This past weekend my European Politics program had our first study tour..we go on a longer one for a week later in the semester, but this was just for Thursday-Saturday night. Most of the study tours were to Jutland, Denmark which is the mainland that is connected to continental Europe. We got to go to Hamburg Germany as well, Im assuming since there's not much to discuss in rural Denmark about the EU? The trip consisted of a stop by the Kommune (City Hall) on the border between Denmark and Germany since the two are currently discussing the construction of a bridge as part of a larger EU plan to connect Europe. After a ferry trip into Germany we went on a walking tour of the city, which mostly consisted of us walking on ice and trying our best not to make too big of asses out of ourselves. Also had a ferry tour of the shipping yards (we saw a lot of fog and shipping containers). Check-in at hostel and then dinner and tour of a microbrewery. Beer was great..the massive platter of mystery meet was another story. Next day, we got a tour of Parliament, and went to the Neuengamme concentration camp. A lot of it was no longer there because it was turned into a prison a few years after the end of WWII, but we got to see a few parts and there was a museum-type floor with information and video testimonials. Biggest surprise was probably how close it was to the town because Ive always pictured the camps as being in the middle of nowhere so that people didnt really know. Its also very eerily quiet and peaceful.
Saturday we drove into Schleswig in Southern Denmark..they call it the "Danish Gettysburg" where Denmark lost to the Germans. Our tour guide was hilarious though..Ive never seen someone so excited and definitely felt like I was 5 years old at story-time.
It was Majbritt's birthday that night so we went over to her place, which is about a 3 minute walk from where we live and met some of her friends, most of who are from the Faroe Islands (I dont remember if I mentioned it but the family isnt actually Danish but Farish)
Oh and I met with the organization Im volunteering for today..well kind of. Apparently something happened and they closed it so we went and grabbed coffee at Cafe Castro (yeah, as in the Cuban one) and talked about the program. Basically, Im going to be playing soccer with the kids, tutoring occasionally (which will be interesting considering my amazing knowledge of Danish) and going out with two of them a few times on Friday or Saturday night to talk to the youth and hand out "condoms and candy"..I think that's my favorite. Aright, I should study for my test tomorrow.
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