A Royal Evening.

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen-

In my last blog I forgot to mention my excursion to the ballet! Silly me, how could i forget! So, sit down and I will fill you in.... On Tuesday night, a couple friends and I headed over to The Royal Theater to see a ballet- Don Quixote. The theater is beautiful and the ballet was amazing. It lacked a lot of the Don Quixote story, but the scenery and ballet itself was breathtaking. For those of you who know the story of Don Quixote, he dies at the end- sorry if I ruined it for the rest of you-So, one of the acts is set in Heaven, the backdrop was a beautiful blue with brightly lit stars and the stage was covered in misty white fog- it was by far my favorite scene in the ballet. The acts themselves were quite short, but the Danes like their socializing and drinking- or Hygge- so there were two intermissions so guests could buy their wine. 

Also, Tuesday marked the first- and only- day I have seen snow fall from the Danish

Sky. It only lasted about 15 minutes, lightly covered the ground and soon all melted away. But it was a beautiful site while it lasted.

Overall, Tuesday was a magnificent day!

Important/Exciting News: If you have noticed in the right hand column of my blog there is a New link to my New website! I am super excited about it. I only slept for three hours Wednesday night while putting it together. I've been busy uploading all my photos so those of you without Facebook can view them- plus they are much better quality this way! Also, I have an assignment in which I have to create a blog about my trip to Turkey....so, once I arrive back from Turkey I will be adding this blog to my website as well!

**Please Visit my Website!!!**

Tomorrow I will be busy doing laundry and packing for my three week adventure- Eek , I am so excited! By the time I return my semester in Denmark will be half-way over. I am getting sad to leave, although there are many things I miss about home- esp. Chocolate milk ( Thanks for the Hershey's syrup Mom!)

Well I won't been blogging for the next week, so-  Have a Great week everyone!

About to embark on the Trip(s) of a lifetime-

   Your European Expert, Vicki

A Dream Forest

Hello Far-Away Friends-

     I will soon be embarking on the adventure of a life-time, but this also means that I will be lacking a computer so my communication with the outside world ( all of you lovelies) will be limited/non-existent. Sorry to say- but I don't really care...I'm going to be traveling Europe!! What could be better?!

I have survived my sickness and I am back to a normal level of functioning. I would like to catch you up on some exciting news from this week:

     FIRST- Our wonderful PCD Intern informed us that she was able to have DIS buy us all tickets to see....(drum roll, please.....).....CIRQUE DU SOLEIL in AMSTERDAM!! PCD freakin rocks- it is by far THE BEST program at DIS..mainly thanks to Jenn, our hard working intern. The Cirque Du Soleil I will be seeing is called Varekai-

 "In a Dream Forest, Acrobats and Beauty Meet"

Check it out: (i can't get the link to bring you right to the Varekai section, so you can go to the main website and click on Varekai if you are interested)

• VAREKAI

SECOND, My Group for my PCD- Children in a Multicultural Context class had a paper and presentation due this Monday, which I think I mentioned in a previous blog. Anyways, we did an AMAZING job- as usual. We got everyone in a nice little discussion about our topic, played some clips from the interview and then- thanks to my craft skills- I made an awesome diorama/view box.  Our project was on the Freetown Christniania Kindergarten. Inside this Kindergarten there is an 'Adventure Room'- It is a room used for story-telling and is fully painted floor to ceiling as a magical fantasty land and I re-

created this inside a shoe box...TA DA!!!

THIRD- I got to see my first Hand Ball Match. The other night, Frederikke- My 11yr old Host-sister had a Hand Ball match, and the whole family dragged me along to watch...of course they didn't really have to drag me, I was eager to go! Hand Ball is very similar to basketball...in the sense that you have to dribble and pass a ball- the ball is smaller than a

 basketball, bigger than a soft ball- The players than have to throw the ball into what looks like a hockey net to score. Freddie scored 3 points! I was very impressed.I hope when it gets warmer outside she will teach me how to play. The picture at the right is of Freddie's team playing Hand Ball at the indoor gym. This Gym was also amazing. it was huge. So many rooms with different things going on. My host-dad walked around to say hi to different friends of his. So first we walked around this gym, next to hand ball- there were tennis courts, then at the other side of the gym- there were girls doing gymnastics. We then went into another room where people were doing Karate, and Then we went into yet another room where there is a table tennis club and a bar!! My host-dad said the Table tennis club is fun and cozy because they just sit around and drink beers and then play ping pong. Amazing!

K- I should get started on some work...I have two more papers and one more presentation due this week...but I can't complain because once this week is over I have three whole weeks off to see the world!

Talk to you all soon, Miss you Bunches!

Eagerly awaiting my upcoming adventures,

  Vicki- xoxo

Ketchup.

