Hello everyone! So a whole lot to update you all on...
I got back from my study tour last night. I traveled from Copenhagen, west through Zealand, across Fyn, into Jutland, and up into the north. Its been an amazing past few days. I think its a little too late over here for me to cover it all, so I'll just do one day for now, and tell you all about the rest tomorrow. Starting from the beginning...
Thursday:
I woke up at 5:30, the only time I had available to me if I wanted to make it to my bus in time. I picked up my backpack full of clothes that I had carefully packed full of rolled clothes the night before, drank a quick bowl of cornflakes, and somehow made it to the train station in time. Lucky for me... all of DIS was heading to the university square to make the 7:15 busses, and I ran into Maggie, the other DIS student staying in Viby, at the train station. Talking to her kept me awake and focused, and I managed to make it to the bus on time. I chatted with Nikoli, Ulric, and my classmates for a little while, before bording the bus, finding a pair of open seats, and promptly falling asleep.
I woke up hours later (along with the rest of my comatose classmates) crossing the big belt bridge from Zealand (the easternmost island) into Fyn (the smaller, centeral island). The view across the water was incredible.. Now quite awake, I spent the next several hours getting to know my classmates before arriving at a naval base for our first study tour experience.
For our first study session, we met as a group with the leaders of the danish naval millitary police, the group within the millitary that is responsible for, among other things, working with detainees in the field. The meeting was fascinating. The two men we met with were in charge of the Danish Naval MPs in the Gulf of Adan, working on ships hunting pirates off the coast of somalia. They outlined their job and how they did it, along with a case of how they handled the capture, detention, and eventual drop off of 5 somali pirates who attacked a dutch ship. I was surprised to hear how big a deal treating these detainees well was to them, as well as how much they cared about following international "soft law." After, they let us see and hold the equipment and weapons that they comandeered from the pirate vessel as evidence, including boarding ladders, an RPG (without the missile of course), two AK47s and other items. We ate lunch in the nicest mess hall I'd could ever imagine existing, and we left again, heading for Arhus.
Århus is the second largest city in Denmark. Sprawling, and next to water, it is made up of long, four story complexes that roll up and down one of the few hilly regions in Denmark. We went as a class to a lecture at the University of Århus, a class on the evolution and the current nature of international law. It was interesting... the class was one third danish students, one third other international students, and one third temporary visitors from DIS. Working in a group with them was really cool! I got to talk with two Danish students and a guy from England. After class everyone (including some of the Danish students) went to another part of campus for an amazing catored dinner with wine and very high quality Danish food. Everything was amazing and I got to know a few of the Danes. Apperently, the master's program in Denmark is very common, but just a little bit easier than it is in the States.
One very festive bus ride later, we arrived at the hostel in Frederikshavn. I'm not going to lie, not the absolute best residences I've stayed at. Reminded me of the rustic cabins from my elementary school week long sleepover camp. But it was comfortable enough. After I got unpacked, I went with most of the other students on a long walk, exploring the downtown of Frederikshavn. I didn't stay out long, I was still getting over that nasty virus so after a good half an hour of walking and socializing, I went back to the hostel, got into bed, and drifted off.
Today, on the other hand, was much simpiler. I did a lot of homework, helped out around the house with cleaning and vacuming, did more homework, then did more homework. This afternoon I helped Maya (the occasional visiting daughter of the household) write a letter to a man she's trying to set up an internship with. For dinner tonight, we had home made sushi! I rolled two rolls myself, and used two types of raw fish (salmon and some white fish) and a variety of vegitables. It was a cozy evening listening to Kirn, Karen, Maya, Peter, and Maya's friend discuss... something... in particularly heated Danish while eating way too much home made sushi. A simple day, and a very comfy night.
I'll fill you all in on the rest of my trip tomorrow!
No comments:
Post a Comment