of diversity present.
That evening we had the lovely opportunity to go to a Wervel Performance, which consisted of a woman spinning in a circle for an hour. No joke. Did I mention that the students who went to London on their tour got to see Wicked? Yeah, that's fair. I don't even know wtf a Wervel performance is, and of course they did not explain it to us at the beginning of the show. All I know is that there's some sort of religious aspect to it, I think the idea is that your spinning up to G-d? I don't know... I cannot even begin to explain how f---ing strange it was to sit and watch a woman spin and spin and spin and spin and spin for an hour. Though she did change it up a bit with her arms and the speed of her spinning.
On Thursday we went to Keukenhof, a tulip/flower garden an hour outside of Amsterdam. It's called The Garden of Europe, has the largest sculpture garden in the Netherlands, and claims to be the most photographed spot in the world. Although it was raining while we were there (and rained the majority of the time we were in Amsterdam) it was still absolutely beautiful to see all the flowers in bloom, and so many beautiful tulips! The theme was New York, which makes sense because the first settlers of NYC were the Dutch! So instead of I heart NY, there was a giant I Tulip (with a red tulip bulb) NY.
Friday we went to the Van Gogh museum, which was having a special exhibition of Starry Night: all of his paintings that he did at night. So of course there was the original Starry Night, which I have seen before at the MOMA, which actually owns it, because the one at the museum was from MOMA. But my new favorite Van Gogh painting is Starry Night on the Rhone. It was beautiful and looked like an actual photograph from afar with the way he created the reflection on the water. After the museum we had a nice Indian lunch and then departed for our way back to CPH on a wonderful 12 hour bus!
Of course there are some things I left out, such as the coffeeshops and the red light district. I won't get into how much of Amsterdam's vices I tried out, but in case you were wondering, no, I did not buy a prostitute. :-) I thought Amsterdam was going to be extremely seedy, with lots of pickpocketing and gypsies around, but it wasn't at all. There was no seedy feeling at all, except for maybe the red light district. In fact, with all the canals, Amsterdam was absolutely beautiful. Especially at night with all the canal bridges lit up with lights and the swans in the water, it was gorgeous.
The red light district was extremely interesting. The girls all looked liked barbie dolls, and I found it fascinating to watch the men. At one point, a group of guys were standing around one window and the lady came out to talk to them trying to convince them to come in... the policeman standing on the corner shouted to the guys, "come on now, don't be shy!" Haha, I guess that's Amsterdam for you... ;-)
Sunday night around 7pm we arrived at our hotel in Groningen after a grueling day of traveling, and our hotel was beautiful. We had a group dinner at an Indonesian restaurant which was very spicy but also delicious, and then the rest of the night on our own. I was too exhausted to go out so I went back to the hotel with most of the group. We had to walk both ways, which we found out the next day was about 4 miles!!
Saturday we had a group visit at the University of Groningen's Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences. This trip to Holland was my long study tour with DIS, which meant that it combined both academic and cultural visits. We walked around Groningen and then climbed the Martini Tower (named after Saint Martin, no idea who that is). This reminded me of the tower I climbed in Spain ( I don't remember if it was Sevilla or Cordoba), but at least that was just a long winding ramp, this was a narrow spiraling staircase to the top of the tower, so I tried very hard not to feel claustrophobic. After almost passing out, we made it to the top of the tower which gave us a magnificent view of the city of Groningen. After that, we had time on our own, which we used for walking around/shopping, and we found a nice little mexican restaurant for dinner. Most of us have been deprived of cultural food in CPH because the restaurants are soo expensive and not always delicious, so we were all excited to have mexican food for dinner. We each ordered nachos, a gigantic portion, and it was fantastic!
