Week 18 (26/05/2012- 30/05/2012)

Personal

Returning to Vordingborg after our travels in Sweden felt so strange as previously, when I have travelled away from Vordingborg, I have always felt a slight relief when I returned, knowing I was temporarily ‘home’ again in Vordingborg, that I had somewhere to belong and settle again. However, this time, my suitcase wasn’t going to be fully unpacked, but another one to be packed in preparation for heading home to Northern Ireland! This realisation made me see that I did see Vordingborg as my home while I was in Denmark. I really did make it my ‘home away from home’ with my friends there being like my family. 

Having my friend Hannah over to visit for my last few days allowed me to enjoy my last days and not to dwell so much on the fact that I was leaving a lot of people, food and ways of life which were now dear to me, behind in Denmark. 

 

The last week consisted of many dinners, parties and reminiscing with the other Erasmus students. We even went to the beach as it got so warm. We were leaving Vordingborg a few days earlier than we were leaving Denmark, as we spent our last few days in sunny Copenhagen which was a lovely way to spend our last few days in Denmark. I enjoyed showing Hannah the sites of Copenhagen, especially as it was such nice weather! Showing Hannah around allowed me to compare what it was like when I first came to Copenhagen as a tourist not knowing where anything was, where the unusual shops where, the nice restaurants, the short cuts etc. to now when I know my way around Copenhagen really well and know all the best places to go. Spending my last evening in Denmark in the beautiful Tivolli gardens having dinner and watching the light show was a brilliant way to end my whole Erasmus experience. 

Final Erasmus party

Hannah and I climbling St Saviour's Church Tower in Copenhagen

My Erasmus experience has made me grow in so many ways. It has made me a more independent, relaxed person that am more likely to take life as it comes than I was before I went to Denmark. This is because of the lifestyle of the Danish people, and I hope to adapt some of the lifestyle at home in Northern Ireland. As well as significantly developing personally, I have also developed a great deal culturally. I have been exposed to so many different cultures during my time in Denmark which has opened my eyes, mind and heart to all cultures and different cultured people that I have met. There is a lot to be said about learning from different cultures. There is no better way to learn about other cultures than to be exposed to them, welcomed into them and really experience them. I would recommend the Erasmus programme to anyone wanting to experience a new culture and become more independent, but also anyone wanting to make new friends for life, who will also change your life! 

Sadly, it’s time to say goodbye to Denmark, and to my blog, thank you for reading my blog about my unforgettable adventure in Denmark!

Erasmus 2012- 'It isn't goodbye, it's see you soon'.

Week 17 (18/05/2012- 25/05/2012)

Having finished our exam papers, we decided to go travelling this week! Lisa from Austria has a family friend in Sweden who invited her and a few friends to stay with her so Kerri and I and Lisa and Maria from Austria were more than happy to take her up on her kind offer. We decided to take the bus from Copenhagen to Gothenburg (which took 4 hours) and spend two days there before travelling on, on the bus (2 hours) to Jonkoping, near to where the family live.

Gothenburg was a beautiful and quite relaxed city which had just the right amount of buzz about it. There is a very quaint area called ‘Haga’ which is home to many unusual shops, boutiques and cafes where Swedes often go for a cosy ‘fika’ with friends or family. A ‘fika’ is what Swedes consider a coffee break, usually with friends or family and it traditionally involves drinking tea or coffee and eating something sweet. We sampled a lot of sweet things during our fika’s in ‘Haga’, particularly the Swedish Cinnamon Roll (Kanelbullar).

Fika in 'Haga'

When it was time to leave Gothenburg for Jonkoping, I was dreading the bus journey, but was excited about staying with a Swedish family, knowing it would give me the opportunity to experience the real Sweden and not just experience it as a tourist. I was also looking forward to the scenery as Lisa told me the family live by a lake. 
 

When we arrived in Jonkoping, Maria, the Swedish lady we were staying with collected us and drove us to their village, Mullsjo. I can safely say that I was right to look forward to the scenery in Mullsjo as it was absolutely breath taking! The families’ house is situated just on the side of a beautiful lake with idyllic views all day and night. The atmosphere was so calm and peaceful; as soon as I arrived I didn’t want to leave! 

The amazing garden and lake at the family home, imagine living here!

The family were so kind and were excellent hosts. I haven’t eaten as much food in a few days as I had when I was in Sweden as Maria cooked Swedish meals and snacks for us all the time, wanting us to try different things. In terms of the importance of food as a social element of family life and of entertaining, the Swedes are similar to the Irish people.  

Dinner

We were taught a Swedish game called Kubb where you have to knock down wooden sticks. It’s an outdoor game Swedes traditionally play in the summer with friends and family. In that way, Swedes seems to be very sociable people, a little more so than the Danish people, as sometimes the Danes like to keep themselves to themselves.

A highlight of the trip was going canoeing in a lake, which I wasn’t actually very good at as it was my first time! However, the scenery was amazing and it was so relaxing and surreal to be calmly canoeing in a beautiful lake in Sweden. We also stopped for a ‘fika’ that Maria had prepared for us full of yummy Swedish sweet things to eat that she had baked. 

Kerri and Maria canoeing

Fika Time!

My trip to Sweden, which was my final trip of my Erasmus experience, was truly amazing.  It’s a trip that I will never forget as I experienced the real Swedish way of life and in doing so have made Swedish friends for life, who I hope to see again in Northern Ireland or in Sweden. Through our cultural similarities and also interesting differences which we were curious and spoke about, we connected very well and were very sad to be leaving each other. I felt so welcomed into the family home, and I would like to do the same for them when they hopefully visit Northern Ireland, although I’m afraid I can’t provide the amazing lakeside views!

Sunset and time to say good-bye!

  

Week 16 (10/05/2012-17/05/2012)

Professional

This week, we were all very busy writing our exam papers. I have chosen to write my exam paper on creative teaching approaches to the teaching of English as a foreign language which I think is a particularly interesting topic, and having visited a school in Denmark, I can see that it is important to motivate children to learn English in a creative way. I have explored ways in which teachers can create meaningful, real-life contexts for children learning English as their second language particularly in Denmark, but also in other countries. The paper is 5 pages long, as in Denmark they have page and number of stroke limits, not word limits like we have in Stranmillis. This was difficult to get used to at first as it is easier to keep track of word limits rather than strokes! 

Having explored strategies for teaching English as a foreign language during class time while here in Denmark, and then having chosen to focus on creative strategies for my final exam paper, I feel that I am quite well prepared for teaching English as a foreign language in Northern Ireland. One of my main reasons for going on Erasmus was the potential to equip myself with the knowledge and skills to teach English as a foreign language to children in primary schools in Northern Ireland as particularly in the area that I live in, there are high numbers of children in primary schools who don’t have English as their first language.

As well as studying the topic of teaching English in university, having lived with many other Erasmus students who all spoke English as their second language has allowed me to gain an insight into how they think, feel, what they find difficult and what they like about learning and speaking the English language. This will allow me to better understand the pupils I may have in my class that have English as their second language. 

After handing in our exam papers mid week, it was time to enjoy our last few weeks here! We had our last international dinner with everyone on Saturday night as some Erasmus students have already returned home now. We each prepared a course and had dinner together. As the Danish would say ‘it was very cosy’! 

Dinner time