I cannot believe how much happens in just one week! It’s overwhelming to even think about sitting down and writing it all because there’s just so much to say and I don’t have enough time to say it all. So, bullet points it is, and I’ll add to it when I have more time later :)
This week was Core Class Week, so we all went to our core class ONLY all week.
Monday:
Positive Psychology from 9am-3pm. Had a delicious sandwich from Sandwich Pigen for lunch.
I decided to take a different, much longer route, from school to the train station. I stopped at the harbor and did some homework before wandering throughout the city, figuring it would take as long as it takes to find the train station. I had little to no homework, after all. It was really nice, just walking and appreciating my surroundings without any concern for time.
Just before the station, there was this random garden behind the national museum of modern art. I wouldn’t have seen it if it weren’t for the person in front of me who veered to the left off the sidewalk, opening my eyes to the place. I decided to walk in because, well, why not?
And later that night, I was asked out by the Dane I had met on my first Saturday night here. The one I had said got my Danish digits but had yet to use them. He did end up using them and a few days later, asked me if I wanted to “grab something warm to drink and walk to some of Copenhagen’s biggest attractions” on Friday. I said no though, because I was not going to be in town.
In Positive Psych on Tuesday, we had one lecture and then went into the city to interview Danes on their perspective of why the Danes are happy (Denmark is one of the happiest countries in the world). Francis and I talked to some really cool young Danes, and a few other rather rude old Danes. Then we had lunch with our class at Riz Raz (buffet style, delicious, and paid for by DIS). Afterward, we watched the documentary, Happy, in class. I recommend it; it’s rather revealing. On the train, I decided to start a gratitude journal. Since, I’ve been writing 3-5 good things that happened to me per day every day. Supposedly, this practice significantly increases one’s life satisfaction and ultimate happiness. It’s nice.
When I got home, Ali and I went for a run in Roskilde. I ran 3.3 miles in 30 minutes and enjoyed getting to know the town a little better. I think I’m going to start running every Monday and Thursday before class. My host dad runs too, and we now have a run scheduled for Thursday the 18th at 8:15am :)
Wednesday morning at breakfast, Mette told me that she saw the baby bunnies for the first time! There are 3 of them and they’re super cute!
We only had class from 9am-12pm. And we had guest lecturers- one was a prison priest (also a psychologist), and the next was his wife, the prison choir director, who shared her lecture with an ex inmate who stayed in the choir post release. They performed two songs for our class and I think everyone enjoyed it as much as I did.
After class Chris, Chloe, and I got lunch at the glass market in Nørreport, Copenhagen. I hadn’t been before and it was really neat! It’s hard to describe and I didn’t take any pictures, so I’ll take pictures next time.
From the glass market we walked to the National Museum of Denmark and got our tourist on as we wandered through the Vikings exhibit, danish renaissance, and toy room (which included some incredibly detailed/furnished doll houses). We saw everything from a human skeleton circa Jesus’ time to the Viking’s bits, spurs, and stirrups.
Shortly after getting back home to Roskilde, I left for the stable with my DIS roommate, Ali, my host sister, Anna, and my host mom, Mette, to watch Anna’s jumping lesson. When the lesson was over, Ali and I were able to hop on Sampson for a few minutes each. Despite the misty rain, it was really nice to ride again. I hadn’t ridden in nearly a month. Samson is a sweet horse and a nice mover, but didn’t seem to be a big fan of collecting himself and being supple in the bridle. But I didn’t care, I was just happy to be on a horse again! However, Sampson is no longer owned by the Benzons, so they only lease him now and Anna rides him twice a week. Therefore, Sampson isn’t an option for me if I want to ride regularly, which I do. Lesson horses aren’t really a thing in Denmark, so Mette asked the trainer if there was any possibility that any of his clients would let me take lessons their horse, and he said he would look into it but that the chances were slim. I remember thinking, “fingers crossed he’ll even remember to ask around. I mean, how many trainers would go out of their way for a student that wants to ride once a week and then leave the country in 3 and a half months? Very very few. That’s how many.”
