Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Adventures in Jutland

Well, I was going to post something about my weekend trip before, but it never happened!

We first went to a folk high school and spent the day there. It's a Danish school designed for people who want to learn for the sake of learning. They have different studies, like art, music, outdoor living, and 2 others that I forgot. But they choose one of those, and study it for a semester. I ended up working in the kitchen, helping make dinner. I was supposed to be in a workshop with everyone else in DIS that was there, but they asked for volunteers to help cook. I guess every Thursday they make their own food, and the kitchen staff gets a break. And I met a girl who was abroad in San Antonio at UTSA for a year!! It was pretty random. It's a small world...

On Friday, we went to an open prison. It was definitely an experience...I don't think anything like that would work in the US. I'm not sure if you've heard of the open prison system before, but it's definitely strange. There are no walls, just an imaginary boundary that the prisoners are not supposed to cross. They are given a job to do, unless it is a special case, then they can leave the prison to go to their normal job. And after about 3, they have free time. They make their own meals, and have access to a full kitchen (including knives!). Their "cells" are really nice. It's a room with a bed, desk, mini fridge, closet and flat screen TV. They are all the same. They are allowed to bring things from home like pictures, etc. We were given a tour by a prisoner who transfered from a closed prison 6 months ago. He had been at a closed prison for 6 years. And he has 2 more years to serve in the open prison. And he killed someone. 8 years for murder!

After that, we went to Jelling, which is one of the oldest cities in Denmark. The oldest Christian church in Denmark is there, and the oldest King is burried there. He was a Viking King- Grom the Old, or something like that. It was pretty cool. And the Jelling stones are there. They are these really old runic stones. Then we went to a hostel for Friday night. IT WAS SO NICE. They were these cabins, right by a lake, in the middle of a forrest. Apparently the place was built by Nazi's back in the day, but still.

On Saturday we went to Århus, another super old city in Jutland. We went to a modern art museum and did a scavenger hunt in the city. It was cool, but so cold!! Then we left to go back to Copenhagen. It was a fun trip! I met a bunch of the people in my program. I think our trip to France at the end of the month is going to be awesome!!

Right now, I am eating an amazingly delicious cinnamon roll, covered with chocolate. Completely decadent and totally worth it!! I think it tastes even better because it was only 12 kroner. Hello new favorite bakery! Probably the cheapest food item I've bought so far. I haven't spent that much money on food so far, but if I move out of my host family's apartment and into another type of housing, I'll get to experience more of the Danish cuisine. I'm a tad bit tired of hotdogs cooked in stewed tomatoes. Not as appetizing as it might sound...

I'll post some pictures later when I get back to my room. I'm going back to Beth's house for dinner and maybe a movie! And I might be going out with a girl from my study tour, I'm not sure what's going on with that though. I have class tomorrow at 8:15. But you only live once, right? Along the same lines, I'm going with a friend to Stockholm next Friday night. We're taking a night bus and getting in at 6 am on Saturday. Then we're not leaving til almost midnight on Sunday night and getting back at 6:30 am on Monday. Should be an interesting experience!! Whoo Europe!

2 comments:

  1. the reason your hotdogs and stewed tomatoes do not taste good is because you did not put enough ground up liver and mayonnaise on them. duh.

    AMATEUR

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  2. Wow I'm so jealous it sounds like you're having so much fun!!

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