Yesterday was the first day of classes. I had History of Copenhagen, History of Genocide/Holocaust, and the News Media in Transition. News Media is going to be similar to all my other media classes ever, but I am really excited for the Holocaust class because it is taught in a way that I like.. where the teacher lectures and we take notes. The Copenhagen class, however, is all power point and a lot of small projects and focused on the architecture, not so much the social history. Therefore I have submitted a form to drop the class and have instead signed up for a class on human rights in Africa, which I am pretty excited for. It will be my only class at the University of Copenhagen, with Danish students (I think). Hopefully I will find out today if I made it into the class.
Here at the folk school, things are really fun. I wish I didn't have such a huge amount of reading, but I can do it on the train and the bus that I take to get to Copenhagen. It is really really tempting to just not to do anything academic, because that is the lifestyle that kids here have. I really want to learn Danish really well and then come back to a folk school for a semester (ha.. I don;t think I could ever know Danish that well, but it would be very nice if I did).
Today I have international advertising, and usually Danish, but the class was canceled for today. I need to go read for Advertising, so I need to end this entry a little early. Sorry for not communicating back home much, but I have so much to do and then as soon as I get back to the folk school we eat dinner and then do a little homework and try to talk to the others here.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Night # 1 in Grundtvigs
I am sorry the Ravens lost... but I am glad I did not make a very large effort to watch the game, because instead I hung out with a bunch of the Danish students here at Grundtvigs Hojskole, located in Hillerod, Denmark.
Basically, a Folke school is a place for Danish students to take a break in their studies, either after high school, after college, or perhaps in between. The students are usually 19-25, but there is a woman here who is 84! She was born in the states, but her parents were Danish and she is now studying here at the school! She is very nice, and I do not think she has a roommate. The students here do not have any grades, and I am not sure what kind of assignments they have to do. They are not allowed to drink on school nights (except Thursday, of course) but they do not have school today. So, they were allowed to have their bar (right below me) open last night.
Needless to say, I was not about to go to bed, especially since I was not jetlagged, and it was fun talking to all of the Danish students. Even though we are told that they are not outgoing, etc, in reality these students got here about two weeks ago so they are looking to meet people too. And, they are not all Danish. They are Polish and from the Pharoh (sp?) Islands, and a bunch of other places too, even Japan. It is crazy how many languages they can speak!
While I have not gotten a chance to explore a lot, the grounds look very nice. There is also a very old fashioned gymnasium and a library and a kitchen and a dining room and some other really cool things. Also, we are near the town of Hillerod, so in addition to Copenhagen we have another area to explore.
Every night we will all eat together at 6pm, and on the weekends we get to eat brunch in addition to Dinner. Other meals we will buy in Copenhagen or prepare in our Kitchen. The small kitchen is for the 15 American students, but I don't know if everyone will be cooking that often. Some students from last semester said extra food from dinner can be taken and put into our fridge, and then eaten for lunch the next day. We are also in walking distance of the grocery store.
This morning (it is only 9 am here) I am meeting with the rest of the DIS students and we are going to make our way to Copenhagen, for our DIS orientation. Our commute is going to be close to an hour, but I think it will be worth it. Plus, it will give me a chance to do some homework. I should go get ready for the day, I will update again soon.
Basically, a Folke school is a place for Danish students to take a break in their studies, either after high school, after college, or perhaps in between. The students are usually 19-25, but there is a woman here who is 84! She was born in the states, but her parents were Danish and she is now studying here at the school! She is very nice, and I do not think she has a roommate. The students here do not have any grades, and I am not sure what kind of assignments they have to do. They are not allowed to drink on school nights (except Thursday, of course) but they do not have school today. So, they were allowed to have their bar (right below me) open last night.
Needless to say, I was not about to go to bed, especially since I was not jetlagged, and it was fun talking to all of the Danish students. Even though we are told that they are not outgoing, etc, in reality these students got here about two weeks ago so they are looking to meet people too. And, they are not all Danish. They are Polish and from the Pharoh (sp?) Islands, and a bunch of other places too, even Japan. It is crazy how many languages they can speak!
While I have not gotten a chance to explore a lot, the grounds look very nice. There is also a very old fashioned gymnasium and a library and a kitchen and a dining room and some other really cool things. Also, we are near the town of Hillerod, so in addition to Copenhagen we have another area to explore.
Every night we will all eat together at 6pm, and on the weekends we get to eat brunch in addition to Dinner. Other meals we will buy in Copenhagen or prepare in our Kitchen. The small kitchen is for the 15 American students, but I don't know if everyone will be cooking that often. Some students from last semester said extra food from dinner can be taken and put into our fridge, and then eaten for lunch the next day. We are also in walking distance of the grocery store.
This morning (it is only 9 am here) I am meeting with the rest of the DIS students and we are going to make our way to Copenhagen, for our DIS orientation. Our commute is going to be close to an hour, but I think it will be worth it. Plus, it will give me a chance to do some homework. I should go get ready for the day, I will update again soon.
