Short Study Tour to Southern Denmark

This was written after I got back from my short study trip to Southern Denmark from Thursday September 13^th to Saturday September 15^th. Sorry I just got it up!

So, it has now been way too long since I’ve written and I keep telling myself that I will come back to recount everything from when I arrived- but that doesn’t seem to be happening. So, I’m just going to start adding entries about what happened recently and maybe I’ll eventually catch up. (Cross fingers!)

This last Thursday to today (Saturday) DIS took all students for a short three-day study tour around to different places. My program was taken to the Southern part of Denmark to learn more about medical practice there and the Danish culture. To tell you the truth, I was a little sad that we weren’t going to go to the Northern part of Denmark, which I had heard so many good things about, but looking back, I had a great time in southern Denmark and would recommend anyone visit.

While driving to the first city, I got to see my first Danish movie “I Will Love You Forever.” Supposedly the actor, Mitch Mickelson (Who was the James Bond villain with the bleeding eye) is a very famous Danish actor and a heart throb to all Danish women. The movie was very realistic with an ending I wouldn’t expect, but what I really liked was the cinematography. I don’t know anything about filming movies, but I did like how the cameras were obviously carried by someone so they bounced around a lot, and I felt like I was watching the film as an onlooker. There was also a lot of zooming into certain props to emphasize them. The whole feel of the movie was very different from anything I’ve ever seen.

We first arrived at Under Sejlet (restaurant) where we were greeted by a nice lecturer (Stig Christensen) who happened to be a world traveler and chief medical doctor of the Southern Jutland Hospital. I was thrilled to find out that we were having a traditional Danish lunch complete with pickled herring. The second place we visited was a private clinic shared between 5 general practitioners. We had a chance to talk to the physicians, ask questions, and tour the facilities. I learned a lot and had a much clearer picture about health care in Denmark. Lastly on Thursday, we visited and stayed at the first folkehojskole (which is kinda like an optional undergraduate school) in Rodding and learned about what goes on here. It’s really fascinating. Foldhojskole, or gymnasium, is a place where young adults (17+) may go for a semester or so to expand their mind and learn about what to do in life. Students live at the school and get to choose their courses, but there’s no tests or grades. It was really interesting to talk to the students and sing songs at night (a tradition during special occasions). We also had a lecture from the principal, Mad Ryknd-Eriksen.

On Friday, we went to Region South Denmark and and learned about the new changes in the municipality system. This change was made to use resources more effectively. I learned a lot about the political side of Danish medicine and hospital structure. For lunch we had wonderful chicken sandwiches at Café Karma and American style. And then afterwards we had a chance to go to Trapholt, which is a modern art museum complete with Danish chairs and paintings. The chairs had been entered into an annual contest, and I would love to have any of them!

Afterwards we visited Koldinghus castle, which had a really spooky dungeon and beautiful tower view, and then we headed to a youth hostel in Sonderborg. This was definitely a very nice hostel and that night we had a great bonfire. How fun!

Today, we rode the ferry from Fynshav (Jutland) to Bojden (Funen) - a lot of people got sea sick L and visited Egeskov castle. My fav! The castle was beautiful, but the castle grounds were even more gorgeous with so many flowers and interesting museums and places to see. It was a perfect way to end the trip.

Now, reality time, and I have to concentrate for my first DIS test on Monday- eek! Wish me luck!