Cultural development- Week 6

Week 6- 2nd-8th March

Six weeks have now passed since I first arrived in Copenhagen, and over these weeks my views and thoughts about the culture in Denmark have been changed and the more places I visit and people I meet the more I am learning.

A few weeks ago Ali and I visited Christiana, a freetown in the centre of Copenhagen, where the people don’t follow the same rules as Denmark, and have a totally different culture and outlook on life.  Since this first visit, I have been dying to go back, to ask questions and to learn.  This weekend we were lucky enough to find out about a free concert in one of the bars in this town, and went along eager to see if we could find out anything more.  Going in at night I was nervous of what to expect, or what it would be like, as it is a very secretive place, no cameras are allowed, and due to the lack of restrictions on the people living there I had no idea what it was going to be like at night! However, I was totally surprised, and actually realised that although their culture is totally different to our own in Northern Ireland, it was a very relaxed place, and nothing to be scared or nervous about.  The atmosphere was totally different to what I had expected and the people were all friendly. This more relaxed feel is something I have noticed a lot here, classes are more relaxed, and in general things here feel more laid-back than the hustle and bustle of Northern Ireland, especially Belfast!

The National Museum, Copenhagen

We have also been making an effort this week to get out and about and explore more of Copenhagen now that the weather has warmed up slightly! This week we returned to the National Museum, where we visited on a class trip on our first week.  We knew there was so much more to see and it would be a great starting point to find out more about Copenhagen’s history. (It was also a free day out, and due to the expense of Copenhagen, anything free is very welcome!) We ended up spending the whole afternoon at the museum, until we were told we had to leave because it was closing, and it turned out to be a lot more interesting than we had imagined! It gave me a further insight to the founding of Denmark, and an understanding of why their culture is the way it is. I surprised myself how much I enjoyed my visit to the museum, and we have even talked about returning to finish the other exhibitions! There are so many similarities between Denmark and home at the first glance, but as I learn more and meet more people I am beginning to notice so many cultural differences, and although these are hard to get used to, I feel as my knowledge of the history deepens, it becomes easier to understand and accept.  This has been a topic in our Globalisation class also, about dealing with different cultures and how we react to them not only in our classes here, but when we are teachers.  It has been something that has really challenged me and made me think over the past few weeks.

Viking Runes.

There are so many other things I have still to learn about Denmark and its culture, but after beginning to discover more this past week, and develop my own understanding of the country I am looking forward to visiting the many castles and towers there are in the city.  These past weeks have taught me so much, and as I think back over my time here, already I can see how much not only I have changed but how my views and opinions of other people, other places and this country has changed! I expected Denmark to be all about Danish pastries and fish, but I am quickly discovering that there is so much more to this amazing country!

Elin, our tutor had us round for dinner!A welcome change from cooking ourselves!