10th and 11th Feb - Excursions

Since other students in Denmark had holidays that week, we had less school and more travelling ;). On Tuesday we went to Aarhus (on the North of Jutland). We travelled by IC train (I enjoyed again :)!) We got some tasks in groups for the excursion - each group should plan and introduce us some part of the trip. I like that, because the excursion was more "ours" then. Some groups were finishing their teamwork during the travel...:)



First group led us from the train-station to the Old Town - the oldest open-air museum in the world. And they introduced us that we could find 75 houses brought from the whole Denmark to the Old Town - on from Haderslev too... Then he had 90 minutes to go on our own to see all the old beauty and experience the atmosphere of old way of life, crafts...

You can watch for more on the slideshow below... (also the Cathedral and Aros Museum, which the other groups introduced to us after...) Enjoy!;)


...OK, I am sorry, the programme for the video-making is always falling down. So the video is only on my computer, but I am not able to put it here now. I hope I can manage later. If not, for my family and friends it is in my comp for later...


On Wednesday we had a "buddy day", therefore we arranged a trip with Carsten. Nevertheless, we were quite tired after the previous-day trip to Aarhus, that´s why we decided to go to more calm place to relax a bit. We travelled by car to thee coast on the East. It was the first time in my life I had seen snow on the sandy beach. :) And also swans at the sea. (I thought they live only on fresh water (on ponds and lakes like in the Czech Republic). OK, that´s way a swan is the Danish national animal.

Then we went by car two or three more kilometres to the South - to Kalvo island. Kalvo is a tiny island, therefore we can walk aroud it in two ours. I enjoyed the walk very much because of the beautiful nature, calm atmosphere and sunny weather. We saw also a viking ship and we met only a few houses. In my opinion it must be pretty nice to live there. I found the landscape and nature rather similar to the Czech and I felt almost at home there...

Later in the afternoon we came home and Mate with Noemi prepared very delicious lunch for all of us. Afterwards, we played a card game "bohnanza" together. Since then we play the game very often with my flatmates, because we found it very enjoyable.
Anyway, the whole day was very enjoyable and we "charged our batteries" a little bit. "Tak, Carsten". ;)

9th Feb Danish culture and our cultures

On Monday the 9th we had a Culture lesson with Jette. Each of us had prepared some statements: I am Czech/Polish/Spanish etc. because... It was very interesting to think more about our identity and differences and uniguenesses in our cultures. I wrote for example:
I am Czech because:

• I can play a musical instrument. (It is said that "every Czech is a musician.")
• I like beer. (The Czech consume the biggest amount of beer per capita a year - 156,9 litres (including babies :) ), did you know that? )
• I live in the heart of Europe.
  
• I have a "clever pair of hands". (Czech people are said to be very handy, skilfull)
• I like cream sauces and unhealthy, fat food.
• unfortunately I have to keep an eye out for my things in the streets. (There are many pick-pockets and thefts).
• I send a lot of SMS.

I learnt a lot about my classmates´cultures - e.g.:
The Hungarians
love spicy food (I noticed during our common dinners, Mate and Noemi :D)
and kissing in the streets. ;) (I noticed too :D)

The Polish love Vodka ;)

The Turkish
drink Turkish tea in a traditional glass. (red tea, isn´t it, Zep? :))
and coffee (and then they foretell the future from the cup)
they kiss their relatives
the put money in the bra (Save, isn´t it?;) )
clean the bottom with water (Zep misses a water-closet a lot! First of all she thought that the toilet is broken. However, when she saw a couple of "broken toilets, she realised that maybe that´s like that in Europe.;) )

The Belgians eat a Belgium chocolate.

and the Spanish like sleeping (we noticed it right the first day when Carlos overslept :D)
wine and oranges. And parties, of course! :)

Than we spoke more about cultural awareness theory -e.g. Geert Holfsteed "Triangle": Human nature, Culture and Personality (s. the portfolio). And also about an "onion diagram" - what culture consists of: Values, Rituals, Heroes and Symbols. It was very interesting for me to deepen, to think more about culture.
I must confess that the longer I stay abroad and the more I learn about the others - the more I learn about MY CULTURE AND MY IDENTITY.

