Firstly, Western Denmark is absolutely gorgeous. The countryside is some of the prettiest, most picturesque settings I've ever seen. Seeing as this was a "study tour," tons of academics were involved. We visited 2 schools, and then 2 culture centers, as well as plenty of sightseeing places. At DIS, I'm involved in the Child Development program, in the section that focuses specifically on special needs children, so everywhere we went was somehow related to the special needs population. Denmark just signed an Inclusion Bill, stating that children with special needs should be included in normal schooling with "normal" children. It was through this view that we looked at all of the schools, because it is a relatively new bill, and because as outsiders, it was interesting for us to see how the schools reacted to this bill. As it turns out, the higher ups in education within the Kommunes [think like, the Board of Education] want this inclusion, but depending on the severity of the child, many of the teachers &pedagogues thought that the idea of inclusion was a bad idea. I say teachers and pedagogues, because there is a difference between the two here. Teachers teach academic subjects, while pedagogues are more like "social teachers" &work in Fritidscenters [afterschools] and the respective versions of afterschool for each age group. Pedagogues let the children roam free, but still have activities that teach the children important skills such as learning to share, and other social skills.
The first school I went to was Ejbyskolen, which had 3 sections within it's school: a speech disability department, a hearing disability department and a learning disabilities department. This school was by far the most inclusive I've seen. It was also the most entertaining. At the younger age, maybe around 2nd grade, all of the students were integrated. In one classroom we went into, there were only 2 students that had hearing impairments in the entire class, but every child spoke into a special microphone whenever they spoke to assure that those 2 students wouldn't have a problem understanding. The older students were not integrated because they were too old to have the technology of cochlear implants (CI) so they had their own special class. We went to go visit that class while they were having their English lesson [everyone learns English here starting in about 2nd or 3rd grade] and they each asked us a question in Danish. There was one boy however, who blew us all away. He asked us what we liked best about Denmark as his first question, then as we were leaving he asked us "what do you think about the Danish health care system?" We were all just like, what?! So that was definitely a pleasant surprise, just like it was surprising how into Obama everyone is here. They all LOVE Obama, even the little children. When the teachers introduce us, they say "de kommer fra USA" [they come from the USA] &then immediately follow that with, "you know, Obama!" &all the kids collectively go "OBAMA!" It was really amusing, especially since it happened in every school that we went to. Here at Ejbyskolen, they served us the most amazing pastries though. There was one loaf, that was more like a croissant, &there was chocolate &marzipan in the middle. It was to die for, it was so good. That is one GREAT thing about Denmark, not only are their breads/pastries amazingly delicious, but marzipan is a big thing here.
The second place we went to was the Odense Kulturhus. This was a place for adults with special needs &physical handicaps, that not only created a safe haven for them, but also provided job opportunities. For example, there was a band, an art studio, &knitting/weaving workshops. Whatever they sold, whether it was an album, a painting or a rug, they received a commission of it, so that they were able to make some side money, as well as enjoy themselves. The band actually performed for us, &was quite good. They called themselves BALI, and were not only great musicians, but you could tell that their music was a healthy outlet for them. Their lyrics from a song that they played for us were along the lines of "life sucks, try to see it through my eyes." It was so awesome to see them play and they gave us a free CD at the end of their performance. After the Kulturhus, we were supposed to go to the Hans Christian Andersen museum, which would've been awesome, except that DIS severely screwed up. They scheduled us to go to the museum when it was closed. How lame is that?! It is their responsibility to plan our schedules &they couldn't even look at the closing time of the museum? So that was a huge disappointment. The only good thing is that earlier this week, I was able to walk through this gorgeous park where Hans Christian Andersen’s gravestone is. Also, in the area right around Hans Christian Andersen’s house, all of the lights were in the shape of him. So when a light turned green, it was the silhouette of Hans Christian Andersen. Later that night we went to Brandts Klœdefabrik, which is a museum that includes photography, art &media. It was pretty cool, though we were all so exhausted that we were all kind of dragging through it.
The second day I went to Brœndkjœrskolen-Satellitten, where severe special needs kids went to school. It was really interesting, especially since this is the only place where we actually got to interact with the kids on a one-to-one level. I played with two girls, and then sat around the table with the class as they all had lunch.
The last academic place we went to was Videncenter For Rådgivning & Specialpœdagogik (VRS). At VRS, they have the responsibility of placing special needs children in their kommune into the proper school. Though it sounds really interesting, their presentation was actually really confusing, and I think that everyone left being more confused than we were when we came in.
