So, originally I had decided that I wasn't going to continue with this blog from when I studied in Chile, but as I've been here, I've realized that we are doing so much each day, and I am learning so much that I don't want to forget. Therefore, I decided I'd keep it up for whoever is interested. However, the posts may dwindle as I continue to travel.
For those of you who don't know, I am currently studying in Copenhagen, Denmark. This is a premiere faculty-led study abroad trip for Special Education majors. There are 15 of us from Central Michigan University, and, honestly, it is an awesome group. Everyone is so friendly, and it's a great environment. After this, Hannah (my lovely roommate from CMU) will be meeting me and we're traveling to 6 other countries in Europe.
I flew out of Michigan on Sunday and arrived here on Monday morning around 11 am (this time, which is 6 hours ahead of MI folks). After walking to our hostel and being assigned an AWESOME room (16th floor looking out over the canal and city), about 10 of us walked along the canal and checked out the swimming pool that's a part of the canal. After that, we picked up 3 more members of our group and headed to the pedestrian walking streets and tried the national Danish beer, Carlsberg. I thought it was pretty delicious! It was really great to meet up with everyone and catch up with some funny stories, especially from the people who had traveled beforehand. We had dinner as a group that night and headed to bed early to work on our jet leg.
On Tuesday, yesterday, we got up early and headed to UCC (University College Capital) and heard some presentations about their training. We got to talk to future teachers from India, the Philippines, Denmark, Ghana, and Turkey. I seriously loved it. Everyone's perspectives are so different, and I learned a lot just from one conversation. Here in Denmark, they have "pedagogs" who are typically preschool teachers, but they are the only ones really trained to work with students with special needs, even though these students are frequently included in the classroom. It's a very different inclusive setting and teacher training than we're used to, but fascinating. We then went on an incredibly rainy canal tour, which was beautiful, but very wet. I went off with a few friends (Jimmy, Melissa, and Gabby) to find a coffee shop (AMAZING chai tea latte) and explore for a while before heading back to dinner. After dinner, the group went to Tivoli Gardens and Amusement Park. We walked around for about an hour and then, Jimmy, Melissa, Gabby, Ashleigh and I decided to find someplace to hang out and talk. We went to a really small pub called Her-er-o and chatted. We wandered for a bit more after and found another place that was so great. We made Danish friends, and they invited us to play foosball with them. We talked to a guy from New Zealand, danced with other Danish people, and really got to experience more of the culture on our own, which was fantastic.
Today, we started the day at the Ministry of Education and had a nice presentation about their inclusive education here. Then, we went to another campus of UCC and had more presentations and conversations with lots of Danish students! I learned a ton today about their system and view on intellectual disabilities, which was wonderful. The students have all been so friendly, and I'm excited to add them all on Facebook to hopefully keep up the connections after this. We had a tour of Christiania from a resident there, which is this commune in Copenhagen where they live completely democratically. All the members (800 of them) have to agree to every decision made, and it is a very sustainable and relaxing place. It's right on the river, and it was really a beautiful place to explore with the group and check everything out. We just finished our dinner with the group, so we're getting ready to head out and explore more! Hope you all enjoyed hearing these random stories.
ALSO-Paige, a girl in our group, has met Miley Cyrus' sister and Steven Tyler so far. Crazy.
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