We also went through a questionare about Denmark and the text called "Xenophobe´s guide to the Danes". We are getting to know the country more and more... And some specialities about Danish culture?
For example:

• the Danes dance around the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve. Did you know it?
• the Danes are always on time (it means even that if they are too early in front of the house in which they are invited for the dinner, they will stay outside in the rain until the right time!)
• A typical Danish conversation opener is: "Bad weather, huh?" :D
• The Danes put the flag on the dinning table when somebody has a birthday
• The national animal is Swan
• Denmark became the first European country to legalise same-sex marriages (in 1989!)
• one of the most important values is the freedom of speech, Denmark is very liberal country
• The Danes queue by a number system (we experienced it the first week - we hadn´t know about the system and we waited in a very small phone-shop (only 3 customers were there). And when we thought it was our turn (after very long 10 minutes), we found out that we didn´t have a number. OK, once again!... Therefore we learnt;) )
• And of course - one of the most important things in Danish culture is "HYGGE"
  

(to cite from the original text: "To have a hyggelig time is social nirvana in Denmark. It is not only cosiness related to physical surrounding...it is connected with people´s behaviour towards each other. It is the art of crating intimacy: A sense of comradeship, convivality and contentment rolled into one. Achieving hygge generally involves being with friends and family, and eating and drinking. Candlelight is used to encourage a hyggelig atmosphere...")

It´s is quite difficult to explain it, but if you experience it (hygge is really everywhere, especially when you walk in the old town in the evening), you love it! And as I said at the beginning - our beautiful house is really hyggelig.
If I should compare hygge to the Czech language, I would say "teplo domova" (the warmth of home).

I think that it is very connected with the geography of Denmark. Very often it is cold and dark weather, you can´t see many people in the streets. Everyone prefers a warmth home or a café together with his family or friends. People also don´t close curtains and light candles on the window-sills as well as switch on some table-lamp...
That is Denmark ;)

7th-8th Feb - Hurray, a weekend :)

Hurray, the whole weekend ahead of us - we can explore Denmark togehther with my flatmates. And have a rest, of course. :)
On Saturday we decided to go to Ribe - a viking town on the west coast. Noemi and Mate have a car, therefore travelling is much more easier (and cheaper!) then. We four and Carsten hit the road in the morning an we appeared in Ribe on our later. At first we visited a Viking museum, then the cathedral (and its lookout on the tower) and we walked through the beautiful old town. Ribe has a very rich and old history, you can feel it from the very aged houses...
And then we visited the longest beach I have ever seeeeeeeeeeen - on Romo island. I couldn´t believe that the tide moves the sealine more than one kilometre!








(If you want to see more pictures, have a look on
http://picasaweb.google.com/eliskaskalova/DanskoErasmus2009?authkey=3gYDraM-80c# )








In the evening we celebrated birthdays of Gosia and Krisztina. Our classmates who lives in the house of residence organized a secret party for them. Until the last moment Gosia and Krisztina didn´t know about it. We enjoyed it very much and we also sang karaoke :)




On Sunday I slept very long. That´s one of the things about Erasmus - first weeks you are pretty TIRED. You have to concentrate all days long in English, acclimatize in new country, town, home; you meet a lot of new people, have to go shopping in Danish and take in a lot lot lot of information...
That´s way you need to sleep and regenerate - don´t forget it.

5th Feb A school musical

On Thursday evening Carsten, me, Mate, Noemi and Zep visited a school musical. It took place at school where Carsten is having his practice.
We came half an hour earlier and were warmly welcome by a subrector of the school. She introduced us the school and told us about Danish school system and the Danes. It was very nice of her. The school building was very snug and the whole environment there was very friendly and creative. Carsten also showed us a car-project which he did with his pupils. I was surprised, how interesting math can be!


At 7 p.m. the musical called "Prince Rock and Prince Swing" started (punctually on time - we are in Denmark ;) ).
I really enjoyed it eventhough it was all in Danish. The performance of the pupils was absolutely great. They weren´t shy at all, they were very self-confident even in solo scenes. And I think they enjoyed the performance themselves too. Amazing! They also played all the music life. The atmosphere in the hall was very friendly and at the end of the musical, all the pupil-actors, -musicians and - sound engineers got a flower from the headmaster of the school.
I found this project very creative and valuable for the pupils. They not only sang, performed and played, but also co-operated and explored and used their abilities and qualities.
It was really good experience to see it life. Thank you for invitation, Carsten!

