en kop te, ja tak :)

en kop te, ja tak :) 
 

“…there is nothing special about me that is not also special about you.  Never forget that you are beautiful, just like everyone else.  And never forget that you are a fool, just like everyone else.”

Shane Claiborne

All around you, people will be tiptoeing through life, just to arrive at death safely.  But dear children, do not tiptoe.  Run, hop, skip, or dance, just don’t tiptoe.

my favorite tea :)

Wow, two posts in four days, I am improving!  The last couple of days have been pretty cool, I am trying to stay cognizant of all the things happening around me- all of the beautiful streets, the people I exchange hellos with, the emotions and thoughts running through my head.  It is kind of exhausting, but its definitely worth it to try and remember everything!

the roads I run on..and on the left, the grave site!

Bo on top of the grave site

On Sunday, after quite a groggy sleep, my host dad Bo, decided to take me into the surrounding towns and show me all of the historic places nearby. 
We went to a gravesite for noble people, which basically just looks like a large mound of dirt!  But within that grassy hill, is the tomb of a noble person, buried with some of his most prized belongings.  The tomb we were at was from 1800-1000 BC…THAT’S SO LONG AGO.  Next we went to a church in Ledøje, which is one fo the oldest in the area.  It is unique because it is two stories tall; most churches from the 1600s are only one story tall. 

 

window there since original construction

The man who built this church was German, and it was on his private property.  He was a nobleman (still not quite sure what defines someone as noble besides a lot of money), and so the second floor was for the noble people to sit on, while the peasants sat on the first floor.  I don’t really get it, Christianity doesn’t quite proclaim such separation, actually, it proclaims the opposite, but who knows what these guys were thinking I guess!  It was very beautiful nonetheless. 

 Lastly, Bo took me to a Viking village!  Houses were found in this area from the age of the Vikings (~900-1050 AC), and they have been refurbished, but the styles and resources used have been retained.  It was really cool!  In fact, most Danish homes today have identical roofs to those constructed by the Vikings!  

typical viking house (for many people)

The use about 1.5 feet of wheat plant that grows near the lakes (I walk past a ton of it every day to the train, especially with that bike missing, I have a lot more time to take in the scenery!), and Vikings would bundle it up into a thick layer.  It is actually remarkably weatherproof and warm!   

wheat roof!

It was cool hearing about some of the Viking history (Bo is very knowledgeable!) and then seeing how there are pieces of that culture still exhibited today- in the construction of houses, in the history museums, in the attire- people wear Viking-esque clothing to sporting events such as handball!  While there are pieces of Viking history the Danes are proud of, there are many pieces of Viking history that offend the Danes and they want little to do with.  The Vikings are known to have been very brutal and barbarian like- quite contrary to your average Dane today! 

Monday was also a REALLY COOL day!  I am loving my classes at DIS so far, well with the exception of Developmental Neuropsychology- but I guess realizing that you aren’t a big fan of your major towards the end of junior year isn’t the wisest choice…oh well :)  Anyways, on Monday I had a “test” in Health Beyond Borders, and then in Biomedical ethics, there was a guest speaker on the patient view of medicine.  I loved it!  I don’t know if I am meant to be a doctor, but the talk this woman gave completely affirmed the way I think medicine should be done. 

view of Kolding

I don’t know if it’s a Danish culture thing, or perhaps I just see it in the classes I’m taking and the people I happen to interact with, but there has been a big emphasis on individuals, and seeing people not as part of a group or population, but as a unique being, with a unique combination of needs and thoughts, as someone who deserves your full attention and thought.  In reference to medicine, the speaker was talking about how we should not be viewing each patient as an object on an assembly line, but as someone with concerns, fears, and anxiety when they walk into our office; someone who we are able to calm and assist, but also be challenged by and learn from.  The emphasis was on the humanity of each person.  I really enjoyed it :)   Then, I had Human Health and Disease, which is a medicine focused class taught in the biggest hospital in Denmark.  My professor is the head of the Neurophysiology department here.  (NOTE: DIS is so cool for being able to set up that a bunch of American kids get taught by these really knowledgeable and important doctors!)  We basically dissected the anatomy and physiology of the gastrointestinal system, naming structure and function of organs, enzymes produced and processes completed.  It was REALLY fun.  We basically just went around our room of 15 students and kept naming things- it was a really good interactive way to keep everyone thinking and on their feet. 

