A Weekend (and then some) of Adventures

Last Thursday, all DIS students departed for what's called a "Short Study Tour to Western Denmark". A cool part about DIS is the travel that is integrated into the program; for this tour, all students with their core class (mine is "Children in a Multicultural Context") for 3 days to 2 different cities in "western" Denmark. In addition to this short trip, classes also go on a longer, 6 day trip in March to somewhere in Europe- I will be going to London :) Ironically, on this short tour to Western Denmark, the cities that were not actually that far west, but it was a great trip none the less. I'll try to keep this relatively short and just talk about the highlights, but if you know me, I'm not very good at that.

THURSDAY

Odense :)

We departed bright and early (7:15 am, meaning I left my house at 6:30!) from downtown Copenhagen. My host dad, Henrik, drove me to the train station, because there had been rumors of a bus strike. We went first to Odense (google map it if you want to know where it is more specifically), but it is on the island of Denmark to the west of Copenhagen. Our class, which is 26 girls and 1 boy, broke into two groups to go see two different schools- I went to the H.C. Anderson Skolen (in case you didn't know, HC Anderson is Danish!).

This school was amazing! Odense is a very multicultural area of Denmark, which is a fairly homogenous country, although immigration is increasing. The school was in an area known as a "ghetto", although

Kids at HC Anderson Skolen :)

nothing like the ghettos of an American city. The majority of the students are not ethnically Danish, however, and many come from rough home lives. This school was started 10 years ago, and goes from grades 0-8, or roughly ages 6 or 7-15 or 16, which is typical for the Danish public school system. However, in the beginning, the school was only for grades 0-3, and the teachers really worked to establish a positive, supportive culture for the school. Rather than try to change an environment pre-existing, they chose to build it, starting with the youngest students. 

And this method seemed to pay off! The school had such a warm, empowering feel to it. Many of the students came from difficult homes, and the school really tried to fill some of these gaps. Teachers in

She sang for us!

Denmark go by their first names, which I think creates a really cool environment to begin with. At this school, teachers seemed to be really passionate about the mission of this school to help students to succeed, and they had really great relationships with the students. We got to go into some classrooms and  talk to students, and we met one girl who even sang for us, with a little encouragement (and peer pressure) from her friends. Going to the school was definitely my highlight of Thursday.

After our school visits, we had lunch at a cultural house (all communities here have one, so cool!) in Vollsmose, another very ethnic area, and then got a tour of the community from volunteers from their program Unge 2 Unge (youth 2 youth), a group who tries to help the youth of the area by providing opportunities for recreation, leadership, etc. Then we had an acting workshop lead by a guy from Uganda, which was cool, although I am definitely not an actress. To end the day, we went to dinner at a Turkish buffet, headed to a cafe for hot chocolate, coffee, and hygge, and then went back to our hostel.

FRIDAY

After a delicious breakfast at the hostel, complete with fresh bread, Danish chocolate slices to go on top,

Interactive playground/memory game

jam, cheese, hot chocolate, and a few vegetables, we headed to our school visit of the day, the Rosengard Skole. It had this AMAZING playground that wrapped around the entire school, with different areas specialized for different age groups, including a section for their special needs students, but all the students were free to go anywhere. They also had some computerized areas of the playground, with interactive/online learning games kids could play. During each school day, kids got multiple breaks to play outside, but since each classroom had a door that went right outside, teachers are allowed to let their students play whenever they felt it was needed.

The headmaster gave us a tour of the school, which was having a "celebrate culture" week. The classrooms were all bright and cheery, with student art and pictures displayed throughout the hallways and rooms. We got to see special needs section of the school, where they have extra help and support for students when/if they can't be in a regular classroom.

in character at the Tinderbox!

The afternoon was SO FUN! We got to go to the Tinderbox, which is an interactive theater workshop for kids where they can bring H.C. Anderson tales for life (we were in his hometown, after all!).

The Tinderbox

So of course, we got to be kids for the day, and got to experience the Little Mermaid set to music in the incredible theater, before painting and playing dress up. It was awesome! Then we drove to Næstved, got dinner and went bowling at the NICEST bowling alley I've ever seen, and spent the night at another hostel. It was really cool talking to the girls I was sharing a room with and getting to know them better.

SATURDAY
We spent the day in Næstved and went to the town museum, which was interesting, although not super

Lunch with friends in Næstved 

 exciting. Lunch was great though, at a very cozy little Danish restaurant- so hygge :) Then we drove to the Vordingborg Castle...or at least, the remnants of it! Haha, there wasn't actually a castle there, which was unexpected, but it was pretty interesting anyways. Overall, it was a very good trip though, and I'm glad I got to know my classmates better. Can't wait for London!

SUNDAY
It was great to be home again after the trip. I slept in until 11, had

Mads and I with Christian IV,

Denmark's most famous king!

breakfast with Mads, and then Henrik proposed that we should take a trip to see some of the local area. I, of course, was all in favor of this plan, so the three of us got in the car and

Little Mermaid!

headed to nearby Roskilde, a very cute and historic town by the water. We went and saw the Domkirke, the huge cathedral where all of the Danish kings and queens are buried, which was really cool! After walking around for a little bit on the quaint little streets, we got back in the car and drove around downtown Copenhagen. Henrik took me to see the Little Mermaid statue, a MUST if you are in Copenhagen, and then we got some pizza, and went home to hang out.

All in all, it was a good weekend/study tour, and it was really cool to see some more parts of Denmark. I definitely want to travel and see more cities/famous sites of Denmark while I am here :)