A photo for Pure Enjoyment

(Miki and I practicing our 'Stink Eye')

Hello folks-

   I am bored- mainly due to a recent cold, but also due to the fact that I am looking for some distractions from my heavy work load- so, I am here to play a bit of Ketchup (Catch-up) with you all. My host-family arrived home today from their vacation. Thank goodness! I was getting mighty lonely and the silence was driving me nuts. I was told that Nicoline was complaining about wanting to go home the whole trip and when she first got here she said how happy she was to be home. I was glad to have her home as well. We played a bit of dress-up, where she did mine and Frederikke's fake make-up, then we had a little tea party, then we ran around the house, and then we sat and watched t.v. while Nico styled my hair. I'm getting better at understanding her- and for the most part, I can get the gist of what shes saying. Usually its just "Come, Vicki" and I follow or "Nej, Vicki", which is 'no'- and in that case I just stick my tongue out at her until she laughs.

This week I was sick and in bed for most of the time. I have been fighting off some sort of sinus infection/flu type sickness. My glands were HUGE and my head felt like a brick. After playing with kids all day at my school on Thursday, I came home around 4PM, immediately passed out and didn't wake up till Noon the next day! I had a great day at my practicum site this week. Usually on Thursdays we go to this Indoor Gym, but this week was different. I got to stay at the school with The Birds- the Kindergarteners. I was told how different the Danish Education Philosophy was from back at home- but the more time I spend at my site, the more similarities I see. This is very comforting. So, on Thursday the kids were learning about emotions. They were specifically learning about fairness- the difference between what is fair and what is not fair, what it feels like and correct ways to act. They also learned about the difference of doing something by accident and on purpose. In order to portray there ideas the pedagogue had several large flash cards with pictures of children on them- portraying different scenarios and feelings, as well as puppets for acting out different events. The Amazing thing is- this Exact system ( pictures, puppets, etc) was used at the Kindergarten I assisted in back in CT! I WAS SO EXCITED!!

This week I also visited a Red Cross Asylum center- for refugees. It was really depressing and is an experience that will have a lasting impact on my life forever. We got to talk to the actual people living at the center, trying to seek asylum in Denmark. For those of you who are not aware- Due to Denmark's most recent government, Immigration is not something the Danes look upon highly. It is near impossible to gain residency in Denmark and Immigrants from any country are not welcome. The main problem is that many asylum seekers are coming from Iraq-because it is currently not safe for many people to live there, especially Christians. Anyways- Denmark will not give these people asylum, but they also won't go back to Iraq and Denmark does not have an agreement with Iraq to send them back- so They get stuck here! I talked to one man who has been stuck in the Asylum center for 7 years. Denmark doesn't allow Asylum seeker to get jobs either, and they are only given about 600DKK every two weeks- Thats about 120dollars. They publish a newspaper about their stories and the hardships of being an asylum seeker. 

• Check it out: Newtimes
  

What stood out the most to me was when asked what they thought of the Danish Immigration system key words used were: Unprofessional, Inhuman, and Disgusting- most seekers claimed they got to Denmark by Bad Luck. It is such a depressing situation.

To get a feel for Denmark's Government, its tactics and ideals- check out this video. You don't have to understand Danish to get the gist of the underlying message...it's scary...

• Dansk Folkeparti Video

 

Also, I am getting more and more nervous about coming back to The States. Please vote for someone who will stop spending money, or who at least someone who knows something about economics! (Hint- spread the word about Ron Paul!) Check this out....(Thanks, Jan. )

• Pizza and Beer..no longer cheap!
  

And, of course- no Blog is complete without photos... unfortunately the 'easy' uploader isn't being so easy at the moment- So i will post them as soon as its working.

Until then....

My Danish Home

Heylooo all...

     Today is Monday and class was long and pretty boring. Adam, Kevin and I had to do a presentation on Froebel and his teaching philosophy- Other people in class had other important philosophers,but I can say that we totally kicked ass(sorry for the language)...and if there was a competition on best presentation- we totally won.

My main reason for this post is to show you some pictures of my beautiful Danish home. I just took the pics and feel the need to share. The Top picture is the living room, next is the Dining room- I love the table cloth!! The next picture is of their kitchen, 

It's sooo Scandinavian- Straight out of IKEA, except really

expensive. My host-Dad LOVES Coffee, so they have this really awesome Coffee maker. It can even make Espresso- all with the click of a button! Mmmm, its sooo yummy. Adam and Kevin came over last night so we could work on our presentation, 

and we all drank a bit too much coffee and I didn't feel well later because of it...Oooopppps.

  Also, exciting news!!..I have completely booked my trips for the third week of my travel break. Starting the 2nd week in march i have 3 whole weeks off!! First I am going to Holland with my PCD program. Then, I signed up for another trip with DIS- to Turkey! Then during the third week I am going to visit my beloved Katherine in Paris where I am going to meet up with my friend Kevin

 and then the two of us will be taking the train to Florence and Rome (Mmmmmmmmm,

 Gelato!)