Tuesday we left Groningen and headed for Nijeveen where we had a visit at a refugee school, actually it is called a receiving school: Eerste Opvang van de Woldstroom, the first receiving school for refugee children ages 4-14. This was by far the highlight of the trip. Our core class is Children in a Multicultural Context (CMC), so visiting a refugee school fit perfectly with our studies. We had a presentation about the school: the children at the school are from the ages of 4 to 14 and they are there to learn Dutch. After the age of 14 they are put into the public school system in the surrounding areas. The children that attend the school come from asylum centers (refugee children), but also adopted children who therefore do not speak Dutch. Of the refugee children who attend the school, they often come and go, because they are moved around a lot from one asylum to another, so the teachers don't know how long each child will be there for, which can be upsetting and difficult to deal with. Yet the teachers are much more than teachers to these kids, they are like a mother to many of them. Their work extends beyond the classroom. One teacher explained how the young girls often want to talk to her in private about topics such as sex and their periods, so she must teach them about their menstrual cycle, as well as safe sex. She is worried that two girls in her class might be prostitutes. because on Mondays they often come in wearing brand new clothes. I really enjoyed my visit with these children. They were so friendly, and eager to talk to us. Many of them spoke English because they came from African nations (one girl from Somalia said that back home you can't go to school if you don't speak English). In one class, they all introduced themselves by telling us their name, where they live in Holland (which meant nothing to us), and their home country. Many of the kids in that class were from Burundi. We had the opportunity to play with them at recess, which was just so much fun. The kids really wanted us to play with them, which is the complete opposite experience that I have with the Danish toddlers at my practicum site, but that could be because three-year olds are often quite independent and are often exploring in their own imaginary world. Some of us played football (soccer) with the older boys, they seemed like they were all having a blast; some of us played with the younger kids (4-6) on the jungle gym and helped them do flips on the monkey bars; I played some games with the older kids. One of the games was with a rope and whoever jumped out of the circle last had to do something silly. The "silly action" rotated from telling someone in the circle they were beautiful, to giving someone a kiss, to having to sing and dance in the middle. The girls all told me I was beautiful and they gave me kisses, which was soo sweet and really made me feel included in their game! When I lost and it was my turn to do something silly, I sang a Backstreet Boys song. :-) After recess the young children performed a song and dance for us, which we joined in on, and then showed them some American song and dances for young kids, such as the hokey pokey. Then the older kids came in and we were all singing and dancing together in Dutch, it was so much fun! It was then time to say goodbye to the kids (it was 3pm). The teachers make a point to wave goodbye to the buses each day (the kids are bussed in from the asylum centers and camps) because they never know who is going to come back the next day. So we got the chance to do the same. I really connected with some of the kids (the older girls said I was chill and nice to hang out with), so needless to say it was extremely difficult for me to say goodbye to them. One girl asked me if we were coming back the next day and I said, "no, we're only here for today". That's when I realized that I was never going to see these wonderful children again, which broke my heart. What made it worse was that the kids asked for our email addresses, and we weren't allowed to give them out because then the kids would try and contact us and ask us for help. This also broke my heart, and I couldn't bring myself to give them a fake email address. When it came time to say goodbye and watch them board the bus, and as I was hugging one little girl ( the one who had gave me kisses and told me I was beautiful during the circle game), I lost it and started crying. It was heart wrenching to know that I was never going to see them again, and I really felt like I had bonded with them in such a short amount of time. As I was standing there crying, the little girl came back over and gave me the biggest hug ever to cheer me up, which only made me cry more because she was being so sweet. Later, I was saying goodbye to the other girls, and I lost it again, started crying, and they wiped away my tears and were giving me hugs, which again just made me cry harder. By this point I was bawling. But the teacher told me that those girls are there everyday, which made me feel better that they would be there tomorrow. We had a wrap-up with the teachers who told us that only a small percentage of children don't return, which made me feel slightly better. We said goodbyes and thank yous to the teachers and then departed for Amsterdam. What an amazing but emotionally draining day!