Katie and I at Koldinghus

Then, I got to do my first clinical case.  Troels (the doctor- they go by first name here! I think if I’ve a doctor I will do this too, its way more personal and less differentiating of “status”) took us to the neuro-psychiatric ward, where we met a woman who has had 15 seizures in the last month.  And she had one while we were in the room! It was crazy!  We asked her a bunch of questions, because one of our projects is to write up a clinical review (patient info, medical history, symptoms, signs, and suggested tests/potential diagnosis).  I loved every second of it.  She was a really nice woman, very smile-y and kind.  I know she volunteered to be “questioned” by us, and so all patients are unlikely to be as warm, but still, it was a great first experience of that. 

delicious cookie dough- first attempt at baking!

Coming home on Monday is always exhausting because I don’t get out of class until 5:30 (17:30) and then end up not getting on a train home until 6ish.  Plus, being without a bike still, makes everything more tiring and long.  Well, Monday night, when I got off the train in Måløv, it was DOWNPOURING.  Great, 30 minute walk, in fuzzy boots, with a heavy backpack…well, I decided to RUN! And you know what? It was really fun :) unfortunately, I think my boots are ruined, but my computer made it home safely, and I had a lovely run in the rain with a smile on my face.  I think that was better than a 30 min walk of grumpiness haha.

Yesterday, I had 3 hours of developmental neuro, which was rather torturous.  Then I had Danish class!  Danish is a REALLY cool language, incredibly difficult to speak, especially since the majority of words don’t use half their letters for pronunciation.  But I’m finding it isn’t as difficult to read, verb conjugations are more or less nonexistent, and pronouns aren’t terrible either… Jeg hedder Danielle.  Jeg har fødselsdag i December.  Jeg kommer fra USA I New Jersey I Kinnelon.  Jeg læser medicin.  Jeg bor I Smørum hos en dansk familie.  Jeg cykler I tager toget kommer til DIS.  Jeg kommer til universitetel I USA.  Hun er 21 år.  I am Danielle.   I have a birthday in December.  I come from Kinnelon, NJ, USA.  I am studying medicine.  I live in Smorum with a host family.  I bike and take the train to DIS.  I  come from a university in the USA.  I am 21 years old.  Wahoo, go Danish :) 

another view of the lakes at dusk (aka 3:30pm)

After classes Tuesday, I went on an awesome run with Kara, a girl who lives near my train stop.  We ran around the lakes in Køpenhavn and it was BEAUTIFUL-another rare, sunny day in Denmark occurred yesterday (and today as a matter of fact!)!  Then I found a café that I love!  Even though it is a chain in Køpenhavn, this one is really big and has an upstairs where I can sit on a couch or at a table and do homework or hang out.  It’s very “hygge” (cozy) J  Then I went to Bible study in the complete opposite direction of Måløv, but it was really good.  There were 10 of us, and only 4 Americans, so it is definitely a cool multicultural experience.  I think on Sunday I’m going to check out the church associated with this study too.  Should be good.  Anyways, Wednesdays (today) there are field studies for classes, and I have yet to have one (though next week I have two!), and so I’m just relaxing at home.  Going for a run, probably baking, and just reading a book :)

when swans attack--they are everywhere at the lakes

Recently I finished Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne, which is an awesome book and I definitely recommend it!  Lately I’ve started to type up all the things I underline in various books, so I can remember the quotes and actually start reflecting more/living by them.  A few from this book are below, I just want to remember which ones I was most impacted by at this time, hence why I’m adding them to the blog.  Alrighty, until later :)

Quotes:

Sometimes I was incredibly frustrated and angry, wondering how these extremes (wealth and poverty) could exist in the same world, let alone in the same church.  Sometimes I just got cynical.  That was the easiest thing to feel, as cynicism takes very little energy.

