On Exam Week: Danish Edition and Eight Days

Well, it's that time of the semester again -- time for my Exam Week post!  Exam Week: Denmark Edition.

It's hard to believe it's already that time of the semester - four months has gone by so fast that it almost makes my head spin.  I've been in five countries, eight cities, and four airports in the last four months.  I've watched the days in Denmark go from never-ending summer nights (no seriously the sun didn't set until like 10 pm) to three hours of daylight (if you're lucky and it isn't overcast).  I've gone to the ballet at the Royal Theatre, a beer tasting at one of only seven Trappist breweries in the world, a party at the EU (although that was kind of a trainwreck because there were issues with wiring and food, whoops), and more.  And I've met some truly amazing people.

Yesterday, someone asked me what my favorite memory of this semester was.  It's a pretty close call.  The single greatest moment, potentially one of the greatest moments of my life, was right before Halloween.  We went to the Halloween village at Tivoli, and there is a ride at Tivoli called the Himmelskibet or Star-Flyer.  It's a really tall swing ride.

It looks kind of like that.

Anyway, it was dark, and we went up on the ride.  When we got to the top, I could see the entire city of Copenhagen, all lit up, and it felt like we were flying over it.  It was absolutely magical.

The other competitor for my favorite memory was sitting in Grand Place is Brussels on our long study tour.  It was our first day there, sunny and warm, and a bunch of groups were picnicking in the square.  We had some time to kill, so we found a Belgian specialty beer shop and a chocolate shop, and grabbed some drinks and chocolate and just sat in the square, enjoying the weather and the wonderful opportunity we had to take a trip with our core class.

It's been amazing to think how this semester has flown by, and while I am really excited to get home to my friends, family, and a phone plan that doesn't charge me 50 cents a text message or decide to sporadically not work, there will be some things I will really miss about Denmark and my time here.  I'm just going to have to work hard to bring the best parts of my time abroad home with me.

Now, I really need to stop procrastinating on working on my international law paper.  Except not really.  Who assigns a paper due Christmas Eve (Heidi, if you somehow find this, you are a wonderful professor and I love your class, but REALLY?)?  Eight days left to pack, study, write, Hobbit, and get in all the sightseeing I still haven't done.

For those my darling readers suffering through Exam Week out there: Good luck, stay sane, and remember that it will be fine (and if it's not, at least it's over).

Procras-Dane-ating,
Rachel Leigh

On the Season

I have been terrible about posting this past month.  I'm sorry, my darling readers.  Between Prague, papers, exams, classes, Thanksgiving, and other such craziness, there just hasn't been a lot of time for it.  Not an excuse, I know.

Happy December!  I had my first (and likely only) traditional Danish Julefrokost (Christmas lunch) yesterday with the other DIS students in my kollegium and our Danish SRA.  Why they call it "lunch" when it starts at like 7 pm is beyond me.  But the food was delicious and the boys did a great job (since the girls took care of Thanksgiving).  They brought a table out into the hallway and it was adorable.

I can't really talk about Julefrokost without talking about alcohol.  Little-known fact - the Danes drink pretty heavily.  Well, actually, if you read Scandinavia and the World (it's a comic), it's actually apparently a very well-known fact in Scandinavia.  But I had no idea before I came to this country.  Anyway, Christmas lunch involves Danish snaps and akvavit, both of which are really strong, and you're drinking all through the meal.  In a country where they release a Christmas and Easter specialty beer, I think it might be safe to say that the only thing the Danes love more than getting cozy with family and friends is an excuse to party.

Friday night my Danish class went to see Tornerose (Sleeping Beauty) at the Royal Theatre, which was absolutely wonderful.  It's hard to wrap my mind around the fact that I'm only here for two more weeks.  I still need to go see the Christmas lights at Tivoli.  And survive finals week.

Tis the season,
Rachel Leigh

On Danish Kids (also, an update)

It's been ridiculous recently, sorry I haven't been posting.