As if that wasn't enough, that night when we went to the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam. I thought I was going to cry but I didn't. It was absolutely amazing and unbelievably eerie to walk past the bookcase and up the narrow stairs to the annex where Anne Frank hid for a year and a half. I could almost feel her presence in the house, and it was so surreal to stand in her bedroom. Unbelievable.
The next day we went to an International school in which the majority of the kids who attend the school are Dutch, British, and American. This visit wasn't nearly as exciting as our visit to the refugee school; we didn't get to go inside classrooms are talk to the students directly, but there was definitely a lot of diversity present.
That evening we had the lovely opportunity to go to a Wervel Performance, which consisted of a woman spinning in a circle for an hour. No joke. Did I mention that the students who went to London on their tour got to see Wicked? Yeah, that's fair. I don't even know wtf a Wervel performance is, and of course they did not explain it to us at the beginning of the show. All I know is that there's some sort of religious aspect to it, I think the idea is that your spinning up to G-d? I don't know... I cannot even begin to explain how f---ing strange it was to sit and watch a woman spin and spin and spin and spin and spin for an hour. Though she did change it up a bit with her arms and the speed of her spinning.
On Thursday we went to Keukenhof, a tulip/flower garden an hour outside of Amsterdam. It's called The Garden of Europe, has the largest sculpture garden in the Netherlands, and claims to be the most photographed spot in the world. Although it was raining while we were there (and rained the majority of the time we were in Amsterdam) it was still absolutely beautiful to see all the flowers in bloom, and so many beautiful tulips! The theme was New York, which makes sense because the first settlers of NYC were the Dutch! So instead of I heart NY, there was a giant I Tulip (with a red tulip bulb) NY.
Friday we went to the Van Gogh museum, which was having a special exhibition of Starry Night: all of his paintings that he did at night. So of course there was the original Starry Night, which I have seen before at the MOMA, which actually owns it, because the one at the museum was from MOMA. But my new favorite Van Gogh painting is Starry Night on the Rhone. It was beautiful and looked like an actual photograph from afar with the way he created the reflection on the water. After the museum we had a nice Indian lunch and then departed for our way back to CPH on a wonderful 12 hour bus!
Of course there are some things I left out, such as the coffeeshops and the red light district. I won't get into how much of Amsterdam's vices I tried out, but in case you were wondering, no, I did not buy a prostitute. :-) I thought Amsterdam was going to be extremely seedy, with lots of pickpocketing and gypsies around, but it wasn't at all. There was no seedy feeling at all, except for maybe the red light district. In fact, with all the canals, Amsterdam was absolutely beautiful. Especially at night with all the canal bridges lit up with lights and the swans in the water, it was gorgeous.
The red light district was extremely interesting. The girls all looked liked barbie dolls, and I found it fascinating to watch the men. At one point, a group of guys were standing around one window and the lady came out to talk to them trying to convince them to come in... the policeman standing on the corner shouted to the guys, "come on now, don't be shy!" Haha, I guess that's Amsterdam for you... ;-)
Monday, March 16, 2009
Immersion
It's been a while since I last updated this blog! Let's see, what's been going on...
Last Thursday I went to Christina's school to meet with Merete's students. Merete is a 9th grade English teacher who has been teaching her students about the U.S. and NYC, so when she heard that Christina was having an American host student (no less a New Yorker) she jumped at the opportunity to invite me to her classroom. I actually met with her about a month ago and we talked for about an hour about New York and America and she had many questions for me. What was extremely funny though, was when we met up before going to her classroom, she asked me if I knew the Pledge of Allegiance and if I could recite it for the class. I stared at her blankly, I couldn't remember the Pledge of Allegiance! After a few moments it came back to me, but Merete was quite surprised that I didn't know it off the top of my head. I had to explain to her that I hadn't recited the Pledge of Allegiance in school since pre-K and I only did it then because I went to a Catholic school. She thought everyone recited the Pledge in school, and that's when I had to explain to her the separation of Church and State and that we don't recite it in Public Schools. She was surprised and said, "well, that goes my stereotype of American students".
