I'll start with last Wednesday, September 2nd. My Danish class had a field study [essentially a field trip] to Roskilde. Roskilde is a small suburb of Copenhagen, but you can easily get there by taking the regional train. [There are many different forms for public transportation here: the Metro, the S-Tøg, Buses] In Roskilde however, is Denmark's National Church, although most Danish people aren't very religious, if religious at all. Roskilde is like Denmark's version of England's Westminster Abbey. The majority of Denmark's royalty have been buried there in elaborate coffins, and sarcophagi, though the most recent royalty have made a change to be less pompous &are now buried outside of the church, in the ground like everyone else. It was insanely beautiful, and it was really interesting to see how the styles changed, and how you can tell the history of Denmark through the church. New chapels were added on to the church for new kings and queens, so each chapel represents a different era and can show how much money the monarchy at the time had to spend. Christian IV is notorious for making Denmark bankrupt, however he also created some of the nicest buildings Denmark has today. He had a very expensive, ornate style, and had to have everything done his way, in the best materials. Needless to say, many of his plans did get finished, especially since he continuously brought Denmark into war, only to have them lose every single one.
My favorite Danish monarch is Queen Margrethe I, who ruled from 1375-1412. She was the first, and only Queen of Denmark until the current Queen Queen Margrethe II. Though she was originally married to the King of Norway, and after the death of her brother proclaimed her son the rightful heir of Denmark. When her son died young, Queen Margrethe I took over his position. She was also the founder of the Kalmar Union, which joined Denmark, Sweden and Norway together, and allowed the royal family of Denmark control over all 3 territories. She successfully ruled all 3, and they were all moderately happy with her as a momentary Queen. She was then asked if she would officially be Queen, since they were all satisfied with her ruling. She accepted, and continued to rule all 3 countries and be successful until 1412. Sorry for the history lesson, but she is actually my favorite person in all of Danish history, because she was so kickass.
The tax system here is also insane. Everything has 25% tax already built in, &the Danes pay up to almost 50% of their wages in taxes. Those are property taxes, government taxes, and also church taxes. You can opt out of the church taxes, but if you do so, you must pay a LOT of money in order to be buried in their graveyards. In return though, they get the security of healthcare, and so many other benefits. For example, when a woman has a baby, she's required to take at least 2 weeks maternity leave, and is urged to take 6 months leave, with pay. Then, on top of that, she gets another 6 months at reduced pay so that she can have a full year with her newborn. The father also gets time off, or the parents can split the time. Plus, the families receive money when a child is born 4 times a year, and continue to receive money until the child reaches 18. At that point, the child is most likely enrolled in University, where they get monthly stipends to go to school and learn. Insane, right?!
Not only do students get paid to go to school, but the schools are all insanely nice. Every Thursday, instead of going to classes, I go to a daycare center all day. This is not just any center though, it is the nicest day care I have ever seen. They have a farm with horses for horseback riding, goats, pigs, rabbits, donkies, a woodworking shop, computer lab, a wii, guitar hero....the list goes on and on. It is in insanely nice condition, and everyone I've met that works there has been really nice and helpful. Though it is extremely hard trying to communicate with little kids when I don't speak Danish and they don't speak English, through arts and crafts I managed to find a connection with a few of the kids which was an awesome experience.
Then, the highlight of this week was that I went to Amsterdam over the weekend. It was a lot of fun! I got to see the Van Gogh museum, the Anne Frank House, the Rijksmuseum, and so many other places. It was a TON of walking, but absolutely completely worth it. My friend Alex and I split from our larger group of 6 and got to see 8 out of the 10 most popular sites in Amsterdam, which was awesome. And thanks to ChristyBatta, we knew some of the best places to go!! Just a funny, random fact about Amsterdam is that they have public urinals for the men in the middle of is floor.
The Anne Frank House was definitely what I was least prepared for. Even though I've always known her life was terrible, actually walking through the house, it really hits you just HOW terrible and depressing her life was. Even her father said that he didn't know the cynical side of Anne, that he was only introduced to that through her writing. I was lucky enough though to see her original diary, it was on loan to the House from the Amsterdam Historical Museum. It's mindblowing that it survived through all of that.
In Amsterdam, we also made a point to go to the Red Light District. What a unique experience that was. I never expected to see women standing in lingerie in windows, posing or dancing seductively to try and sell themselves. Nor did I expect to see men actually "buy" a prostitute. Each woman has her own little booth, with a door that open right onto street level, and the door is glass so that everyone passing by can see her. If she gets a costumer, she opens the door to let him in, and just pulls the curtain closed on the glass door. It was very bizarre to see, and quite jarring. Overall, it was one of those experiences that puts chills up your spine and I'd much prefer to avoid that part of town if I were to ever go back.
On a happier note though, I have a funny story told to me by one of the various tour guides I've had over the past week. In all elevators in Denmark is the sign "I FART." Now, that's humorous to Americans, or anyone who speaks the English language for the obvious reasons. In Danish however, that means "moving" or "in motion." So rumor has it, that when the Queen of England came to visit Denmark, they covered all of the signs in the elevator, lest Her Royal Highness read "I FART" and get offended. I personally found that pretty funny.
Today was 09/09/09, which was awesome. I went to go see Hans Christian Andersen's grave in Østerrbro today. It is situated in the cutest, prettiest little part that reminds me of the secret garden &makes me just want to sit there for hours reading a book on a picnic blanket. This was an appropriate activity for today because I am leaving for Western Denmark quite early tomorrow, and shall be gone until Saturday evening. Although the main purpose of the trip is to examine schools in Western Denmark, sometimes as compared to schools in Copenhagen, we will also be going sight seeing, and seeing things such as the Hans Christian Andersen Museum. So I'm really excited for that, I will be sure to post new and exciting things as soon as possible! A I will be traveling though, I won't have my laptop for the next few days, so if you wish to reach me, please call on my Danish cell phone.
here are some pictures, hopefully you find it all as interesting as I do!!
a] Queen Margrethe I's sarcophagus. Placed directly behind the current alter, because in the older layout of the Church, she would have been in the middle between the choir and the alter, showing how revered she was by her people.
b] Roskilde on a cloudy day. Still quite beautiful, and again an amazing historical site wher ei believe 22 or 23 of every single past monarchy has been buried here.
c] one of the beautiful canals that Amsterdam is famous for
d] the one main entrance to the warehouse where Anne Frank and her family hid. that entrance is where they entered once before they went into hiding and did not leave until discovered. The green door on the left is her house. all of those windows had to have blackout curtains on at all times to prevent the Nazi's from discovering Anne Frank and her relations.
majorly kick ass :]
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