Week 7 (27/02/2012- 4/03/2012)

Cultural Blog

The beginning of this week was quiet. I spent my time relaxing and being excited, waiting on my boyfriend; Ruaidhri to visit me for the weekend. I was really looking forward to seeing him as this was the longest time we had been apart in three years. It was nice to show him around Vordingborg so that he could get a feel of where I was living in Denmark, and see all the things that I had told him about. On Thursday I met him at Vordingborg Station. It was a surreal, but happy moment seeing him get off the train, having not seen him in so long.

On Thursday night the Austrian girls invited us along with the Holland girl for an Austrian Dinner which they would typically eat after skiing. It consisted of chicken noodle soup and ‘Kaiserschmarrn’, which are sweet, pancake-like dough balls. It was a very enjoyable night as we had a taste of the Austrian food and culture. The Austrian and Holland girls’ cultures are quite similar to ours in terms of morals, humour and norms and we find that we have a lot in common with them, which is perhaps why we have become closer to them than some other cultures within the Erasmus group. Although I am really enjoying mixing with these cultures, I need to push myself a bit further to engage with students from cultures which are very different from my own.



Austrian Dinner



Kaiserschmarrn

On Friday, Ruaidhri and I headed off to Copenhagen for the weekend. We were very lucky as the weather was surprisingly nice all weekend, the first sunny weather we have had here to date! I found the weather warm however Ruaidhri thought it was still freezing. I must have become more accustomed to the cold weather here in Denmark than I had realised!

As the weather was nice, and the sea had finally defrosted, we decided to take a hop on hop off boat tour around Copenhagen. I would highly recommend this to anyone visiting Copenhagen as it allows you to see the important sites in a typically Danish, relaxed atmosphere. It is also very informative as there is a tour guide who also speaks in English so we could learn a lot about Copenhagen while enjoying the scenery.

Beautiful Nyhavn

We began at ‘Nyhavn’, a picturesque area in Copenhagen which means ‘New Harbour’. It can also be said to be where the Danish word for Copenhagen, ‘Kobenhavn’, which means ‘By a harbour’ gets its name from.



Ruaidhri and I at Nyhavn









We also had the chance to see the ‘Little Mermaid’ (‘den lille havfrue’), inspired by H. C Andersen’s fairy tale. Many Danish people have told me that she is not worth seeing, however, although she was more ‘little’ than I had imagined, it was still worthwhile to see her, as she is something which is special to Denmark. During my time here I have noticed that the Danish people are very open and are not afraid to express their opinions, this caused me to reflect on our culture in Northern Ireland and to feel that it can be a little too backward, in that people are sometimes afraid to say what they really believe in.

The Little Mermaid

We stopped off at Christianshavn where we walked to ‘Christiania’, the most bizarre place I have ever visited in my life! ‘Christiana’ is a ‘free town’ within central Copenhagen which was first founded in 1971. It consists of a small autonomous community who have their own laws and ethos. The buying and selling of Cannabis is legal in Christiana, with the main street being aptly named ‘Pusher Street’. It is a very controversial place, especially in the mind of the Dane’s, as the Danish government are keen to shut it down. Christiania, for me was eye-opening, but is also a perfect example of the liberal Danish lifestyle, which is why it is such a popular tourist attraction.


Entrance to Christiania

I had a brilliant weekend with Ruaidhri in Copenhagen sight-seeing and feel that I have learned a lot more about the Danish culture. As sadly, it was time to say goodbye to ruaidhri for a while, it was also time to say goodbye to Copenhagen and hello to getting on with preparing a class presentation!