Danish Labor Day

So there isn't actually a Danish Labor Day but today Isabel and I saw a parade of soldiers marching down the main shopping street and, because Labor Day just occurred in the US, we decided it was because of Danish Labor Day (I actually know why so many soldiers were parading down the street). The soldiers were handing out Danish flags and everyone was clapping for them. It was really fun and probably the most energetic I've seen Danish adults. It was also probably the most energetic I've been for a while. 

 

Soldiers walking in the parade. I was really excited and waving my flag a lot and the soldiers looked at me either like I was strange or like I was highly amusing. I really didn't care because it was so much fun.

 

This weekend Iza (Britta's daughter) came home. Izabel and I were a bit apprehensive of this because we really had no idea was Iza would be like. All we knew was that she currently works as a nurse and served for four months in the military. But we didn't know anything about her personality. The weekend actually turned out really well. Iza was really nice to us and seemed like she really wanted to get to know more about us. Though we never really hung out with her (She had a lot of appointments and people to meet up with in the three days she was here), we all ate dinner together which was nice. Iza was a lot like her mom both in terms of personality and appearance. Though she is much more organized that Britta.  See, Britta is wonderful, but she can get distracted easily and she doesn't always have the best memory (this can make grocery shopping very challenging at times) and even the simplest of exchanges (such as saying "welcome home") inevitably turn into ten minute conversations. When we went to the grocery store on Friday, it took us about an hour just to get a basketful of items because Britta had to make sure we had everything we wanted. It was both highly frustrating and extremely sweet.
I think the hardest thing about living here has been growing accustomed to a different way of doing things. Both Izabel and I are neat freaks and hate it when things are messy and dirty. This is particularly challenging because Britta tends to use tons of dishes when cooking but sometimes has the mindset that they don't need to be cleaned right away. Izabel and I also really like having plans and schedules which doesn't seem to be a big thing in this household. So, adapting to new ways of doing things is frustrating sometimes but at the end of the day, not matter how frustrated Izabel and I sometimes get, we love Britta.
And while Iza and Britta were off having mother-daughter time, Izabel and I went to a new beach on Saturday. Though this one didn't smell quite as beach like and Florida-y as the last one, it was absolutely beautiful. With the cold wind and tall grass, it definitely felt more Scandinavian.

 

There were TONS of little jellyfish in the water. It really freaked Izabel out to discover this while she was still in the water. 

So this week at DIS is known as Core Course week. Basically, all of our classes are cancelled so that we can study our core course for the entire week. And for me, that's Positive Psychology. Now I know a lot of people are skeptical of this area of psychology, and while I am as well, it definitely has a lot to offer. It's a developing field and all the tests measuring well being and happiness still have a long way to go. Though I think the idea of looking at the positive and negative together is brilliant. There's a positive psychology informed therapy called ACT which I think is really wonderful. Instead of trying to get rid of negative thoughts and ways of thinking in clients (like CBT often does) it focuses more on accepting  negative thoughts. So if someone has anxiety problems and is afraid to speak in public, a therapist wouldn't try to have the client get rid of their nervousness about speaking in public. Instead they would show them how, they can be nervous and still make the speech. In this way, ACT therapy tries to accept and embrace negative emotions to create more positive actions. When I think about it,  a lot of things I did at my summer internship at Washburn Center for Children were similar to ACT therapy. There would often be kids who would say things like "I miss my mommy" and our response was "Yeah, you miss your mommy. But you can miss your mommy and still do Washburn". So at least in my experience, this kind of technique has a lot to offer. I'm really excited to learn more about it. I'm also excited to leave Copenhagen tomorrow to go to western Denmark. As part of Core Course week, my Positive Psych class is going on a three day trip to a few different cities on the other side of the country.


Today Izabel and I went to the town hall so see could draw some of the beautiful architecture inside. Then we went up a large round tower that used to be an observatory. At the top you could go outside on a platform and see the city from up high. It made Copenhagen seem a lot bigger than it feels from the ground.

 

Tower of the town hall (taken from the courtyard).

 

Pretty much the entire building is full of this detailing and beautiful architecture (this picture really doesn't do it justice). 

 

I just thought he looked really cool.

 

Awesome staircase in the town hall.

 

View of Copenhagen from the observatory tower.

 

Another view. You can actually see the tower from the town hall in this one. 

 

Me and Izabel with our Danish flags!!

 

My friends Annika and Ben who went up the tower with us. 

Annika and I are actually traveling together in about a month. We have a week off of classes for traveling so Annika and I are going to Athens and Rome! We just bought our tickets!!!

When I come back from this weekend excursion, hopefully I'll have internet access again. For the past few night the internet at Britta's has been very spotty and we can only get it for about ten minutes at a time. Hopefully it will be fixed when I get back because I'm sure I'll have many great adventures to report.