Exploring the City

Last weekend, I went into Copenhagen with some friends for a fabulous day of sightseeing. I really don't have many more weekends free (case in point, I am writing this post from the national Library, where I should be doing homework because I'm in the midst of midterms), so my friends and I have decided to see as much of the city as we can while we still have the time! The weather was beautiful (read SUNNY), despite the bitter cold that has become an ever-present part of my life.

Rosenborg Slot 

Our first visit was to Rosenborg Slot (Castle), originally built as a summer home for Christian IV in the 1600s. The castle was the official residence of the Danish Royal family until 1710, and is now a museum that houses the Crown Jewels, among other beautiful collections and exhibits. 

Us in front of the castle. From L-R, Megan, Becca, Emilia, Alana, Julia, me.
(thanks to Megan McPhillamy for the picture!)

Me in Nyhavn

After that, we walked to Nyhavn, the quintessential Danish street (if you search "Copenhagen" in google images, Nyhavn will be the first thing that pops up). The buildings mostly house cafes, restaurants and bars, and the whole street is incredibly beautiful. 

Nyhavn again 

(Photo courtesy of Julia Petraglia)

By the time we reached Nyhavn we were frozen solid, so we decided to stop at a bakery to warm up with some pastries and hot chocolate (two things that have factored heavily into my time here in Denmark)! 

Amalienborg

Next we went to Amalienborg Palace, the residential castle of the Royal Family, including Queen Margrethe II. Amalienborg was built in 1750, and in April the entire square fills with adoring Danes who come to see the Queen wave from a balcony on her birthday. 

Our final stop of the day was to the statue of the Little Mermaid in the Copenhagen harbor. The statue (which is smaller than you might think for such an important cultural landmark) honors Hans Christian Andersen, author of the original (and much darker than the Disney version) fairytale, and arguably the most famous Dane. 

Julia, Becca, me, and Alana in front of the Little Mermaid.
Notice the path through the ice for the harbor boats in the background. 

Two great things

This past week has been relatively uneventful, but two great things stood out: 

First of all, I (finally) have a visiting family! I was getting worried that I might never get a family, despite the fact that I signed up for the program ages ago, back in November or something crazy like that, but I was, and it was definitely worth the wait. My family consists of Tina and Johnny and their two daughters, Rebecca (12) and Theresa (11). They live in a town two stops west of Roskilde, so not too far from Trekroner. I went to their home this past Saturday and had a lovely day getting to know their family and participating in their daily activities. When I arrived in the morning, we had a wonderfully Danish breakfast of bread and various toppings (butter, cheese, jam, chocolate, etc) before going to Theresa's horseback riding lesson. Both girls ride, and they live in a more rural, really beautiful area so it was great to drive to the stables and see a bit more of the country side. 

While the girls rode, Tina and I walked behind the group, enjoying the sunshine and the beautiful country side and talking about absolutely everything, including the time she spent in America as an au pair. When we got back to the house she showed me her photo albums from her time in America - it was great to see pictures of New York City and Washington DC in the 1980s! We had a delicious (vegetarian!) lunch prepared by Johnny, whose first wife was a vegetarian and who knew lots about vegetarian cooking in Denmark. After bonding with Rebecca over decoding Harry Potter chapter names (a great way to learn Danish, I discovered!) we all packed into the car and drove even further into the country to a large forest surrounding the reservoir that holds the water for Copenhagen. It felt so good to be completely outside of the city and most of all just to be outside! I hadn't realized how much I missed nature and living in a rural area until then. 

After our walk, they decided they'd drive me home, but first we stopped in Roskilde to get some fastelavnsboller, a delicious pastry that looks something like this

(google images)

and is eaten around the Fastelavn holiday, a Scandinavian carnival of sorts that is celebrated the Sunday or Monday before Ash Wednesday. Children dress up and get treats, so it's sort of like Halloween in a way. Another tradition is basically a Danish version of a  piñata, only the thing being struck down is a large wooden barrel full of candy and fruits. Rebecca told me that the person who makes the first crack in the barrel is crowned the Cat Queen and the one who finally breaks it open is the Cat King. All in all, it was a wonderful day! 


The second great thing was my field study on Wednesday to the Carlsberg Breweries for my Danish Politics and Society class. We had a tour of the facility (which was huge, almost 100 acres!) and then had a beer tasting!

The brewery was founded in 1847 and is the 4th largest in the world

A copy of the little mermaid statue that sits on a rock by the harbor in Copenhagen. The original statue was commissioned by Carl Jacobsen, the son of the founder, and a huge supporter of the arts (there is a whole museum in Copenhagen full of his extensive art and sculpture collection) The house in the background is the founder's mansion. 

