Week 11 ( Mon 26th March - Sun 1st April)

Cultural blog

This week, as we had no classes, Trisha, Fionnuala and I went with some Erasmus students; including a Turkish girl, a Spanish girl, a Colombian girl and 3 Dutch girls to Berlin.  We shared a hostel room with the Spanish girl and learned a lot about her and she asked us many questions about Northern Ireland. A week passed and she insisted that we visit Spain this summer! The Spanish girl also informed us that her dinner time was different to ours as the Spanish typically eat dinner at 10.00pm, to accommodate this we arranged to meet for dinner as a group around 7.00/8.00pm each night.  This week we were able to improve our cultural awareness as all of the girls shared their cultural interests, for example, the Dutch celebrate Queen’s Day; where everyone in Holland wears orange and white on 1^st May, the Colombian girl voiced her frustration about non-native people associating Columbia with drugs all the time and the Turkish girl told us she couldn’t eat pork as part of her culture.  These are only a few examples that we learned about over the week.

The whole group outside Brandenburg Gate

Berlin was a place I never had considered visiting as I didn’t realise its rich war history.  The girls briefly educated me about the Berlin Wall and how it divided the city as East and West Berlin. It wasn’t until we took a hop on - hop off bus tour that I really appreciated the significance and impact of war on this city.  I was humbled by some of the sights we seen, including; Checkpoint Charlie, Brandenburg Gate, Berlin Wall and the Jews monuments. To educate myself further, once I arrived back in Denmark, I watched Berlin videos on ‘youtube’ and was shocked at how families were separated by the wall for so many years. 

Me signing the Berlin Wall

I wondered if war is still a raw topic for the German people and if the majority of people don’t like to talk about it, never mind be associated with it.  The Dutch girls told us that often some German people express their frustration and refuse to answer questions about the war.  I suppose on reflection we can be quite ignorant to small details like this and forget that people are still embittered about history.  I did however enjoy learning about the war and its impact on the city.  I think a lot of us can be ignorant and passive to topics such as the war and other countries suffering as well as cultural differences. The Berlin trip has encouraged me to open my mind to this.  I look forward to other trips to places that are rich in history and that tell a story.  I also look forward to planning trips with the other Erasmus students, now that we know each other a lot more and enjoyed each other’s company.  This trip acted as a type of bonding session between us all and I feel I have made some friends for life!

Week 10 ( Mon 19th March - Sun 25th March)

Professional blog

This week we had our first education class and all of the ERASMUS students, including three Danish students that we had never met before were in the class.  Our new teacher Peter was relaxed and promoted an open learning environment where we felt at ease to introduce ourselves and ask any questions.  It is now very apparent that the University of Zealand teachers all promote this informal, relaxed and open learning environment.  I assume that the schools here would also follow this ethos.  I like learning here as I feel totally at ease with the teachers and can easily express my opinions or ideas to the rest of my class, without the fear of saying something wrong or naïve.  The teachers take such an interest in what you have to say and like to ask you questions and take notes on what you have to share.  Furthermore, I don’t feel like there is a hierarchy between the teachers and the students, it is encouraged that we can learn a lot from each other.

The education semester plan was displayed as an overview in a Prezi presentation and the content is basically the same as education studies back in Stranmillis e.g. learning theories, teaching styles etc.  We also played ‘Jeopardy’ which involved two pairs competing in a questions and answers activity.  The aim of the game was to revise education studies terminology and content, for example, I had to describe Success Criteria to the opposing pair of students and they had to guess the answer as ‘success criteria’.  I discovered that as students described things to me I could relate them to things we had studied in education at Stranmillis, however they used different words for the same definition, for example, differentiation and inclusion had different names in the Danish education system.  I also found that were a lot of things I had never heard of, including terminology for research on society and gender and its implications for teaching.

I am really looking forward to finding out more about learning theories and teaching styles that the Danish consider important to underpin teaching.  I have already heard the familiar theorists; Vygotsky and Bruner mentioned as well as another theorist Krashen. 

