It's Just My Bike and Me

Well, I know that I’m still 2 weeks behind, but here’s my attempt at catching up…

First off, I would like to introduce you to something very close to me…here is my bike (LEFT), which I’ve lovingly named “The Bane of My Existence.” ;) As I have said before, the Danes especially like their bikes and since cars and gas are so expensive here, it is more efficient to have a bike. They have even mastered the fashionable wearing of rain suits so they do not get soaked (as I do) when on their bikes in the rain. I, on the other hand, have not ridden a bike in probably a decade and although they say you never forget how, they leave out that you forget how to master riding a bike. Basically, I have a love/hate relationship with my bike. It gets me places, but I constantly fall off it, because I do not know how to stop. I’m ok if there’s no one around me, but the minute a car or another bike comes near me, I get very wobbly and unstable. It's especially hard with my big backpack weighing me down. I cannot even tell you how many sympathetic (or pity) looks Iget from the people as I squeal when my bike tips over on me. Basically, the bike’s seat is too high for me, but my host family was so gracious to lend me one, so I’m not complaining. ;) The Danes also have these bells on their bikes that they forcibly ring every time you’re in their way. This ‘ring’ will haunt me forever as being the indication of my inferior bike riding skills. ::sigh:: (TOP RIGHT: The Jørgensen bike garage / BOTTOM LEFT: view of their backyard on another beautiful day, view from bike garage)

BUT anyways, the reason I bring all this up is because two weekends ago, I went on (of all things!) a biking trip to Bornholm. As a DIS sponsored trip, we took an overnight (7 hours) ferry (where, yes, we all slept on the floor) to the little island of Bornholm, which is east of Denmark, north of Poland and smack in the middle of the Baltic Sea. So, to give you a visual, around 120 American students descended on this little island that is home to less than 1% of the Danish population and biked around it for two days. It was glorious. We rode along the northern edge of the island and with the breathtaking blue water to my right and rolling countryside hills to my left, I flew down the hills and huffed and puffed up them. We were really fortunate to have perfect weather and everywhere we went, I could not get over all the water. Obviously, I’ve seen coastal waters before, but with the wind in my face and the smell of saltwater, it was different. I tried to close my eyes a couple of times to really soak it all in, but that quickly ended when I almost got hit by a bus. (TOP RIGHT: on the bus to the ferry with Jenna, Nutella in hand...nutrition for the ride :) / TOP LEFT: sleeping on the Bornholm ferry / BOTTOM LEFT: sunrise greeting us as we arrived at our hostel at 7AM after ferry ride... and then went right to the biking / MIDDLE RIGHT: view off hostel balcony / BOTTOM RIGHT: Bornholm bikers...that's not me, if you're wondering; I was taking the picture)

The rest of the weekend was spent at ancient castle ruins, waterfalls, enjoying freshly smoked herring (the Bornholm specialty), hiking down slippery rocks, or falling asleep on the little beaches that sprinkle the coast. Just splendid. (LEFT: some cliff we decided would be fun to walk down...yes, we almost died...it's a lot steeper than it looks / RIGHT: castle ruins that overlooked the sea...we fell asleep on that big patchy green area soaking up that sun)

Now, I must explain something to you…there’s this cultural tradition in the Danish culture called Hygge. I'm not sure if tradition is the right word, because it's a natural daily thing. It is poorly translated as “cozy,” but to try to describe it, it is basically anytime when people gather, light candles, wrap themselves in blankets, drink some coffee or hot chocolate, dim the lights, sit close to keep each other warm, and talk for hours with the only purpose of enjoying each other’s company. Apparently, when the winter months near, Denmark has only a few hours of daylight, so this is something they do to counter the darkness. We talked a lot about this in our Danish language/culture class, so on our last night in Bornholm, we walked around, rating the “hygge-ness” of all the restaurants and selectively picked one to “hygge” in. I loved it. :) (LEFT: Tired but happy bikers off the cliff on the side of the ruins...see how it looks out and over the sea? I wish my words weren't impeding describing its vastness / RIGHT: Last night in Bornholm at some good quality hygge!)