Friday, January 16, 2009
First Nights in Copenhagen
After my last post, I got really lazy and have not updated since. However, I am now ready to begin writing again, hopefully in a much more detailed manner. In the few weeks since my first post, I have been to London, Brighton and Scotland. London was nice, although very crowded and hectic all the time. I learned about the magic of an oyster card, and the problems of a mass system of public transportation (especially on the weekends). In Brighton, Jamie and I had our first experience in a hostel, and saw what an English beach looks like (we also went to our first casino!). After a nine hour bus ride we arrived in Scotland and we had our second experience in a hostel, this time it was a bit more interesting. We mingled with some of the workers there, and went out every night. Eventually we traveled back to London and sadly have departed from each other. Jamie and Rachel went to Spain, and I am currently at my "visiting family's" home in Copenhagen until my official housing starts on the 18th (Sunday).
My first impression of the city of Copenhagen...thank god everyone speaks English! I do not know one word of Danish (well I didn't until I set foot here). Now I know a few words.. like udsalg (something like that) means SALE. One of my favorite words. I already bought a pair of boots here, and some mittens... oops. But when someone speaks to me in Danish I give them a blank stare and they immediately switch to English, very convenient. In addition to shopping, I have explored a grocery store, the city center of Copenhagen and have even ventured to my program DIS's main building. Also, today I went to Christiania.
Christiania was an abandoned military base, and in the 70's it was taken over by some Danish people. A "free town" was established where everything was cooperatively owned, and the laws were decided by the people (by consensus). Today there are anywhere from 800-1000 inhabitants. A few years ago you could walk down "pusher street" and purchase marijuana from brightly colored carts, but the police raided the town in 2004 (I think?) and closed down the open sale of cannabis. However, as I witnessed today people still sell weed on the street, even hanging out in the open off of small carts. I was a little nervous by myself, but I still managed to see a majority of the place (I think.. I want to go back for a guided tour on a weekend sometime). The houses were built without any regulations, so some are very interesting! In fact, they kind of reminded me of the houses in Hawaii, where they could just fall over (but some were built very well). Inside the "town" there are restaurants, jazz clubs, theaters etc in abandoned military buildings and in buildings they made themselves. Next time I go I want to eat there, but I will be sure to bring a friend or two with me so I feel more comfortable.
My visiting family is very nice, and they say I am welcome to come over and visit anytime I want. I have a key, and access to a bike, so I can come and visit whenever. One idea is for me to stay here on Sunday nights, since I have an 8:30 am class in Copenhagen (which is very close to their house). My Folkehojskole is far away, probably close to an hour, so that would be a very early morning. Yuck. Luckily I only have the 8:30 class twice a week, so I think I can manage.
Well I need to shower (it's late here, almost midnight) and I want to be awake at a reasonable time tomorrow since it is the first day the kids will be home all day (they are 5,10,15). I hope everyone else is doing well!
My first impression of the city of Copenhagen...thank god everyone speaks English! I do not know one word of Danish (well I didn't until I set foot here). Now I know a few words.. like udsalg (something like that) means SALE. One of my favorite words. I already bought a pair of boots here, and some mittens... oops. But when someone speaks to me in Danish I give them a blank stare and they immediately switch to English, very convenient. In addition to shopping, I have explored a grocery store, the city center of Copenhagen and have even ventured to my program DIS's main building. Also, today I went to Christiania.
Christiania was an abandoned military base, and in the 70's it was taken over by some Danish people. A "free town" was established where everything was cooperatively owned, and the laws were decided by the people (by consensus). Today there are anywhere from 800-1000 inhabitants. A few years ago you could walk down "pusher street" and purchase marijuana from brightly colored carts, but the police raided the town in 2004 (I think?) and closed down the open sale of cannabis. However, as I witnessed today people still sell weed on the street, even hanging out in the open off of small carts. I was a little nervous by myself, but I still managed to see a majority of the place (I think.. I want to go back for a guided tour on a weekend sometime). The houses were built without any regulations, so some are very interesting! In fact, they kind of reminded me of the houses in Hawaii, where they could just fall over (but some were built very well). Inside the "town" there are restaurants, jazz clubs, theaters etc in abandoned military buildings and in buildings they made themselves. Next time I go I want to eat there, but I will be sure to bring a friend or two with me so I feel more comfortable.
My visiting family is very nice, and they say I am welcome to come over and visit anytime I want. I have a key, and access to a bike, so I can come and visit whenever. One idea is for me to stay here on Sunday nights, since I have an 8:30 am class in Copenhagen (which is very close to their house). My Folkehojskole is far away, probably close to an hour, so that would be a very early morning. Yuck. Luckily I only have the 8:30 class twice a week, so I think I can manage.
Well I need to shower (it's late here, almost midnight) and I want to be awake at a reasonable time tomorrow since it is the first day the kids will be home all day (they are 5,10,15). I hope everyone else is doing well!
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