What a lovely day for a picnic!

Well DIS is just so great.  They organized a beautiful picnic by a beautiful beach for all students and families and they even managed to get beautiful weather too! Saturday, May 7th was the annual DIS picnic so Karina made a delicious salad for the common table and we drove to Klampenborg (where I was just the day before!) and enjoyed the time in the sun with food, friends and games.  Karina, Rebecca, Andreas, myself and two of my friends from psych (Leslie and Assiyah) even won the human pyramid contest!!

Jesper and I (with a danish hot dog in my hand!)

Photo credit goes to Rebecca :)

3-legged race. We did not dominate at this :( but at least we tried!

That is not us.  This was after we had beat the other teams. 

Photo credit to Karina.  Love it!

Rachel goes on a Louisiana adventure : )

Ok, so I know it was a little dorky but sometimes I just like the words that I think up more than the words I decide to write into this blog so I thought I'd give it a try.  Anyway, here is the rest of the story of that day:

I rode my bike from my house in Bagsvaerd to the Klampenborg train station about 13ish km away.  I stopped briefly at the Dyrehaven (deer park) and Bakken (old amusement park) just to walk through a bit.  There is no entrance fee into the park, you only have to pay if you want to ride rides or eat delicious food, so that meant I got to walk around in the park and I was the only person in there because it wasn't open yet.  That is quite the experience, walking around rides, games, food stands and it all seems frozen in time because there is absolutely no activity.  It was also way more peaceful than an amusement park ever should be.  

Anyway, I went to the train station and bought my ticket to take the Regional train up to Humblebaek, where Lousiana is.  I had my bike with me and since I take my bike on the S-tog all the time for free, I figured this train would be free for my bike also.  I found out the hard way that it is not.  The ticket lady asked for my ticket so I showed it to her and then she said "And your bike?"  I probably looked like a total tourist then because I said "You mean it's not free the way it is on the s-tog?"  Nope. Definitely not.  So she says "You can just hop off at the next stop, but a bike ticket and get on the next train."  Okay, that doesn't sound too tough. Too bad the next station was a small one in the middle of nowhere (although it did have a beautiful view of the beach) and it took me ten minutes to even find the ticket machine to buy a bike ticket and then the next train didn't come for half an hour.  Ah well. It was a beautiful day and I enjoyed some time taking artsy fartsy photos of my (borrowed) bike.  And taking goofy pictures of me to document the adventure:

The very sought after bike ticket

I finally made my way to the museum and enjoyed the wonderful weather as I wandered around the sculptures.

Secret little bridge in the lake garden area that I explored 

I was just pretty darn happy

The inside section of the Lousiana had a special exhibit on Picasso. I was unable to take any photos inside since it was so special but it was all about peace and freedom and how he was involved in fighting for these.  There was also a super awesome exhibit called "Me draw on I-pad" by the artist David Hockney.  He literally drew hundreds (if not thousands) of pictures on the ipad drawing app and the exhibit had a bunch of ipads, ipods and large projected screens displaying the pictures.  There apparently is also a way to watch the drawing as it happened in fast-forward. So for a few of the drawings you could watch in high speed how he drew it.  I think that was my favorite section of the museum.

After I spent enough time in there I went down to the beach, where I got the brilliant idea to record a video blog. And lucky you, thanks to my brilliant (and dorky) idea, you have gotten to experience the area just as I did...or at least almost as I did :P   Then I hopped on my bike again and rode down Strandenvej (beach road).  I decided to ride as far as I could so I wouldn't have to pay for the extra transportation.  I probably rode about 15 km before I decided to hop on the train, not because I was exhausted but because I wanted to make it home for dinner.  I rode the train for two stops and then I went back to Bakken for some cotton candy, as a reward for adventuring on my own.  For those of you who don't know I am a little bit addicted to cotton candy.  I don't know exactly why I love it so much but I do...probably because I have a gigantic sweet tooth and cotton candy is just sugar and air.  Anyway, I got the biggest thing of cotton candy I have ever seen! And that is saying something because I have seen a lot of cotton candy! Check it out

And of course it took me only about ten minutes to devour that massive amount of candy floss (the danish term for cotton candy), which I did while I sat and watched the log ride splash down and soak each and every one of its passengers.  