Thursday morning I had to be in Copenhagen by 8:45am to board the “study bus” with my positive psych class and head out of the city
After two hours or so on the most comfortable bus in the history of busses, we made our first stop. At the Nyborg Drug Addiction Clinic, Jens Frederiksen (a drug consultant, and also the father of our professor) taught us about how he and the psychologists at the clinic use positive psychology to help addicts
Second, we visited the nicest open prison in Denmark (Statsfængslet på Søbysøgaard). One of the inmates was kind enough to show us his cell, but no pictures were allowed. Seriously though, his cell was like a tiny dorm room. He had a bed with a view and a plant in the window, a mini fridge, a desk with shelves above it, a TV, and a cell phone for calling and texting only that has to remain inside the room (I mean, the cell). In the open prison they do their own grocery shopping, wear their own clothes, make their own meals, and visit their family every 3rd weekend. They also have low paying but decent jobs at the prison and are able to play soccer or any other sport outside when they’re off work. Although, after sundown they are locked in their cells and must use a buzzer if they need to be escorted by a guard to the restroom or something. It is still a prison after all, and if they do anything against the rules they get sent to a closed prison. I explained all the perks, and it is certainly a beautiful place for a prison, but that doesn’t mean anyone would wish to live there. The whole point of the open prison is for a place to which prisoners (with a less than 2.5 yr sentence) are sent after spending a year or so in a closed prison and before being reintegrated into society. The purpose is to integrate them back into society slowly so that they are less likely to repeat the crime.
After another hour and a half or so, we made it to Danhostel in Skanderborg Sø. As we drove in, we were swallowed by the forest trees, which eventually spit us out on a plot of green grass along the lake, housing the cutest red and white cabins. It was one of the most beautiful places I’ve probably ever seen. The food was absolutely delicious and the sunset was just as delightful. After sundown, all the positive psychology students (from my class and another class) gathered around the bonfire to bake bread twists and marshmallows. At dusk I walked down a lovely tree covered path with one of my classmates whom I had hardly spoken to and learned that she has lots of friends who ride horses. For someone who doesn’t ride, she is rather well acquainted with the horse world. I enjoyed getting to know Charlotte. We probably weren’t gone longer than 15 minutes before rejoining the bonfire and bonding more with the rest of our class.
Oh, and it was Dimitri’s 12:01, so believe it or not, I got in the lake (in black underwear) with 4 others at midnight. It was really cold and the long moss was, according to Arianna, “caressing” our legs, so after much convincing (by the 10 or so people on the dock) and finally immersing myself, I was rather quick to get back on dry land.
Lastly, shout out to Andrew because Thursday was his birthday. I’m almost 100% positive he doesn’t read this, but regardless, happy birthday Andrew
Below is the one picture I snuck in from inside the open prison. Beautiful, right?
And now, photos from Danhostel. It was so gorgeous!
7am breakfast at the hostle. yum yumm
8-9am bus ride to Åarhus University for Psychologist Mads Bab’s “Workshop on Strength.” We shared positive stories in groups from positive prompts. We also had a selection of descriptive cards from which to choose our top character strengths and then discuss them with one another, etc. I posted what I believe to be my strengths below :)
Our next lecture, “Experience with Positive Psychology in Clinical Practice,” was from 2-3:30 with Iben Sejerø Szatkowski. She uses positive psychology in addition to cognitive therapy and hypnotherapy. Her job seemed pretty neat… but I still don’t know what I want to do with my life.
At 4pm we got chocolate desert and hot chocolate, both of which were covered by DIS, at a cafe for Dimitri’s birthday. It was DELISH.
At 5:30pm or so, we arrived at our hotel in Århus. It was a really nice hotel, and I stayed with 2 girls in my glass that I had yet to get to know, so that was nice.
After showering and getting ready to go out, a big group of us walked to Århus Festival, which consisted Christmas-lighted restaurants along both sides of the canal.
I saw the big air filled balls with people inside, running like hamsters in a ball on the canal, and I was quick to get in line…. a line of children ages 5-10 or so. haha. But let me tell ya, it was only $10 and way worth it! And I managed to flirt my way into going a second time, later that night, for only $1. I promised them marketing via Facebook, Tumblr, and Instagram and explained that the first time wasn’t very fun because the 2 girls who joined me didn’t want to be as active as I did. I have yet to get the pictures from my friends tho. I’ll post them here later. Anyway, when I got in that little individual ball, I had a blast. I ran, jumped, and rolled all over the space I had, and came out panting and sweating. hahah, it was good fun!
My 10 minutes of fun came to an end when Arianna, a classmate I’ve enjoyed getting to know who is also in the IHSA, commanded, “Get the American bitch out of the ball. I want to go dancing.”
Basically my entire class got in line at A Bar (they have one in Århus too!) - picture below.
We danced like there was no tomorrow, Caitlin and I particularly went all out. I danced with this Romanian guy… he was a super good dancer, but he literally could not take no for an answer because he tried like 10 times to kiss me before I up and walked away from that disrespectful asshole.