Two of the four Carlsberg elephants, built to symbolize the long lives of the four Jacobsen children who lived to adulthood (the other four died during childhood) 

Inside one of the old brew houses

The varieties

And the aftermath

Shiny copper brewing kettles in the visitors center

Carlsberg is one of the national symbols of Denmark, and there's a lot of rich family history behind the brewery (including life-long clashes between father and son, the former a lover of science and the latter a lover of art), so the whole trip was great! 

Short Study Tour to Western Denmark

On Thursday, I got up at 5:15 to take the train into Copenhagen and begin my Short Study Tour to Western Denmark with my Positive Psychology class. One of the (many) reasons I chose DIS was for it's Study Tours - traveling built into, and around, the academic curriculum. From what I gather, it's a pretty unique opportunity. Not only will I be traveling to Scotland for a week later on in the semester, this past weekend I got to see parts of Denmark that I definitely would not have to if it weren't built into my course. Below is a map of Denmark that shows all of the cities I traveled to (Åarhus, Esbjerg, and Ribe)

We drove first to Åarhus, the second largest city in Denmark where we visited the Åarhus University Hospital to hear about Mindfulness and it's effect on Bodily Distress Syndrome (from what I gather a hybrid of Somatic Disorders and Anxiety Disorders, among other things) from a researcher of the topic. The talk itself was kind of dry, and we didn't really explore Åarhus aside from this visit, so it definitely wasn't the highlight of the trip. 

On the drive to Åarhus, we crossed over a really long bridge that I don't remember the name of, and the sun came out for a moment! 

Next, we went to visit the Kaos Pilots, an "alternative professional school that provides leadership education" to see Positive Psychology theories in practice. According to my Study Tour handbook, "Students at Kaos Pilots spend two years working on developing their personal leadership skills through group work, stimulations, and projects. In their third and final year, they create a small business or organization using their strengths, competencies, and passions to fill a demand they see in the market." 

Whew. I know that was long, but I hope it was worth it, because the visit definitely was. Sara, our contact person, was really fun and engaging. With her Kaos Pilots training she has started an organization that helps kids who have moved internationally become acclimated to their new environments, something she felt passionate about as the child of diplomats. 

Positive Psychology is focused on, among other things, helping people flourish in life through discovering their passions and strengths. To give us a sense of how Kaos Pilots teach students to do this in the context of entrepreneurship, Sara had us write down the first 7 things that popped into our heads when we thought about our passions, what made us angry, and what our talents were. From those lists and with the help of friends, we came up with a unifying theme for each list (passion, anger, talent) to get an organic sense of where our potential strengths might lie. 

Walking street in Esbjerg 

On Friday, we drove to Esbjerg, where we got to walk around for a bit before our visit to the Esbjerg Business School. The Business School is really more of an education center for teenagers with troubled childhoods. Using theories from Positive Psychology, the students are taught about things like self-esteem, living in the present, and not letting their past negatively effect their present or future lives. We heard some of the students talk about their experiences at the school, and it was really inspiring to see Positive Psychology applied in such a great way. 

Viking man at the Ribe viking museum 

After our visit to the Esbjerg Business School, we drove to Ribe, the oldest town in Denmark. That night I walked around Ribe with some friends and got some dinner before going on a Ghost Tour of the town, which was really more of a walking history tour lead by this old man wearing what looked like a vicars outfit and told really excellent stories. Although the stories were good, it was incredibly windy and kind of rainy, so it was nice to go and sit in a pub afterwards just to get out of the weather! 

On Saturday, we visited the Viking Museum and then had a few hours to explore Ribe on our own (luckily the rain had stopped and the wind had died down). 

One of the many winding cobblestoned walking streets in Ribe 

You can't imagine how happy I was to find a Salvation Army, in the oldest town in Denmark no less. And yes, I did buy something (for 15 kroner - or about $2.70 - a great deal, in Denmark or in the States!)

Typical Danish scenery: gray sky, Danish flag, adorable buildings, water. 

Ribe Cathedral 

The building on the left is a public bathroom. Even the bathrooms are cuter in 1000 year old towns! 

Settling In

I've been in Denmark for almost two weeks now, as hard as I find that to believe! I didn't want to write again until I felt settled in, and I think that's finally beginning to happen. Classes have been in session for almost a week now, so I'm starting to get a feel for what my schedule will look like, and it's pretty great (aside from getting up at 6:30 for my 8:30 classes...gotta love commuting to school!). On the plus side, it definitely gets lighter earlier than it did when I first arrived, which makes getting up at that abysmal hour a bit more bearable. I still can't really wrap my head around the fact that come May it'll be light out for the majority of the day!