Well, unfortunately, the weekend had to end, and then the first week of tests and papers came crashing down on me. All in all, I made it through, but not without getting my head around the complexity of the different international law lenses, or understanding how the EU’s integration of new member states has fostered a larger (or at least more legal) immigration across Europe. The migration often occurs from the poorer states to the richer ones (obviously), creating an unfortunate brain drain in many of those countries. I think I'm going to write my final paper on this dilemma, so I'll let you know when I solve all the EU's immigration problems. :) I also had to write a paper on Danish culture, after keeping a “cultural diary” everyday and interviewing my host father and sister. I really do appreciate being able to speak English with my family, because we have been able to talk about a lot of social and political issues that are quite relevant today and slightly more complex in content than rudimentary language might allow. (LEFT: Water, water everywhere...where I fell asleep with the seashells and waves...sorry that it doesn't really apply to this paragraph)

Overall, I have found that the “welfare safety net” that Denmark’s government provides has penetrated nearly every facet of their lives. Having basic necessities paid for them (such as medical and education) enables the Danes to focus on things they find more important to foster, such as their family and friendships. It also motivates them to not work at the amount that other countries do since in a strictly economic sense, it is not beneficial for them to make more money since so much of it will be taken away in taxes. Taxes also becomes an issue when it comes to immigration, because it detracts educated immigrants from coming here to work. This often leaves the current immigrants stuck at the bottom rung of the socio-economic ladder. In what used to be such a homogenous society until 30 years ago, it is easy to pick out the new immigrants and if a small population of them commits crime, it is easy for them to be stereotyped against on a whole. It’s interesting to watch this seemingly advanced and comfortable society deal with integration problems that seem almost elementary in kind; at least to someone from a 'melting pot' homeland. Yet, this is only due to that they have never had to deal with it before the 70’s. The majority of immigrants are Muslim, so this clash is highly a cultural/religious one. Many Danes view the Muslim immigrants as highly clan-focused where the Danish culture puts their highest value on independence and equality and rarely attend to religious view. It’s one side of spectrum against another. The Danes have been very used to a relatively enclosed life for a long time, so this wave of immigrants, new culture and religion, and their limited involvement in the EU h avereally left them a little bewildered.

Ok, that was my academic talk of the day; I hope it wasn’t too dry. I will soon write again to talk about my trip to Sweden last weekend! I leave for our 3 week travel break in a week, so I hope to get it up before then, but if I don’t, I apologize. I hope this finds you all well and please keep sending me emails, for I love to read them. I miss and love you all!

Blessings,
Christine

Prison, the Danish Navy, Fish, and Fairy Tales!

Hej!

I apologize once again for the delay in getting this up. I haven’t have had access to a computer for the past couple of weekends and these law school applications have been tying me up! Excuses aside, I hope you are all doing well and that you find this at least semi-entertaining!

Before I start, I will include a couple of pictures of the DIS building. These pictures are from the top balcony, looking down into the school’s courtyard. As you can see, it is a beautiful day in Copenhagen. Apparently, these blue skies and 70 degrees are quite unusual, and about every Danish person I know has found every opportunity to tell me that this will soon end and it will become dreary, rainy, and dark. Hmmm, that sounds familiar…:)

So, since I’m weeks behind, I will dedicate this time for the things that I did last week/weekend. First, I must clear up some erroneous information that I posted last time. Denmark is not made up of 3 islands…it’s made up of 406! I was a little off, but there are 3 main islands, on which I actually spent most of last weekend. Last week was my program’s first study tour to Western Denmark. We started traveling west to Korsør which houses Denmark’s only naval base. Denmark’s navy used to be the second largest in Europe, behind England, but it isn’t anymore. Denmark used to own a large part of northern Europe also, but it has slowly shrunk in size. We toured around the naval base and discussed Denmark’s military involvement across the globe, which for such a small country is pretty significant in number. Other than that, I can’t really remember much that was extremely significant other than the ships were huge and I cannot believe sailors don’t get so claustrophobic in such tight quarters. Apparently, there are only about 4 women that are in the Danish Navy, so if I run out of money while I’m here, I might sign up for it. :) (LEFT ABOVE: Naval ship we toured / RIGHT ABOVE: View off top of ship (in the background is the 2nd longest suspension bridge in the world, Dad :) / LEFT BOTTOM: Those pink things are jelly fish that were in the water next to the naval ships!)

