Tuesday, 30 September 2008
Culture night
We had a fantastic culture night in Haderslev. One of the night programmes took place at the lake where we live. Kids made houses (made from wood) and put candles in it, and they let it on the lake...beautiful. :)
Before it, we hang out at Lina's house where we watched the Danish dance show where famous Danish people like tennis stars, movie stars etc. show their best dance. It was fun. It's like in Hungary on the Rtl klub: "Szombat esti láz". After we went to the lake, and then we watched concerts at Tribune and then we went to dance at the caffee place called: Kafka. There was live music and the band was pretty good, they played songs like Beatles, Michael Jackson and of course some Danish songs. We hang out with some Danish friends, classmates all night. :)
Sunday, 28 September 2008
First week in practice school
Hej everyone,
I had practice this week. I enjoyed it. I have got 2 teachers, Tim and Marianne, they are my mentors. Both of them teach English and Special Needs Education. Both of them are very nice. The school name is: Favrdalskole. It's a public school.
I visited 4 classes.
First one is the 9th class where there are approx. 20 students. They are 15 years old students. Here is the first difference. We have got primary school until 8th class, so until 14 years old kids and then we have high school between the age of 14-18. In this 9th class students look the same as in Hungary. Girls with make up on their face, boys are in baggy trousers or in "emo" style. That's just the fashion everywhere. They studied death penalty this week, they discussed the advantages and disadvantages of this topic. Some of the kids have strong feelings to choose death penalty for example if their family could have kidnapped. For homework they have to think about it more. I was surprised because they don't learn phonetics. At home I had to write the phonetic meaning of every new word for 12 years old pupils.They don't do it here. One of the reasons could be that in Denmark, films are subtitled, so when kids watch Tv they automatically get vocabulary and pronunciation. I think it's cool and very useful.
Second class: 9 E class. "E" means Special Needs Class, there are only 4 pupils and they're 15 years old, as well. They attend at public school but they learn everything separatly from the others. On one hand, I think it's great that they have the opportunity to learn everything in their own way in public school, however, on the other hand, they are separated from other pupils. I asked Tim if these 4 kids make friends from other "normal" classes and he said not really, it's not common to have friends from "normal classes". So these 4 kids, plus there is another speacial classes (they are at the same age) get on well. They hang out a lot, but they don't make friends from other classes in school. They do a lot together. You can find here pupils with social problems, or some kind of disabilities in reading or writing. (dyslexia, dysgraphia) They are normal and very-very nice kids. In Hungary, when you have kids with these kind of problems, they still do the same as the average do, however, they have extra lessons in the afternoon. Or they go to special school. I wonder how hard could it be for those pupils with special needs to do the same as the average kids do in public school in Hungary. And don't forget, we have grades. And if they don't do properly what they should do they get bad grades which is not fair, and they suffer from lack of confidence. All right, I think I stop complaining. I'm glad that my country is changing. Good point is that we have to know text and pieces of information when we have exams, we got used to do this since kindergarten, starting with short songs. Here, pupils don't need to know the text by heart. I think this has also advantages and disadvantages.
Relationship between 4 kids and the teacher: you can see that they're close to each other. Teacher asks students how their weekend was. What did they do? In Hungary, it's not common, only your head master ask you sometimes. So, I think here kids put more trust in their teacher than in Hungary. However, the question of authority comes up again.
Third class: Last week I got to visit the 4th class, as well. They're 10 years old students. Here, I found about 3- 4 muslims, but they speak Danish. I don't know that much about muslims and my aim in this blog is not to write about them. But I have to tell that 2muslim girls had to wear scarf on their head. I don't understand why, they're kids. But other students can accept other cultures if they see they have got something different.
Anyway, this class is a bit loud, very talkative, for example, when I had to introduce myself, kids were very curious and they interupted each other and asked me questions about Hungary. It was funny and very cute. The following questions they asked: Do you have huge mountains? Do you use chewing gum in Hungary? Do you like football? favourite football star? Do you know Sevcsenko? Do you like LIverpool? I have to say, all of the boys were in Liverpool T-shirt, there was no other choice to say, yes, I like Liverpool. :))
I talked a bit about my country and showed them postcards, they liked it.
