Jutland! Part 2

The next morning we woke up early again and shipped off to Havenbjerk Skole. This was an elementary school in which "Projekt Livsglæde" (Project Life) is being put in place. Bascially it is another positive psychology program that focuses on the well being of the children. I enjoyed this trip mostly because the Danish kids are adorable! Although they didn't speak any English and I obviously don't speak any Danish, it was fun to see how excited they were to meet us. Danish schools (for the most part) aren't that different from American schools looks-wise. But academically the schools differ greatly. In the Danish school system and with Projekt Livsglæde there is an emphasis on teaching the children how to learn based on their learning styles. It was like a flashback to my Jemicy days. The teachers are more involved with the students and aware of how each child learns. In all of Denmark teachers are addressed by their first name (another tie with Jemicy) and the idea of choice is a lot more prevalent (such as shoes being optional in the classroom). It seemed to me from my visit that the teachers at the Havenbjerk Skole are a lot more empathetic and understanding than American teachers. Yet it is not all of Denmark that has this success in the classroom. Still, the best part was all the little blonde Danes running around.

Finally we were given some time think non-academically. We visited the Danfoss Universe Park in Nordborg. The Universe Park is like a giant hands-on outdoor science museum. In it there are lots of activities that are supposed to be science related (such as a giant hamster wheel that determines the amount of energy you put out when you run inside it). The best was the seg-way off road track. We road seg-ways around outside as if it was an amusement ride! Considering that the Philadelphia University security guards ride around on these all the time, I thought it was pretty hilarious we waited in line to try one out. But it was actually very fun (and a little bit difficult). Also at the park I ate a cheeseburger, fries, and ice cream. It was nice to have a slightly American food.

Then we had another long bus ride to Haderslev which is on the southeast side of Jutland. There we had a delicious group dinner at Royals BarBQ where we ate steak (more like a hamburger sans bun), drank wine, and got to know our classmates. The best was the banana split dessert.

When we arrived at the Danhostel Haderslev hostel, which was slightly less fantastic than the first, we unpacked and unwound a little. There was a campfire set up outside on the lake at the hostel. We sat and at snobrød, a Danish campfire dish. Snobrød is bread dough that you wrap and twist around a stick and cook over the fire. You can put chocolate or marmalade on it afterwards. It’s the Danish equivalent of s’mores, but takes a lot longer to cook. I didn’t really enjoy the snobrød, but cooking was fun. That night we hung around the hostel because we were all too exhausted to travel into the city of Haderslev.