September 19 –25, 2007, Number 160
To-Do List:
New Experiences
My trip to Tivoli, one of the world's oldest amusement parks in the world, is nestled in the middle of the city of Copenhagen on Hans Christian Andersen's Boulevard. (Click on photos for larger images)
Hej, hvordan går det (pronounced, hi vordan gor day). Interpreted from Danish it says, "Hello, how are you?" I started my first Danish language course this week. So I am attempting to practice up a little bit. This is a voluntary course that I am taking in an attempt to get more out of my experience here. I am also led to believe that somewhere down the line, in a job interview or something, I will be able to say I have attempted a foreign language. Hopefully this will give me a little edge over other students. I need to keep reminding myself of how great a character builder studying abroad is. The new experiences, as this week's title implies, are the things that are continuing to shape me during my time in Denmark.
It has been two weeks since I wrote my last article, and I must say that too much has happened to cover everything in great detail. I will however attempt to capture the most significant happenings. These are the experiences that I will share for the rest of my life, the experiences that I have photographed and the experiences that I will vividly remember. However, the big events cannot completely mold the story of this adventure I am on. It is the small, unnoticeable shall we say, subconscious experiences that I undergo that will slowly transform me. These changes are not visible and are unable to be photographed, but they are happening now and will continue to happen without me even knowing. This is why putting yourself in situations where you don't know anyone, don't speak the language, are homesick, and question why you are even doing what you are doing, are so good. It is challenges like going abroad that whittle away at the core of who you are, shaping you into who you are becoming.
Denmark Trivia- Only about half of Danes have middle names
- Nobody likes peanut butter, or has ever heard of peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches. Instead they eat bread with jelly and a slice of cheese
- You have to pay for shopping carts and shopping bags
- '80s clothes are in
- No one knows what a s’more is
- They have 4-ring binders not 3-ring
- I have yet to see a shingle, all roofs are stone or grass
Now onto some of the great experiences I have been enjoying. Due to the structure of the study abroad semester, the first three weeks are very flexible and allow for a lot of free time. I am fairly sure that most study abroad experiences are structured this way to allow for socialization, which is just as much a part of the semester as actually studying. So it is pretty safe to say that I have been attempting to take advantage of this time as much as possible.
Experience number one begins at Tivoli. This is one of the oldest amusement parks in the world and is nestled right smack dab in the middle of the city on Hans Christian Andersen's Boulevard. Hans Christian Andersen is one of the most famous Danes and is known for his fairy tales—mostly for the story of the Little Mermaid, a statue of which is one of the most popular sightseeing stops in Copenhagen. Tivoli is filled with roller coasters, games, performance stages, and is just as much a place for fine dining as it is a place to have fun as it is also filled with many restaurants. I chose to only go on the park's signature ride. This is due to the high expense it was to actually ride all the rides, and for the fact that I am fairly prone to motion sickness. I must say that it is no Cedar Point but held a charm that was worth the $12 to ride this one ride. It was called the Star Flyer. The Star Flyer is a rising, rotating swing ride that provides a magnificent view of the city from the top of its ten-story tower. At night Tivoli becomes even more magnificent when its 100,000+ lights illuminate the night. I am learning that whether the experience is big or small, I think it is quite significant to make sure to enjoy as many of the local attractions possible. So my next stop this week was the Copenhagen Zoo.
The zoo, although not the most impressive, was interesting nonetheless. There were animals that are not commonly found in US zoos including a weird half zebra, half horse creature, as well as a milk cow that seemed to be a fairly popular attraction. I found that confinement of the animals seemed to be much more relaxed than in the USA, with many of the enclosures allowing the animals to be easily accessible to the daring zoo goer. I have noticed this more relaxed attitude about things in other areas of foreign life, most noticeably the relaxed view and use of the human anatomy. All statues that I have seen overseas are impressively anatomically correct. And it is all too common to see advertisements and magazines that openly use nudity. For those who thought the USA is saturated with sex, myself included, it is seemingly conservative as compared to European nations and their view on this subject.
Photos from my tour of Copenhagen and my visit to the village of Christiania.
Experience number three: guided tour of Copenhagen. As part of studies for this week, we had a guided tour throughout the city by foot and through the canals by boat. This was very informative. I have been through a lot of the city already, but just by myself snapping the occasional tourist photo here and there. It was educationally informative to go on a guided tour and learn things that I would not otherwise know. The most interesting part of the tour was the brief stop at the island of Christiania. Christiania is considered a free town. It is the remnants of a social experiment that started in the '70s. Christiania exists to confine the use of marijuana in the city. Although all drugs are illegal in Denmark, the local authorities allow for the open use and selling of marijuana in Christiania. Christiania's existence is very much deliberated. Although the use of marijuana is what makes this island popular, it is in fact quite interesting. The inhabitants of Christiania do not pay any taxes on any property on the island, and do not actually own the buildings in which they live. Most of these buildings are quite ramshackle establishments. Nonetheless, everything on the island is the property of the Christiania community, and the people are very much fun and friendly. Christianians are friendly to all except camera wielding tourists. There are big signs that indicate no photos to be taken in the downtown area where certain "transactions" take place. This social community is interesting, yes, and a little scary too.