They learnt some English songs during the lesson.
Fourth class: Special Needs class, 1st grade. They are 4 students as in the 9E class. They're cute. They asked me to teach them some Hungarian folk dance on Friday and I did. It was so much fun, and actually they liked it. We did it all together with the other special need class in that building, they're 3 grade. There were 10 cute pupils who danced together. :) Nice...
Later....
If you have questions, please feel free to ask. :)
I had practice this week. I enjoyed it. I have got 2 teachers, Tim and Marianne, they are my mentors. Both of them teach English and Special Needs Education. Both of them are very nice. The school name is: Favrdalskole. It's a public school.
I visited 4 classes.
First one is the 9th class where there are approx. 20 students. They are 15 years old students. Here is the first difference. We have got primary school until 8th class, so until 14 years old kids and then we have high school between the age of 14-18. In this 9th class students look the same as in Hungary. Girls with make up on their face, boys are in baggy trousers or in "emo" style. That's just the fashion everywhere. They studied death penalty this week, they discussed the advantages and disadvantages of this topic. Some of the kids have strong feelings to choose death penalty for example if their family could have kidnapped. For homework they have to think about it more. I was surprised because they don't learn phonetics. At home I had to write the phonetic meaning of every new word for 12 years old pupils.They don't do it here. One of the reasons could be that in Denmark, films are subtitled, so when kids watch Tv they automatically get vocabulary and pronunciation. I think it's cool and very useful.
Second class: 9 E class. "E" means Special Needs Class, there are only 4 pupils and they're 15 years old, as well. They attend at public school but they learn everything separatly from the others. On one hand, I think it's great that they have the opportunity to learn everything in their own way in public school, however, on the other hand, they are separated from other pupils. I asked Tim if these 4 kids make friends from other "normal" classes and he said not really, it's not common to have friends from "normal classes". So these 4 kids, plus there is another speacial classes (they are at the same age) get on well. They hang out a lot, but they don't make friends from other classes in school. They do a lot together. You can find here pupils with social problems, or some kind of disabilities in reading or writing. (dyslexia, dysgraphia) They are normal and very-very nice kids. In Hungary, when you have kids with these kind of problems, they still do the same as the average do, however, they have extra lessons in the afternoon. Or they go to special school. I wonder how hard could it be for those pupils with special needs to do the same as the average kids do in public school in Hungary. And don't forget, we have grades. And if they don't do properly what they should do they get bad grades which is not fair, and they suffer from lack of confidence. All right, I think I stop complaining. I'm glad that my country is changing. Good point is that we have to know text and pieces of information when we have exams, we got used to do this since kindergarten, starting with short songs. Here, pupils don't need to know the text by heart. I think this has also advantages and disadvantages.
Relationship between 4 kids and the teacher: you can see that they're close to each other. Teacher asks students how their weekend was. What did they do? In Hungary, it's not common, only your head master ask you sometimes. So, I think here kids put more trust in their teacher than in Hungary. However, the question of authority comes up again.
Third class: Last week I got to visit the 4th class, as well. They're 10 years old students. Here, I found about 3- 4 muslims, but they speak Danish. I don't know that much about muslims and my aim in this blog is not to write about them. But I have to tell that 2muslim girls had to wear scarf on their head. I don't understand why, they're kids. But other students can accept other cultures if they see they have got something different.
Anyway, this class is a bit loud, very talkative, for example, when I had to introduce myself, kids were very curious and they interupted each other and asked me questions about Hungary. It was funny and very cute. The following questions they asked: Do you have huge mountains? Do you use chewing gum in Hungary? Do you like football? favourite football star? Do you know Sevcsenko? Do you like LIverpool? I have to say, all of the boys were in Liverpool T-shirt, there was no other choice to say, yes, I like Liverpool. :))
I talked a bit about my country and showed them postcards, they liked it.
They learnt some English songs during the lesson.
