Bjergbestigning!

So bjergbestigning, climbing, was pretty much amazing today. We were in Kullen, Sweden which is technically part of the Östra Kullabergs Naturreservat. It's on a small peninsula near Skälderviken, which is some body of water I can't identify in English, but from the best of my knowledge it is a bay. We drove up the coast from København to Helsingør and took a ferry to Helsingborg in Sweden. The whole trip only took about 2 hours tops. Here's a little google map version of where I was so you can get a better idea. You can use the arrows/zoom function to get a better idea!

It didn't really feel like Sweden because we weren't interacting with the Swedes (and we didn't get stamps on our passports), but at least I can still say I've done something that most people haven't--rock climbed in Sweden! This area was absolutely gorgeous. I did several climbs, and have a few pictures to prove it. But mostly I enjoyed the scenery of this not-so-known part of the world. Here are a few pictures for YOU!

The beautiful town outside the nature reserve on the way up to where we climbed

More water with the sun reflecting

How gorgeous is this water?

The beach

There were all kinds of boats out today!

Gorgeous wildflowers were sprouting all over the place

Our climbing area

Me getting pumped. You know, the usual...

Climbing!

Yay! I made it!

Tomorrow we're heading to Legoland in Billund, Denmark, so there is lots of fun to be had there!

Dygtige!

Hej! Sorry I haven't updated in a couple days...this whole traveling across the city thing can get a little exhausting. Especially when the road signs are a little discrete and getting lost is extremely easy to do. But anyway, I basically love my practicum site. I have been working with some pretty amazing people and kids for the past three days. I'm definitely going to take some pictures when I go back, the only problem is that isn't for another week and a half. Anyway, here's a not-so-quick bit of info about my practicum site. 

I'm working with two pedagogues named Susan and Mikhel. They are outstanding. In the danish education system, two types of people are in charge of the care and education of the children--teachers and pedagogues. From the best of my understanding (and since there's no wikipedia definition (!?!?!?), I'll have to explain it), teachers are mostly responsible for the academic end of things whereas pedagogues are responsible for more of the whole wellbeing of the child. In the case of my program--which is an afterschool program where there are no teachers, only pedagogues--the pedagogues are primarily responsible for providing the children with situations that will enrich their social and self-help skills. It's really interesting, but very complicated. I don't quite understand the whole gist of things despite my spending 10 hours in this program over the span of this week. In a way these two people serve as counselors for the children, working with both the students and the parents, but additionally they are rehabilitation technicians, teaching them life skills. Fortunately, Susan is british (although she has been in Denmark for 18 years), so the two of us can carry on quite well in English! It's very helpful because she is always very careful to tune me in to everything that is going on. 

So anyway...Susan and Mikhel are awesome. The kids are pretty great, too. I'm pretty sure that all of them have an autism diagnosis, technically, but only one seems to ONLY have autism. This one particular child is 18 and he's really funny. He definitely only has the mental capacity of an 8 or 9 year old, but he certainly has the 18 year old body. It's pretty cool watching him because I can see his mind working. I can also see his lack of social skills and strange behaviors that are key to an autism diagnosis. I also can tell that his speech is a little off, despite my major language barrier. Although this new friend of mine has autism, we've bonded. Today we had some discourse--mostly he was speaking to me in Danish and I was nodding and saying ja and dygtige, very clever. Nonetheless we've shared several laughs and lots of thumbs-up and high-5s. Yesterday, though, he told Susan that he trusts me and knows that I want what is best for him. That's huge! Susan thinks that is says a lot about me because he often has a very difficult time with strangers. 

While this afterschool program is QUITE different from the type of work I've done with children with autism, there are a few similarities. The children have several tasks (mostly social or motor-skills oriented) that they must accomplish--perhaps not every day, but at least one a week. Also, the morning teachers and afternoon pedagogues fill out little summaries of the day in a log book. The best similarity I've seen thus far, though, is that in this Danish school, all the kids use PECS. PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System) is a communication system that we use with a couple of our kids in the Meredith Autism Program. It involves the children having little image-cards that serve as choices for activities or food, and the child hands his or her choice to whomever is working with him or her as a means of communication. The images are all the same for the Danish PECS cards, but the label at the bottom is, of course, written in Danish. It was neat to have a little piece of home at this school! I'm really loving being there, and I'm going to try to work out my schedule so that I can go back and put in some extra hours even once I am finished with my Child Development class. It looks like my Psych class only meets Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings, so that should give me a pretty ample amount of time to share at the Fritidshjemmet. 

Anyway, that's probably enough of an information overload for one day, so I'll finish up. Tomorrow I'm heading to Kullen, Sweden (which I can't quite locate on a map) to do some rockclimbing and Sunday I'm going to Legoland for some fun times, so definitely be on the lookout for lots of fun pictures!

Hej Hej!