And then it was time to bike back to good ol' Bagsvaerd.  It was a beautiful ride on paved roads the whole way but with forests and fields on both sides of the roads most of the way, which is a much different feel than city biking.  

So that was my Louisiana adventure! Back with more in a bit : )

Run down of recent awesomeness

Here I am again: trying to summarize for you some of the really great experiences I have had in the past few weeks.  I know I just wrote about the Oslo trip, but before that were some things I simply cannot neglect to write about.  The #1 awesome thing (in chronological order, not in rank of awesomeness. You can decide the rank of awesomeness for your self):  Last Wednesday I went to a ballet at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen.  That theatre is gorgeous. I wore the fanciest dress I brought to CPH and even wore tights and my fancy shoes.  I felt like such a swanky old lady (minus the old part because I was definitely one of the youngest people there).  I went with my friend Devika and you will never guess who we saw there......

...We saw the Queen's husband, Prince Henrik!  Not sure why the Queen was not on a date with him, but nonetheless I got to sit so close super close to where he, a royal figure, was sitting.  I guess it really pays to go to a fancy event in the city where royalty lives.  Oh and also, the ballet was amazing!! It was called Balletaften (which means evening of ballet) and it was three separate acts, the first of which was a classic "ballerinas in ballet class" kind of scene and it was very nice, but the second act was by far my favorite.  It was an amusing encounter between two males and one female ballerina.  The live orchestra music for this act was fantastic.  There was a section of this act that had ballerinas in black tutus in front of a blue screen so all you could see was their shadows and their legs when they swung in the air.  The third act was also very good, although there was so much spinning I practically got dizzy just watching.  All in all it was a marvelous evening of ballet (thanks DIS for the discounted tickets)!

#2 awesome thing: I turned all of my work in on Thursday so Friday was a big day of adventuring.  I took a day trip up to the Louisiana museum. I took a short video while I was there so I will just make a new post with that and then I'll tell you more about my trip.  Stay tuned...!

Wind in my hair and the open sea ahead of me: A cruise to Oslo, Norway!

My dearest family and friends across the sea-

I write to you today from a cozy four person cabin aboard the ship DFDS Pearl Seaways.  My friends from DIS and I were welcomed aboard yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon and the ship set sail at 17:00.  We bid Copenhagen farewell from the outdoor deck where there was a bar, live music and two hot tubs.   Once we could no longer see the land we ventured back to our room and took a nap, rocked to sleep by the steady movement of the ship.  We then watched the breathtaking sunset from the deck and the rest of the evening we spent exploring the various restaurants, bars and nightclubs.  We ended up back in our room, watching Ever After until we were deep asleep.   In the morning I got up extra early to see the sunrise.  Unfortunately it was a rather cloudy day and although it was bright when I got up to the deck at 5:15, I was unable to see the actual sun break forth in the sky.  It was still enjoyable and a type of peaceful that you don't get anywhere but on the sea.   I went back to sleep for a few hours and dreamt a Titanic-esque dream of our cruise ship navigating the rough waters and sailing through debris from previous wrecks. 

I awoke from my nerve-wrecking dream to the wake-up call on the P.A. system and in just a short hour we arrived in Oslo.  We watched again from the upper deck as we pulled into the Oslo Harbor.  We saw the old fortresses, the modern Opera House, the rolling ski hills in the background and the spires of multiple churches shooting up into the sky, breaking away from the rest of the skyline.  We disembarked from the ship and began exploring the city.  Our first stop was a famous bakery where we enjoyed pastries while sitting out in the cool morning air.  We then walked through the city to the Sculpture Park.  This was quite the site.  A giant park filled with sculpture after sculpture, many of them nude and emoting feelings from happiness to rage to playfulness to love.  The park was also covered in beautiful gardens, trees, grassy spaces and fountains.  The Scandanavian love of the human body is quite different from that in America so it was quite amusing to see little children climbing all over the naked sculptures that were posed in various positions:  men, women, babies…lots and lots of babies, and even aging men and women were depicted and climbed upon here. 

