Cultural Blog
After a busy week of reading and classes, Kerri, Trisha and I invited the other Erasmus students to join us to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in Copenhagen on Saturday as we discovered that there was a parade and Irish music. We were surprised to find out that there was a parade in Copenhagen, as it isn’t a city that I would have imagined to have celebrated St. Patrick’s Day. The other Erasmus students from Spain, Austria, Holland and the Philippines were very curious about what to expect from the day as it is not typically celebrated in the cities in their countries.
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| Parade |
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| Crowd gathering for music and parade |
We all agreed to wear green and drew shamrocks on our cheeks to get into the Irish spirit for the day. We felt a bit stupid getting on the train in Vordingborg with shamrocks on our faces, however when we reached Copenhagen, we did not feel out of place at all as it was packed with people dressed completely in green, some wearing crazy hats and outfits, we actually looked underdressed in comparison! I have never seen people dress up so much for St. Patrick’s day, even in Ireland! The Irish music being played live in front of the city hall was being listened to by hundreds of people, which created a lovely Irish atmosphere and made me feel at home. As we walked along with the parade, I was surprised to find out that most of the hundreds of people there were actually Danish, some with Irish descent and some not. Many Dane’s seem to like to celebrate the day as they like the atmosphere. After the parade, we continued to celebrate in one of the Irish bars in Copenhagen, all of which were full of people. The other Erasmus girls said that they really enjoyed the day and are looking forward to visiting Ireland now as they got a small taste of and an insight into the Irish culture. I also enjoyed giving the girls an insight into my culture and look forward to learning more about theirs. The Holland girls have their celebration ‘Queen’s Day’ coming up in April, so I’m looking forward to that.
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| Enjoying drinks at the Irish Bar |
A not so pleasant event this week for me was a visit to the Dentist. I had a tooth ache, and on visiting the Dentist, I was informed I had to have a Root Canal procedure. In Denmark, just like in Northern Ireland, everyone has to pay for their dental care, so I had to pay 4700 Danish kroner for the treatment! The dentist was so kind however, as I have found most Dane’s to be, and she gave me a 1500 kroner discount! This was really helpful as it was a lot of money to have to pay when I hadn’t expected it! During my time in Denmark, Kerri, Trisha and I have noticed that the Dane’s couldn’t be kinder to us, however when we hear stories from some of the other girls in our class about their experiences, we have come to notice that it may be our nationality that goes in our favour, and that if we had a different nationality, we may have had a different experience. The Danish people have a liking for the Irish people and culture, perhaps because it is similar to their own in some ways and many Danes have told us that they enjoy meeting and talking with Irish people.
The dentists in Denmark, I have heard from the Danish students, get a very good reputation but are very expensive. On my visit to the dentist, I noticed that the quality of the surgery, the equipment, the dental treatment and the personal care were excellent. I couldn’t even begin to compare the treatment here with my dental treatment at home, as the treatment here is superb.
This has been a very busy week, so I’m looking forward to a relaxing week ahead.
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