Fourth class: Special Needs class, 1st grade. They are 4 students as in the 9E class. They're cute. They asked me to teach them some Hungarian folk dance on Friday and I did. It was so much fun, and actually they liked it. We did it all together with the other special need class in that building, they're 3 grade. There were 10 cute pupils who danced together. :) Nice...
Later....
If you have questions, please feel free to ask. :)
Monday, 22 September 2008
First day in Practice School
Hello everyone,
I went to a primary school where I'm going to have practice for next 3 weeks. I'm excited to learn and experience a lot in my" teaching career".
I have a mentor there, his name is Tim, he is from Britain, but also he speaks Danish. (he has got Danish wife)
The school system is different here than in Hungary. And the way this primary school looks is also different. They have got different buildings according to which class you attend. So, today I went to visit 9th class, they had English lesson. I have to mention that it's different. Recently, the main topic in the class is the death penalty. They watched a movie about it last week, and today they started to work on a text and they worked in group where they had to answer some questions. I got to know the class a little bit, they were nice but also a little bit shy, I bet teenegars are the same everywhere. (they're 15-16 years old) Continue on Wednesday.
Then, I had another class, it is called Special Needs Education Class, where we had 4 kids who have some kind of problems learning or focusing during the lessons. I got to know their names and they're 15 years old, as well. They asked me questions, like why am I here in Denmark? what kind of music do I like? etc. They were nice, friendly. I'm happy that they dared to speak in English with me, it was a big thing for them to speak in English, and I think they did a good job. All right. So they asked me if I can teach them some Hungarian words. Actually, I taught them the numbers from 1 to 10 in Hungarian. They did good, they were smart to pronunce those hard sounds, like gy, ö, ő, etc. And then I said it in Danish. :)
After this, Henrik, one of the students, showed me the school, ohh it's beauiful. I'm going to put some pictures later on. Then I had a break, I bought a salad at the school canteen, you can only buy healthy food at the canteen, no chololates, no candies, etc. Just, fruit drinks, sandwiches made from brown bread, and salad. This is a kind of law from the local government.
After 30 minutes break, we had another class, where we watched movies about the school system in England. It was interesting.
Finally, I had a Special Needs class where I had to teach kids how to play card games with Hungarian cards. I brought my own cards to school, and when I showed them the card, some of them were shocked because it is different than French card. So we just tried to discover Hungarian card. We played 21. They liked it. They were nice, and I was happy to meet with them.
Impressions: school is very-well equipped with materials, OVP (overhead projectors), books. The rooms are without doors but it looks great.
It's very nice that the students can leave their stuff in school, they put their books to a big blue box (everybody has got one with their names on it) and they leave their stuff in the classroom. It's really a great idea, that they don't have to carry a lot to school every day. :)
Relationship between teachers and students are different here than in Hungary. Here, students call teachers on their first name, I think this breaks the ice between teachers and students.
We discussed it a little bit with Tim, it was strange for him as well, when he started to teach in Denmark. What do you think? I'm looking forward to your comments.
I went to a primary school where I'm going to have practice for next 3 weeks. I'm excited to learn and experience a lot in my" teaching career".
I have a mentor there, his name is Tim, he is from Britain, but also he speaks Danish. (he has got Danish wife)
The school system is different here than in Hungary. And the way this primary school looks is also different. They have got different buildings according to which class you attend. So, today I went to visit 9th class, they had English lesson. I have to mention that it's different. Recently, the main topic in the class is the death penalty. They watched a movie about it last week, and today they started to work on a text and they worked in group where they had to answer some questions. I got to know the class a little bit, they were nice but also a little bit shy, I bet teenegars are the same everywhere. (they're 15-16 years old) Continue on Wednesday.
Then, I had another class, it is called Special Needs Education Class, where we had 4 kids who have some kind of problems learning or focusing during the lessons. I got to know their names and they're 15 years old, as well. They asked me questions, like why am I here in Denmark? what kind of music do I like? etc. They were nice, friendly. I'm happy that they dared to speak in English with me, it was a big thing for them to speak in English, and I think they did a good job. All right. So they asked me if I can teach them some Hungarian words. Actually, I taught them the numbers from 1 to 10 in Hungarian. They did good, they were smart to pronunce those hard sounds, like gy, ö, ő, etc. And then I said it in Danish. :)
After this, Henrik, one of the students, showed me the school, ohh it's beauiful. I'm going to put some pictures later on. Then I had a break, I bought a salad at the school canteen, you can only buy healthy food at the canteen, no chololates, no candies, etc. Just, fruit drinks, sandwiches made from brown bread, and salad. This is a kind of law from the local government.
