Odense! Ribe! ...Drag Show!

LONG POST! Get ready.

So, every student at DIS is in a core class, and every core class takes two study tours (one short one to Western Denmark and another longer one to some EXOTIC place). Every core class's short study tour took place this past Thursday through Saturday; therefore, I am writing this after having completed my first study tour with my core class!

My Communications and Mass Media class left for Odense (third largest city in Denmark? Something like that?) at 7:30 am Thursday. It's pronounced "Onse." I know, this doesn't make any sense, but I've kind of gotten used to Danish not making any sense at all, so I went with it and didn't ask questions :) We arrived at the University of Southern Denmark (crazy, very modern campus!) around 9, and listened to a lecture regarding the Muhammad cartoon controversy (read about it here; I didn't know much about it before the lecture). Our lecturer, a professor at the University of Southern Denmark, was VERY interesting to listen to - he adamantly believed in free speech and atheism and also believed that anyone who disagreed was wrong. This was very different from any presentation I'd ever seen. I feel like in the United States, most professors would be sure to acknowledge both sides of an issue and take care not to offend anyone. This certainly wasn't the case here! This made me laugh: he said that when someone brings up a point with which he disagrees, he says, "I respect your right to your opinions, but they are utterly wrong." Sound like a fun person with whom to engage in a debate? :)

 Next, half of us headed off to a News broadcasting station while the other half went off to explore a castle. I was pretty nervous about the broadcasting workshop; I've never taken a Communications class before, let alone worked in a news production studio! It ended up being lots of fun, but also pretty tiring! We divided up into pairs, and took different jobs. My job was "Cultural Interviewer;" I got to interview Anne, a girl in my class, all about the new Bob Dylan art exhibit at the National Museum! Other jobs covered researching and reporting financial stories, international news, and entertainment news. We also had a host, an assistant producer, camera men, and an editor! Our production was a little shaky (we only had a few hours to throw it together) but, I think we did a lovely job in the end :)

Anne and Jena workin hard!

You can see all the coffee cups; our instructor Hans kept us well caffeinated :)

After we completed our news broadcast (we get to see it Monday in class!) we had a lovely DIS-sponsored dinner (LOVE those!), and headed over to hear the Odense Symphony!

It was a beautiful performance! They played pieces by Mahler and Sjostakovitj (I'd elaborate on the composers, but the program is all in Danish!).

After the symphony, our professors took us our for...DRINKS! On them! We went to this very cozy bar near the symphony hall, listened to live music, and enjoyed each others company :)

I know - impressive photography, huh?

Well, that ended Day 1! We headed back to our hostel (which was LOVELY, I'm a big fan of hostels so far!) and woke up to a great breakfast. The hostels had wonderful food! The bread was warm and fresh, and there were great assorted cheeses, fruits, and even an ESPRESSO machine at the first one :)

Friday, the group of us that had completed the broadcasting workshop the day before headed off to Egeskov Castle.

This castle is BEAUTIFUL. And, whaddaya know, the Count and Countess still live in it! I felt a little weird going through this castle taking pictures of someone's home. But, what can you do!

Haha :)

Apparently, some ancestor of the Count was a big-time hunter - there were rooms upon rooms filled with animal heads and skins on the wall :( There was also a VERY elaborate doll house, a room with wax people, and a room with no electric lights, so they only use candles :) It had a very homey feel! It also had a beautiful garden...

A maze (I think we cheated to get through it, oops!)...

A treetop walk! I was proud of myself for doing this; it was rickety and I'm definitely not a heights person!

Leslie on one of the bridges!

And, a vehicle museum! And horses!

We got to groom them and give 'em treats :)

Egeskov was a big hit, and I'm so glad we got to see it. After the castle, we picked up the other half of our class at the broadcasting workshop and took off for Ribe (oldest, and certainly one of the CUTEST cities in Denmark!)

After spending a good deal of time driving through it, I've determined that much of Denmark looks like this:

Vast, flat, and green! (As seen through the bus window)

There are also big fields of big fluffy sheep, cows, and horses! It made me very happy.

We arrived in Ribe sometime in the afternoon, and the first thing we did was climb to the top of the cathedral. It was 248 steps to the top! SISSY stuff compared to the tall Danish towers we've climbed thus far, but I think this view was my favorite!

A nice rooster at the top as a prize!

After exploring the cathedral, some of us further explored the area. Ribe is such a charming city. Cobblestone roads run all through it, and the buildings are all old and brick:

We had fun with the pictures :)

Ha! "NEJ!" means, "NO!"

We had a wonderful dinner in Ribe (again, paid for by DIS!) which included Thai soup, chicken with pesto, and red wine. A bit later, we went on a walk with the night watchman! The watchman was a sort of policeman before Ribe's official police force was instated in the 1800s. Now, he just walks people around the city and sings traditional watchman songs :) We spent the night in another hostel, and in the morning it was off to the BEACH.

Our study tour itinerary said that Saturday morning would be spent "blokarting," which was apparently similar to windsurfing, only it was on land?

SPEED DEMONS!

Well, you basically sit in a go-kart with a sail, and let the wind propel you forward! The only way to stop is to turn the kart into the wind, so, as I'm sure you can imagine, 13 people learning to do this at once was a real experience. Our instructors, these goofy British guys, set up cones for us to go around in loops. It was CHAOS! But it was SO FUN :) After about half an hour or so of flying uncontrollably down the beach, they set us up to RACE. This was VERY intense; we're a competitive bunch! Sadly, I didn't win :( BUT, we did get these goofy pictures!

Me in all my blokarting glory!

Ready to get INTENSE.

I REALLY want to look into this in the United States. Has anyone heard of it? Anyway, after the magnificence that was blokarting, we went to a restaurant where we were served a traditional Danish buffet lunch! I wish I had taken pictures; the food was fantastic! We had salmon and chicken rolls, a type of vegetable quiche, olives, bacon, bread, and other types of food I couldn't even attempt to describe. The meal ended with a yummy chocolate cake and tea :)

Following lunch, we hopped back in the bus for the four hour trek back to Copenhagen! There is a very distinct difference between Copenhagen and Western Denmark; Copenhagen is like the New York City of Denmark and Western Denmark is much less populated and hustle-bustle. It was nice to experience a different side of the country!

After taking a much needed shower (I didn't bring shower stuff on the trip, does this surprise anyone?) India, Sarah, Emily and I headed out to be cultural! We saw a slam poetry reading, of which I was a big fan! The poets were from all over; one was Danish, one was South African and I think a few were from Zimbabwe. We talked with a few of them, and they were fascinating and lots of fun. After the poetry, we went to an African drag show! Talk about a different experience! This was part song and dance, and part, well, drag show! People got pretty into it, and there was a lot of dancing and audience participation going on. We were all fairly exhausted after this, having just returned from a very busy trip!

On our way home, we passed the US Embassy. Danish families had written memories and letters to American firefighters, people had left flowers, and there were candles set up with an American flag. It was very touching to see that all the way over here in Denmark, people's hearts go out to Americans on 9/11.

I have a very exciting week planned :) I already can't wait to write about it; this blog is BIG FUN. Thanks for reading, SEE YA SOON.