Week 9 ( Mon 12th March - Sun 18th March )

Personal blog

We moved to a different place on campus this week called ‘Hvidebo’ which means the ‘white house’.  The majority of other students live here including the Spanish, Dutch, Austrian and Danish students that we know and have classes with.  I was apprehensive and stressed about this move as we had got used to living where we were, however I knew the room was far too small for the three of us and I outweighed the pros of moving with the cons of staying.  The main things I was concerned about were not having our own private bathroom and kitchen, however once we cleaned everything, including our new room, ‘Hvidebo’ started to feel a bit more like somewhere I could spend the rest of my time in.





Our new accomodation

The communal bathroom and kitchen situation isn’t as bad as I presumed it would be.  It’s actually quite nice to live on a floor with other people passing through and cooking as you feel less isolated and the environment is more homely.  This week however I have began to feel a touch of homesickness, although the girls have been empathetic to this and can relate to it as they miss their families and friends too.  On a positive note this led to our decision to plan a trip to Berlin for a few days and see a change of scenery.  We also posted this idea on an International student’s facebook page and we now have three Dutch girls, a Spanish girl, a Colombian girl and a Turkish girl joining us! We are all really looking forward to seeing Berlin together and getting to know each other more.  It will also be a great opportunity to learn more about each other’s interests and culture habits perhaps, as we will share a hostel together.

Our room

 



This Saturday was St. Patrick’s Day and we invited the other students to join us in Copenhagen for the celebrations.  The other students had never had experienced the St. Patrick’s Day parade before and so were eager to embrace a part of Irish culture.   We all drew the three leaf clover on our cheek and walked in the parade along with the crowds of people dressed in St. Patrick’s Day green merchandise and novelty hats.  Ironically, this was the first time I had ever been at a St. Patrick’s Day parade and the fact that it was in Copenhagen and with lots of other cultures joining in, made the experience more enjoyable and memorable.  Perhaps I ought to embrace Irish culture a bit more back home!

St. Patrick's Parade

Week 8 ( Mon 5th March - Sun 11th March)

Professional Blog

This week in Teaching English as a Foreign Language classes we engaged in a lot of group work and we had another teacher called Finn taking the classes.  He immediately put us at ease and was very friendly and interested to get to know us and hear about our education system.  He also directed a lot of questions to Fionnuala, Trisha and I as we are the only native English speakers in the class and he didn’t hesitate to ask us to define words and provide appropriate words to help him to describe things in English.

The lessons were based on discussions through group work; where we discussed approaches to teaching English and whether speaking, listening, reading and writing should be taught exclusively and how we were taught. The Turkish students said they are taught how to write in English, but their teachers don’t speak to them in English and so they are not fluent speakers of English.  In our groups we came to conclusions that there needs to be a balance of learning English through speaking, listening, reading and writing activities and they shouldn’t always be taught exclusively. 

Furthermore, we learned that the Danish have introduced a new skill for English language learners – communication, which encourages students to apply their English learning with a partner or in groups by having a conversation with each other or writing letters.  I think back home we do engage in this, although we have not identified ‘communication’ as one of the language and literacy skills.  Also I think after discussing about this in groups it has placed more of an emphasis on how important it is to allow children to apply there learning through real-life contexts e.g. ordering something in a restaurant or having a telephone conversation.  This is because members of the group highlighted that they often were given contrived dialogues to practise and they seemed far removed from natural language use.

In our second class this week we were split into groups and each group had to focus on an element of teaching e.g. classroom discipline.  My group focused on lesson planning and each of us shared our experiences and what we thought should be considered when lesson planning.  The Dutch girl showed me and the Turkish girl a lesson plan template she uses and I found it interesting that there was a space for the teacher’s personal skills; skills they will work on during a lesson e.g. classroom discipline and using your voice appropriately.  I also learned that the Dutch trainee teachers engage in teaching experience every week, at least once a week and have seven weeks teaching practice every 2nd semester.  I think this is really beneficial as they are regularly engaging in a classroom setting, seeing a qualified teacher and the strategies and resources he/she uses as well as learning more about how children behave and learn. I think I could also benefit from this amount of experience as it would develop my confidence in teaching and the hands-on experience would perhaps help me to retain more knowledge about teaching and learning.

