Hej! So after a month of really amazing weather, something that many Danes have told me is unusual for this time of year, it is officially cold in Denmark. Of course, it probably feels worse to me than it does to all of the natives. This morning my Danish teacher commented on what nice weather we were having today (it was not nice weather, it was cold). But the good part about this time of year is that it's Fall, my favorite season! I can already see the leaves starting to change colors, and warm, delicious soups have started cropping up as part of dinner. It's wonderful! It also means that I get to see some of the Danes' Fall traditions, and my host family introduced me to a fun little one this past weekend. Here Ingrid and I are sifting through fallen leaves to find chestnuts. During the Fall kids will go out collecting them to make little animals with matches and/or toothpicks. My favorite part was probably just stepping on crunchy leaves, because who doesn't love to do that? We went back home to make several giraffes, spiders, and other fun little creations. They're beautiful, no? I'm sure this is only the beginning of the fun traditions my host family will introduce me too. I'm excited to see what a Danish Halloween will look like. How similar or different will it be to what I'm used to back home? I don't have any super special Fall or Halloween traditions that I do every year, but if anyone has any ideas for American Fall traditions I should introduce my host family too, let me know! Vi ses!
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Hej! Let's talk a little bit about the Danish language. I'll start by saying that I absolutely love languages, and learning new ones is one of my favorite things to do. Like about 60% of the students at DIS, I'm taking a Danish language course. I'm not going to be fluent or anything by the end of it, but hopefully by the time my semester here finishes I'll be able to have a few simple conversations completely in Danish. Danish is definitely not the easiest language to learn. I'm used to studying romance languages like French and Spanish, so in that respect it's a lot different than the languages I'm used to learning. On the other hand, like English, Danish is a Germanic language and they actually have a lot in common. Grammar in Danish is so much simpler, and a lot of words are extremely similar to their English counterparts. Honestly, the hardest part of learning Danish is pronunciation. The Danes like to mangle their words, ignore endings, and just not pronounce entire chunks of words. Things are not pronounced the way they look on paper (because of course in English we pronounce everything like it's spelled, right?). Not to mention the three extra vowels in Danish, æ, ø and å. My host siblings are definitely not afraid to correct me, but I'll do whatever it takes to learn. My host mom actually told me that I'm really good at pronouncing Danish words, so hopefully I'll sound like a real Dane in no time! So far in my Danish class we've learned the basics of introducing ourselves and where we're from, to the basics of ordering food at a café or restaurant. Yesterday I actually went to a sandwich shop and ordered my lunch completely in Danish! It was a proud moment. While the Danish course has definitely been helpful, I think that I've actually learned the most from living with a host family. My siblings here are 3, 6, and 9, and while Asbjørn has started learning some English in school, they basically only speak Danish. I don't really have a choice but to pick it up if I want to communicate with them beyond simple gestures. It's really helpful and I've picked up plenty of words and phrases (especially the ones necessary to play princess with Ellinor). The kids love teaching me as well. I took a walk a few days ago with Asbjørn and he pointed at different items and named them in Danish. I responded by naming them in English. It's a fun way for the both of us to learn a little bit while having some bonding time. I came to Denmark with the intention of learning as much Danish as I could in four months. One thing I didn't expect, however, was that I'd also get the opportunity to practice my French as well. Basically all Danes speak English, but when I go to my practicum site on Thursdays, a Muslim school, not all of the staff are actually Danish. The receptionist and one of the teacher's I work with each time I go there both can understand little English and can't really speak it either. I obviously can't speak Danish fluently. I'm not sure how we stumbled across the fact that both they and I could speak French, but now that is the language I use when communicating with them. It's actually great, because I definitely needed the chance to practice and get better at it, and somehow that opportunity came about in Denmark of all places. It really makes me appreciate this multilingual, multicultural world that we live in. I think that anytime you get a chance to learn a new language, even if you don't end up amazing at it, you should always take it. Talk to you soon!