Undskyld

Hej fra København! Hi from Copenhagen! Undskyld, excuse me, for not actually posting since I've been here! Our last two days have been absolutely PACKED with orientation activities, so today we finally have had a moment to breathe. It's been very nice.  I don't want to bore anyone with TOO many details, so here are some highlights:

Sunday & Monday were both filled with crazy amounts of orientation activities. In those two days we had orientation, moved into our Apartment (details on that to follow...), ate our first not danish meal at McDonalds (thank you, Copenhagen, for shutting down the city on Sundays), had an opening ceremony in the planetarium and a program orientation, took a crash course in Danish, ran around the entire city (somewhat aimlessly), and had a party at school--beer included! Those are just the small details...

Today we had our first class (Children with Special Needs: Danish Theory & Practice), which proved to be very exciting. I can already tell that I'm going to really enjoy everything we do--even the reading and papers. We have two professors: Anne Lise (pronounced Anna Lisa), who is Danish, and Judy, who is from Cornell (ever heard of it?). In Denmark, all teachers are recognized by their first names, regardless of their educational accomplisments! This whole country seems to be very casual, friendly, and class-less. The dynamic of the two teachers is really, really interesting, so I'm very anxious to see how that works out through the three weeks. Anne Lise is Danish, but she was born in NY and lived there until she is 16, so her English accent is almost perfectly American. I can tell that she is a pretty spectacular woman, which is associated by the fact that she has an uncanny resemblance to my Aunt Nancy (who is also a spectacular woman, if you don't know her). Her tone, voice, behaviors, and blue eyes are exactly like Nance. I wish the two could meet. 

The other main highlight is that I received my practicum assignment today. I am going to be working in an afterschool program for children ages 6 and up at Fritidshjemmet v/ Strandparkskolen (I can't even imagine saying that 1 time fast, and yes...those are real words). This afterschool program is for children with ADHD, children within the Autism spectrum, and children with other physical/mental handicaps. We were assigned to our practicum centers based on a survey application that we'd filled out at home, and were told that there would be a rare chance that we'd be able to work with children with Autism, so I was certain to emphasize my experience in order to increase my chances. I'm super excited to visit the center tomorrow! We'll be doing about 20 hours there over the three weeks of the class. 

So those are some highlights, but aside from that, I'm pretty much settled, and really happy here. I'm definitely in the right place for study abroad, and I couldn't be happier to have made the choice to study here. 

Here are a few pictures, too, and I promise there is much more of everything to come! Thanks for reading :)

The Copenhagen Airport

Allyson (another girl from MC) and me on our Scavenger Hunt through Copenhagen

Next to the harbor--I actually got to see it for myself!

Jeg Er Her!

At last, Jeg er her, I'm here!

Currently we're wasting time in the DIS computer lounge because we have to wait another 3ish hours before we can even get our luggage to go to our apartment. I got about 1.5 hours of sleep on the plane, which is not even close to enough. It's finally beginning to kick in that I've been awake essentially for 25 hours so far. But I'm here. I'm happy. I can tell it's going to be quite a bit different from classes & student life at Meredith (namely the fact that there are guys around...who at this point have mostly reinforced my pleasure in attending an all women's institution). However, different is going to be good, I believe.

Anyway, more fun things will come soon. But I just wanted to make sure everyone knew I was here safe and sound! Thanks for reading :)

i morgen

I leave tomorrow, i morgen! It's hard to believe that I can actually say those words now. I was at the gym earlier with my mom and I told one of the trainers there that I'm leaving tomorrow--and then I gasped for a second and said, "yes, I leave tomorrow". Wow! I've been planning this trip essentially since December...and, well, time flies!

Anyway, the packing is coming slowly but surely, and I am highly anticipating the flight tomorrow--and the 9:25 am arrival in Copenhagen (by the way, that's 3:25 NC time. Yikes!) I really am getting excited, though, especially because I want to see what København is actually going to be like. 

Well...I need to get on with my packing, so farvel for now. I'll be certain to post as soon as possible when I arrive and am settled!  

Velkommen!

Velkommen! Welcome to my blog! As a true child of the online technology age, I decided that this was by far the best way for me to update you, my friends & family, on my excursions and whereabouts while I am studying abroad this summer. For those of you who do not know, I'll be studying Child Development & Psychology during my time in Copenhagen--and I could not be more thrilled to be learning more about these subjects (really, I'm a huge nerd...you'll see that more as you read more)! Better yet, I'll be living in a new culture and negotiating my way through life in this VERY foreign country whose language I do not know. Nonetheless I'm thrilled to have the privilege to spend this time abroad studying and learning. 

It's hard to believe that in less than two weeks, I'll already be in Denmark! Hopefully this blog will give you some insight into my life in denmark--don't worry, I won't just share the nerdy parts, and hopefully I'll share LOTS of pictures!

Here's a bit of my itinerary:

May 23  - depart from RDU

May 24  - arrive in Copenhagen

May 25  - begin child development class

May 30  - rock climbing in Sweden 

May 31  - Legoland in Billund, DK

June 13 -  begin psychology class

June 20 -  overnight bike trip to Bornholm, DK 

June 28 -  depart for Croatia, 5-day study tour

July 3    -  return home to RDU

Thanks for reading, thanks for your support, and please comment! I want to stay in touch as much as possible. Aside from the blog, you can get in touch with me on Skype (marie.lahaye.88) or by emailing me at mclahaye@gmail.com.

Farvel!