The Bunny's name is Tromle- It belongs to Frederikke, my host-sister. I'm watching it for the week while they are away skiing in Austria! So jealous.

Ciao-Ciao for now!

Slippery.

~Oslo, Norway~

Hello friends-

After the excitement of my last adventure I have the continuous urge to travel... So, when my friend Adam suggested taking a cruise to Norway I, of course, said YES!! It only cost 75 bucks and we left Friday and came back today ( Sunday). There were four of us that traveled together- Adam, Kevin, Shana and myself- and we are quite the crew. 

 We almost missed the boat- partly due to my lack of understanding the meeting place and partly due to Adam's phone not working. In the end, all turned out just fine.

  At first I thought we were taking a Ferry and that the trip would take 6 hours or so. I was wrong- and glad I was. It takes about 16 hours by boat to get from Copenhagen to Oslo, but luckily we were traveling on an actual cruise ship. We packed our own food and booze, spent the night drinking with friends, and stumbling around the boat- man, those waves were tossing us all

 over the place! At one point during the night, we were rocking back and forth so much that everything just slid right off the table in our room! We also went out dancing and ended up being the only people on the dance floor rockin' out to the YMCA! I don't know why no-one else wanted to join...

Oslo, as it turns out, is a beautiful city. When we first arrived we sneakily took the train up to the top of one of the mountain. As the train steadily climbed higher and higher the ground suddenly became more and more covered with snow! It was the first time, since arriving in Scandinavia that I have seen snow! 

I unfortunately was not wearing my snow boots and I spent most of the day slippin

g around, even falling right on my butt and getting covered in mud- but it was all well worth it. At the top of this mountain you can rent these awesome looking sleds to ride down and then take the train back up- I wish we had had the time....i'll just have to go back!

P.S. We sneakily did not pay for the train- hehe, free ride!

We then walked around and saw the rest of the city- Including the Royal Palace, The Sculpture Garden, City Hall, A Castle/Fortress and the beautiful Harbor. 

Oh oh! And...when Shana and I exchanged our Danish Kroner for Norwegian Kroner- the lady made a wonderful mistake and gave us twice the money!! WOOHOO!!....I then spent it all on lunch and tax-free candy. :-)

I had a wonderful weekend and I managed to not get sea sick..mission accomplished!.....Where should I go next??!!

Still feeling the rock of the boat,

   Vickiii

"To Be Continued..."

Heyyylooo-

  So, I am here to continue my last blog and finish telling you all about my three day trip to Western Denmark. On the last day we went to a town called Arhus. Arhus is located on the mainland of Denmark, known as Jutland. Arhus is also known as the 'little brother' of Copenhagen. Here we visited De Gamble By (The Old Town) and an Art Museum. The Old Town is a reconstruction of what an old town in Denmark would have looked like a long time ago....It's like Denmark's version of "Old Sturbridge Village". All the houses were just too darn cute. I can't tell you a thing about it because I failed to listen to my tour guide. My friends and I were a bit distracted by something now known as "The Stink Eye". If you would like to learn what this is, please consult me at a later time. (Picture at Left) 

We visited this Old Town with the other half of the PCD group and they seemed to not be having nearly as much fun as we were. They were all complaining about how they couldn't wait to get back to Copenhagen, and everyone on my trip didn't want to leave! The students that I traveled with on this trip are the same ones going with me to Holland- so I am super excited that we all get along so well! I'm already counting down the days until our next adventure!

We also visited the Art museum in Arhus. I really liked this museum. I visited the Modern Art Gallery, The Contemporary Art Gallery and this special exhibition they had in the basement called the 9 Spaces- where the rooms were made to resemble those of Dante's Divine Comedy...It was very interesting! One peice of art really bothered me though...It was a video of a man sacrificing a horse and dismembering each individual parts of its body. These parts are now on display in jars inside the museum- but the video was horrific!! Talk about animal cruelty...this would never fly in the states!!! We also tried to go to the Activity Room because we really wanted to be crafty. We sat down and  started constructing our peices of Art...Adam decided to cut out large Penises on Magenta construction paper. At this point in time a lady came in and kicked us out. Not because of the Penises, but because we needed a ticket to be in there. Oh well.

This weekend I am taking an over night mini cruise to Oslo, Norway! I am super excited. Also, I have gotten word that there was a special on American TV about Denmark being the happiest country in the world!!!..well, let me tell you...I think its rubbing off!!....I couldn't be any happier :-)

Living amongst the happiest people,

    Vickiii

PCD takes over Western Denmark

~My Tour Companions~

Hello fellow Americans-

    You are about to be very jealous of my life, if you aren't already. I just had the most amazing weekend, best yet during my time in Denmark- thanks to my fellow PCD students who are just too freakin' amazing and a three day bus trip.     