6th Feb - Danish culture and Danish language

On Friday we had a lesson with Jette in the morning. First of all we discused our school visits a lot. Then we checked ourHaderslev quizes. Our group: Maté + Noemi + me (+ Carsten, the most important person, of course! :) ) won - we had got almost all the answers. The freezing in the Wednesday fog was worth ;)! Yippee!

And during breaks I could observe some changes, which are gradually coming... A bit more a collective team? :)



In the afternoon we had our first lesson of Danish. Our teachers are Christina and Signe - students of "Danish as a second language"; they brought us a very nice cake. So we learnt that Danish people love cakes and they are good at it ;). It was really nice introduction to Danish culture :). Many thanks!




.....Mmmmm, very delicious cake, isn´t it?


Since Friday I am able to introduce myslelf a bit: "Jeg hedder Eliska. Jeg kommer fra Dobruska." However, heed! Danish language is pronounced very different way from spelling. Ooops! That´s why Danish is said the second most difficult language in the world. (After Chinese language. Can you imagine?! )

After the lesson we went altogether to "Friday café" to practice our Danish little bit.
"En ol" ("one beer") I asked a barkeeper. But her reaction was some question (I didn´t understand any word.). Uhhh? "Light or dark one?"...OK, I have to study a lot! :D
We enjoyed a table footbal (hurray, it´s for free) and around 4 p.m. we went home... I was pretty tired after the first school-week, however, I liked it very much...

5th Feb The first school visit

On Thursday we went to our first school visits. Me and Mate went to a 10th grade school in . We were warmly welcome by Annette and all teachers in the teacher´s room. First of all we got a cup of coffee and Annette introduced us more to the Danish school system and 10th grade schools. This kind of schools is very interesting for me, because we don´t have any in my country. Students who finish 9th grade have an opportunity to attend an additional year. It gives them chance to:

• get to know themselves more - and help to find them their way in professional life - the following studies, job suitable for them, if the aren´t decided yet


• gain more knowledge for following studies - they can focus more on field of study they need for their high school (for example grammar school)


• mature more before such an significant life decision about their future career (and enjoy teenage life of course)

There are also quite lot emigrant-pupils, who have an opportunity to catch up with the other pupils during the additional year (they had a disadvantage because of language difficulties in their first years of studies).

These 10th grades schools are therefore optional, Danish teenagers can go there - or continue directly at high school after 9th grade.

As Annette said us Danish pupils can go after finished 9th grade to:

1. A 10th grade school - an additional year


2. Upper secondary schools - Technical

- Grammar

- Business

3. Apprenticeship -technical/business etc. ...

...Then we had a bit more time, so we spoke to other teachers in the teacher´s room and after our first lessons experience was to come. Me and Mate visited together the English lesson with Annette and then Mate observed a math lesson and me another English lesson with a different teacher.

And what about my impressions? What is the same at Danish schools and what is different in comparison with the Czech Republic?

Firstly I would like to tell you THE DIFFERENCIES

(because you notice differencies at first, of course):

• the equipment in classroms is excelent

- in every classroom there was a projector, a computer connected to the internet and a smartboard
-therefore Annette could use Youtube during the lesson
(on the other hand, the classrooms weren´t too decorated - with posters, pictures, useful materials and charts, students´projects, etc. - as Czech language classrooms usually are)

• the pupils were more "free" in the lessons

- the could wear caps, have a lollipop, have their laptops on...
- this is maybe because of that kind of school, I think that 10th grade schools differ a bit from the other schools, but I haven´t had an opportunity to compare yet. I will see...