After 30 minutes break, we had another class, where we watched movies about the school system in England. It was interesting.
Finally, I had a Special Needs class where I had to teach kids how to play card games with Hungarian cards. I brought my own cards to school, and when I showed them the card, some of them were shocked because it is different than French card. So we just tried to discover Hungarian card. We played 21. They liked it. They were nice, and I was happy to meet with them.
Impressions: school is very-well equipped with materials, OVP (overhead projectors), books. The rooms are without doors but it looks great.
It's very nice that the students can leave their stuff in school, they put their books to a big blue box (everybody has got one with their names on it) and they leave their stuff in the classroom. It's really a great idea, that they don't have to carry a lot to school every day. :)
Relationship between teachers and students are different here than in Hungary. Here, students call teachers on their first name, I think this breaks the ice between teachers and students.
We discussed it a little bit with Tim, it was strange for him as well, when he started to teach in Denmark. What do you think? I'm looking forward to your comments.
weekend
Hello again,
We had a great sunny weekend. I have heard that you cannot tell the same in Hungary, poor you. Our buddy, Carsten, and his family invited us (Ioana and me) to spend a day with his family. Since on Saturday, the weather was great, we went to their ship in Aabenra, and we hang out a little bit there and we went to see the seaside again, we collected shells and took off our shoes and just put our feet into the sea. It was nice and relaxing. After, we went to his family's house, where we were invited to a "tea afternoon", his mom made a kind of "zsömle" and hmm we got jam, so all in all it was nice. But, it was't the end of the day. Around 6-7 pm. the dinner came. What was it? PORK MEAT!! yes, you can believe me, I ate pork meat. Yes, I did. I cannot believe, but it's true. All right, I have to tell you, It's great, it was tasty, we ate pork meat with thick brown sauce and potatoes, cabbage, carrots, and we drunk red wine with it. I'm so thankful for this tasty Danish cuisine. After dinner, the dessert came on the scene....Ice cream with waffers. Again, great...
I felt like in Hungary, when guests or friends come to our house and my mom and me are just feeding them. Now, I can know what you feel when you are at our house at home. :))
I'm happy to had the chance to experience great Danish hospitality. Thank you for the meal.:)
After dinner, we went to a farm, where we saw horses,( someday I will ride one,) and we also saw American animals, it was like "nosebears" in Danish. (I don't remember the name in English).
We got to meet with Carsten's friends and they invited us to a Danish hygge, which means you sit on the sofa, have candles on the table and you talk. :) So we did. It was nice to meet with them.
On the other day, we relaxed, and also we got a new toilet to our bathroom, I have to tell that the old one wasn't bad, but here the new one came, it's very well designed. :)) Now, we are completely spoiled.
In the afternoon, Sarah, our German friend came to visit us, again we had hygge with her, we had dinner, and we just talked about family, religion, countries, school system etc. It was nice to have her for the afternoon. By the way, the German group go to different places in Denmark for 3 weeks to school practice, so we won't see each other. Have fun there!
The day ended, and we were excited to get up on Monday, I tell you why....
We had a great sunny weekend. I have heard that you cannot tell the same in Hungary, poor you. Our buddy, Carsten, and his family invited us (Ioana and me) to spend a day with his family. Since on Saturday, the weather was great, we went to their ship in Aabenra, and we hang out a little bit there and we went to see the seaside again, we collected shells and took off our shoes and just put our feet into the sea. It was nice and relaxing. After, we went to his family's house, where we were invited to a "tea afternoon", his mom made a kind of "zsömle" and hmm we got jam, so all in all it was nice. But, it was't the end of the day. Around 6-7 pm. the dinner came. What was it? PORK MEAT!! yes, you can believe me, I ate pork meat. Yes, I did. I cannot believe, but it's true. All right, I have to tell you, It's great, it was tasty, we ate pork meat with thick brown sauce and potatoes, cabbage, carrots, and we drunk red wine with it. I'm so thankful for this tasty Danish cuisine. After dinner, the dessert came on the scene....Ice cream with waffers. Again, great...