We then traveled to the farthest west coast on the farthest west island of Jutland where we spent the night on sand dunes and looking at the stars. Well, we actually stayed in a hostel, but spent most of the time outside. The rest of the weekend was spent learning the EU fishery policies that have been implemented in Denmark and visiting the fishing port, which once again, used to be the largest in Europe but now exports and imports more oil and windmill blades. Denmark is completely self-sufficient when it comes to providing energy for itself, which even though it is a small country in comparison with the United States is still pretty impressive. Anyways, sorry, I know this is getting very educational sounding. I’ll just finish up by saying that our last stop was on the center island of Funen in the city of Odense where we visited Hans Christian Anderson’s home and the official H.C. Anderson museum. Sadly, I can’t really say that I’ve read any of his fairytales, except for The Little Mermaid and The Princess and the Pea, both of which I only read/saw Disney versions. To be honest, I’m glad about that, because I hear that the real version of The Little Mermaid ends with Ariel dying and Eric marrying the big octopus woman. Apparently H.C. Anderson had quite an eccentric life, but regardless, he’s quite celebrated across this little island. (LEFT ABOVE: Port city Hvide Sande where we stayed the first night / RIGHT ABOVE: Cement sculptures on the beach of fishing port city Esbjerg (symbolize pure and innocent person's meeting with nature...) / BOTTOM LEFT: windmill blades; that little object on the bottom left corner of the picture is bigger than a person... / BOTTOM RIGHT: H.C. Anderson's home)

We also visited quite a few grand and beautiful churches while on the tour, but I will leave those descriptions to the pictures. (LEFT: Odense Church where the only Danish Saint is buried under the church / BELOW: Church in Yelling dating back to the 1200's; outside lies a rock that is "the birth certificate of Denmark.")

Although it was nice to have a break from the city life, I was glad to get back to Copenhagen last weekend. Western Denmark has its own beauty, but it is a lot more rural and more industrial with visible smokestacks and factories than the quaint feeling of Copenhagen. Apparently, the people, especially in Jutland, are very different than those in Copenhagen. That is what I hear from the city folk, so DIS decided that it would be a good idea if we went up to someone in Western Denmark and talked to them about how they felt about the differences. Yea, can you imagine how awkward that was? That’s like going up to someone in the farmlands of America and asking them what they feel the difference is between them living there and people living in New York City. Ok, maybe it isn’t that extreme, but still, a couple of us Americans going up to a salesman in a trendy clothing store to ask him about the differing lifestyles was still extremely strange. Apart from a lot of embarrassing questions and answers, we basically got out of him that people are very regional in Denmark and typically do not leave where they grew up or where there family is. For a child to move across the country (which remember, Denmark is only about 5 hours from coast or coast) is very traumatic on a family. (LEFT: Local Danes in Odense)

Last Sunday night, I had dinner in Svanemøllen, the town just south of where I’m living. I was visiting Kristine, a Danish student who actually studied abroad at Case last year and lived with one of my tennis teammates. Over pizza (yup…very Danish ;) ), we reminisced about Case and discussed Danish life. I think we both concluded that we both miss Case and its people, but do appreciate Danish life. One thing we did talk about was this concept of the Janteloven Laws. It’s a list of 10 “Commandments” that enforce a collective mentality of people not considering themselves better than their fellows. For example, the first one is “Thou shalt not believe thou art something.” While it is not as prevalently spoken about as it was in the past, it still is highly reflective in their principles of social equality (welfare), educational systems (all education, even through university is paid for), and even in their extraordinary efforts to save their Jewish population during World War II by clandestinely ferrying them all but 550 (out of 6000) to Sweden. Coming from a country of such competition and independent thinking, this has been something to adjust to. Danes seem initially to be cold and emotionless, but once you get to know them, they are some of the most generous and friendly people. It’s easy to see why now.