On our last day driving home, we stopped at Jelling Stones, which are like the founding stones of Denmark, similar to a birth certificate. It sounds really cool, but in all honesty, it was a lot more anti-climactic than it sounds, unfortunately. Though the “first church” is there. It’s not actually the first church, obviously, but it’s the same location as where the first church was built. For lunch, we ate at Kryb I Lu Kro, where we had traditional Danish burgers. It was a burger served on a piece of garlic toast [no bun!] You were then served just a raw egg yolk in a little cup, &were told to pour the egg on top of the burger, then add some of the condiments which were served on the side. The traditional toppings are capers, beets, shredded horse radish &onions. Needless to say, I stayed away from the toppings. &even though I hate eggs, I tried the egg on the burger, because hey--when in Denmark, do as the Danes do. &let me tell you, as gross as it sounds, it was absolutely delicious. I polished my plate clean it was so good. After our delicious meal, we went to Koldinghus. Koldinghus is another royal Danish castle, however this one is actually more like ruins than a castle. Not much of the castle is left, but they now take care of what is left, and it was beautiful, with a great view. Our tour guide however, was hilarious. He was this little old guy, but kept making all of these jokes &trying to make sexual comments at our whole group, including our teachers. My whole group that I traveled with was 30 girls, so we all bonded &became really close over the weekend, which was awesome. Plus, we got to see our teacher out of teaching context, &she's a totally different person. We're all really upset that she won't be coming on our long tour with us. So overall, it was just a great weekend, with tons of food, and a great time!
Every Thursday, instead of going to classes, I work at a practicum site. That means that I go to an afterschool &spend time with the kids. My practicum site is a Fritidscenter, so I am working with 2 groups of kids, the first group ranges from 5-7 or 8, and the second from about 9-12. This is technically called an afterschool, but it works very differently from American afterschools. Here in Denmark, it is typical that both parents work, so children are dropped off at these centers before school, and then go to school &return back to the center where their parents will pick them up at the end of the day. These centers however are not school. There is no "actual" educational learning [ie, there's no math] but instead it is like free time. The kids are free to roam about where ever, &have so much more freedom than kids in the United States. For example, playing outdoors is a big part of the Danish culture, and all of their kids play outside every day, rain or shine, hot or cold. And if they go into the forest, kids as young as 3 years old have pocket knives on them &use them properly without hurting themselves in the woods! When I found this out, I was completely shocked. But the Danes believe in competence--their children are capable of doing pretty much everything. And as absurd as it sounds, it's quite true. Never have I seen a group of 5 year olds all sit together quietly over lunch, properly using a knife, fork &real cup, &then clean up after themselves with a broom. But the second everything was cleaned up, they went wild again, &started running all over the place. It's like they have a button to turn their "behaved" selves on &off.
The director/leader of the 12 year olds is also really sweet. We were all talking today before the kids came from school [which happens around 13:00] &just discussing Danish traditions &cultures. He said that we were more than welcome to ask him any questions we might have, about anything, &that he would try to help us as much as possible. Today, I spent my time specifically with the 9-12 years. I met this one girl who is almost 12 years old, and fluent in English. She has also been to 15 different countries, the U.S. &South Africa included. She was so cute, and tried to teach me Danish. Needless to say, this did not go over too well. Another girl from my program, also tried pronouncing the Danish words. The girls had lots of fun laughing at our mispronunciations &we had a lot of fun laughing at how we couldn't pronounce simple words &sentences. It was all in good fun, and I'm sure next week will be even better. The best part about the whole day though, was that the little girls taught me how to say supercalifragilisticexpialidocious in Danish, &I taught them how to say it in English. Just goes to show you that the power of Mary Poppins is world wide. :D
Also, fun random fact: the Danish flag is the oldest flag in the world. Legend has it that during the Battle of Volmerslaget, the Danes were about to give up &the flag fell from heaven, &the King raised it on a pole, &it brought them to victory. The white part of the flag is a cross, seeing as the flag supposedly fell from God himself [or herself, if we’re getting picky.] This is also why the windows in Denmark are not usually square, but more rectangular, &form crosses just as their flag does. Just something I learned on the bus that I found interesting &thought I would pass on!
I'm sorry for the novel, but I just get carried away when discussing my adventures, they've all been so amazing!! I’m also really excited because my friends &I bought tickets to see the Danish Royal Ballet perform The Nutcracker, or as they call it, Nøddeknœkkeren. So that will be our treat just before we leave, it should be stellar, especially since the Danish Royal Ballet is fabulous. Anyway, here are some pictures from my experiences:
a] images of western denmark
b] Hans Christian Andersen's house, plus the ugly duckling. The museum is just to the left of this picture. Also, the silhouette of Hans Christian Andersen tells you when you can/can't walk.
c] the disappointing Jelling Stones, &a picture of my whole group overlooking the birthplace of Denmark. The white building in the background is the first church of Denmark. Obviously, it's not still the same church, but it's still standing in the same place.
d] my delicious burger &egg
e] the gorgeous view from Koldinghus.
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