As you may or may not know, I was in Brussels, the Hague, and Amsterdam all last week, so my internet access was unreliable at best.  Lessons I learned on that trip:

• Even most EU citizens are confused about what the EU does
• Sharing a room with 11 other people is detrimental to my ability to sleep
• A man with a faucet on his head isn't normal, but in Amsterdam it is

Also, I learned that somehow, in spite of being like one-tenth its size, Copenhagen Kastrup Airport is substantially more confusing than Amsterdam-Schipol Airport.  But that's another story for another day.  And by "another day," I mean we're never going to discuss it again.

Today, we took a tour of the Danish Parliament, the Folketing.  Admittedly, I'd done this before, but it was kind of cool to get one from a prominent Parliamentarian and we ended up talking about our impressions of Denmark - namely Danish attitudes towards children.

Which is what I thought I'd talk to you all about today.  The Danes have a very different idea about children and childhood than we have in the States.  Children are given a lot of freedom - I've seen 6 or 7 year olds riding the Metro alone or in small groups, and apparently in a kindergarten class one of my friends is working with, the students are given a lot more free choice about what they're going to do with their time.

The stereotypical example is that Danish mothers will often leave baby carriages (with the babies inside) outside of stores and cafes while they go inside, because the likelihood that your child will get kidnapped in Copenhagen is unfathomably small.

But I just think the level of independence and choice they give children is really interesting.  We structure the lives of children so much to help and protect them, but from what I can see, Danish kids seem to do pretty well on their own.

Pedagogically? yours,
Rachel Leigh

On Study Abroad Problems

Oh my lovely, lovely readers.  I have encountered a number of #studyabroadproblems (kind of like firstworldproblems, in that they're soaked in privilege and kind of ridiculous, but specific to experiences of culture shock or differences spurred by being in another country) since I've been here, some of which I've told you about, and some of which I haven't.

The first is the fact that the Danes swear almost entirely in English.  In between the words I don't understand, the j's that sound like "y," and the d's that are definitely actually the letter L, you'll here good old American f-bombs.  Or my European Politics professor who likes to start class by yelling "Shut up, you assholes!"  According to my Danish professor, it comes down to the fact that, kind of like "Merde!" sounds less harsh to an English speaker than its English equivalent, cursing in English to the Danes is almost not like cursing at all -- god forbid someone actually use a Danish curse word or she would be horribly offended.  It's just really hard to get used to not understanding entire conversations except when an English swear is snuck in.

The other is just that junk food and junk drinks (like soda, which you all know is an addiction of mine) are super expensive here and also the closest place to get them is like a fifteen minute walk and yes I am so lazy that that is too much effort.

To make up for my whining, here are some pictures from Denmark!

 

Still-not-Danishly Yours,
Rachel Leigh

On Denmark (Part 1)

Greetings for (surprisingly) sunny and (unseasonably) warm Copenhagen!  Fun fact, while Copenhagen is usually about 15 degrees colder than Richmond, it has actually consistently been warmer here (at least during the day) the entire time I've been here.  The day we arrived was the hottest day Denmark had in two years.  Just throwin' some knowledge your way.

This post comes at the end of my first day of classes (by which I mean my first class, because most of my classes are tomorrow...also it's only 11:30 and I've already been to class, commuted home, and done my reading for tomorrow).

Things I love so far:

• Everything is easily accessible by Metro
• The people really ARE the happiest people on Earth, and it just exudes from the attitudes at certain places

Things I'm still not used to:

• Not understanding half the signs I read (though I'm picking up on some (Udgang=Exit) and I start Danish tomorrow)
• The Danes are REALLY quiet people.  I can already start to pick out the Americans on the Metro...just follow the loud ones.

The biggest thing, though, is that I'm still recovering from jetlag.  How am I supposed to get past this terrible jetlag when they keep rushing me around from place to place and not leaving me enough time to sleep?  My body can only handle so much sleep deprivation.

More to come (especially once I upload some of the photos of things I find bizarre).

Tusind tak,
Rachel Leigh