• the relationship between teacher and pupils is different, I would call it more a "partnership"

- the pupils called the teacher with her first name
- the teachers behave more friendly towards students (especially the second one), they didn´t show any superiority
- I think there was more understanding between teachers and pupils, it was more personal (some pupils spoke to the teacher in the corridor spontaneously, that is VERY rare in the Czech Republic)

• the teaching is less frontal, the pupils worked more in pairs, groups, individually

- this kinds of work are also connected with language teaching in the CR, but I think Danish pupils were more independent and quite self-disciplined during their group work (the teacher could even leave the classroom and most of the students keep working)
- their are simply -used to it. In Czech schools is rather unusual for them, because most subject are taught frontally, I think they feel a bit uncomfortable about group work and responsibility then

• the teaching is less content-driven and more objective- and process-driven

- it is connected with the previous point
- pupils are more involved in the lesson
- the teacher is more guide than "the only source of information" (using the internet in the lesson is also connected with less "information-passing" role of the teacher and more showing the way where to find the information and how to deal with it)

• the school is more connected to real life

- this is difficult to explain, but my feeling was that the school is less separated from the happenings outside the building, that it is more about and for the "real life"
(-the teacher for example discused different topics from the book with pupils, they have to think about reasons and solutions of violence in the streets)

• the teachers co-operate a lot to prepare the plans for the subject they teach

- both the teachers used the same (self-made) materials in the lesson
- they can substitute each other easily then if one of them is ill

• the teachers seemed to be more relaxed and less stressed than Czech teachers, they seemed to have more understanding for students, involve more effort for preparing materials, like their job

(Therefore I would love, during my stay in Denmark, to find out "Why?" :) )

AND WHAT IS SIMILAR?

• organization of the classrooms (desks in lines)
• classroom environment
  
• condition of the building
• pupils´ behaviour (not excellent, not bad, but still depends on a teacher a lot, of course)
  

SOME WORDS IN THE END...
The Danish schools reminds me our Czech new system called "Framework educational programme" (it has been introduced since September 2007 to first classes) - in established practice.
It is really valuable experience for me.

I really liked the second lesson, the teacher has really good relationship with students and the lesson, the teaching process seemed to be joy for both sides.

3rd and 4th Feb - Lessons and other activities

On Tuesday we learnt how to create a weblog (therefore you can´t read this now ;-) ). In the afternoon we had a lesson with Jette - we spoke about our expectations and discused reasons why we wanted to became Erasmum students. There are a few of mine:
I would like to improve my English and get life experience, I love travelling and meeting new people, I want to gain knowledge about foreign educational system and practice teaching, and above all - I found the project "Living and Learning Together" very interesting.
I can say that so far, all my expectations have been filled very well.

On Wednesday we had a very good Music lesson which we enjoyed very much. We sang a" welcome song" and composed our own from the "greeting words" of our countries, played and composed different rythms with bottles and our body (for an example see the video), listened to a piece of music and drew a four-part pictures according to the music (and played it as a drama then) and sang a lot of songs... Thank you Annette!




After school on Wednesday me, Maté, Noemi and our buddy Carsten went for a walk in Haderslev to fill a "Haderslev quiz", which we got at school. There were questions about places, history and shops, which we had to find. And we also had to ask people in the streets or shops.
I think it is very nice idea, how to get the students acquainted with the town "actively".
Eventhoug it was foggy and chilly weather, we enjoyed it pretty much and found a lot of beautiful and interesting places. I´m sure we will explore them more and we will enjoy our time in this charming town very much.
The pictures speak for themselves...

2nd - An introduction to the Danish school system

On Monday afternoon we had a lesson with Torbjorn Ydedard (I am sorry, Torbjorn, I don´t have the strange special Danish letters on my keyboard to write your name correctly). The lesson was a part of the first-four-week module called "Comparative Studies" and Torbjorn introduced us to the Danish school system - its history, current constitution as well as the key ideas.

These are some main and interesting things that attracted me:

In Denmark "All children of school age shall be entitled to free instruction in primary schools."
It means that all children are invited to go to school for free, but still, if they parents want to educate them at home, thay can. (Anyway, they are examined then, of course.)
If they want their children to go to school, they have a free choice out of these:

• public schools (grade 0-9 / 10)

• private schools - grade 0-9 / 10

- "boarding schools (but not similar to English ones) 8 -10 grade

• private teaching
  

There is difference between private and public schools (="Folkeskolen").
Private schools are usually small and the teaching there is according to their own convictions. Therefore private school can differ according to their "beliefs" and ways of thinking and approaches. There can be muslim private schools, German schools (especially in South Jutland area which used to be a part of Germany for about 100 years before WWI) and a great variety of "alternative" schools... And parents have to pay 20% of the cost of the education at a private school.
However, there are some things, which both public and private schools have in common - so called "common goals" for each subject.