I spoke to Merete's students in two groups. The first group was quite shy at first but they quickly opened up and had a bunch of questions for me. The most popular question among teens is what I think about the drinking age of 16 in Denmark. That's when I explain to them about the college drinking scene and how most young Americans start drinking at 18 even though they cannot legally until 21. They also asked me about getting my license, about the biggest difference between Denmark and the U.S., in which I talked about how NY is really the city that never sleeps with diners and stores open 24/7 and our shops and supermarkets are opened past 6pm (for stores, 8pm for supermarkets here) and the fact that our transportation runs 24/7! They also asked me about drugs and sex in the U.S., Prom (they were disappointed when I told them that Prom is overrated, though I made them feel better when I explained that at the time it's a big deal when you're in high school, but looking back on it I couldn't care less), as well as 9/11. All in all, it was quite fun.
This weekend I felt like a real Dane because I got to go to Lalandia with my host family. I arrived on Saturday afternoon with Michael and Christina. My host grandparents had rented out one of the cottages for the weekend, ours was closest to the water and steps from the mini-theme park. So it was the whole family: grandparents, Michael, Christina, August, Katherine, and Michael's sister, husband, and daughter. It was a lot of fun. Lalandia has a mini-waterpark with 4 slides, one brand new one which was relatively big that we went on a thousand times and raced each other down (we all have bruises from bumping and pushing each other!), an outdoor pool and jacuzzi, Turkish bath and sauna, as well as a mini-indoor wavepool, regular pool, and some more slides. August told me that this waterpark was the biggest in Denmark, but it is very small compared to American waterparks. The resort also had minigolf, a trampoline/bungee jump thing which I did with Katherine, bowling, ice skating, an arcade, playgrounds, and restaurants. We mainly hung out in the waterpark for the weekend, though I sat on the sidelines while they went ice skating for an hour on Sunday (I realized last time when we went ice skating in Copenhagen that I absolutely hate it). The most awkward part of the weekend was showering naked in front of my host family and random Danish women. In Denmark, you must shower before entering a pool, and by shower I do mean get completely naked in an open area with other women and shower side-by-side. Except that I completely forgot about that rule, and was quite taken aback when I walked into the shower room with Christina and was greeted by lots of naked Danish women! Yes, I know we all have the same bits and pieces up above and down below, but it was still awkward and slightly uncomfortable, especially seeing the women of my host family naked. Overall though, I had a wonderful time at Lalandia and it was a nice change from Copenhagen.
Other things...
Today we had a guest lecturer for my core class, Children in a Multicultural Context. His name was Subhi, and he is originally from Iraq but has been living in Denmark for 16 years, so he came before the strict immigration laws were passed in 2001. Subhi talked to us about culture and cross-cultural comparisons, which was extremely interesting to apply to a Danish setting and think about how Danes view cross-cultural issues, and it was also good preparation for our study tour to Holland. In Holland we will be visiting a Refugee school in Groningen in which the children are bused to school each day from the refugee camp. I am extremely excited for this visit as well as the comparisons and contrasts we will be able to make between Holland's socialist policies and Denmark's Integration policies. While Denmark's Integration policies on the surface may suggest that they want to integrate minorities into Danish society, what their policies really practice is assimilation. One example can be seen in one of the requirements for immigration into Denmark, in which you must prove that your connections in Denmark (your social networks) are stronger than your connections to your home country. On the contrary, Holland employs a policy of socialization, which focuses on making sure that individuals function in their new environment; they does not focus on integration, they believe integration takes years and is thus not required of immigrants. I am looking forward to learning more about Holland's view on immigration and opportunity