Ok, this is getting a little long, but I will end with clearing up why I have “prison” up in the title of this entry. Well, last week, I found myself in a prison in Jyderup, which is a town about an hour and half northwest of Copenhagen. Don’t worry, Mom and Dad, DIS bailed me out in time to make class…:) Just kidding. I’m taking a class on Criminology in Scandinavia and we visited an open prison for a field study. If you don’t recognize the term “open prison,” it’s probably because you have no idea what it is, because I sure didn’t. About 80% of the prisoners in Denmark serve at one time or another in an “open prison,” which is a prison where the inmates are given free access to roam the grounds and leave the prison, if they really wanted to, during the day. When it comes to a year from the end of their term, they are allowed to leave the prison to find a job or go to school for 8 hours a day as long as they are back by curfew. They can work inside the prison as well and are paid even if they don’t work so that they can buy food in the prison grocery store and cook for themselves in kitchens where they are given full access to all normal appliances, including all sizes of knives. Their rooms and living rooms look a lot like my dorm room from sophomore year in college, except they have their own bathroom, where I had to share one with 5 other girls. The most shocking of all is that the inmates at this prison are not just minor felons; they were murderers, rapists, and serious drug offenders. On average, criminals with serious convictions will not serve longer than 2/3 of their sentence which is usually around 8 years. You might think this is ridiculous, because when I first learned about it, I thought it was. Their perspective differs a great deal from ours in that they want to first rehabilitate the prisoners. They believe that going to prison alone is enough punishment in itself. A major difference is that Denmark needs people in their workforce and they are hoping and helping the inmates to adjust back to societal life to fill in that gap. Their theory is: who would you rather have back on the streets? Someone who has had constant contact with their family and loved ones and has been working consistently or someone who has been left festering solitarily in their cell and going to 'crime school' in prison? Is this method working? Well, recidivism rates are still relatively high, but on the whole, this country is a lot less violent than most. Unfortunately, there is not enough tangible data to accurately answer if it’s really working. We’ve had a lot of debates on this issue, and there are a still a lot of questions and concerns that I am still struggling with, but for the sake of not putting you all to sleep, I will leave it at that and maybe talk to some of you about it later. It’s definitely a different society here. (There are no pictures as we weren’t allowed to bring cameras…understandably.)

Well, excuse the academic lecture, but my classes here have really created a lot of discussion between my host family, me, and the people I have been meeting. American and Danish, I’ve spent time dining, shopping (of which I can afford nothing…it’s all very expensive), biking, and talking with many and have curiously enjoyed almost feeling like a freshmen again in this new school, new city, and new culture. (RIGHT: Anna and I fooling around while shopping!)

As I always say, TAK (thank you) for all the emails and love you have been sending me. I really do miss you all and honestly cannot believe it’s already been a month since I arrived here! Time flies, I guess, but I’m still loving it here regardless of being overcharged for my coffee and tripping over all the cobblestone. I still have to remind myself every once in awhile that I’m in Denmark, in Europe, many many miles away from home. I’m definitely getting into a groove though…one of less falling off my bike and more soaking everything in.

Love and blessings,
Christine

Goddag familie og ven!

I apologize for the delay, but after much wrestling with my computer, recovering from a nasty posion ivy rash, some jet lag, and just overall adjusting to being thousands of miles overseas, I have finally been able to get this blog up and running! So, thank you for your patience!

Well, here is my blog! My computer has already crashed once and I lost everything I wrote, so here’s my second try. I can’t promise I’ll be updating everyday (I don’t think something exciting will be happening everyday to me), but I’ll try every week or so. Please leave comments and keep emailing me. I love to hear everything that is going on in your lives!
(ABOVE: Square near DIS; upper lefthand corner is the street that leads to where my classes are located.)

So, I’ve been in Denmark now for 2 weeks and I think I have finally settled in and gotten in a routine. The first week was spent hunkered down in Orientation where the DIS staff tried their best to acclimate (i.e. crash course) us into the Danish life, culture, and language which was to say the least a bit overwhelming. Part of me wishes they didn’t tell us so much because it left little for us to discover on our own or created assumptions that generalized the Danes a little too much. Although there are some similarities, Danes are unique in their own way just as in any culture. I have found that life here is relatively a little quieter and more relaxed; people typically don’t talk on the train, work less but efficiently, and apparently they’re more reserved than Americans. I’m not really sure if I would agree with that right now, but my host sister did mention that Americans cry a lot. She knows this because people on American reality shows, they cry a lot. So, since American reality shows = truth, therefore it is…::sigh:: :) (LEFT ABOVE: Square (there are a millions squares) where I sat down when I got really lost / RIGHT ABOVE: Strøget (the 'walking streets' where all the shops are))

Overall, orientation went well and we went on a lot of tours around the city to see the major sites, such as the various castles (Denmark is the oldest monarchy; the queen and her sons are often the subject of many gossip magazines…my family’s neighbor downstairs is a photographer for one of them :)), modern and classical architecture (sometimes mixed together it looks like IKEA exploded all over a very old city), and the many Hans Christian Anderson influences around the country (which has worn a little on the Danish population). I spent the majority of my independent time the first week wandering around the city, walking up and down the shopping streets and back. Most of the time, I was very lost and finding myself buried in a map with my other hand attached to a camera. I eventually found my way back home, though, so my sense of direction isn’t as bad as some have claimed. (LEFT ABOVE: Opera House / LEFT BOTTOM: H.C. Anderson's Little Mermaid / RIGHT ABOVE: Royal Castle)