And some of the " key ideas" and characteristics of the education system in Denmark are:

• cross-curricular teaching
• cooperation of school and parents
• feedback to the parents - evaluations
• differentiated teaching according to individual needs of pupils
• teacher - pupil cooperation concerning individual- and class- goals
• equality between teacher and pupil
• children learn to be social
• focus on autonomy
• focus on pupils
• teachers often make self-made materials
• motto: "Have a courage to use our own understanding"

This is really interesting for me, because characteristics and ideas of the Danish school system is similar to Czech system called "framework educational programme" (=RVP). This programme has been being introduced to Czech primary and lower secondary schools since September 2007. The Czech programme is therefore in the beginnings (and maybe more in ideas, than in real practice since now, because its changing slowly). It´s why I was so curious about the Danish school system and I really want to see and experience it in practice.
And on Thursday our first visits of schools were to come...

PS: And I forgot - pupils address teachers always with their first names in Denmark!
(Equality and a freedom of speech are one of the most important things for the Danes, so maybe that´s why...) :-)

2nd Feb - The first day at school

I was very curious about my new schoolmates and lessons, the Danish system of education and "Living and Learning Together" programme overall. We walked to the college together with Maté and Noemi. The way to school on foot takes about 15 minutes through the nice town-centre, so it´s great.

We met in B32 class at 9 a.m.. We are 14 students altogether: Lilla, Krisztina, Noemi and Máté from Hungary, Zeynep and Canan from Turkey, Marlena, Gosia and Marianna from Poland, Anja from Belgium, Carlos from Spain and me, Míša and Vašek from the Czech Republic.
These are people with whom I am going to spend 3 months - with whom I will be "Living and Learning Together".

First of all we got general introduction and everyone also got his own file with a lot of useful things. We could find in it a namecard, detailed schedule of the whole programme, information booklet for exchange students, the contacts for teachers and our schoolmates, a map of the college campus, a booklet about Haderslev and South Jutland... It was a nice surprise for me and therefore I started to feel that the program would be very well prepared for us.


Than we played an "opening game" to get known each other and the game was really good "ice-breaker". I was in a pair with Gosia and I get to know for example that: she used to play DRUMS, BROWN is her eye-colour and she was born in 1987... After the game we all continued in our dialogs, so the fulfilled the purpose... :-)


After the general introduction we went for an excursion of the college campus with one of the "buddies" - Tina. Since then we know, where the all buildings are, we also visited the library, the school canteen and an important place for all students - the club, where student´s Friday café takes place ;-)...

30th Jan - 1st Feb First Weekend in Haderslev

I had had three free days-off for an acclimatization and exploring Haderslev before my school started, and my flat mates from Hungary should have come by car some time on Saturday. On Friday I went shopping to the closest supermarket Remo 1000 and to the pedestrian street in the centre. Oh, and I found shopping in Denmark a bit uneasy. Why? Since I didn´t know ANY word in Danish and needed to find some stuff in the shops. But names of goods are written mostly only in Danish. So I spent a lot of time with shopping :-D

Later the sun shine up for a short time. The first time when it´s not completely dark in Denmark. :-) That´s why I ran for my camera and took pictures of my room and house where I live. The house is very cosy and comfortable (the Danes would say "hyggelig") and it´s in the old (and really beautiful) part of Haderslev.

In the afternoon two girls from Erasmus came to visit me. It was very nice of them. So I already knew 2 of my new schoolmates :-)

At 4 p.m. we went to Kafka café for a cup of coffee together with Carsten. (the café is named after the Czech writer, but nobody knows why. Anyway-a bit of Czech culture there ;-) ) We spoke about Erasmus stay, Denmark, travelling and we could ask Carsten about Danish culture. And we learnt a first Danish word - "Tak" ("Thanks"). We learned that typical Danish meal is meatballs with brown sauce :-)

Then we went together to Friday Café then. The semifnal of handball was played at that time, therefore many Danish students came to watch it, the room was "overcrowded" :-) However, there was a little bit too smoky air to me... We spoke to a few of European students and then I left with Carsten to meet my new flatmates - Maté and Noemi. They already crossed Europe and were approaching Haderslev. I was really curious how this people, a married couple, would be... (Won´t they be too serious? Or uncompanionable?)
Everything wrong! ;-)