Experience number four: road trip to Stockholm, Sweden. This marks my first-day-out-of-Denmark excursion. This trip was to the Capital of Scandinavia, Stockholm, Sweden. Our adventure began in the 700 kilometer drive from Copenhagen to Stockholm. Stockholm is located on the east coast of Sweden and is built on a series of fourteen islands. This part of Sweden, around Stockholm, is very unique in the fact that the archipelago around Stockholm consists of a magnificent 24,000 islands. Being young and adventurous, it was agreed that we all would be spontaneous with our trip and where we would stay, figuring tourist season is over and we would have free reign to do and stay where we wished. Welp, we were unfortunately mistaken. There so happened to be some kind of world medical conference in Stockholm that weekend, and every place to stay within a 100 km circumference of the city was booked solid. This damaged our morale a little bit but we did find a hostel that had a cancellation and were able to find a place to stay for the first night. The next day after brushing off a $100 parking ticket we took a bus and boat tour of the city. It is a very good way to gain information and knowledge of where the interesting places are in the city. Like the fact there are strict restrictions on building height and design to help preserve the cities historic beauty. Any designs that look too modern are always met with stiff criticism. When that was complete, we rented city bikes and did some touring by cycle. No matter how much goes wrong while vacationing it seems these challenges turn into good stories rather than bad memories. So after a long day of sightseeing, we decided to make the long trip home and accept defeat in our search for another place to stay. All in all my first mini Euro trip was successful and I am looking forward to the next.
One of the advantages of studying abroad is seeing more than your host country.
The rest of the experiences start with a food tasting dinner put on by my host University. This included traditional Danish cuisine, including smorrebrod, and the Danish drink of choice, beer. Smorrebrod is basically an open-faced sandwich. A dark moist bread is piled high with thinly sliced deli meat, cheese, and a variety of vegetables. These come in many combinations of meat and veggies, but can taste a little interesting if you happen to grab the meat gelatin or ground liver kinds. It is hard to imagine, but beer is surprisingly common here in Denmark. There are two major breweries, Tuborg and Carlsburg. Their relationship is similar to the domestic brands Budweiser and Miller. What is different in Denmark than from the States is the school's encouragement of its consumption. It has been freely served at the couple of introduction lunches and dinners that I have been to. It is also available for purchase in the school cafeteria, and there is actually a school bar in the main building of the school. They seem to embrace beer drinking as a part of life and openly encourage it without hesitation.
My family life has been such a great blessing for my learning the Danish culture more intimately. Learning common Danish games like jo-jo's and a game similar to monopoly have been very entertaining. Jo-jo's is a fad game commonly played by little boys in Denmark. Jo-jo's are actually little plastic characters. Two or more can play by taking these little jo-jo's and sliding them on the floor towards a wall. The player that is closest to the wall wins all the jo-jo's of those who are playing. I am currently working on a little jo-jo collection courtesy of the neighborhood kids.
I'll end this week's article with some stories of fascinating people I met recently. The first is a student from China. My American pride button was pushed by this young lady as she told me of her perception of the USA and Americans. I refrained from too much conversation with this seemingly closed minded person, because I realized that her attitude was shaped by what she knew about the USA, which, she mentioned, came from the media. I don't think I am much different in my perception of other countries. I, too, can only make assumptions about a country from what I've watched on television and what the media says. I am looking forward to breaking down these media stereotypes and working towards a more understanding and appreciating attitude.
The second interesting person I met was an English speaking Norwegian. I imagine we are all aware that people from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (Yoopers) have an interesting accent about their everyday speech. Well, I am convinced that I have discovered where it came from. My conversation with this English speaking Norwegian was excitingly fascinating. As she talked I felt right back at home in Houghton, Michigan, talking to a true thick-accented Yooper. That's right, she sounded like an authentic Yooper. Her "ehs" and "das" and talking about going "oot and aboot" were ridiculously similar to Yooper dialect. This encounter was very comforting and brought a smile to my face.
So, with that I will bring an overdue end to this article and wish you best till next week. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy reading as much as I am enjoying writing.
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With a Thankful Heart,
- Michigan Technological University
- 1400 Townsend Drive, Houghton, MI 49931-1295
- 906-487-1885