Adventure Blog
Come along with me on my adventures! This is where I go into some of the details on my trips and share some tips and tricks I happened to pick up!
School in Denmark was very different from school in Canada. If I had to sum it up in one word, I would say it had more...freedom. One thing that was very interesting was how each class had it's own culture (along with their own couch). Since everyone in the class has known each other for many years, they're totally comfortable in their group. This made it a little more uncomfortable for us, foreigners, to fit in as we did not share the same bonds with these people. It was surprising for me to find out how many authors I've read that were Danish. I never really pay attention to where authors are from, but now I realize how much their own background history can impact a story. One of the most famous Danish authors is Hans Christian Andersen. He wrote The Little Mermaid. I probably should have connected the dots here, since the Little Mermaid is one of the main tourist attractions in Denmark...but oh well. My host family's culture is very different from my own family's, but it's easy to get used to. They don't that much in front me, I think the language difference is definitely a barrier in this case, but otherwise it doesn't make too much of a difference. There haven't been too many cultural misunderstandings because the Danish students know a lot about our culture, presumably from TV, movies, and other medias. They did have some stereotypes of us though, they talked a lot about comparing us to high school musical and that was funny and not really offensive. Everyone is quite shut off here, detached in a way that north americans rarely are. I think Canadians especially can just start talking to anyone and a in a few minutes it's not even awkward. We also talk all the time, and the Danish just don't appreciate the art of small talk. This is good in a way, since this eliminates conversation about nothings like weather and such but it bad because it makes it hard to approach them and strike up a conversation. A thing that I found extremely fascinating was when we actually went to one of their classes. The whole set up was so casual, it was amazing. The students called their teachers by their first names and they openly swore in class. Our classes would never allow that! Also their projects were a lot different than what we did. They were watching a movie, Frankenstein, and since I had never watched, the class was pretty engaging. The project they did was "to build a frankenstein out of celebrities." Pretty weird, right? They had to choose qualities of different people, like David Beckham's foot and Ed Sheeran's voice. It was surprising how all their favourite celebrities were also our favourite celebrities. I would have thought there would have been more differences. I think that class was probably the best part of the school day. Otherwise, today was pretty boring even though it was nothing like regular school, it was just another day at school. That's all for today.
0 Comments
Copenhagen is absolutely beautiful. We stayed in a downtown hotel, so we were right in the middle of everything. I think the best weather to visit Denmark is probably October, when it's not too cold but still cold enough to wear a thin layer. The thing about Denmark though, is that the cold is chilling to the bone, because it's a wet cold, not dry like Calgary. But wearing sweaters is so much fun it was worth being a little chilly. And the photos just come out a little better in colder weather I think. So let's get to the actual post now, no more babble...
The hotel was nice, even if it was tiny, with 4 people cramped in a room more fit for 2 people. The bathroom! It was minuscule! The whole room got soaked after the first person showered! I do think the hotel was better than the home-stay though. I generally feel pretty awkward around new people and felt really pressured to act 'normal' to their expectations. Basically just trying not to make any mistakes. And that's pretty tough for 6 whole days! At the hotel, there were people I knew better, because they were from the same place and I didn't have to work to talk with them. Anyways, I did really enjoy the home-stay, with the experiencing a new culture and all. It was fun to see how they lived. Also their food was a 1000x better than the hotel food. The breakfasts at the hotel were awful. But Copenhagen street food is so good! It's pretty expensive, and probably where all my money went, but it was worth it. The roasted sugared almonds from the street vendors...I would go back just for those. Also the churros we found at this little churro shop a few blocks from the hotel! The Scandinavians do food quite well. And desserts and chocolate! I brought back so many marzipan chocolate bars for my family! (Not really, they were mostly for me, ha-ha.) The first full day of the home-stay my host family took me to this cheese and cake place, and it was fabulous. The cake was made perfectly, with just the right amount of sponginess, the cheese was great, and the coffee was just so good. It rained that day and it was probably my favourite home-stay day. I found this special type of danish cake crumble thing and it was amazing, with a coconut flavour, but I haven't been able to find out what it was called. Sad. That day had all the elements of European life that I love and wish we had in Canada. In Copenhagen, we saw tons of castles. Or was that during homestay? It's all such a blur. No, pretty sure it was Copenhagen. We got