After the park we walked to the National Gallery where we saw many pieces of art including Edvard Munch’s famous “The Scream” and “Madonna”.  We even saw my favorite sculpture: Auguste Rodin’s “The Thinker”.   We saw works by Monet, Degas and Picasso.  Since we only had a few more hours in Oslo we didn’t spend long there.   Next we walked to the Royal Palace, saw a few of the guards marching outside the Palace and then continued on to a very modern part of the city: a shopping mall right along the harbor.  We found a place to eat after which we felt it necessary to sample the ice cream in Oslo (delicious, by the way).  Our last stop was the massive fortress area where we could climb up and see across the top of the city and, in the other direction, see out into the blue expanse of water.  No worries, no one was attacking the city, but we stood ready at the cannons…just in case. 

Eventually it was back to the cruise ship for our tired little bodies.  We again sat up on deck and drank some wine as we watched Oslo fade from sight.  Some snacks, a small nap, some drinking and here I am.  We will sail through the night and arrive in Copenhagen around 9 am.  Just a short little cruise that was full of adventures!

The sky in Farum.  I just love this photo.  

In the last two weeks, besides the massive loads of paper-writing I was doing, I also did get the chance to do some fun things.  I forgot to mention this but after Bess left Copenhagen (unfortunately, we forgot to get my camera back to me so it went to Scotland with her), I went on a bike ride with Jesper, Karina and Rebecca around the lake not too far from Bagsvaerd.  It was the same lake that we drove to and walked around 4 months ago on January 16th when I first got to Denmark.  Back then it was all brown and covered in ice and slush.  I even liked it back then so imagine how happy I was to go back now that the grass and trees are green, flowers are blooming, the lake is shining in the sun, rowers are out rowing and nice cool breezes were blowing through the air.  It was awesome to see again one of my first memories of Denmark.  This time I was wearing a tank top, shorts and a baseball hat and we rode all around the lake by way to dirt parths. It is amazing to think of all the time and experiences that have passed since that first walk by the lake.  Here I go, getting sappy about leaving again.  I'll change topics right now and save the sappiness for later!

The next weekend, on Saturday, April 30th, I went with the family to Andreas's soccer game and watched his team take home the win!  I am quite impressed by how good those boys are...especially considering that they are 12.  It was more fun for me to watch their game than to watch NFL in America  (*GASP* did I really just say that?!? Sorry, I suppose that was a little un-American.  Maybe I have been in Europe too long?...Nah)    Here are some photos of my soccer-star host brother

Andreas and Sif, the adorable dog we were doggie-sitting for the week. 

The next day was the field trip to the Open Air museum and my adventure to Farum.

Traditional Danish house with thatched roof

Seaweed roof house

Pretty art I found in Farum

My computer is about to die and I need to go buy some food for this evening so I better sign off.  In just 2 hours I will meet up with some friends and then we will leave for a short cruise to Oslo, Norway! We will be on the boat tonight, spend tomorrow in Oslo and then travel back to Denmark Wednesday night.  I have no idea what to expect so whatever happens will be a surprise!  It's a beautiful day here so I imagine being on the sea will be quite lovely.  Don't worry, you will get lots of pictures as soon as I return to land.
Vi ses!!

Papers, papers, papers galore.

Monday night after Bess left I got right to work on my final papers.  Here is the run down of what I had due:

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.

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.  

Anyway, the rest of our presentation focused on organic food, wind power and biking in Denmark...all of which are very prominent ways in which the country works to be "green".

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!

   

Favorite word

Also, I keep forgetting to write about this, but a few weeks ago I discovered one of my favorite Danish words.  It is bananer.  Bananer is the plural for banana. Hehe, I just love it saying it...bananer.  Just thought I'd share : )