Anyway, I had a blast dancing with the people in my class and laughing about all of the “class-sest” taking place on the dancefloor :p
Aarhus museum of Modern Art: ARoS
Breakfast at the hotel was AH-MAZING. I’ve never seen such a big breakfast buffet in my life. There were multitudes of cereals, breads, jellies, meat, roasted tomatoes, eggs, bacon, pastries… basically, I was in breakfast heaven, and I’m not even a breakfast person.
After breakfast, around 9am, we checked out of our rooms and loaded our luggage on the bus
Then we walked to ARoS Museum of Modern Art.
We had a guided tour showing us the museum’s 3 main attractions: this plastic ball rollercoaster thing, the HUGE statue of a crouching boy, and the rainbow panorama.
Then we had lunch together at the ARoS Cafe and Group lunch and wrap-up did a wrap up review of the week before boarding the bus and stopping at Dens Gamle By on the way home.
Dens Gamle By: small preserved old town, but uninhabited.. like a town turned into a museum
Text message from Mette that absolutely made my day. I posted a picture on insta and on here when I got home that day. The trainer actually remembered me and my desire to ride and found a horse! I knew it to be way unlikely I could ride on my own schedule but it looks like maybe I can! I was having a rough morning, so that text turned my day upside down and made me so happy right when I needed it.. such a God thing
My professor next to the statue pretending to be a human pretending to be a statue! We were tricked and our professor thought it was funny because she could read the sign on the wall in Danish that said it was a statue. They make so much money off this social experiment because people give “her” coins in a basket on the floor (just outside the frame of this picture).
This is Arianna, the other IHSA member in my class whom I mentioned earlier
View of Åarhus, the second biggest city in Denmark. Second to Copenhagen.
Vv Showing us what it would have looked like back then with yet another statue pretending to be a human Vv
Mette came in our room at 10am as I was slowly waking up with news that I would be riding soon, so I better get all my gear together and have some breakfast. I jumped out of bed quicker than I do when I wake up late and realize I forgot to hit the snooze alarm on a school day! Unlike my typical, tardy self, I was all ready to go before anyone else was.
Mette drove Ali and I outside Roskilde, 30 minutes into the countryside. After a multitude of lefts and rights in the middle of gorgeous-rollinghilled-nowhere, we made it to Curt (the trainer)’s ranch. It was absolutely beautiful. The barn looked like a mansion! (pictures below).
Immediately after shaking hands with Curt (the trainer), I met Carolina, the sixteen year old who is selling her horse and needing some help with the board until she finds the right buyer. We retrieved Ladylike, Carolina’s 8 year old Danish Warmblood, from her vast, lush pasture and hit the barn. Curt showed me to the tack room (of course, it too, was huge and gorgeous) and Ali and I helped Carolina brush and tack up.
After watching Carolina ride for about 5 minutes, it was my turn. I stepped onto the 16.1 or so hand mare, and adjusted to Carolina’s dressage saddle. Soon enough, I had walked, trotted, cantered, leg yielded, and shouldered both in and out on this graceful warmblood. I’m sure I didn’t cue her the same as she was used to, for collection for instance, and I could tell that she was making an effort to figure it out, so I, of course, allowed her the time to do so. Curt praised me for this behavior, saying that American riders are more patient and gentle than European riders. I rode her both inside and outside, concluding that this was one lovely animal. She’s only 38,000dkk, or $6,840 if anyone is interested!
I was incredibly appreciative… from the moment I set foot there, I just couldn’t hold back my joy and gratefulness. After riding, Curt offered to give me weekly lessons for free! I was stunned. I will certainly do whatever I can to compensate him for his generosity. Perhaps I can help him with a troubled horse, or teach him the English terms for equine and riding related words. So all was left to do was discuss prices with Carolina. I offered to pay 1/4 her board, which was twice what I had been asked, because what I had been asked for was unfairly generous. I’m hoping that my offer will enable Ladylike to remain with Curt, because it currently costs too much for Carolina’s family to keep Ladylike there since her lease is coming to an end this month. We shall see if my offer was enough to keep the Ladylike at Curt’s for the next 3 months!
Mette, Ali, and I left the ranch and decided to explore the countryside a bit before heading home. We stopped for ice cream at a cute restaurant above a vast lake. Mette didn’t even know it existed, so we were all new to the area :) The rolling hills and green grass seemed to go on forever. So beautiful.
When we got home, I played with the bunnies for a bit and then we had a delicious, danish family dinner. After dinner, Mette, Ali, and I watched Meet the Focker’s on TV. Such a classic.
Oh and, one of the baby bunnies got out this morning… prayers he finds his way home without getting hurt first, and that we are able to catch him. Christian set up a pretty nifty trap.
As of Sunday, our Orchid is fully bloomed! Success! :D
The boy bunny is named “Barbie” haha! He’s the multi colored one.