on a coach bus and went to one castle after another. I don't really understand why we had to see so many castles- they all looked pretty much the same- but they were beautiful nonetheless. One thing I really regret from the castles is not getting a crown from the gift shop. They were selling them at every castle and I had so many opportunities to buy one! I also regret not writing down everything that happened every single day but oh well. It's in my memory and that's all that really matters. Copenhagen is often called 'the city of bikes' and it actually lives up to the name. There were bikes EVERYWHERE. There were even special bike lanes on all of the pathways, although some places it was hard to distinguish where the bike lane ended and pathway started. I almost got run over by a bike like five times! Downtown was probably my favourite thing to see in Copenhagen. I was really looking forward to the Tivoli Gardens, but unfortunately we weren't able to go. We saw a movie in a danish cinema instead, and that was pretty cool. I really liked how everything was walking distance from where we were staying, so we didn't have to keep getting on and off the bus. The Viking Museum was pretty cool, I liked dressing up as a Viking and imagining living in those times. The maritime museum was a similar experience. I really liked the freedom we got here, we could just wander wherever. The canal tour and downtown are tied for favourite places, I think. It was really cool to experience the city sitting in a boat. I also got some cool pictures, so that was an added bonus. This wasn't one of the big things, but I really enjoyed the street food market we went to for lunch, I believe it was on an island called Paper Island (Papirøen). It was very interesting to see how Danish people had interpreted different cuisines from all over the world. Admittedly, the butter chicken was horrible. But the desserts were to die for. I was feeling a little homesick so I got the butter chicken. I should have sprung for something a little more classic Danish, I realize that now. Some of my buddies got the duck and waffle combo and that was apparently very good! So next time, definitely getting some duck and waffle. So that is all for now. Check out the photo album page! Friday September 30, 2016 / Saturday October 1, 2016
Today was long. That’s the best word for it. It was stressful, boring, tiring, and long. Sitting on a plane for nine hours next to people you didn't know (and didn’t really want to get to know) is boring and makes a long flight even longer. But today was also kind of great. I spent all day with old friends and some new ones. I realized I didn’t like it when someone pushed me around and stood up for myself without starting an argument. (Which is harder to do than it is to say). I traveled all the way from Calgary to Frankfurt to Copenhagen to Støvring. That’s about 102,200 km. That’s a lot! This is also my first official trip to Europe, because Turkey counts half and half for Asia and Europe. I also got my brand new Canadian passport stamped for the first time in Frankfurt. I learnt that sometimes first impressions aren’t all that you remember from a person, and no matter how they may seem on the outside, there could be depth and a totally different person than you expect inside of them. Also, that sometimes people just don’t like you and there’s nothing you can really do about, besides not let that rule the way you live. You do what you want to do you to see and judge, not for anyone else. And if you do it for others maybe you should rethink your lifestyle. Sometimes the friends that you counted on aren’t the ones that stay, instead a surprisingly good friend will show up and become the person you can count on. Leaving my family wasn’t too hard because I’ve gone on trips before, one just this summer almost as long as this exchange is. Of course, at that time I didn’t realize how much harder it is to function without your parents telling you exactly what to do all the time. You don’t have to always worry about how you act around your family or around the house. In a different house and setting, you have to be constantly aware of what you’re doing, saying, and acting like. You can’t be moody, choosy, or lazy. It’s an educational experience in that way too, to look at your own behaviour from a outsider’s perspective. You have to always be polite and neat, which sometimes you don’t do when you’re at home when you’re comfortable. You van forget about other people’s feelings and you shouldn’t do that, even at your own home. There were many moments that I felt awkward, uncomfortable, and just like I didn’t belong here. There’s the obvious one, when we landed at Copenhagen and all we could see was caucasian blonde people. Out of the group, I’m the only one with super dark hair (my friend has black hair except she’s dyed it blonde). It was weird, because back in Canada, there’s such a diverse community I never feel different there. This obvious cultural and ethnic difference made me feel a little weird but I didn’t pay too much attention to it, after all why should they or I care about simple things like looks? There were other moments too, but to most of them the reaction just has to be either ignore the awkwardness or deal with it. When I was in the bus from Copenhagen to Støvring, I felt pretty safe and comfortable. It was starting to feel like I was getting to know my classmates better and I could depend on them if I need to. This was a good moment because, after all we are going to spend the next 10 days together. |