Every day, I drag myself out of bed in the darkness, eat breakfast and hop on the regional train into Copenhagen for classes. My core course is Positive Psychology, which is actually turning out to be my least favorite class, but we're going on some cool trips (hello, Scotland!), so overall it should be okay. In addition to that, I'm taking Human Trafficking in Europe, which is pretty fantastic so far; Danish Politics and Society, which I enjoy despite the fact that I'm not crazy about politics, mostly because the teacher is wonderful and it's helpful to have a basic working knowledge of the country I'm living in; Danish Language and Culture (difficult, but again, really nice teacher, and so, so useful); and Positive Psychology Practicum, which is a combination of learning about Positive Psychology and working at a practicum site...which means working with kids! 

And, oh my god, I had my first visit to my practicum site today, and I am in love! I don't even know where to begin. I'm "working" (for lack of a better term) at Bordings Friskole in Copenhagen, a independent (read private) school for children from preschool to 9th class (grade), 18-19 students per class, with about 375 students total. Parental involvement is vital to the school's philosophy, as is cultivating the children's social skills (this is seen as one of the primary focuses of early childhood education). The school building itself is huge and old and beautiful. The interior is painted wonderful bright colors, full of artwork, really well maintained (it's in a great neighborhood).  When I arrived, Jesper, my main contact person, gave me the grand tour which included a spectacular view of Copenhagen from what is a roof-top garden in the summertime. 

And the children...the school is everything I could hope to and probably never will see in the States. The kids have so much freedom and take it on so well, even the youngest ones. As just one example of many, while the teacher was reading a story during lunch in the kindergarten classroom (which Danish children enter when they're 6), a boy spilled his milk and without prompting from the teacher, left the classroom, came back with paper towels, cleaned up his mess and went back to eating, all without any disruption to the rest of the class. During the 4 hours that I was at Bordings, I also got to see a group of 6-year-old girls baking a cake with a teacher's supervision, a wonderful Danish birthday celebration and lots of free play time, all while trying my best to interact with the children despite my nonexistent Danish. When two boys came up to me and introduced themselves in English, I knew I had to at least attempt to return the favor in Danish! I could go on and on, but suffice it to say, I'm pretty sure that my practicum visits will become one of the highlights of my week. 

And finally, here's a quick run-down of some of the other things that I've been up to recently, aside from going to class and doing homework and falling in love with Danish culture more and more: 

- Going to an Irish pub with some friends to watch the Denmark vs. Sweden handball game (Denmark won!)

- Seeing my first snowfall in Copenhagen

- Exploring Roskilde for a second time, including a tour of the beautiful Roskilde Cathedral

And because you've been so kind as to read my ramblings about Bordings, here are some picture of the Cathedral, significant in part because it is the burial place of many members of the Danish royal family 

Inside the cathedral

Despite all of the ornate decorations inside the church, this wooden angel was one of my favorite things about the entire place

The ceiling in the Chapel of the Magi 

Pictures from the first few days

Here's (part of) my room! It's really big, and it has two nice, large windows that let in what little daylight is available 

Enjoying our fist proper dinner, with multiple courses and everything

My friend Emilia and I biked into Roskilde from our kollegium in Trekroner this afternoon. The ride isn't too long at all, and it was nice to get some exercise, even if it is cold! This is the main walking street in Roskilde. It's full of great shops and restaurants and cafes; the town will definitely be a nice place to hang out when I don't want to make the commute into Copenhagen to go out to eat or for drinks. 

More of the winding streets and beautifully colored buildings of Roskilde

In the distance, you can see water! I'll definitely be exploring this more once it warms up. 

Roskilde Cathedral, the first gothic cathedral to be built of brick, dates back to the 12th or 13th century 

The twin spires of the cathedral 

January 19: Today was cold and gray, but we walked around the city nevertheless, exploring some of the famous landmarks close to DIS. These pictures, while not of the landmarks themselves, should give you a pretty good sense of a typical Copenhagen landscape, including the architecture, weather, and BIKES

View from a canal near Christiansborg Palace

Bikes are everywhere, including in front of the Danish Royal Library 

Copenhagen!

Well, I got here safe and sound! I’ve been in Denmark for a few days now (although it feels both much longer and much shorter than that) and I’m over jet lag for the most part, so I decided it might be time for an update.

