Week 10 (19/03/2012-25/03/2012)

Personal Blog

Having been living in Denmark for over two months, I now feel that I have gotten into the swing of day to day life here. I am well settled and am feeling at home with the Danish way of life. I love the relaxed Danish way of life so much that I may return home to Northern Ireland a completely different person, as before I came to Denmark, the word relaxed did not apply to me at all!  I’m therefore hoping to take home with me the relaxed atmosphere that I have experienced here in order to help myself to relax more in my daily life in Northern Ireland. I think the Danes have mastered a more healthy way of life. I have settled in here so much so that I have been reflecting on what it will be like when I go home. I think that because I have adapted to a different culture and way of life, it may be strange at first when I return home and it may take a few days for me to adapt again to the culture and daily life in Northern Ireland. One thing which will be a shock for me is having a house with a lot of rooms, as for two months here Kerri, Trisha and I have lived in one room only. I will be spoiled for choice of rooms to sit, eat and sleep in!

Having reflected on what it will be like to have numerous rooms to live in, we got some excellent news this week, that we could move to a bigger room is in the student house ‘Hvidebo’ (which means ‘The White House’ in English). This is the main halls here and it is a converted house with shared communal kitchens and bathrooms. It is where the Danish students and also some Erasmus students live. Apart from having a bigger room, we were delighted with our move as we were beginning to feel isolated where we lived before as we were living in one room which when you opened the door lead to outside, therefore there was no common area and no people passing in and out. The White House provides a completely different atmosphere with people always passing in and out, stopping for chats and cups of tea in the common rooms and generally being a warm and friendly place where we feel a lot more safe and sociable. Living in a closer proximity to some of the other Erasmus students and Danish students allows us all to get to know each other better than before as we can share meals and movies together a lot easier now. 

Our new bedroom.

Our dressing room!

Although I’m really embracing and making the most of my time here, I am also missing my family, friends and boyfriend at home. Being able to skype them all however, makes it so much easier to keep in contact and makes me miss them less as I can see and speak with them regularly. I feel that I am actually coping better than I had thought I would have in terms of missing my family and boyfriend and feeling homesick. It is a lot easier to overcome these feelings when I am surrounded by such a lovely group of people who are all having the same feelings and are in the same situation as me. It may also, amongst other things, be these similarities that contribute to bringing people from different cultures so close together. 

We have booked a trip to Berlin for next week. There are 9 Erasmus students going on the trip, from various countries, therefore I am looking forward to and am interested in what it will be like to travel with and get to know them all better!

Week 9 (12/03/2012-18/03/2012)

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. 

Parade

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.

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. 

Week 8 (5/03/2012-11/03/2012)

Professional Blog

The classes here in Denmark are so different from class in Stranmillis. Apart from being a lot longer, they are so much more relaxed. Unlike in Northern Ireland, there is no teacher/pupil, lecturer/student hierarchy in Denmark. The teachers here are on the same level as the pupil’s, which creates the relaxed, friendly atmosphere within the classroom. In relation to this, something very different I have witnessed in class is that students and lecturers openly and rather casually swear during class. This is something which really shocked me at first as it is something which would never happen in Northern Ireland, however in Denmark swearing is not seen in an offensive, ‘faux-pas’ way, as it is in Northern Ireland.

I have also noticed that the other students in my class quite often challenge the lecturers about what they are saying. This is something which I haven’t witnessed before coming to Denmark as I can’t imagine myself or anyone else doing this in Stranmillis, I doubt it would be acceptable! However, in Denmark and other countries in Europe it is very acceptable to challenge and debate with your teacher or lecturer. This was another indication for me that other countries in Europe are much more liberal than Northern Ireland is. This is something which I am realising more and more as I experience the Danish culture and also the cultures of the other students around me.