À bientôt! Nos vemos! Vi ses! Hej! It's been two weeks since I've arrived here in Denmark, although it feels like it's been so much longer. I guess that means it's already really starting to feel like home. A lot has happened this week, from really starting to get into my classes, to the DIS Activities Fair, and adventures exploring Copenhagen. So here's a little bit of what I've been up to: Sunday started with the Homestay Network Jumpstart Event, which is an event for Homestay students in the same general area to get to know one another a little better. Being in a homestay is great, and I really love my host family. However, being in a homestay can be a little bit isolating. During the orientation days it definitely felt like the students living closer together in the city had already formed their friend groups. I had definitely met a lot of really nice people, but I hadn't found that group of people I could say I'd be spending most of my time with. I didn't know who I'd just go and hang out with. I feel like I've got a better sense of that now, though. First, I have some really awesome people in my core class, and I think I'll become great friends with them. I also met more people at the Jumpstart event, including Emma, who is pretty cool and doesn't actually live too far away from me. We even learned that her host brother goes to the same school as my host brother! Overall it was a fun day filled with games, food, and some new friends. Monday and Tuesday were full days of classes, and now we're really starting to dive into the material. Monday also brought about my first academic paper which is due in less than a week now. The topic is pretty interesting for me though. I'm researching and writing about different childhood theories for my CMC course. The really interesting thing that I learned in those days, however, was that it is a pretty normal thing for Danes to put ketchup on pasta. Now, this semester, I'm be conscious of trying new things and doing things as the Danes do, so I tried a taste of this pasta with ketchup. While it wasn't awful, it is definitely not the way I'd prefer to eat it. Luckily my host mom also made normal spaghetti sauce as well. Wednesday was a day of adventure for me, because I had no classes! At DIS, Wednesdays are reserved for field studies (Amen to field trips for college students!), and since those only happen on a handful of Wednesdays according to what classes you're taking, most of my Wednesdays are free to explore Denmark as I see fit. Today I spent the day with Emma and a few new friends. We started the day with breakfast at St. Peter's Bakery. I have no idea what the pastry I ate was called (luckily it was enough for me to just point at what I wanted), but I do know that it tasted delicious. Afterwards we went to the botanical gardens, which was so beautiful to walk through. There were some really cool plants, some with leaves the size of nine year old Asbjørn! There was a small pond in one part of the gardens, and when we were done exploring we just sat out on the dock and hung out a little bit. The weather was nice, the company good. That wasn't the end of my Wednesday adventure, however. After the gardens we walked to Papirøen (Paper Island) for lunch, a nice spot near Nyhavn (that place you see when you google search "Copenhagen"). We ate at Copenhagen Street Food, this amazing marketplace of food stalls with dishes from all over the world. Whether you're in the mood for Korean Barbecue, Mexican, or some traditional Danish smørrebrød, you will find what you're looking for here. I will definitely go back, probably many times this semester. After lunch, and killing a bit of time walking around H&M, we attended the DIS Activities Fair. It's basically an opportunity to see and join different clubs and extracurricular activities that DIS and Copenhagen offer. I'll share a little more about these once I officially decide what I'm going to participate in, but it was really good in helping me attempt to solidify a weekly schedule. During the Activities Fair is when I had my interview to become a DIS Blogger (spoiler alert: I was chosen as the official DIS Blogger for CDD!!!). After the fair we hung out a little at the Studenterhuset, a hang out spots for both Danish and study abroad students. It's a pretty chill place, a nice spot to just spend time with people, maybe get some work done. My Wednesday ended with a quick dinner at Max Burgers (a better version of McDonals which leaves you feeling not as guilty about eating fast food). All in all it was a great Wednesday, if a busy one. It was definitely good exercise since we basically walked everywhere, and according to Emma's Fitbit, we walked over 21,000 steps! Like I said before, I will have amazing legs when I come back from abroad.
