Wednesday, April 27: 7-page essay for my Sustainability in Austrian Architecture course. My topic was clever family initiatives in Vorarlberg, Austria (the state we studied). At the beginning of the class we had been given a list of topics and we each picked one to focus on. I was a little sad that the one I picked didn't really have anything to do with architecture, but I still enjoyed learning about family life in the state of Vorarlberg. I ended up titling my paper Clever Family Initiatives with a focus on innovative playgrounds. I found that Austria (and Europe in general from what I have seen of it) have some really cool playgrounds, very interesting and creative themes. I compared those to the typical playgrounds in America (or at least the ones in Newton). It turned out to be a pretty fun paper to write and I finished it Wednesday morning and turned it in Wednesday night at our class get-together. One class done.
Sunday, May 1: Field trip to Open Air museum for 20th and 21st Century Danish Architecture. We got to see how farms/villages were set up in Denmark, northern Germany and southern Swedish a few hundred years ago. We saw actual houses from that time that had been taken apart and moved to this location and then put back together. They had very thick thatched roofs; we even saw one house with a roof made of seaweed! They really made use of whatever was available in the area. It was a beautiful day for that field trip and afterward I did a little exploring of my own. I rode the train up to Farum, the very last stop on my line of the S-tog. I walked through the town a little and found a super cute Sculpture Park. It was quiet and peaceful and I looked at all the sculptures and then sat on the grass for a bit with my computer and edited one of my papers. It was nice to finally see what is at the end of the train line that I ride every single day.
Monday, May 2: 10-page final synthesis for Positive Psych and a final portfolio of previous papers and assignments and write-ups from field studies. It ended up being just over 30 pages all together. The paper was a discussion both of the class and of positive psychology as a field; its pros and cons, any doubts I have about the field and certain topics I found especially interesting. It was extra nice to turn over the hefty stack of full pages. Second class completed.
I also have a final Danish presentation on Monday. I was in a group of 4 and our topic was Sust-DANE-ability in Denmark. I described some of the green initiatives within architecture, both in current projects and in future plans. I also discussed the "Finger Plan" of Copenhagen, which was created in 1949 to plan for the future growth of the city. Instead of expanding endlessly outward (urban sprawl) like many cities, they decided to only expand along 5 "fingers". These fingers have the main transportation lines and the "suburbs" are compacted around these transportation hubs. The space in between the fingers stays green and rather undeveloped. It was a way to be smart in making public transportation efficient and available and a way to save green space that is not that far from the city...two ways of being eco-friendly.
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| This is the "hand" with the actual city in the palm. The S-tog runs up on each finger. I live along the "ring finger" line. |
Thursday, May 5th: Last 2 essays for Danish due. One was a 5 page term paper on one of three topics that she gave us. I did mine on a comparison of Hans Christian Andersen's The Ugly Duckling and Henrik Pontoppidan The Eagle's Flight. They were both tales written by Danes but with very opposite morals. I won't go in to too much depth but the moral of The Ugly Duckling (as I am sure you know) is "It doesn’t matter if one is born in a duck yard, when one has lain in a swan’s egg!”" and the moral of the Eagle's Flight is “It avails but little to have come from an eagle’s egg, if one is raised in the poultry yard.”
I compared these two morals in terms of true beauty and whether beauty plays a large role in happiness and then I analyzed them with the Danish perspective (being that everyone is equal and no one is "special" or "unique" as the ugly duckling/later beautiful swan was). I found Andersen's iconic tale to be ironically much less Danish than Pontoppidan's.
The other paper for Danish was a short letter, written as if we were trying to get an interview for a job we desired, using our semester in Denmark as something that makes us an exceptional candidate. Mine is a little long but I think I will attach it to here just in case anyone is interested in reading even more of my rambling. If not, go ahead and skip down to the rest of the post. Or get off the internet and get yourself a cookie, that is completely fine too : )
Experiencing Life Abroad
It seems like the experiences that shape you the most as a person are the ones you never thought you’d encounter. When I first applied to Knox College, I never dreamt that that choice would lead me to spend four months living, studying and exploring abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark. Nevertheless during my second year at Knox I managed to find the Danish Institute for Study Abroad and suddenly there I was, in January of 2011 during my junior year, flying across the Atlantic Ocean to a cold and windy Copenhagen to meet my host family and begin a life in Denmark. I am the first of my 4-person family to travel, let alone live and study, abroad. I was not particularly encouraged to leave my friends and family behind, but I think my parents eventually, though reluctantly, accepted the fact that I sought adventure and was determined to find it. It is now nearly 4 months later and I have savored every moment of my adventure thus far.
