Last week I talked about my visiting family and how amazing they are. They truly are some of the most wonderful people I've met here, and today confirmed that. Hanne, the mom, is a teacher (so is the dad, Jacob) and asked a while ago if Katherine and I would mind coming in to her school to talk about being American and about our experience here in Denmark. Of course we said yes, we were just as curious to talk to Danish students as they were to meet us!
This morning I woke up at six to go to the train station on time and go to her school. I don't know how I did that in elementary and high school... it was so early. My freshman year of college I woke up at 5:45 on Wednesdays to go to skating practice and I don't know how I did that either! But Katherine and I managed to stay awake today and had such a good time. It was interesting to not only see how the school was designed, but also to answer the students questions. In Denmark you learn English beginning in third grade, so by ninth grade they are pretty much fluent. These ninth graders looked like seniors in high school though, not fifteen!
Questions about the US were mostly about gun control, because in Denmark nobody carries weapons of any sort, not even pocket knives. When I told them I knew people who owned guns (being from Maine, most people own hunting rifles) they were shocked! They also asked about school shootings, as they had recently watched the movie Bowling for Columbine, and I assured them it's not something that happens every day! Politics and Obama were also hot topics, they wanted to know how I felt about politics in the US. Denmark is so liberal and has so many political parties it was really hard to explain our system to them, but I think they understood. I also talked about how sometimes politicians in the US vote a certain way to maintain popularity and to get re-elected, not because that's what they believe in. The students thought this was stupid... and I can't say I disagree.
One thing I thought was really funny was when I talked about how unhealthy Americans are compared to Danes. To be honest, I've only seen one obese Dane while here. And I've been here for four months. I talked about how large people are in the US most students didn't believe me. It shows some countries are getting it right when it comes to healthy lifestyles. They also thought it was weird that I liked peanut butter, but I told them it was weird they like liver paste!
Overall it was such a fun day and I loved learning more about the Danish school system. Katherine also loved talking to them and answering their questions. Being from New Jersey she got lots of questions about Jersey Shore, which she of course answered well. I can't believe I'm going home in a week, but I'm really happy I got to fit in this trip before I leave! Now onto my FIVE finals and packing up my things!
- Devon
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