Similar to Wednesdays, I don't have classes on Thursdays. However, I do have Practicum for CDD. I had my "first day" this Thursday, although it was more like a small orientation and figuring out my schedule for while I'm there. I got to see the school and meet a few of the teachers, and I sat down with the headmaster to figure out which classes I'll work with when I'm there. He was really nice about trying to make sure that what I was doing was tailored as much as possible to my own interests, which are basically little kids and artsy stuff. So, I'll be working with first through fifth graders in music and Danish classes. I'll have my first really involved experience in practicum starting next Thursday, so there will probably be much more to talk about then. I won't give all the small details, in order to keep the school's privacy, but who knows all of the crazy things that could happen working in a class with kids! I'm excited! My host family and I decided that it would be nice if occassionally I walked the older two, Asbjørn and Ingrid, to school in the morning, just to see what their school is like and to spend a little time with them in the morning. I did this for the first time Friday morning. The school is just a five minute walk away, so it took no time at all, even with Asbjørn being silly and trying to trick me into going the wrong direction. I got to see their classrooms, and I played a quick game of Four Square with them and some of their classmates before the bell rang. It was a nice start to the day, and after several hours of classes, I got to come home and relax with my family. We all got cozy on the couch and watched Disney shows in Danish (including Donald Duck, or "Anders And" who isn't understandable in any language). It was a great way to end a long school week. I have a good feeling that next week will be just as fun, if not better. Can't wait to share more adventures with you guys soon! Vi ses! After eight hours of sitting in the same uncomfortable plane chair and several failed attempts at falling asleep, I was about ready to start kissing the ground the moment we landed in Denmark. Then it hit me. I was in Denmark! I was finally here after months and months of waiting. If my first few days are any indication, then I have no doubt that this will be one of the best semesters of my life! I arrived here on Saturday a little after seven in the morning, and after a short orientation introducing me to Copenhagen, I finally met my host family! My host dad, Frank, came to pick me up with his three kids: Asbjørn is nine, Ingrid is six, and Ellinor is three. Their car can only seat five people, so Franca, my host mom, was waiting for me at home. I only got to explore my new home for a brief second before we were out again, heading to the park for a four-way birthday party for Asbjørn and three of his classmates. It was great because it immediately allowed me to feel like part of the family, and to see a little bit of their normal. Ingrid took a quick liking to me, and the entire time she led me around to all of her favorite playground spots, saying "Faith, kom!" every time we went somewhere different. Near the end of the party a bonfire was built (because unlike the hundred degree weather I left behind in the U.S., the weather was nice and cool here) and the kids roasted marshmallows. They weren't making s'mores exactly, just putting the marshmallow between two cookies without any chocolate, but they really enjoyed them, Ingrid even eating five! It was such a fun afternoon. Afterward we went back home where I had time to unpack and relax. I ate dinner with the family outside, then before bed Asbjørn taught me his favorite card game, Casino. It took me a minute to pick it up, but I ended up winning the last round, and it was really fun. All in all, it was an amazing first day in Denmark. Deciding to live with a host family can be really daunting. It was always my first choice for housing, but even then I was still really nervous about it. I wondered if I would fit in with the family, if they'd like me and if I'd like them. I was wondering about little Danish siblings who don't speak much English. These are normal concerns. But I encourage anyone who is traveling, study abroad or otherwise, if you get the opportunity to stay with locals, do it! You'll get to see the country from a different perspective rather than as a tourist. For example, on Sunday morning after breakfast I got to go with the whole family to a neighborhood flea market, and I got to see how the neighbors interacted with each other and what community was really like in this area. Eating meals with the family ensures that I don't just stick to my comfort zone with food, but that I actually try new things. For lunch we had traditional Danish open sandwiches, called smørrebrød, which is basically a slice of Danish rye bread with whatever toppings you want piled on it. I even tried liver paste, which to me sounded iffy but ended up tasting pretty good. Danes are pretty healthy in general, and my host family definitely tries to eat organic and sustainable meals. Lots of fruits and vegetables. It's perfect because I can feel less guilty if I eat a lot because it's all healthy! :) It's comforting to know that basically everyone speaks English in Denmark, so communication isn't much of a problem. This is not true, however, with young Danish children. They start learning English in school around second grade, but my host siblings are all really young, so they don't know much. They do know a few phrases and are always excited to share with me what they do know, but sometimes I have to guess at what they're trying to say to me. Luckily, play is a universal language, so it's not actually that much of a problem. The other day Asbjørn and Ingrid took me on a walk to show me their school, and then we went to the park, where we ran around and played hide and seek among other things. Even though they usually have ten times more energy than me, they are so sweet and so fun to be around. Ellinor took a little bit of time to be okay around me, but we bonded over her extreme interest in my long hair, which she likes to play with and "style" so that I look like Elsa or Anna (because there's no escaping Frozen around a three year old). I love it though. It feels great to be a big sister here, especially since my own younger siblings have all passed the age of cuteness and have entered the stage of doing everything they possibly can to annoy me. I'm loving it here, and I can't wait to have many more little adventures with my new family. Also, if you were wondering about the title, it's an ode to the three hens that live in the backyard. They generally mind their own business, although one seemed to think that my foot was food at one point and kept trying to peck it. My favorite meal time entertainment is when they climb onto the deck when we are eating outside, and Ellinor starts shouting at them and chasing them to make them go away. It's really cute. And it's a great reminder of Life Lesson #341: If you ever lose you way, just remember that home is where the chickens are! Vi ses! |
AuthorOn ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur. Part of my heart I'm leaving behind in the United States. Join me as I take the rest on an amazing adventure to Copenhagen, Denmark! ArchivesCategories
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