     

DAY ONE...Titled 'Educational, yet Fun!' - The first day of our Study Tour to Western Denmark put us in a town called Odense- The Center of Denmark. It is on an Island in between the one Copenhagen in located on and the mainland, Jutland. To get here we traveled over what used to be the longest bridge in the world- until, Japan built something longer. It was a beautiful site. Here in Odense, we made some educational visits... We first went to a Multicultural school located in what is considered a 'Danish Ghetto' - by far the nicest 'ghetto' i've ever seen. The school had mainly all Immigrant children in attendance, consisting of Vietnamese, Turkish, Somalian, and Lebanese background. Here at the school they emphasize the importance of learning the Danish language and have specially trained Language Pedagogues to assist the children. As you can see from this pic, my favorite part of this visit was the playground. I'm the girl in the striped dress who looks a little too big for her car- but Oh, So much Fun!! We also visited the Odense Culture House. This is a community center for adults with mental and physical disabilities. Here they can get a job

 doing something they love, while learning important life skills to survive in everyday society. There is a whole art studio- refer to picture- and the paintings were amazing. I am so impressed at the concentration and determination these people have, and so much talent! There was also a whole music studio- The band played for us and they have already released 4 albums. Incredible! They also have a full working kitchen and diner, computers, a movie theater, and a fabric looming room. The whole place was filled with amazing equipment- I just wanted to stay and play!! Denmark is an amazing country that does so much for it's people- esp. putting so much effort into the children and their disabled. Its such a refreshing thing to see.

DAY TWO...Titled "Peace and Serenity"- Odense is also the hometown of the one and only...drum rollllll please.....Hans Christian Andersen, who happens to be one of the many loves of my life. Amazing Fairy Tale author and a Master of Oragami. Anyone who knows me well knows about my love for fairy tales- and Bed time stories ;-) Hans is famous for tales such as The Little Mermaid, The Emperors New Clothes and Thumbelina, but he has written hundreds! We visited the Tinderbox, which is the children's museum for Hans as well as the 'Adult' Museum. The children's museum was soooo much better, mainly because we got to dress up. At the Tinderbox- children get to pick out their own fairy tale outfit and act out their own fairy tale in an indoor Imaginary Land. PCD students know how to have fun- so, of course we dressed up! I had the prettiest pink dress and signed the guest book as Princess Victoria...only thing that was missing was a Tiara. After spending some time with Hans we took the Bus to a Contemporary Scandinavian Art and Design museum. The Art was interesting, but the best part was the Activity Room- where I was able to utilize my Arts and Crafts skills and make some beautiful jewlery. The next thing I am going to tell you about is my favorite part of the whole trip. There is not even a word to describe what i saw and felt at our next destination. We drove to our next hostel, which happened to be on in the middle of nowhere, in the woods on the largest lake in Denmark.

   This picture captures everything about the place, i felt so relaxed and perfectly content while here- as well as completely amazed at all around me. We watched the sunset and had a wonderful dinner while Jan, one of our intructors, serenaded us with his music. After dinner we went BOWLING!!! I hadn't been bowling in quite sometime- DIS bought us pitchers of beer and we had an hour to make the most of our time. My bowling team, AKA 'Sticky Vicki and The

 Transparent Funk' consisted of Sticky Vicki using Pink The Stink as my weapon of choice, Mo Shizzle using The Green Machine and Luscious Luke throwing it down with The Ebony Queen.We also had Professor X helping us out- which consisted of a combined effort between the 3 of us, since we lacked a fourth player. Let's just say- we got real funky and totally kicked some bowling ass. Team DIS THE SHIT couldn't even compete, sorry boys.  Once we arrived back at camp-Jan had let my friends borrow his guitar for the night, which we took full advantage of. We spent the first part of our evening sitting on the the long dock above- drinking wine and listening to Maury and Kevin play guitar. It was quite the perfect gathering. We then went to hang out with some Business kids who were also at the hostel with us. They were staying in these awesome cabins, so we were able to all hang out inside....again listening to Maury play some amazing tunes on the guitar. I wish this day could have lasted forever- it will be forever burned into my memory bank- in The Most Amazing Experiences section.

Well- Day Three will be under a "Be Continued" section. I've been bloggin' for far too long and I'm also awaiting the arrival of my Day Three Pictures. I went a little over board with my picture taking causing my camera to die before Day Three started- therefore I borrowed a friends camera- Thanks Miki. As soon as I get the pics I will update you again on the rest of my journey. Until then- hope all is well and best regards.

The World is such a beautiful place.

Perfectly Content,

   Vicki