The flight from Boston to Reykjavík to Copenhagen (København) was pretty uneventful. I got into the airport at about noon local time, which felt like 6 am to my still accustomed to Eastern Standard time self, and was taken to my kollegium by bus with a bunch of other DIS students. When we arrived at Trekroner Kollegiet, my home for the next four months, we were met by our two RAs who took us to our rooms to drop off our stuff, and before walking about 5 minutes to Korallen, the other kollegium nearby, to pick up some arrival information. After an afternoon of unpacking, general “ohmygodI’minDenmark” moments, and a quick stop at the grocery store nearby (which unfortunately doesn’t take our DIS food stipend cards) all of the students from the two kollegiums met for dinner at a café. It was great to meet other students, although it was overwhelming learning so many new names on top of the jet lag and the general disorientation.

The next day, I got up dark and early (because it doesn’t start to get really light until around 8:30 am), downed a bowl of overly-sweet Danish cheerios and met up with some other Trekroner folks to catch the train into Copenhagen for our first day of orientation. The train ride is about 25 minutes altogether, which isn’t too bad, although the trains seem to be consistently late. Fun fact: Danes do not talk – at all – on the trains. There were definitely a few moments when I cringed at the Americanness of some of the other DIS students because they were talking SO loudly on an obviously otherwise silent train.

My first thought getting off the train was “I’m definitely not in America anymore.” Many of the streets are cobblestone, the buildings are centuries old, and EVERYBODY bikes (crazyfast, and without helmets). It’s definitely going to take me a while to work up the courage to bike anywhere in Denmark because the Danes take it so seriously! Being completely new to the city, we got lost on our way to the orientation, but we made it there eventually. After the welcome ceremony, we broke into smaller groups and went out on a scavenger hunt around the city in which we had to find the various DIS buildings (not all located next to each other, because unlike Smith, urban universities in Europe don’t have campuses) in addition to other important landmarks. It was exhausting, we got lost a lot, and I discovered that being a vegetarian in Denmark might be even harder than I thought it would be. Lets just say the Danes eat a LOT of meat. After walking around the city for hours, we went to a fair at which various DIS organizations give out information, but we were tired and didn’t stay long.

While the train ride into Copenhagen in the morning had been relatively easy, the ride back was anything but. After being told numerous different things about where to go, which platform to get on, which train to take to get back to Trekroner, and much frantic running from platform to platform, we finally got onto a train…only to be physically unable to get off it. Apparently you have to press a button to get the train doors to open, but we didn’t do it in time and had to watch as the Trekroner station passed us by. We got off at the next stop, Roskilde, and then had to wait for the next train to take us back to Trekroner. All in all, I was totally exhausted at the end of the day, and not totally sure I was going to like this urban living thing.

Today was much better: after another morning orientation session, I walked around the city a bit more with some of my new friends, just exploring the streets and the shops; my friend and I even successfully translated the word for “sun-dried tomato” at a delicious bakery/sandwich shop. Copenhagen really is a beautiful city, and once I get to know my way around more I know I’m really going to love it.

Tomorrow will include more orientation (classes start on Thursday, which I am both nervous about and looking forward to. It’ll be nice to have a set schedule, at the very least) and hopefully a trip into Roskilde to look around and do some “serious” grocery shopping…pictures to come, I promise!

The Final Countdown

Hi, and welcome to my blog! A week from today, I'll be just about ready to leave for Copenhagen! It's hard to believe, because it feels like I still have so much left to do (include pack, which you all know is not my forte) but there is it. I (finally!) received my housing information - I'll be living in a kollegium (basically like a dorm) in the Trekroner neighborhood of Roskilde, a city about 40 minutes by train and foot from the center of Copenhagen, where I'll be attending classes. It'll be totally different from what I'm used to at Smith, where I can get anywhere on campus in under 10 minutes and all of my classes are located less that 3 minutes from my dorm. In addition to getting used to commuting to school, I'll also be cooking entirely for myself for the first time in my life, and all that goes along with that, including grocery shopping and working with a weekly budget. I'm nervous about both commuting and cooking for myself, but I'm sure I'll get used to it in no time and will have a hard time readjusting to life at Smith next fall!

I signed up for a visiting family, an option DIS  (Danish Institute for Study Abroad, where I'll be studying) gives to students not living with a host family so they can still meet a Danish family and do things like eat dinner and go on outings together, but I haven't heard whether or not I've been assigned a family. I hope I do get one though, because I think it'll make the transition to living independently a little bit easier if I know I have a family somewhere in the city that I can contact if I'm feeling really far outside of my comfort zone.

Alright, I think that's it for now! This is my first time blogging aside from occasional blog posts for classes, so I'll do my best to keep you all updated as often as I can, but once classes start up and I begin exploring both Copenhagen and Roskilde more, I don't know how often I'll realistically be posting.