In class we have been discussing teaching English as a foreign language in the classroom and how we can effectively develop reading, writing, talking and listening skills. I have learned this week that Denmark has added a fifth skill ‘communication’ to language teaching and learning. I think that in Northern Ireland we could also say that we have this ‘fifth’ skill within our curriculum as we focus on ‘communication’ as a cross-curricular skill, and not only in the Language and Literacy aspect of the curriculum.

Focusing on the communication aspect of teaching English, we have been discussing the effectiveness of the ‘communicative approach’ to language teaching, by assessing the benefits of the approach for the learners and also the challenges the approach presents to teachers. We are therefore also looking at how we as teachers can develop our communicative competence.

Our classes here consist of a lot of group work and independent learning, which is different from class in Stranmillis. We have a lot of readings to do before class and then we have to prepare presentations or reflect on the readings within a group and present our ideas to the class.  

During almost every class since I have arrived in Denmark, I have had a group presentation to take part in. At first, I was very nervous at the thought of this, as in Stranmillis this is something we don’t do very often, therefore I haven’t had much experience. However, once I got up on front of the class I realised that because the classroom atmosphere was so relaxed, I felt completely at ease presenting and answering questions from the rest of the class and the teacher.

 From this experience, I feel that I, and the other students in Stranmillis, would benefit greatly from doing presentations regularly in a relaxed, informal classroom environment where the presentations aren’t being graded, as at the minute in Stranmillis, we only ever have assessed presentations, which causes everyone to be stressed and anxious and therefore have a dislike of doing presentations.

In Denmark, presentations are a normal part of class and are very informal. Most exams in Denmark are also presentation based, however this is not worrying to the students as they are so accustomed to it.

Since arriving in Denmark, my presentation skills have improved greatly. The lecturer gives us feedback and asks us questions which have helped to improve my presentation skills. I have gained more practice and confidence presenting, which is something valuable I can take away with me from my experience here as it will greatly benefit my teaching in the classroom.

My class enjoying a drink in the sun at the 'Friday Cafe' after class on Friday.

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!

Week 6 (20/02/2012- 26/02/2012)

Personal/ Cultural Blog

This was an exciting week for me personally as my parents visited from Thursday to Sunday. My feelings on the days leading up to their visit were very strange as I couldn’t quite get my head around the fact that in a few days they would be here in Denmark with me!

It was also a culture filled week with a Pancake Party, a Turkish Tea, a Dutch dinner party and sight-seeing in Copenhagen, which is why I have found it hard to separate personal and cultural development for this week’s blog.

On Tuesday of this week it was pancake Tuesday, which we found out isn’t celebrated by the other nationalities here in our Erasmus group. This is something I have learned as I thought it was an international day! The other students thought that ‘Pancake Tuesday’ was a very worthwhile celebration so Kerri, Trisha and I agreed with the group to throw a ‘Pancake Party’ for them. It was a very fun night as it was a Pancake Party with an Austrian twist as on that day in Austria they celebrate ‘Carnival Tuesday’ where everyone dresses up and has a street party. I have never made as many pancakes in my life and probably won’t again! I’m also pleased to say that every single one was eaten!



The Pancake Party

On Thursday, seeing my Mum, Dad and brother at Copenhagen Station was surreal! I spent a lovely weekend with my parents, brother, Kerri and Trisha. We were spoiled by my parents and we stayed in a nice hotel and had dinners in lovely restaurants.   I had a really enjoyable time catching up with them, sight-seeing, showing them around Copenhagen and showing them the things we have learned about Danish way of life.



Sitting outside a cafe in Copenhagen in true Danish style with blankets around us, drinking tea and hot chocolate and eating 'dream cake'.

While my parents were in Copenhagen I thought it would be a good opportunity for them to meet Soren, who has been so kind to us, so we met him and his girlfriend Christina for dinner. This was a very enjoyable night as my parents enjoyed being able to chat to Soren and Christina and find out more about Denmark from Danes!



