Protected: Week 4: Gaining New Perspectives From Danish Ways of Parenting and Crossing Things off My Bucket List!

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Liliana Corbett

<i>"Hello" in your host country's language:</i> Hej! <i>Home Institution (your U.S. University/College):</i> Portland State University <i>Expected graduation year:</i> 2021 <i>Destination city & country:</i> Copenhagen, Denmark <i>Program provider:</i> DIS <i>Major/minor:</i> Psychology <i>Demographics:</i> First-Generation <i>Future career aspirations:</i> Occupational Therapist <i>Top 3 goals for your time abroad:</i> 1. To connect with professors and other students who are interested in education and health care. 2. To form friendships with local people in Copenhagen. 3. To learn more about Danish culture and how to say common phrases in Danish.

This week I started my second and last summer class, which is called Nordic Education and Parenting! After only four days of class, Iโ€™ve gotten a glimpse into Danish values and customs, and Iโ€™m fascinated by so many of them. One thing that changed my perspective is their approach to childhood safety. I experienced mega culture shock when my professor pulled up a picture of a kindergarten that had knives and saws within the childrenโ€™s reach. Many Danes teach their children how to use real tools at a young age. My teacher explained that if you give a child a plastic โ€œsafetyโ€ knife that isnโ€™t as sharp, they have to press really hard to cut a piece of fruit. So when they grow up and use real knives theyโ€™ll be used to pressing much harder and may hurt themselves. It was a tiny example that made me reevaluate the way I think about giving kids โ€œchild-friendlyโ€ devices! Another example is how Danes let kids climb trees super high since it helps them find their boundaries and limits, whereas American educators usually do not allow tree climbing at school because of the safety risks. I donโ€™t think that any of these perspectives are right or wrong, just different! The fun part is getting to compare the two and see if there are any ideas I can take back with me to the US.

Since this was the first week of class and I had no major assignments to work on, I had a lot of free time to explore new places after class finished in the afternoon. Here is everything I did this week:

Monday: Natural History Museum

Tuesday: The Round Tower

Wednesday: Copenhagen Zoo

Thursday: Swimming at Island Brygge

Friday: Tried a new restaurant in my neighborhood

Saturday: Happiness Museum

Sunday: Christiansborg Palace

One tip that I learned from a friend is to โ€œflagโ€ places on Google Maps that you want to go to. Itโ€™s helpful because when Iโ€™m in an area I can open the app and see if Iโ€™m near any of the places so I donโ€™t miss out on any of them. After I visit a place, I โ€œheartโ€ it so I can look through the list in the future and remember everything I did!

My favorite thing that I saw this week was The Happiness Museum. Denmark consistently ranks within the top five happiest countries every year, so this museum explored the reasons behind this with interactive exhibits. It was interesting to see how happiness is measured because it feels so subjective. There was one room where guests could write what happiness means to them on a sticky note, and there were objects placed to show how different things can represent happiness. For example, there was a pair of boots with a caption that said they traveled with their owner through different countries and helped support them in their happiest moments. The room showed how people can find happiness in the smallest of things, no matter where they live.

Another highlight of my week was going up to The Round Tower (Rundetรฅrn). This is a 17th-century building that was built to be an astronomical observatory for the University of Copenhagen. I loved seeing the view of the city from the top because Copenhagen is beautiful and full of warm colors!

Next week I will be going on another study tour. This trip is for the class Iโ€™m currently in, so I will see more early childhood education centers. I am excited to learn more about Danish parenting throughout Denmark!