I had my first full week of classes last week and being taught from a Danish/European perspective has been a lot different than I expected it to be. The Danes know that Denmark is a small country whose language is not spoken outside its population of 5 million, so everyone is fairly proficient in English. Regardless of its relatively small population, it’s also one of the wealthiest countries in the EU, deemed the happiest country (from a survey done worldwide), has an extremely low crime and unemployment rate with a booming economy, and has a seemingly well working welfare system. Underneath the initial gloss, the recent immigrant generations has ruffled this homogenous society, of which they readily admit. This has filled discussions in academia, society, and for me, at the dinner table with my host family. Certain aspects of my thinking have been significantly challenged coming from such a different homeland and it has been no different when it comes to immigration. I could probably write on this forever, which is a good thing since I’m taking a class on it, but I will move on here since I still have more to tell and will share more on this topic later. (ABOVE RIGHT: Everyday Dane: fashionable and biking everywhere)

Like I mentioned above, I am staying with the Jørgensen family of two host parents and a 13 year old sister. I’ve never had a sister, but Anna is wonderful and has been great in helping me adjust here. During my first week when I wasn’t feeling well, her friends and her cooked me a dinner of fajitas! It was very sweet and they are so much fun and seemingly very mature for their age. I feel very fortunate and blessed that I was placed with such a wonderful family who have really made my time here comfortable, especially when my host mother insisted I go to the doctor when my nasty poison ivy rash was spreading all over my body. They don’t have poison ivy here in Denmark, so you can imagine the looks I got from the doctor when I got there. I also feel a little spoiled because every night I get a wonderful warm meal while some of my friends that are staying in kollegiums (dorms) are eating pasta and sandwiches every night. : I’ve really enjoyed Danish cuisine thus far; it has mostly consisted of fish, pork, lamb, tomatoes, corn, and potatoes in some form, all of which I have really enjoyed. I tried cooking for my family last week and it was a flop…all I will say is that the chicken wasn’t cooked enough. :( My family is also pretty traveled, in that they’ve been to Asia more times than I have, so we’ve had stir-fry and sushi a few times for dinner also, which has been a nice treat. (ALL: My host family's house; my room)

This weekend, my family took me to their summer house up in Nykøbing at the northwest tip of Zealand (Denmark is split into 3 islands: Jutland, Funen, and Zealand and Copenhagen is on Zealand). Nykøbing is where I truly began to appreciate Denmark’s beauty. Set in a small but quaint town, we visited flea markets and window shopped. Saffi (the family cocker spaniel) got her hair cut and groomed while we wandered the town whose population is half made up of summer house owners. Denmark is typically a very flat area, but up in Nykøbing, there are many rolling hills that boast expansive farm lands and some port cities that have been there since the 1200s. Being a country of islands, there is water at every turn and canals that run like veins throughout the cities. My home in Hellerup is actually right on the sea and when we were at the summer house, Anna and I spent the afternoon relaxing by the water with Saffi. Relaxing in their cute little summer house was some of the most restful times I have had in a long time. The smell of the saltwater, the quiet that settles over the calm prairie-like land, and the bright country night stars have captured my heart. If I had to, I could settle there for a long time and be perfectly content. (ABOVE LEFT: Saffi and me on the ferry / ABOVE RIGHT: leaving one side on the ferry / BOTTOM LEFT: the beautiful Nykøbing water and beach / BOTTOM RIGHT: view from out the back of the summer house)

After some good food and a lot of rest, we drove back home last night and then went to Tivoli, which is Denmark’s amusement park placed in the middle of their downtown. We had a great time, regardless of the fact that Anna and I both got pretty sick. Kevin (another DIS student) and I went on the Tivoli version of the Giant Drop, of which I freaked out at the top but not enough to miss appreciating the beautiful night aerial view of Copenhagen. (LEFT: Kevin and Anna at Tivoli)

What can I say…(well obviously I’ve said a lot)…I am loving Copenhagen and all its charm and challenges. I have been attending a small international English speaking church, which is held in a beautiful old church and is newly head by a pastor from North Carolina. (I keep forgetting my camera when I go, but I will take pictures of it soon). Everyone there is very welcoming and it too has been a great experience. I feel like I’ve been here much longer than two weeks, but am excited for all that is to come. I do miss all you dearly and appreciate you reading through all of this. Please write and if you ever do come and visit, you will not be disappointed. :)

Love and blessings,
Christine