Dinner with Soren and Christina



It was also nice to show my parents where I am living here in Vordingborg, so they can relate to and imagine the things I have been telling them about here. After such a lovely weekend, it was hard when they were leaving on the train as it felt so strange that they were going home, without me! It felt as though I was being left behind but I had to remind myself that I now live in Denmark for the time being!  My time with my parents went by in a blink which was disappointing, but as the saying goes ‘time flies when you’re having fun’.

A day after my parents left I was able to get back into the normal day to day life here in Denmark which I was glad about as I was worried about missing my parents a lot after they left.

This has shown me that since coming to Denmark, I have become a stronger person. I am more able to cope with whatever life throws at me and I think that, although I am a person who doesn’t like change very much, it has eventually done me the world of good. After overcoming the difficult first two weeks here in Denmark, I have adjusted to and am now embracing life here. I have developed coping mechanisms and have adapted to life in Denmark. I have noticed that I have a more positive attitude towards life. I always now try to look positively at life and find myself laughing at situations I may find myself in. Maybe the relaxed Danish culture is rubbing off on me?  

Week 5- 13/2/12-19/2/12

Cultural Blog

To our delight, we had no classes this week due to the ‘Winter Holiday’. We decided to make the most of our week off and go travelling. We chose to travel to Hamburg in Germany as it’s very easily accessed from Vordingborg, just 3 hours and 30 minutes on the ICE (Inter-City-Express) Train which stops at the train station just over the fence from where we live! Kerri, Trisha and I have never visited Germany before and we were curious about the country and the culture.

Our train journey began as expected, however we were taken by surprise when our train began boarding a ferry! It seems logical that we would have to cross the water but we assumed it would be via a bridge as a train boarding a ferry wouldn’t be something commonly seen, especially in Northern Ireland. It was definitely an unusual experience!

Kerri and I outside the train on the ferry

On the ferry

Hamburg is a beautiful city. The first thing that struck me about it was how lively it was. The central train station (Hauptbahnhof) is an attraction in itself; I was amazed at how vast and crowded it was. There is something about the buzz of the station that I have never experienced before. It’s even equipped with its own shopping centre and police station!

There are many interesting things to do and see in Hamburg so we took a hop on hop off bus which allowed us to see all the important sites. The Building that stood out for me in Hamburg was The City Hall (Rathaus). Hamburg’s City Hall is their ‘Palace’. We took a guided tour around the City Hall and the interior and decor of the building is spectacular. It is well worth taking the tour as it also allowed us to gain knowledge of the politics of Hamburg and aspects of its history, which is important for developing my understanding of Germany as a country and of the German culture.

Me outside the City Hall in the evening.

While in Hamburg, we were lucky enough to see the Elbe Lake frozen over with an Ice cap of 20cm, which we were informed hasn’t happened in 15 years. This was an interesting cultural experience as we witnessed people of all ages skating, sleighing, walking, running and walking prams and dogs on the lake. We were able to walk on the lake for ourselves; needless to say we didn’t attempt a run!

Kerri, Trisha and I on the Frozen Lake.

A must see place I would recommend everyone to visit, is Hamburg’s ‘Miniatur Wunderland’ which is an amazing model sized world including railways, roads, an airport and every possible aspect of real-life you could think of in miniature size, the creators have thought of everything!  It’s incredible. You have to see it to believe it!

Minature model of Hamburg

I have found that similar to the Danes, the German people were very friendly and approachable.  My first impressions of Germany when looking out the window on the train, was that the landscape was very beautiful and a lot more populated than Denmark. I immediately noticed also that the German flag was not as widely seen as the Danish flag is in Denmark.  I have had a valuable insight into the German Culture and Country, however I would like to find out a lot more. Our trip to Hamburg has inspired us to travel further into Germany and we hope to travel to Berlin soon to gain an insight into the rich history there.

This was a very busy and exciting week in Germany. It’s time now to get back into the relaxed Danish way of life!

Indtil naeste gang, (Until next time)

Fionnuala