Nordic Florida

The conversation went something like this:
Me and Izabel: Let's bike up the coast!
Izabel: Let's bike around Zealand!
Me: Um... I don't think we can do that...
Izabel: Why not?
Me: Because Denmark is made up of lots of islands and Zealand is the entire island that Copenhagen is on (shows on map).
Izabel: Oh....... let's bike around Zealand.

So Izabel and I biked up the coast (not the entire island). And once we got out of the city and were by the ocean the conversation went was like this:
Me: This feels just like Florida!
Izabel: Except we're in Scandinavia. It's like Nordic Florida!

So the coastal area above the city has now been dubbed Nordic Florida. And it's actually a pretty accurate name. It really does feel just like Florida only with less humidity.  Here at DIS we have Wednesdays off of class and usually this day is reserved for study tours or field trips with one of your classes. But last Wednesday neither Izabel or I had any study tours so we took the opportunity to bike up the coast. And boy was it the perfect day. It was in the low 70's (which is really warm for here) with a light breeze- essentially the perfect day for biking.
We started the day by sleeping in until 8 and then going to our favorite market to buy a picnic lunch. Our original destination was the king's old hunting grounds. Way back when it used to be a large hunting ground for the king. Now it's just a really large and beautiful park. But after an hour of biking and about ten minutes away from the park, we found a beach. Needless to say, we never made it to the park. Instead we picnicked on the beach, waded into the water, and then sprawled out on the sand. Other than the sand that stuck to every square inch of our skin and clothes, it was glorious. Due to all the sand that somehow managed to get everywhere, Izabel and I have decided that sand diving is now an official sport. The whole day was so much fun, definitely my favorite day so far. The area outside of Copenhagen is absolutely beautiful.

 

Remember that scary fish at the market? Well there's a new one now. It's a shark. Yum.

 

Our lunch. The bread was all for me because Izabel is gluten free.

 

Moldy strawberry that was thrown into the water.

 

Me and Izabel by the ocean

 

 

 

Awesomely eating grapes

 

Izabel also awesomely eating grapes

 

That's the city way in the back

Tuesday was actually pretty exciting as well because I met my first Dane who isn't my host mom or a professor or administrator at DIS. His name is Christian. It happened because my Danish class went out to dinner and our professor had a couple of Danes come along so we could get to know the culture better. Well, only one Dane actually showed up. And as the class waited for everyone to arrive at the meeting spot, Christian just stood there looking really awkward and I felt really bad for him. So I assessed the situation: 1) I wanted to meet Danes and 2) He looked really awkward...as if any situation would be better than the one he was in. Then I asked myself "What would dad do?". My solution was to pretended like I hadn't already heard him introduce himself to our professor and ask him his name. Probably not the cleverest thing I could have done but it did the trick and conversation was struck. I definitely asked him a lot of questions and he seemed quite happy to talk to someone. I kind of decided to make him my guinea pig in learning how to interact with Danes. Since they're apparently so hard to get to know, I just tried to talk to him as much as possible without being annoying. I figured that if it didn't work and I was annoying...great! I'd probably never see him again. And if it did work and I wasn't super annoying...great! Though I'd probably never see him again.
Well, it turned out to be a pretty eventful evening. Naturally I made an effort to sit at the same table as the Dane and not at one of the four other large tables of all Americans. And of course, I picked the wrong chair to sit in. I looked away from the table for a second and when I turned around, there was a spider just chilling there between me and Christian. And when you turn around and a large spider is hanging right next to your head it's kind of hard not to squeak and nearly jump off your chair. Way to make a good impression. The entire table was laughing at me.  But at least my sudden movements scared the spider and he retreated up to the ceiling and chilled there right above me for the rest of the evening. He didn't move...at all. Believe me, I was checking. And while this was both incredibly embarrassing and terrifying, it definitely helped to break the ice at the table. They especially enjoyed my periodic glances at the ceiling. And since Christian joined in with everyone else and started teasing me about my fear of spiders, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say I kind of befriended a Dane. It was exciting. But the next time I meet a Dane, I'll work on actually becoming friends and not just acquaintances. Baby steps here and maybe no spiders next time. I could do without that. Especially because I don't want to be conditioned to think of spiders whenever I start to meet Danish people. There are already enough spiders at Britta's house.

In case I haven't mentioned it already, there actually are a TON of spiders here. Well, not in the city but at least in Britta's backyard/courtyard. It's bad. The other day I came home and saw something that looked very web-like  out of the corner of my eye. As I turned my head (with what was most certainly a very concerned expression) Britta called out of the window "Don't worry honey, it's just the clothes line". I love Britta. She's learned so quickly. But all the spiders are a problem so in order to deal with them, I've started naming them. Jose is the one who lives on the clothes line. Herold is the large one I saw on the first day here. Thankfully, I haven't seen him since ...but I am prepared. And Charlie is the one from the restaurant. My table got a kick out of the naming thing. So have Britta and Izabel for that matter. Izabel is convinced that I name every living creature. I blame my youngest brother Nick because he and I name pretty much every animal we see. He just helps reinforce the habit. :)

 

After dinner my class walked through a very large and well known park. This is a huge castle we passes. 

Yesterday (Thursday) was pretty exciting as well. But today it's because I got to play with children for about three hours. For my Positive Psychology Practicum, I go to an after school program every Thursday afternoon. It was so much fun!  The structure is very different from the U.S. First of all, there is no structure. The kids just come and play wherever they want until they are picked up. Danish schools take a very hands off approach to preschool and after school programs. This program has kids from early elementary school to about 7th grade. And it's really interesting because the building is three levels and only the older kids are allowed on the third floor. That's kind of their hang out space. Otherwise, everyone can go everywhere in the complex. The doors that lead outside are always open so kids are constantly running out the the large playground in the back or to the basketball/soccer court in the front. I pretty much just hung out with the kids and played with them. I had to draw three pictures of Cinderella and Prince Charming and played a lot of soccer. It was really fun even though most of the kids only speak Danish. I was able to ask them their names and tell them my name and where I was from but that was it. They seemed to think it was really cool that I'm from the U.S.A. What was the most amazing was how much I was able to communicate with the kids and they with me. There was a lot of pointing going on. Even though they knew I didn't understand them, the usually rattled on in Danish anyway. And though I didn't know what they were saying, I could actually understand them a lot. It was really cool. I really didn't want to leave and they actually didn't want me to leave either. When I had to go, this little girl and boy who had been sticking to me like glue for the past two hours clung to my legs. It was really cute and I had to have one of the adults explain to the kids that I would be coming back. I really can't wait to go back there. It's so much fun to be with the kids and it's really interesting to see the places where  positive psychology is used in this kind of institution. Even though the school doesn't actively use positive psych, there's a lot of it at play in Danish school and after school programs.


Tonight Britta's daughter (I think she's about 24) is coming to stay for the weekend. Izabel and I are really excited to meet her. I just hope there aren't any spiders involved.