This week I finally got a new visiting family. Her name is Bente and she is the sweetest lady in the world, and a single mother. Her son is a few years older than I am, and is now living in the US for a year and a half because his job transferred him. She is so nice, I can't wait to spend more time with her! The first time we got together she brought me to Parliament and we actually got to sit in on a hearing. It was insanely cool, especially since the main person talking was the Minister of Education, and I had just visited the Ministry of Education earlier that week. Never in my life did I think that I would be able to sit in on Parliament, especially a Parliament session that would directly affect what I was learning.
The week just keeps getting better from there--Padre Kaleko came! We saw a bit of Copenhagen while he was here, and I got to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe, which was awesome. The waiters randomly got up on the bar and started dancing to Grease Lightening, which was hilarious. Never in my life have I seen that happen at a Hard Rock. It was so nice to spend time with my dad, especially in Copenhagen. Plus, grandma &grandpa paid for a really nice meal out, which was absolutely delicious. So thanks grandma &grandpa!!! I loved it! :-D
padre &me in front of Carlsberg brewery elephants!
Then, to make the week even better, Kelsey came to visit from Bath, England!! Although it sometimes got tough to have both Kelsey and her friends as well as my dad here, it was so worthwhile to see both of them. Together, we all got to see where the Queen lives, the marble church, and wander the city. We also got to go to the Carlsberg Brewery, which was great! I mean, two free beers with the price of admission?? I'll take it any day! I also finished both of my beers &put padre to shame...I don't think he even finished one. It was fascinating to see how the brewery actually makes beer, and how they progressed over the years. We also all went out karaoking, which was a blast! Sunday night was also daylight savings time here, so not only did we gain an hour of sleep, but I'm now only 5 hours ahead of the East Coast until you all have daylight savings.
kels, carolyn &me at the carlsberg brewery!
This week has just been more work, but I have Friday to look forward to! Today, (Wednesday) in Danish class we had a "field study" which is otherwise known as a field trip. We watched "Flammen & Citronen" otherwise known as "Flame and Citron." It was a movie about the Danish resistance to the Germans occupying their country in World War II. Though it was a bit bloody and long [2 hours] for 8:30 am, it was SO interesting, and based on real people. After seeing this movie, we went to the Danish Resistance Museum to learn all about the Danes during WWII.
Denmark was invaded by the Germans on April 9, 1940 in the early hours of the morning. By the time most of the country woke up, the Danish monarchy had already signed a pact with the Germans stating that the Danes could keep their government and systems in place, along with their police forces. The only difference was that there were Nazi's patrolling the streets, though they couldn't actually do anything. The best thing about this was that it meant that Hitler couldn't touch the Danish Jews. There is often a myth about the Danish Monarchs wearing the yellow Star of David to protect the Jews in Denmark, but this never happened, for many reasons. Because the Nazi's didn't technically have control over Denmark, they couldn't take the Jews. Therefore, the yellow Stars of David didn't even exist in Denmark. The Danes were also told to cooperate with the Nazi's, to make their lives as easy as possible. They kept this up for a while, but after a while resistance groups formed. The first was a group of 8 boys, the oldest of whom was 17, the youngest, 13. They called themselves the Churchill Club, after Winston Churchill who absolutely despised Hitler. After various activities, such as ambushing cars, or changing street signs so that the Nazi cars drove into the forest. Doesn't sound like much, but this is the first resistance that the Danes openly showed. These boys were caught after 8 months &put in jail, except for the youngest because he was still too young by Danish law. They sparked a revolution however...now small resistance groups were popping up all over the country.
This is where the movie comes in: The Flame (real name: Bent Faurschou Hviid) and Citron (real name: Jørgen Haagen Schmith) were two famous Danish resistance fighters. They worked with a group and killed the Gestapo [German Spies] as well as Danes who betrayed them. They were both captured and killed 6 months before the war ended, though technically the Flame committed suicide with his pill. The resistance fighting began to get quite violent in 1943, after the Danish Monarchy completely handed over power to the German Nazi's.
the originals: on the left: Flammen, on the right: Citronen
the movie cover. though i'm not usually one for violent movies, i really enjoyed this movie, i think because of the history behind it. just in case you couldn't tell, Flammen is in front with the red hair, &Citronen is in the back with the glasses.
Handing over complete power of course meant that the Jews were in trouble. However, an amazing thing happened. At the time Denmark had 7,000-8,000 Jews all integrated into society. After the Germans took over, the Nazi official that was to send out the message to discard of the Jews, first warned the Danish Jews. To this day, no one knows why, but out of the 8,000 Jews, only 500 were captured by the Nazi's. The others managed to get escape to Sweden on fishing boats and such, along with a lot of help from the resistance movement, including Citron. Now out of the 500 Jews that were captured, the records show that only 100 actually died because the Danes consistently annoyed the Nazi's about their well-being. Either way, that is an INSANELY low amount. Still too many, but Denmark did an amazing job saving their Jews and making sure that they were protected. After the war was over, when many of the Jews returned they found their properties untouched, &looked after by their neighbors. Isn't that fascinating?? I still can't believe it, i find it absolutely mind blowing.
I know, I'm a really big history nerd when it comes to things like this, but I can't help it! I'm so sorry for the mini history lessons, but once I get started, I just can't stop...it's so fascinating. Especially after watching Flammen & Citronen, and finding out that it was actually based on a true story. That even though Danes aren't very violent, they are full of national pride, and understandably, didn't like being occupied by the Germans. I'll probably end up going back to the museum at some point to actually read all of the plaques, because today we just had a quick tour.
Anyway, on a brighter note, on Saturday Carolyn &I leave for our 2 week break! We'll be heading first to Barcelona, then Florence, and then Rome. I absolutely cannot wait!! It should be positively amazing, and I'll have tons of amazing things to update with!!
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