A Taste of København: i am a child: playgrounds and mermaids.

I got to have my first sledding experience (sans actual sled) on the DIS short study tour to western Denmark! I admit I don't particularly look like I'm enjoying myself, but you're actually mistaken. It was my own fault really; I didn't dress properly for the occasion and ended up with snow under my jacket, on my back (hence the pain-stricken face).

As I briefly mentioned earlier, my class (Childhood in a Multicultural Context) travelled to the Danish countryside last weekend to explore some schools outside of Copenhagen.

Our first stop was Odense, which coincidentally is where Hans Christian Andersen grew up.

the house HC Andersen grew up in!

whadda boss

Our first stop in Odense was the HC Andersen Skole, located in an area that Danes consider the "ghetto," although I didn't realize this until after we left. Apparently this school isn't representative of other schools in similar underprivileged areas. In fact, this school in particular receives additional funding for various integration projects and for providing for children with "social special needs" (children with language problems related to immigration, children with alcoholic parents, etc.) The school had a 75% bilingual population and some of the teenagers we talked to could speak four or five languages.

We were taken to a classroom where several 15-year-olds were working on independent projects. The three boys I ended up talking with were investigating topics like homosexuality and street gang violence in Denmark, which seemed like fairly heavy topics for the equivalent of high school freshmen. The students I spoke with had absolutely incredible self-expression, even though they weren't speaking their native language. They were unbelievably mature for their age and it was pretty fun getting to ask them any and every question we could think of.

another ((somewhat) unrelated) note: the only people here who aren't bilingual are over the age of 70. English class is compulsory everyday starting in 3rd or 4th grade and then in 7th grade they choose another language to begin studying, usually either French or German. So basically, most people here are bilingual and could probably pass for trilingual. I wish schools in the US were actually serious about students learning a second language. We could learn a lot from Denmark.

After the visit to the school, we got to explore the city a little more. The town is so gorgeous. I'm totally going back.

There were tons of Ugly Duckling themed signs, which HCA claimed he wrote as his own autobiography. adorbs.

After traversing through town, we went to the Fyrtøjet (translation: The Tinderbox, another HCA story), a sort of interactive museum where you essentially get to immerse yourself in the world of a fairy tale. This year, the theme just so happened to be The Little Mermaid! :)

Have you ever read the actual story of The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen? If you haven't, here's your chance..

http://www.andersen.sdu.dk/vaerk/hersholt/TheLittleMermaid_e.html

wouldn't you think I'm the girl.. the girl who has everything?

(sorry, couldn't resist the Disney shoutout)

we got to dress up! :)

and draw. and paint.

This is the only picture I took of the actual set. These pictures don't even begin to do this place justice. I guess I was just too busy being a little mermaid to remember silly things like taking pictures.

locked in the brig. a tragic fate.

The next day, we visited a playground! The name literally translated into "child city," which is totally accurate..

A petting zoo?! These guys weren't exactly the friendliest.. I got to hold some bunnies later though, which more than made up for these guys disliking me so much.