Day One

Today was the first day at the school of journalism. All the international programs are together for the first few days of the week, getting an introduction to Danish life and culture. The majority of that today was a lesson in basic Danish....a three-hour long lesson in basic Danish. After which, everyone was so tired and angry at the teacher that some of us never want to speak Danish again. It's quite a confusing language. The teacher began the lesson by telling us that Danish is really two languages, the written and the spoken. For example: the phrase "Hvad hedder du?" (which means "What is your name?") is pronounced like "Va hetha do?" When the letter G is between two vowels, you don't prounce it. When you come across "nd" the D is silent, and "de" is pronounced like the american "the." It was a tiring three hours.

The school itself is completely concrete. It's beautiful in a way though, because it has a lot of interesting features.

There are a lot of sky lights and plants. Also, on the stairs there are ramps for people to take their bikes through the building. The walls are lined with photo projects and publications. The main area is mostly open, with branches of rooms spreading to either side. There's a big library and a cafeteria. There's also a bar in the basement, called the Friday Bar. It's open every Friday at 2:15 and there's a giant sign in the cafeteria reminding everyone of it.

My teacher, Jørgen, pronounced "Yorn" (well, almost) introduced our small group of 12 to our classroom today by lighting candles and telling us about what a cozy group we'll become. Anyone from MU knows what a stark difference this is from Greeley's B2 class.

I'm really excited to go back tomorrow for our lessons on Danish politics and current events. Being at school makes me feel like I have some purpose again. Despite the fact that I am there all day long, it's so thrilling to be part of something.