Today was our first field study for Danish Language and Culture class. We went to the Assistens Cemetary in Copenhagen to visit the graves of Hans Christen Andersen, Søren Kierkegaard, Niels Bohr, et al. Abby and I did a small presentation on Peter von Scholten, who freed the slaves in Denmark's West Indian colonies in 1848. Von Scholten's grave is in a huge tomb that looks like the facade of a cute little house.
Afterwards, Morten (our Danish teacher) showed us some different parts of Nørrebro. We learned about the controversy surrounding the Danish government's closing the Undomshust ("Youth House") in 2007. Basically, the Undomshust was a center of youth culture, music, anarchy and general hippie goodness for about 20 years. After a long battle, the property at Jagtevej 69 was sold. There are occasional riots and lots of graffiti that says "69," in honor of the memory of Undomshust (including on H.C. Andersen's grave). I'd recommend reading the wikipedia article - its really interesting and indicative of the current Danish social-political climate.
After the trek, Morten took a few of us to a cafe in Sank Hans Square. Only in Denmark can you go to a restaurant called "Pussy Galore's" with your professor.
In other news, I start my psych practicum tomorrow. I'm working at vuggestue in Urbanplanen (the projects in København S) for toddlers from immigrant and low-income families. I'm stoked because it has its own petting zoo. The only downside is that, due to child protection laws, I am not allowed to blog about my experiences. Guess you'll just have to wait until I return Stateside for stories about the young'uns.
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Quotes of the day:
"Have you noticed that it even smells different in Demark? I keep smelling weird things. Copehagen smells like... like... Copenhagen smells like Kool-Aid." (Abby)
"The best musicians of their generation tend to die at age 27? Shit, Lil' Bow Wow doesn't have much time left!" (Seth)
1 comment:
anyone I know there- so the cemetery tour in NJ was good prep- this looks quite lovely- a nice place for a picnic- and speaking of hippies- they are looking for extras for the Woodstock movie- c'est la vie!
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