People always want to define you by what you do.  I started saying, “I’m not too concerned with what I am going to do.  I am more interested in who I am becoming.  I want to be a lover of God and of people.

Writing a check makes us feel good and can fool us into thinking that we have loved the poor.  But seeing the squat houses and tent cities and hungry children will transform our lives.  Then we will be stirred to imagine the economics of rebirth and to hunger for the end of poverty. 

As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, we are ‘bound by allegiances and loyalties which are broader and deeper than nationalism…This call for a worldwide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond one’s tribe, race, class and nation is in reality a call for an all embracing an unconditional love for all.

There are many people who are morally “pure” but devoid of any life, joy, or celebration.  For some, this “purity” means that we do not touch anything that is “secular,” and for others, it means that we don’t eat anything that is not “organic.”  But if it is not born of relationships, if it is not liberating for the oppressed and the oppressors, if it is not marked by raw, passionate love, then it is the same old self-righteousness that does little more than flaunt our own purity by making the rest of the world see how dirty they are. 

…the more passionately we love our enemies, the more evil will diminish. 

When we look through the eyes of Jesus, we see new things in people.  In the murderers, we see our own hatred.  In the addicts, we see our own addictions.  In the saints we catch glimpses of our own holiness.  We can see our own brokenness, our own violence, our own ability to destroy, and we can see our own sacredness, our own capacity to love and forgive.  When we realize that we are both wretched and beautiful, we are freed up to see others the same way.

When we have new eyes, we can look into the eyes of those we don’t even like and see the One we love.  We can see God’s image in everyone we encounter.  As Henri Nouwen puts it, “In the face of the oppressed I recognize my own face, and in the hands of the oppressor I recognize my own hands.  Their flesh is my flesh, their blood is my blood, their pain is my pain, their smile is my smile.”  We are made of the same dust.  We cry the same tears.  No one is beyond redemption.  And we are free to imagine a revolution that sets both the oppressed and the oppressors free.

Our world is desperately in need of imagination, for we have spent so much creativity devising ways of destroying our enemies that some folks don’t even think it’s possible (much less practical) to love them.

“Let me say, at the risk of sounding ridiculous, that the true revolutionary is guided by feelings of love.” Che Guevara

We must neither get used to the darkness of human suffering or fall asleep in the comfort of the light.

If you have the gift of frustration and the deep sense that the world is a mess, thank God for that; not everyone has that gift of vision.  It also means that you have a responsibility to lead us in new ways.  Recognizing that something is wrong is the first step toward changing the world. 

Amalie and me :)

one month!

I didn't know these phones actually worked hahah :)

Daina with her Millennium Bridge

One month ago to the hour, I was getting to Newark Airport, not knowing what was to come.  But now, I've had a few pastries, gotten lost on my bike, experienced hygge (Danish tradition, roughly translates to "cozziness"), come to love tea, taken the MCAT, and gone on my first study tour with the MPP program to Jutland (western Denmark).

cool sand art along the Thames River in London

I have been exceptionally bad about blogging (haven't written an update in approximately 3.5 weeks...whoops!)  But I will *hopefully* be much better about it here on out!

in front of Versailles gates

Eiffel Tower at night

Before returning to Denmark after Budapest, Michelle and I went to Paris, France.  It was beautiful and I would love to go back in warmer weather some day.  We legitimately walked for 11.5 hours, and had a 15 hour day...but it was definitely worth it to see the Eiffel Tower in daylight and at night, the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, many parks, and Versailles.  We had a delicious dinner in a completely French restaurant...no English spoken by waiters, so conversing was quite an event.  Delicious pastas, bread, and wine. yum :)

Okay, so DENMARK.  DANMARK.  Oh, it is already holding a big place in my heart.  I arrived in Copenhagen on Saturday January 15, a little nervous about meeting my host family for the first time.  They, however, are awesome.  I have 3 host siblings, Christian, 14, Joachim, 11, and Amalie, 8.  Christian and Joachim play a lot of football (soccer), and Amalie reminds me of Kelly, always dancing around and putting on shows.  Bo and Christina both love to run, and its been fun to talk about running and training for half and full marathons (Bo runs 2-3 marathons a year!!).