After our group discussion on lesson planning we prepared a PowerPoint and presented it to the rest of our class and Finn was impressed with the included Stranmillis lesson plan template as it considered everything i.e. differentiation, assessment, thinking skills and personal capabilities etc.  He asked me to upload a copy onto Sjaelland University’s version of Queen’s Online so that all the students could access it.  I feel my confidence in presenting has increased since I have joined these classes as we are encouraged to give presentations quite a lot.  I like that they are not assessed because they don’t feel as daunting or stressful, but rather an opportunity to share ideas with people in your class in a non-threatening, positive way.  It’s also giving me plenty of practice for future oral presentations.

Week 7 (Mon 27th Feb - Sun 4th March)

Personal Blog

I cannot believe I have been living in Denmark for nearly two months now! The time truly flies here and has made me realise that my decision to do ERASMUS was a wise one.  I was slightly apprehensive at first as my Mum and some of my family were wary of me going and thought that 5-6 months away from home was too long, as well as risky, as I would be missing out on teaching practice in a Northern Ireland school, a year before I expect to graduate.  However I feel that I am coping quite well being away from home; surprisingly, as I have never been away from home and without family for more than a week. I also feel this experience will add more value to my professional and personal development as a teacher, as I am engaging in a different education system and will hopefully take away new ideas that will improve my teaching style and my confidence  in teaching children.  Furthermore, I hope to introduce new activities and teaching strategies I learn about when I go on placement again.

Austrian Dinner

The Austrian girls invited us and the Dutch girls for a kaiserschmarrn dinner; a meal they like to enjoy after they go skiing.  It was very nice and similar to pancakes, although could be described as broken pieces of pancake with optional toppings of sugar and jam.   The conversation was interesting and we enjoyed each others company and exchanging similarities and differences from our cultures.  I think our cultures are very similar in terms of our sense of humour and society norms, for example, table manners.  However, one of the Dutch girls did remark on how thankful we are when we receive things like dinner and said that we don’t seem to be content with saying “thank you” just once.  This surprised me and made me question whether it was because of my family background or Northern Irish culture.  She did say that it’s nice that we are so polite. 

Movie Night

Fionnuala’s boyfriend Ruaidhri arrived on Friday and the both of them stayed in Copenhagen for the weekend, so Trisha and I decided to invite the Austrian, Dutch and Norwegian girls over for a movie night.  We all seem to share the same interests and I feel like we are building friendships with them, which will hopefully grow throughout our time here. It’s refreshing to have different company every so often, as with little class time we don’t really see much of the other students unless we arrange to meet up and sometimes we can feel quite isolated in our room.  Trisha, Fionnuala and I all agree that our experience here is getting better with the arrival of the other students and as we socialise more.

Week 6 ( Mon 20th Feb - Sun 26th Feb )

Personal and Cultural blog

This has been an eventful week! We came back from Copenhagen after a weekend away; staying in a nice hotel with Fionnuala’s parents and brother, and as the expression goes ‘back to porridge’.  We had a brief taste of luxury-living once again i.e. watching English TV channels in the hotel room, sleeping in comfortable beds, having a big ensuite with a bath and being treated to dinner in restaurants.  It heightened my appreciation for my lifestyle back at home and made me realise just how apathetic I have become about material things and luxuries over here in Vordingborg. 

Trisha was surprised to find her Turkish roommate had arrived when she entered and was greeted by her and a crowd of other Turkish students.  There was an instant introduction to Turkish culture when we exchanged a hug and a kiss on each cheek with them.  Unfortunately we also discovered that Trisha’s personal belongings and furniture had been moved and someone had been smoking in the room; which led to Trisha’s move to our confined room.  Fortunately, we met with our tutor the next day and were given the option for the three of us to move to a bigger room; where the majority of ERASMUS students live.

Pancake Tuesday with the ERASMUS students.