to make comparisons and contrasts to Denmark. It is interesting because in Denmark right now, there is a conservative party in power, whose subtle but present racist viewpoints on immigration and integration are very different from the viewpoints of many Danish citizens, specifically from citizens who reside in Zealand (Copenhagen and the surrounding area). Many individuals who I have talked to have said that they are embarrassed by the Danish government's harsh immigration laws. At a dinner party I attended last week, the host of the party talked about how an Arab colleague had emailed him about coming to Denmark to find work. The host of the party said that he had not written him back yet because he felt guilty, embarrassed, and saddened that he would have tell this man that there was no way he would be able to come to Denmark. It's interesting, because I don't think I would feel "embarrassed" about the U.S.'s tough immigration policies, but Denmark is much more of a collectivist society than the U.S. is, so Danes really feel that the government is a repsentative of them as individuals. In another anecdote, Michael works for a computer software company. He was explaining to me how they would like to hire qualified individuals from India or China who possess the skills for the job (Denmark doesn't do much outsourcing), but it is nearly impossible to do so because such individuals would not be able to get into Denmark and gain residency. He also said that he was embarrassed of the government's policies. It has been extremely interesting to learn about Denmark's integration policies, which were passed in 2001 after the U.S. government made it much more difficult to get into America. It has also been interesting to look at how such integration policies reflect Denmark's view on their growing multicultural population, an issue that has only become relevant in the last 40 years or so. This is quite different to our history in America, in which our country's history and diversity are intertwined.
These have just been some of my thoughts from my what I havetaken away from my CMC class. I will try and write once more before I leave for Holland because on Wednesday I am visiting an open prison. Yes, Denmark has an open prison system. Ah, the liberal Danes!
Vi ses!
Last Thursday I went to Christina's school to meet with Merete's students. Merete is a 9th grade English teacher who has been teaching her students about the U.S. and NYC, so when she heard that Christina was having an American host student (no less a New Yorker) she jumped at the opportunity to invite me to her classroom. I actually met with her about a month ago and we talked for about an hour about New York and America and she had many questions for me. What was extremely funny though, was when we met up before going to her classroom, she asked me if I knew the Pledge of Allegiance and if I could recite it for the class. I stared at her blankly, I couldn't remember the Pledge of Allegiance! After a few moments it came back to me, but Merete was quite surprised that I didn't know it off the top of my head. I had to explain to her that I hadn't recited the Pledge of Allegiance in school since pre-K and I only did it then because I went to a Catholic school. She thought everyone recited the Pledge in school, and that's when I had to explain to her the separation of Church and State and that we don't recite it in Public Schools. She was surprised and said, "well, that goes my stereotype of American students".
I spoke to Merete's students in two groups. The first group was quite shy at first but they quickly opened up and had a bunch of questions for me. The most popular question among teens is what I think about the drinking age of 16 in Denmark. That's when I explain to them about the college drinking scene and how most young Americans start drinking at 18 even though they cannot legally until 21. They also asked me about getting my license, about the biggest difference between Denmark and the U.S., in which I talked about how NY is really the city that never sleeps with diners and stores open 24/7 and our shops and supermarkets are opened past 6pm (for stores, 8pm for supermarkets here) and the fact that our transportation runs 24/7! They also asked me about drugs and sex in the U.S., Prom (they were disappointed when I told them that Prom is overrated, though I made them feel better when I explained that at the time it's a big deal when you're in high school, but looking back on it I couldn't care less), as well as 9/11. All in all, it was quite fun.