Danish flag

Here are some things I've about life in Denmark so far (since bullet points are way easier=]):

1. This time of year, Denmark is cold, windy, and dark.  For the brief periods of sunshine, whether a couple of hours one day or more, EVERYONE is outside enjoying it :)

view from my bedroom window!

2. I live in Smørum, and its a lovely town, with a lot of bike paths (easy to get lost for sure!!!)
3. I have become a tea lover, completely infatuated!  I had my first cup ever my first night in Smørum with my host family and fell in love.
4. They put a very thin slice of chocolate on their bread in the morning, delicious way to start any day :)
5. chicken (kylling) and kitten (killing) are two very different things, that can be mispronounced easily and lead to confusion in restaurants or supermarkets.
6. kylling kebabs and hot dogs in a bun are Danish staples...as are PASTRIES...and LEGOS
7. I ride a bike to Måløv where I take the S-tog (toget=train in Danish) for 35 min into Nørreport station, where I then walk 10 minutes to DIS...its quite a commute, but I don't mind it really- the train is good to read on, and the bike ride in the cold air definitely wakes me up in the mornings!

my bed and desk :)

8. the first day, I got wildly lost coming home from the train station, which ended in slight tears and Bo coming out to find me.  Unfortunately, 4 days ago, my bike was stolen from the train station and has resulted in a 30 min walk there each morning...extending the commute (ugh).
9. My room is very cozy :)
10. the bakery on Strøget, Lagkagehusetis the best, EVER.
11. Christianity is a big thing...HISTORICALLY.  Not really important to people today.  Found a cool church though in Nørreboro, and a super legit Bible study with Copenhagen University students, young adults, and DIS students. 
12. I'm taking Human Health and Disease, Biomedical Ethics, Health Beyond Borders, Developmental Neuropsychology, and Danish. and, I LOVE my classes :)

one of the lakes!

13. I ran around 3 of the 4 lakes in Copenhagen while the sun was setting one day- it was breathtaking!
14. People bike EVERYWHERE! Bo  bikes almost 20 km EACH WAY to work every day!
15. Danes love lighting candles, they brighten the dark and contribute to the hygge-"cozy"- lifestyle
16. Christina cooks DELICIOUS food!  Each Saturday she makes one sweet treat-we've had homemade crepes and ice cream, homemade cinnamon buns, and smoething that resembles a marshmellow covered in chocolate...mhmm!
17. Danish children wear one piece snowsuits everywhere...covering them from head to toe!
18. Public transport is free in the city, and its awesome- fast and easy!
19. Danes are very reserved...though supposedly (I've been told!) that once you get a beer in them they don't stop talking, and once you are friends with a Dane, you never lose them!
20. I'm starting to feel at home :)
21. Handball is a HUGE sport here!  Unfortunately, Denmark lost in overtime in the world championship to France, 35-37 :(

"BOY" one of the HUGE fiberglass sculptures in Aarhus museum of modern art

a few of the MPP girls at Koldinghus

Hopefully, that was a good quick overview of my first 3 weeks in Copenhagen :) So, the last 3 days I was on a short study tour with  MPP- the Medical Practice and Policy program that I am a part of at DIS.  There were 30 of us students, a DIS intern, Nico, and a Danish medical student, Naia.  We went to western Denmark, which is called Jutland.  There we visited in Aarhus, Horsens, and Kolding.  The trip, though completely exhausting, was awesome because we went to Aarhus University Hospital, had a lecture about the Danish health care system (which is very cool/super successful for a country of just 5 million (HALF OF NYC...so crazy!)), went to a GP (General Practitioner) office, and visited Skejby Hospital.  The research that we got to hear about was awesome- repairing and replacing  heart valves, and various experiments done with MRIs, fMRIs, PET scans, and CTs.  It was really interesting!  We went to a bunch of cultural sites too, Koldinghus, which is a castle that houses the first Protestant Chapel in Denmark, and it has beautiful views.  We went bowling which was random but also really fun.  Overall, the group bonded and had some sweet memories.  I am definitely over typing at this point, but I'll update soon, definitely before another 3 weeks pass :)

until later :)