Week 8- Personal Development

Week 8- 15^th-21^st March 2012

St. Patrick's Day parade in Copenhagen!

There have been ups and downs, but now at week 8, all our classes have began, school placement and visits are underway and I am finally finding it easier to deal with the language barrier, both in class and in Denmark in general.

Checking on our Shepherd's Pie!

This week has been busy, filled with St. Patrick's Day celebrations, school visits and an international dinner! As a class filled with students from at least six different countries we decided to host an international night, in which we would all cook a dish from our home country and let everyone try it! As I am not the best cook, I was nervous for what we could possibly make that everyone would enjoy, and that we wouldn’t burn, as Ali and I seem to do with all our food here! After a lot of discussion and confusion between everyone, we decided to join with the two girls from Dublin, and together the four of us made a massive shepherd’s pie! Our first choice was Irish stew, or Beef and Guinness pie, but after much discussion we decided the shepherd’s pie would be easier to make in a large quantity! We arrived at school, excited to find out about all the other different foods we would be trying, and found out there was going to be so much choice, Spanish omelette, Belgian chocolate mousse, German apple cake, American chocolate brownies, Italian pasta, Austrian pancakes and Slovenian breads! I have to say, it was probably the best meal I have had, and the most I have eaten since I arrived here 8 weeks ago! It was such a great opportunity to try different foods, that I would otherwise probably not have even thought about trying and have even taken some of the recipes to try to make the dishes again myself when I get home! Although, a lot of people did admit that the shepherd’s pie was their favourite, so it seems we aren’t such terrible cooks after all!

Trying a little bit of everything!

This week also marked the end of my Science module, a class I have definitely struggled with, often due to the language barrier as well as the fact it was something totally different to what I expected when I picked it! However, I do feel that although this was a challenge, it was a good opportunity to try something totally different, and to push myself outside my comfort zone even though it was difficult at times.

I can barely believe that I have already been here 8 weeks, nearly half way through my time here, and although I have had the opportunity to do so many things, I look at the list Ali and I made on our first day of things we wanted to see, and realise that instead of it getting shorter, we keep adding new things! I am loving having the opportunity to explore this amazing place, and to learn more and more about where I am living. There are obviously barriers and issues that I find difficult, but it seems my Danish is improving more than I thought, as this week when I returned to school, the pupils all remembered my name, age and where I came from, something which I tried to tell them in my basic, broken Danish last week! I am excited for what more there is to come over the next few weeks, the sun has come out and suddenly I realise just how beautiful a place this is, and am so grateful that I have the opportunity to call this country home for these few months!

St. Patrick's day, three legged race through the city!