This weekend I felt like a real Dane because I got to go to Lalandia with my host family. I arrived on Saturday afternoon with Michael and Christina. My host grandparents had rented out one of the cottages for the weekend, ours was closest to the water and steps from the mini-theme park. So it was the whole family: grandparents, Michael, Christina, August, Katherine, and Michael's sister, husband, and daughter. It was a lot of fun. Lalandia has a mini-waterpark with 4 slides, one brand new one which was relatively big that we went on a thousand times and raced each other down (we all have bruises from bumping and pushing each other!), an outdoor pool and jacuzzi, Turkish bath and sauna, as well as a mini-indoor wavepool, regular pool, and some more slides. August told me that this waterpark was the biggest in Denmark, but it is very small compared to American waterparks. The resort also had minigolf, a trampoline/bungee jump thing which I did with Katherine, bowling, ice skating, an arcade, playgrounds, and restaurants. We mainly hung out in the waterpark for the weekend, though I sat on the sidelines while they went ice skating for an hour on Sunday (I realized last time when we went ice skating in Copenhagen that I absolutely hate it). The most awkward part of the weekend was showering naked in front of my host family and random Danish women. In Denmark, you must shower before entering a pool, and by shower I do mean get completely naked in an open area with other women and shower side-by-side. Except that I completely forgot about that rule, and was quite taken aback when I walked into the shower room with Christina and was greeted by lots of naked Danish women! Yes, I know we all have the same bits and pieces up above and down below, but it was still awkward and slightly uncomfortable, especially seeing the women of my host family naked. Overall though, I had a wonderful time at Lalandia and it was a nice change from Copenhagen.
Other things...
Today we had a guest lecturer for my core class, Children in a Multicultural Context. His name was Subhi, and he is originally from Iraq but has been living in Denmark for 16 years, so he came before the strict immigration laws were passed in 2001. Subhi talked to us about culture and cross-cultural comparisons, which was extremely interesting to apply to a Danish setting and think about how Danes view cross-cultural issues, and it was also good preparation for our study tour to Holland. In Holland we will be visiting a Refugee school in Groningen in which the children are bused to school each day from the refugee camp. I am extremely excited for this visit as well as the comparisons and contrasts we will be able to make between Holland's socialist policies and Denmark's Integration policies. While Denmark's Integration policies on the surface may suggest that they want to integrate minorities into Danish society, what their policies really practice is assimilation. One example can be seen in one of the requirements for immigration into Denmark, in which you must prove that your connections in Denmark (your social networks) are stronger than your connections to your home country. On the contrary, Holland employs a policy of socialization, which focuses on making sure that individuals function in their new environment; they does not focus on integration, they believe integration takes years and is thus not required of immigrants. I am looking forward to learning more about Holland's view on immigration and opportunity to make comparisons and contrasts to Denmark. It is interesting because in Denmark right now, there is a conservative party in power, whose subtle but present racist viewpoints on immigration and integration are very different from the viewpoints of many Danish citizens, specifically from citizens who reside in Zealand (Copenhagen and the surrounding area). Many individuals who I have talked to have said that they are embarrassed by the Danish government's harsh immigration laws. At a dinner party I attended last week, the host of the party talked about how an Arab colleague had emailed him about coming to Denmark to find work. The host of the party said that he had not written him back yet because he felt guilty, embarrassed, and saddened that he would have tell this man that there was no way he would be able to come to Denmark. It's interesting, because I don't think I would feel "embarrassed" about the U.S.'s tough immigration policies, but Denmark is much more of a collectivist society than the U.S. is, so Danes really feel that the government is a repsentative of them as individuals. In another anecdote, Michael works for a computer software company. He was explaining to me how they would like to hire qualified individuals from India or China who possess the skills for the job (Denmark doesn't do much outsourcing), but it is nearly impossible to do so because such individuals would not be able to get into Denmark and gain residency. He also said that he was embarrassed of the government's policies. It has been extremely interesting to learn about Denmark's integration policies, which were passed in 2001 after the U.S. government made it much more difficult to get into America. It has also been interesting to look at how such integration policies reflect Denmark's view on their growing multicultural population, an issue that has only become relevant in the last 40 years or so. This is quite different to our history in America, in which our country's history and diversity are intertwined.
These have just been some of my thoughts from my what I havetaken away from my CMC class. I will try and write once more before I leave for Holland because on Wednesday I am visiting an open prison. Yes, Denmark has an open prison system. Ah, the liberal Danes!