I felt like in Hungary, when guests or friends come to our house and my mom and me are just feeding them. Now, I can know what you feel when you are at our house at home. :))
I'm happy to had the chance to experience great Danish hospitality. Thank you for the meal.:)
After dinner, we went to a farm, where we saw horses,( someday I will ride one,) and we also saw American animals, it was like "nosebears" in Danish. (I don't remember the name in English).
We got to meet with Carsten's friends and they invited us to a Danish hygge, which means you sit on the sofa, have candles on the table and you talk. :) So we did. It was nice to meet with them.
On the other day, we relaxed, and also we got a new toilet to our bathroom, I have to tell that the old one wasn't bad, but here the new one came, it's very well designed. :)) Now, we are completely spoiled.
In the afternoon, Sarah, our German friend came to visit us, again we had hygge with her, we had dinner, and we just talked about family, religion, countries, school system etc. It was nice to have her for the afternoon. By the way, the German group go to different places in Denmark for 3 weeks to school practice, so we won't see each other. Have fun there!
The day ended, and we were excited to get up on Monday, I tell you why....
Wednesday, 17 September 2008
sum up on my first 3 weeks here
Hej again, Mogn (pronunced: mojn :))
Jeg hedder Judit, jeg er tre og tyve. Jeg bo i Haderslev i Praestegade nr. atten. (18)
My name is Judit, I'm 23 years old. I live in Haderslev in the Priest street 18. :) (By the way, I'm so happy to live in the priest street).
Jeg er fra Ungarn. = I'm from Hungary.
These are the first steps to talk in Danish. I have got some Danish class, so I have the chance to talk to Danish students and learn in Danish.
I think it's more fun to say these sentences than to write it, because you don't pronunce it in the same way as it is written. That's okay, whenever you call me on skype you can hear my Danish accent. :))
I decided to try to sum up the last 3 busy weeks in Haderslev. It's not easy, but I hope my writing style will be understood. I also hope that you understand my poor English grammar, I try to make the best of it. :)) Please, apologize for my mistakes and if you want to help me improve my English grammar skills you can help. Any kind of critics are accepted here.
All right: let's take a deep step in my memory and start:
First impression of Denmark: on the airplane, people were nice, and I could see the huge bridge between Malmö and Copenhagen, you know one of my dream places to visit one day. ...So I tought it looks pretty... Anyway, I was so excited that I thought I'm gonna throw up on the airplane, so I had an old married couple sitting next to me, and they thought the same, so they were so kind that they prepared the plastic bag for me, I said ohh thank you, but I think I'm just excited, nothing wrong. ...Thank God, I survived....The whole trip was a blessing, I met with nice people who helped me putting the suitcases to the train. I was very thirsty on the train, so I bought Cocio, the real Danish chocolate drink, I love it.
So I arrived to Kolding, where I met with my buddy, Carsten. he is a nice guy. He and his friend, Kim, gave me a lift to Haderslev. The weather was just amazing, and I saw Danish houses with nice doors and little cute windows from the car, I thought, Oh my God, this is beautiful.
We arrived and then I got the key, and this huge house was mine for 3 days, because the owners of the house were away...I chose my room, took a shower, and Carsten took me for dinner. No wonder we ate at a Chinese restaurant, this town has got a lot. I ate noodles with chicken, and I liked it. Then, we went to the college where there was a some kind of party, so I met with Danish students. One of the students asked me: "oh, so you're from Hungary, like Bucarest." On the first night, I taught a geography lesson, and explained patiently that no, that capital is not in my country, a little bit easter, but you were almost right. I decided that I don't want to judge anybody, so even this situation was kind of weird I got used to it, because Danish people don't really know anything about Hungary at all. Or maybe some of them: lake Balaton, Budapest.
