Study Tour Update!

I got back from our Short Study Tour last night and am happy to report that all is well :) My study tour stopped in Odense, but was mostly in Århus, which is in Western Denmark. I had to wake up bright and early Thursday morning to catch the bus but managed to fall asleep on the bus. Since my core class is focusing on integration of immigrants that is what our short tour also focused on. Our first stop was in Odense where we met with representatives from the Ethnic Job Team, we spoke with 4 people who immigrated to Denmark and now help new immigrants find jobs in the area. Our next stop was a museum in Odense called the Brandts Museum, where we got a tour of the exhibit called I-Lands. This was a collection of art from different artists who had depicted an island in their work at some point. All of the pieces represented were made previous to the exhibit, not for the exhibit, which was really cool since they all seemed to work cohesively while maintaining some individuality. My favorite part of the exhibit was this piece made from moving boxes about a community on the island of St. Kilda. This exhibit made an incredibly strong statement about community vs. the individual. After this we had a delicious lunch at a resturant called the Ugly Duckling where we had a buffet of traditional Danish lunch. Our final visit of the day was a lecture by a well known researcher of Danish integration. The subject of the lecture was "Is Denmark really a racist/Islamophobic/xenophobic society?" While the lecturer had quite a few interesting things to say, he also said quite a few controversial things during his lecture, which lead to a lot of good discussion. After we arrived at our hotel the rest of the evening was on our own. We grabbed a small dinner at an italian restaurant and then joined the rest of our class at a small microbrewery where our teachers treated us to a round. It wasn't too long after that when I fell into bed out of exhaustion. Little did I know the next day would be just as jam packed as the first.

The next morning we woke up early again to go visit a school called Søndervangskolen. At this school, 85% of the students are of ethnicities other then Danish and while we were there we got to speak to a teacher as well as some students. Their English was amazing, and makes me feel terrible that I know only one language. Most of these children in the 9th grade now know 4. I also liked their teaching style here. They get one teacher in beginning in kindergarten and they have that same teacher all through to 9th grade. I think that is a really cool way of doing things, and I think I would be much more interested in teaching if that was the way the education system in the United States works. After visiting the school we went to a Turkish Bazaar where we got to eat lunch. I was not as much of a fan of this place. It was interesting but we spent a lot of time there when there was not that much to really see. I did buy some baked goods, that I didn't really like, and some candy that I did. The food was also very good, which is good considering in 3 weeks I will be headed to Turkey! Our final stop of the day was the worst ghetto in all of Denmark! Which looked like a normal apartment complex in the United States... Whoever said socialism is a bad idea should see Denmark. Here we had a lecture about their plans to rejuvenate the area and hopefully provide everyone that lives there with a job. After meeting with the housing association we met with a group called Youth 4 Youth. Essentially these people work with the kids in the area and provide them with entertainment to help keep them off the street. I really admired the work that they did, and wished I could volunteer for something like that. We had a group dinner at another delicious buffet and once again went to the same microbrewery to hang out. Once again I was so tired I went to bed not long after.

The final day, our only stop was at another modern art museum, where we got a tour. I really don't like modern art at all, however this museum was very interesting. It was mostly art to laugh at which was cool, instead of modern art that I can never figure out. We had one final meal together, another buffet! I think I gained like 5 pounds on this trip. Then we finally jumped on the bus to head back to Copenhagen.

Despite the long hours on the bus, and the lack of sleep I did have a good time on this trip. I am glad I got to know more people in my class and it was interesting to see so many different perspectives on immigration. I wish we would have been able to do a few more cultural things. Even though I went to the second largest city in Denmark, I don't feel like I saw anything but lecture halls. I am really glad to be back though. As soon as we pulled into Copenhagen I felt home. I had totally missed my Keops girls and we spent the better part of the rest of the night catching up with each other swapping stories from all of our study tours.

Today I got the chance to sleep in and then go see the Little Mermaid with a few of my friends, catch up on some grocery shopping and some homework. I also went to this fantastic bakery to top off my weekend full of food! I hope I will be able to see a little bit of the superbowl tonight, but I have a quiz tomorrow in one of my classes.

Unfortunately, I did not take very many pictures this weekend. Class rooms are not very exciting to look at. This week promises to be a busy week for sure, and I can't wait to go to Berlin!!!!!