One of the selling points for studying abroad in Denmark is that “You can study in another country and another culture, but in English.” This is highly attractive for someone like me who can speak English and only enough Spanish to get by at a Mexican restaurant. Professors, previous students and DIS pamphlets raved about the Danes’ fluency with English. That turned out to be completely true, the Danes speak English impressively well. What I naively failed to realize, however, was that the Danish language would surround me all the time and that while the Danes can speak English, signs, maps and menus cannot. Though I cannot, and sadly will not, be able to speak fluent Danish, my time here has encouraged me to study the language, listen closely (a.k.a. eavesdrop) to conversations on the train, and constantly practice Danish with my host family, which did teach me enough to help me find my way around the city, read most advertisements and order lattes and sandwiches in Danish cafes. Although I will likely not make use of my Danish skills back in America, I will use my experience to better empathize and tolerate people for whom English is not a first language. I am grateful for the Danes’ patience as I pathetically attempted to order wienerbrød and øl, and I now realize how isolating it is to be surrounded by conversations that, to outsides, resemble the Sims’ language. This dramatic increase in tolerance and valuing diversity is something I never would have gained by staying in small town Iowa and Illinois where my culture and my language is always the majority.
My first morning in Denmark, a cold, blustery January morning, I took public transportation by myself for the first time. Thank goodness my host family warned me that you have to press the button to open the train doors, otherwise I am certain I would’ve just stood there waiting nervously for them to open as if by magic. The entire 20-minute commute I sat by the window, watching giddily as we passed one cute Danish town after another, each with a name I could not begin to pronounce. Now, after 3 months of riding the train almost every day, I can list the towns and describe at least one landmark from each that I notice on my commute. Coming from a small town in Iowa where I learned to drive at 14 years old and drove myself to school every day, using public transportation has been a major part of my European adventure. It gave me the opportunity to see Danes in one of their natural habitats and for me to be a part of this day-to-day system of transportation. I adapted the Danish ways and do not regret giving up my non-sustainable habit of driving myself to school each and every day. I even began riding my bike the 15 kilometers into the city, which is the epitome of Danish commuting, as Denmark’s goal is to have 50% of Copenhageners commuting on bike by the year 2050. I am proud to contribute to the 30% that already do commute by bike, in rain and in snow….and in hail.
Doing something new is almost always a little scary, if not a lot scary. The thing about studying abroad is that you are constantly doing something new. I did quite a bit of traveling during my time abroad, some of it within Denmark and a lot of it elsewhere in Europe. Much of the time I was by myself, finding my way through airports, riding buses and trains, and standing in a city rotating a map back and forth to find my way around. I believe these experiences have greatly shaped my ability to be successful in complex environments. Finding my way around various European cities has greatly increased my confidence, especially in situations that are much less scary than almost getting lost in Milan, speaking with strangers in Austria, and avoiding pickpockets in Barcelona. These situations I have faced have helped me realize what I am capable of and how successful I can really be.
I wholeheartedly believe that my experience in Denmark has shaped me as a responsible, resourceful person and has given me the abilities of an exceptional employee. I have gained considerable independence by living away from my family, friends and comfort zone for this length of time. I learned to explore the world around me and look inward for reflection, rather than always seeking other people’s opinions and approval.
I am prepared to take my newly developed abilities and apply them to my future area of work. I do hope you will consider inviting me for an interview to see for yourself how my time abroad in a country 1/3 the size of my home state has helped me mature into a unique and fascinating person.
Tusind tak for your time,
Rachel A. Clark
And with that, Danish class was over...which was quite sad because I really enjoyed that class. I realize that I will likely not use Danish again (unless I get so lucky as to find a cute Danish boy living in Iowa :P), and I know I did not get very good at the language since I was here only 4 months, but I did feel that it really enhanced my experience to be able to read some signs or order in Danish if I really wanted to. I also learned a lot of cultural and historical things about Denmark that have made me feel much more informed about this small country in which I have been living.
Friday, May 6th: Final 7-page research paper for Developmental Neuropsychology due. My topic was neuropsychological rehabilitation after traumatic brain injury in children and if and why it is better/more effective than either cognitive rehabilitation, physical rehabilitation, or speech rehabilitation on its own. My thesis/summary of the paper was this:
In the following analysis I will first discuss the potential effects of pediatric acquired brain injury, followed by the types of assessments used after injury, and finally I will argue for the importance of a neuropsychological approach to rehabilitation after such brain injury. I surmise that the neuropsychological approach to rehabilitation is necessary for the best possible recovery after
acquired brain injury, especially in developing children.
I actually ended up turning in that paper on Thursday because I didn't have any class on Friday and I had finished editing it so I figured I might as well. I also had my final European Urban Design Theories class on Thursday. I have been done with actual assignments in that class for awhile so our last class consisted of going on a field trip to another part of the city and seeing some interesting culture houses, a library, and a community youth building and then we ended by relaxing and chatting on the rooftop terrace of a cute little restaurant.
And then I was done. Done with all my academic work for the semester. I am really liked all of my classes and though I did have more work than I expected throughout the whole semester, I am glad I took all 6 classes because I got to learn about a lot of different areas, from Danish architecture to Danish language to Austrian Architecture to Sustainability to Happiness to European Urban Designs. Pretty cool, if I may say so myself.
Even though I was sad to have my classes over because it meant my time was really running out, I have to admit I was relieved to be done with all the paper writing. So then it was time to begin adventuring.
But right now it is time for me to get some food from this cute cafe that I am currently sitting in. Be back later!
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