My sweetest flatmate ever, Ioana, has got a better story. She talked to people and they thought that because she is from Romania, she is a spy from Russia. Ohh, well it's just history. Anyway, we decided to make friends and let them know about our country.
To continue my first weekend in this wonderful country, I went to shopping with Carsten, and I saw Danish people with beer in their hands and without shoes, maybe it was becuase of the weather. It was strange. I got to know the town on Saturday, the weather was like Summer, and on late afternoon, my buddy, and his friends gave me a ride to the seaside. It was a cool experience because the sea was a little bit cold for me, however it was cool, cause I haven't seen the seaside for 10 years. So I was just peaceful and happy. At night, we went to Kim's house, he and his friends, cooked Danish dinner. Oh, man it was soo nice. I had so much fun, and they knew about Hungary, they were interested in my country, we were talking about traditions in Denmark etc. After dinner, we went to a petrol station where I had the chance to try some real salty Danish liquish. (sós gumicukor). I must say I survived. :)) Surely, it's not my favourite, but it's okay. Maybe I buy some as a gift later on. :))
/me at the seaside near to Haderslev/
On Sunday, We went to a trip. Carsten's family has a ship, we went to sea and the first time in my life I guess, I got a fisk (fish). I was the only one, no one else except me. But, I have to say, that I prayed for it, I really did, and a Bible story came to my mind, where Jesus says: "Ask and it will be given to you, seek, and you will find, knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread , will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets". Matthew 7: 7-12 from the Bible
I said to my Lord, I know you love me, but this is too much. I had a great weekend, and still, I feel like I'm totally blessed here. Ioana said that she feels like she is in a Cinderella or a fairy tale story. She is right. We feel like, we're in wonderland. :))
First of September:
The school started, I was excited, soo excited that even Carsten told me on which way I should go, I got lost a little bit, and I was on late, which I don't like. I know that Danish people are always on time. I wanted to be like that, especially on the very first day. It's okay. I met with Jette, my Eramus coordinator, she is so nice, very helpful. I felt like when I said somehing she wants to do it on that day, very kind, again a huge blessing to work with her. :)
My first day was okay, I liked it. I like the way they teach here. The key word is: freedom.
In my college, we never leave our classroom without permission, here you just go to the restroom, whenever you want, I mean whenever you need to go...
Different. Being here, feels like a holiday. However, I know I study, experience a lot of things. ...All right the best part will just come...
Good news to those who know that I cannot draw. This is not true, it's not me who said this, but my art class teacher. She said that don't tell to your body you cannot do it, it's so negative. I was just wondering how many times you can hear in Hungary since primary school this sentence: you cannot do it. So I suppose I should be a genius now, if you know what I mean...
So I have got this class, it's really cool, I can improve my drawing skills. Also, I have got English class, Comparative Education, Danish as a second language, Weblogs, where we study how to use this blogspot etc. Next week my teaching practice is gonna start. I'm excited again, I went to the primary school today where I start my week next week, the English teacher Tim, was a nice guy, he told the details, and I introduce myself on Monday, and I'm telling you the details later on.
my second weekend: We got to go to Aarhus, the second biggest town in Denmark with Kim, Frida, his daughter, Carsten, Ioana and me. We walked in the town and had a sandwich in a restaurant. Also, we had a trip to Stafet for Livet programe, fighting against cancer, we had the same kind of programe in Hungary. We had lots of fun that day. :)
Last Friday, 12th of September, we went to a school trip with he first year' students, and we had to do different kind of activities during the trip. By the end of the trip, we caught a cold, it's still pretty bad, and I thought that I had fun, but it was a little bit long and too much for me.
Around 5 pm. we got baptized, which meant you had to go through a some kind of difficulty field, tipically freshmen things to do at college. At the end we slided on the slide-way and we ended in a pool with full of stinky stuff, pasta, whipped cream etc. Yep, it sounds disgusting, but on the other hand it was fun, We looked funny after all. :) On Friday night, we went back to school to dance, we had fun...