Vi ses!
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
So last night I went to see the ballet of Romeo and Juliet (Danish version) and guess who was there: The Queen of Denmark!! It was very exciting! When she entered to sit in the box seats, along with her sister and the former Queen of Greece, everyone stood up and then sat down after she sat down. The woman sitting next to me said that the Queen goes to such shows quite often. The Danes admire their Royal Family very much, everyone seems to look up to them, so it was pretty cool to finally see her in person! The ballet was in the Royal Theater which is also the old Opera House and it is gorgeous. The ballet itself was quite long, 3 hours!! but it was fun. Danielle and I bought the tickets through DIS at a subsidized price. Because they forgot to send us our tickets, we got bumped up to Orchestra seating, though Danielle and I were sitting in the last row of the Orchestra and of course my left field of vision was obstructed by a pole/ column holding up the theater. But I manged to be able to see! Through DIS we were able to buy tickets to three shows: the next one is in April and is the Phantom of the Opera. Though Danielle and I just realized that it might be in Danish, so we have to rent the original before going so that we have a basic understanding of the plot. Then the last show is a new Danish opera, I believe it is called The Royal Physician, about a Danish doctor who tried to overthrow the Royal family. It sounds interesting and it's at the new Opera house, which is primarily why we bought the tickets. The New Opera house cost millions of kroners to build, and the money was donated by one of the wealthiest guys in Denmark, or the wealthiest man. The exterior is all glass and it sits right on the water, so I'm excited to get to see the inside of it.
This weekend I am going to Lollandia with my host family. Lollandia is this resort place in Southern Zealand (the island that Copenhagen is on), in which there are rental cottages and all sorts of activities: bowling, ice skating, swimming, etc. It sounds like it is very similar to Lake George. My host grandparents take their grandchildren every year for a weekend, and this year I'm invited! The grandkids leave with the grandparents on Fri night and the adults join Sat afternoon. I will be arriving with the adults.
Next weekend my fabulous 3 week break begins!! I leave for Holland on Sunday with my core class, then I come home the following weekend which is my host brother's confirmation, then my mom comes for a week and we are going to Prague for a few days (soo excited to see her!!), then the week after that I am going to Berlin, Vienna, and Budapest with some friends by train and taking a 24hour train ride home from Budapest to CPH (I'm not sure if that's going to be really cool to see that part of Europe by train, or if that 24 hour ride is going to kill me and I'll be in the worst mood ever. I'm trying to stay positive though). Needless to say I am very very VERY EXCITED!! :-) While I am excited to be here in Denmark, I realized that I've gotten caught up in the routine of everyday life here, so a break is much needed!
Talk soon! Visces(Danish for "see you")
This weekend I am going to Lollandia with my host family. Lollandia is this resort place in Southern Zealand (the island that Copenhagen is on), in which there are rental cottages and all sorts of activities: bowling, ice skating, swimming, etc. It sounds like it is very similar to Lake George. My host grandparents take their grandchildren every year for a weekend, and this year I'm invited! The grandkids leave with the grandparents on Fri night and the adults join Sat afternoon. I will be arriving with the adults.
Next weekend my fabulous 3 week break begins!! I leave for Holland on Sunday with my core class, then I come home the following weekend which is my host brother's confirmation, then my mom comes for a week and we are going to Prague for a few days (soo excited to see her!!), then the week after that I am going to Berlin, Vienna, and Budapest with some friends by train and taking a 24hour train ride home from Budapest to CPH (I'm not sure if that's going to be really cool to see that part of Europe by train, or if that 24 hour ride is going to kill me and I'll be in the worst mood ever. I'm trying to stay positive though). Needless to say I am very very VERY EXCITED!! :-) While I am excited to be here in Denmark, I realized that I've gotten caught up in the routine of everyday life here, so a break is much needed!
Talk soon! Visces(Danish for "see you")
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
.jpg)