Maté and Noemi are very nice, friendly and team people with very good sense of humour. And I am sure, we are going to have a very good time together :-)
We had a dinner together on Friday evening and I tasted Hungarian salami... We also decided to cook for each other and swich every third/fourth day. Therefore teamwork and "Living and Learning Together" starts :-))

On Saturday we went for a walk in Haderslev together with Carsten. I found out that Haderslev is very beautiful town. We were in the centre, but also at the harbour and lake... I am looking forward to time spent in Haderslev and its surroundings very much...

We invited Carsten for lunch and I cooked for us for the first time. And then we played anboard game Al Grande together. We enjoyed it very much and were laughing almost all the time. Carsten left us around 7 p.m....We had really good day together...

29th Jan, Coming to Denmark

That´s the day D - time to travel to Haderslev. You leave your family, friends, room, things, town, your Czech university and schoolmates... almost everything - except a 20-kilogram suitcase and a bag - at home. HOME - the place you like, you are used to and which gives you a kind of security. Now it´s time to step out into the world, towards new experience and adventure in your life.
You have some - maybe many - reasons why to go there, to study abroad. However you ask yourself- is it going to be the way I´ve made in my mind, the way I expect it to be? Will I manage it all?
So, don´t hesitate and let´s say"Goodbye, see you in 3 months." Take the suitcase and go. Go towards an adventure... :-)

I left home soon on Thursday morning, my father drove me to the airport. (Thank you, dad!) I arrived in Copenhagen around noon and the first thing, first impression I saw from the plane were the windmills. A windpark on the sea in the fog. It was dark, a bit gloomy day, but I think I never forget this view.


I didn´t know too many things about Denmark. It´s a kingdom, a member of EU, however they don´t have Euros. It consist of some islands (in fact - many islands ;) ), but the main of them are connected with Juttland with bridges - therefore I can get by direct train near Haderslev (lucky me, with the 20-kg case :-) ). And the place where I am flying is Copenhagen - the capital. Mmm, what else? Not so much, I have to confess.
When I told my friend who had visited Denmark for 2 weeks that I am going to study there, he said to me - "Denmark is a strange country. With quite a "featureless" culture," he told me. "I haven´t found anything really Danish. And it´s quite bad weather there..."
Therefore I decided to focus on it more and try to get know a Danish culture - to find things, customs, traditions, food, values, characteristic of people or whatever which I can call it´s really Danish. Since I thing every country is specific in some way and has something unique. And I like getting to know new cultures, traditions and people anyway...;-)


On Thursday afternoon I traveled by train from Copenhagen, through Fredericia to Kolding and by bus to Haderslev then. I saw quite a lot of landscape from the train and met first Danish people. And my first impressions?

• I saw a lot of windmills and wind power plants through the whole country.
  
  

• Danish trains are very comfortable, clean and on time. (if you know Czech trains, you understand, why I wrote it here :-) )
  

• Danish people are friendly and try to help - and almost everyone can speak English (which is rather good for me, because I can´t speak Danish at all ;-) )

• The weather is cold and it´s pretty dark outside eventhough it´s noon or afternoon. (That´s the thing my Czech friend was right about Denmark.)

• The long long bridge connecting "Copenhagen island" and "Odense island" is breathtaking. I couldn´t believe that!

I came to Haderslev at 17:25 (again on time ;-) ) and my buddy Carsten picked me up at the bus station. I had known that I was going to live in an old part of the town, however, I didn´t imagine it so beautiful. We were walking through narrow sinuous streets of the historical centre of Haderslev and I felt the first day already that I am going to like it here very much.
Then I got the key of the house and entered it with Carsten. And the house was - amazing! Cosy and comfortable - now I know that Danish people would say " hyggelig". :-)

Then I went shopping with Carsten to the closest supermarket and I bought some basic food. A kind of "shock" for me - food is 3 of 4 times more expensive than in the Czech Republic. Ooops!

We also set up the internet connection to my computer, so I can´t be in contact with my family and friends. OK, it´s not too bad to be 800 km far away from home...
And let´s see what tomorrow brings!