/Ioana and me after school baptism, it was very cold/
On Sunday, we went to Ribe, west of Denmark, with the German groups. I got see the North Sea, which was amazing and again a huge blessing. I was so enthusiastic, and I was so happy and I shouted that Oh my God, I cannot believe I'm here. All the other students from Germany, except Ioana, looked at me strange, maybe they have already seen the North Sea, but you know when I'm happy, I'm really happy. I show it, you know that way....or if not you will get to know...
(me at the North Sea)
Okay, I spend this week with cooking, going to school, try to recover from my sickness, but it seems to me that the Neocitran from home doesn't work. I should do something....
Well, I think I wrote the most important things about my three weeks here. I'm just so thankful to God being here, and I'm excited to tell you more about my studies, my experiences here.
I hope you liked it. :) Talk to you soon. Have a great week! Blessings :)
Jeg hedder Judit, jeg er tre og tyve. Jeg bo i Haderslev i Praestegade nr. atten. (18)
My name is Judit, I'm 23 years old. I live in Haderslev in the Priest street 18. :) (By the way, I'm so happy to live in the priest street).
Jeg er fra Ungarn. = I'm from Hungary.
These are the first steps to talk in Danish. I have got some Danish class, so I have the chance to talk to Danish students and learn in Danish.
I think it's more fun to say these sentences than to write it, because you don't pronunce it in the same way as it is written. That's okay, whenever you call me on skype you can hear my Danish accent. :))
I decided to try to sum up the last 3 busy weeks in Haderslev. It's not easy, but I hope my writing style will be understood. I also hope that you understand my poor English grammar, I try to make the best of it. :)) Please, apologize for my mistakes and if you want to help me improve my English grammar skills you can help. Any kind of critics are accepted here.
All right: let's take a deep step in my memory and start:
First impression of Denmark: on the airplane, people were nice, and I could see the huge bridge between Malmö and Copenhagen, you know one of my dream places to visit one day. ...So I tought it looks pretty... Anyway, I was so excited that I thought I'm gonna throw up on the airplane, so I had an old married couple sitting next to me, and they thought the same, so they were so kind that they prepared the plastic bag for me, I said ohh thank you, but I think I'm just excited, nothing wrong. ...Thank God, I survived....The whole trip was a blessing, I met with nice people who helped me putting the suitcases to the train. I was very thirsty on the train, so I bought Cocio, the real Danish chocolate drink, I love it.
So I arrived to Kolding, where I met with my buddy, Carsten. he is a nice guy. He and his friend, Kim, gave me a lift to Haderslev. The weather was just amazing, and I saw Danish houses with nice doors and little cute windows from the car, I thought, Oh my God, this is beautiful.
We arrived and then I got the key, and this huge house was mine for 3 days, because the owners of the house were away...I chose my room, took a shower, and Carsten took me for dinner. No wonder we ate at a Chinese restaurant, this town has got a lot. I ate noodles with chicken, and I liked it. Then, we went to the college where there was a some kind of party, so I met with Danish students. One of the students asked me: "oh, so you're from Hungary, like Bucarest." On the first night, I taught a geography lesson, and explained patiently that no, that capital is not in my country, a little bit easter, but you were almost right. I decided that I don't want to judge anybody, so even this situation was kind of weird I got used to it, because Danish people don't really know anything about Hungary at all. Or maybe some of them: lake Balaton, Budapest.
My sweetest flatmate ever, Ioana, has got a better story. She talked to people and they thought that because she is from Romania, she is a spy from Russia. Ohh, well it's just history. Anyway, we decided to make friends and let them know about our country.
