Week 13 (16/04/16) – Cultural and Personal
After a busy few weeks entertaining friends and family
members and discovering more about Denmark’s education system through visits to
different schools, it has been refreshing to have had a quieter week, even though
the majority of it was spent doing our assignment together! Of course, however,
we took a few complimentary breaks from our work and embraced some rather interesting
and exciting cultural experiences.
On Monday night, we were invited to attend a food
crawl hosted by KFS Copenhagen (Kristeligt Forbund For Studerende). This is a
Christian society organised by students from Copenhagen University who meet
together on a weekly basis for prayer, Bible study and fellowship. Having been
used to the welcoming, homely nature of Stranmillis Christian Union for the
past two and a half years, coming to Denmark and initially having no such
support network of Christians to both have fellowship with and socialise with was
particularly challenging; thus, we were extremely excited when we heard about
KFS and we have truly appreciated the welcome we have received from the
students who host the various events. Monday evening’s event saw us travel around
three different Danish houses for starter, main course and dessert. The Danes
were extremely polite and hospitable, making every effort to speak in English the
entire time whilst hosting us in their homes and providing us with some
delicious food; it was encouraging to meet and talk with different students and
the dessert in particular, which consisted of crepes filled with fruit and
ice-cream, was an added bonus!
Alongside Hannah and Naomi, I have always been a huge
fan of ‘The Sound of Music’ and so when we recently discovered that two of our Austrian friends from class had never
seen the film, following a short period of disbelief and bewilderment, we
promptly organised a time to watch it with them. On Wednesday evening, our
university was filled with the sound of music (literally) as we sat down with
homemade apple strudel and popcorn to the singalong version of the film. As could
only have been expected, Naomi in particular outshone the rest of us and a
thoroughly enjoyable time was had by all, including the Austrians.
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| Enjoying 'The Sound of Music' with our apple strudel |
Our final cultural experience this week involved a
visit to Amalienborg Palace which boasts stunning buildings that are considered
to be among the finest examples of rococo architecture in Europe (Renouf,
2003). According to The Official Website of Denmark (2016), the Danes are a
nation of people known for their pride of their Queen and Royal Monarchy.
Indeed, a passionate feeling of patriotism was evident at the palace as we
stood alongside thousands of Danes waving our red and white flags in honour of Queen
Margrethe II’s birthday and cheering as she emerged, with her family, onto the
balcony; it was a truly memorable experience.
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| Queen Margrethe II and the Royal Family waving from the balcony |
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| Amalienborg Palace |
We are now three months in and yet, never have I felt
more Danish than I have done this week. Perhaps by the time I return home to
Northern Ireland, I will have mastered the art of being a true Dane; somehow
though, I severely doubt it! For now, farvel!
Reference List
The
Official Website of Denmark (2016) The
Danish Monarchy, available at http://denmark.dk/en/society/monarchy/
(accessed 16/04/16).
Renouf,
N. (2003) Copenhagen and the Best of
Denmark Alive!, Oxford, Windsor Books International.
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