This week we also hosted Pancake Day for all of the ERASMUS students and we also celebrated ‘Austrian Carnival Day’ by wearing brightly coloured clothes and vibrant eye make-up.  It was nice to get everybody together to mix and engage in conversation with each other as we didn’t have this opportunity in the previous semester, when all the other students had international dinners.  This taught me that if you want something to happen you need to take responsibility to organise it over here as so far, nothing social has been organised for the ERASMUS students.  The event was successful and everyone from all the different cultures and countries enjoyed the pancakes, so much so, that we got invited to Turkish tea and cake by two Turkish students two days later.

Turkish Tea

At the end of this week we also were invited to dinner by the three Dutch girls; three Austrian girls and a Norwegian girl also came. We instantly bonded with each other and shared the same sense of humour; a bonus when we all come from different backgrounds and cultures.  I also was impressed at how fluent all the girls were in speaking English and it made me question our education system back home and our apparent ignorance to learning foreign languages.  Obviously we are at an advantage with being native English speakers, however I’m beginning to think that if children in Northern Ireland were to engage in foreign language learning at a young age, communication barriers would be minimised and cultural awareness, increased.  I love that ERASMUS is giving me the opportunity to engage with a variety of cultures and communicate with people from different countries.  We certainly are learning a lot from each other and about our cultures!  I’m looking forward to organising more socialising opportunities with the ERASMUS students and widening my knowledge of their cultures as well as entertaining them with examples of typical Northern Irish culture!

Dutch girls' dinner

Week 5 (Mon 13th Feb - Sunday 19th Feb)

Cultural blog

This week we went to Hamburg as the university was on ‘winter break’ for the week.  We stayed in a Generator hostel for three nights.  This was a new experience for Fionnuala and I as we had never stayed in a hostel before and we had a variety of concerns about how clean the rooms and bed linen were and who else would be staying there.  To our pleasant surprise, the hostel challenged our preconceptions; our room was modern, immaculate and very comfortable and we seen a few families and young couples staying.  Furthermore, it only cost us £30 to stay for the three nights! This positive experience has encouraged me to consider booking hostels in my future travels.

The first sight we seen was the busiest and biggest train station I have ever seen (Hamburg Central Station).  This is no ordinary train station; the atmosphere is electric as crowds of people shift through platforms - we almost lost each other in the crowds!  The place is also surrounded with fast-food restaurants and shops, as well as a police station.  Unfortunately it was also surrounded by homeless people which was very humbling and shocking as they peered through every bin they came across, regardless of who was watching.  I have never seen this extent of homelessness back in Northern Ireland.

We took a bus tour around Hamburg and the top attractions and sights were pointed out to us, including; the river Elbe (the second largest port in Europe), the Town Hall (Rathaus), St. Michaelis Church and Miniatur Wunderland.  We visited all of these places and each was fascinating. The river Elbe had a 20cm ice-cap (the last ice-cap was 15 years ago) which gave us the opportunity to walk on water. However, we weren’t adventurous enough to run, ice-skate or sledge along it; like a majority of the German people! 

Minatur Wunderland (43 000 square feet) is a must-see for everyone! I thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the different mini-worlds; including the USA, Scandanavia, the Netherlands and Hamburg.  The detail of every piece was incredible, there was even mini people doing a variety of worldly things in the day and night e.g. jobs, swimming, driving, running in fields, sunbathing etc.  The trains that travelled through the worlds made the experience even more special. 

Mini Hamburg

Rathaus, Hamburg’s town hall was more like a palace and the inside tour allowed us to see how luxurious and valuable it was e.g. leather wallpaper, gold doors, renaissance paintings covering the ceilings and wall borders.  Astonishingly, it was one of the only buildings in Hamburg not destroyed by the Second World War.

Me standing alongside Rathaus

I feel that visiting Hamburg has been one of my biggest highlights to date and it has instilled in me a desire to travel and see more of Europe and experience more cultures.  I am particularly excited at the opportunity of us being able to travel to Berlin as I have just finished reading ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ by John Boyne and am keen to see the sights that are rich with World War history.   I have also learned how easy it is to travel around Europe by train and see no excuse not to, while I have free time during the ERASMUS experience.