To continue my first weekend in this wonderful country, I went to shopping with Carsten, and I saw Danish people with beer in their hands and without shoes, maybe it was becuase of the weather. It was strange. I got to know the town on Saturday, the weather was like Summer, and on late afternoon, my buddy, and his friends gave me a ride to the seaside. It was a cool experience because the sea was a little bit cold for me, however it was cool, cause I haven't seen the seaside for 10 years. So I was just peaceful and happy. At night, we went to Kim's house, he and his friends, cooked Danish dinner. Oh, man it was soo nice. I had so much fun, and they knew about Hungary, they were interested in my country, we were talking about traditions in Denmark etc. After dinner, we went to a petrol station where I had the chance to try some real salty Danish liquish. (sós gumicukor). I must say I survived. :)) Surely, it's not my favourite, but it's okay. Maybe I buy some as a gift later on. :))
/me at the seaside near to Haderslev/On Sunday, We went to a trip. Carsten's family has a ship, we went to sea and the first time in my life I guess, I got a fisk (fish). I was the only one, no one else except me. But, I have to say, that I prayed for it, I really did, and a Bible story came to my mind, where Jesus says: "Ask and it will be given to you, seek, and you will find, knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread , will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets". Matthew 7: 7-12 from the Bible
I said to my Lord, I know you love me, but this is too much. I had a great weekend, and still, I feel like I'm totally blessed here. Ioana said that she feels like she is in a Cinderella or a fairy tale story. She is right. We feel like, we're in wonderland. :))
First of September:
The school started, I was excited, soo excited that even Carsten told me on which way I should go, I got lost a little bit, and I was on late, which I don't like. I know that Danish people are always on time. I wanted to be like that, especially on the very first day. It's okay. I met with Jette, my Eramus coordinator, she is so nice, very helpful. I felt like when I said somehing she wants to do it on that day, very kind, again a huge blessing to work with her. :)
My first day was okay, I liked it. I like the way they teach here. The key word is: freedom.
In my college, we never leave our classroom without permission, here you just go to the restroom, whenever you want, I mean whenever you need to go...
Different. Being here, feels like a holiday. However, I know I study, experience a lot of things. ...All right the best part will just come...
Good news to those who know that I cannot draw. This is not true, it's not me who said this, but my art class teacher. She said that don't tell to your body you cannot do it, it's so negative. I was just wondering how many times you can hear in Hungary since primary school this sentence: you cannot do it. So I suppose I should be a genius now, if you know what I mean...
So I have got this class, it's really cool, I can improve my drawing skills. Also, I have got English class, Comparative Education, Danish as a second language, Weblogs, where we study how to use this blogspot etc. Next week my teaching practice is gonna start. I'm excited again, I went to the primary school today where I start my week next week, the English teacher Tim, was a nice guy, he told the details, and I introduce myself on Monday, and I'm telling you the details later on.
my second weekend: We got to go to Aarhus, the second biggest town in Denmark with Kim, Frida, his daughter, Carsten, Ioana and me. We walked in the town and had a sandwich in a restaurant. Also, we had a trip to Stafet for Livet programe, fighting against cancer, we had the same kind of programe in Hungary. We had lots of fun that day. :)
Last Friday, 12th of September, we went to a school trip with he first year' students, and we had to do different kind of activities during the trip. By the end of the trip, we caught a cold, it's still pretty bad, and I thought that I had fun, but it was a little bit long and too much for me.
Around 5 pm. we got baptized, which meant you had to go through a some kind of difficulty field, tipically freshmen things to do at college. At the end we slided on the slide-way and we ended in a pool with full of stinky stuff, pasta, whipped cream etc. Yep, it sounds disgusting, but on the other hand it was fun, We looked funny after all. :) On Friday night, we went back to school to dance, we had fun...
/Ioana and me after school baptism, it was very cold/
On Sunday, we went to Ribe, west of Denmark, with the German groups. I got see the North Sea, which was amazing and again a huge blessing. I was so enthusiastic, and I was so happy and I shouted that Oh my God, I cannot believe I'm here. All the other students from Germany, except Ioana, looked at me strange, maybe they have already seen the North Sea, but you know when I'm happy, I'm really happy. I show it, you know that way....or if not you will get to know...
(me at the North Sea)Okay, I spend this week with cooking, going to school, try to recover from my sickness, but it seems to me that the Neocitran from home doesn't work. I should do something....
Well, I think I wrote the most important things about my three weeks here. I'm just so thankful to God being here, and I'm excited to tell you more about my studies, my experiences here.
I hope you liked it. :) Talk to you soon. Have a great week! Blessings :)
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