I spent the past weekend in Odense and Aarhus with Conflict and Migration- the short study tour was one of my favorite parts of last semester, so the bar was definitely set high, and it didn't disappoint! We started out bright and early Thursday morning. Fortunately, I live five minutes from where we were catching the bug, so the 7:30 departure time wasn't quite as horrifying to me as it was to some.
DAY ONE:
Our first stop was Vollsmose, which is a low income housing area outside of Odense. It's notorious in the media for having a high crime rate and a high immigrant population. It's also referred to as "Dish City" because most of the apartments have satellite dishes attached to pick up foreign news stations. When we arrived, we got a tour of the new cultural center they have to serve the people in the area. We spoke to one Somalian girl who participated in a mentoring program for women, and in a few weeks she is leaving Vollsmose and going off to university. They also have a music studio at the cultural center where anyone can come in and record songs or raps. It was a quick visit, but it was so interesting hearing about the different community initiatives that are in place, seeing examples of their success, and also how there is still room for improvement. For me, seeing a so-called Danish "ghetto" was eye-opening, and it was definitely not what I would expect the "most dangerous place in Denmark" to look like. My assumptions were based off of places in larger American cities, and comparatively, Vollsmose didn't seem so bad at all; however, there are still tensions and problems in the area, the biggest problem still being working to integrate immigrant populations into Danish society. We would see more examples of this as the tour went on.
Next, we made our way into central Odense and went to see Brandts Museum. As I've probably mentioned, I'm not a big museum person. Most museums make me tired, thirsty, and want to sit down. This was one such museum. It was a lovely place, just not really for me. After a quick guided tour, Sarah, Molly, Laurie, and I opted to head over to the main walking street and grab some shawarma and falafel for lunch. We wandered through a few shops and I found the BEST deal on a big, fluffy, gray infinity scarf- such a steal, and I'm obsessed with it.
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| Odense |
DAY TWO:
After the signature breakfast of bread and lunchmeat (which I honestly really enjoy and most people think is weird and gross) we went to see a school where most of the kids are of immigrant background. The school is doing a lot to help the kids, improve test scores, and make it successful, but there are a lot of challenges and many schools like this have been closing down recently. We got to walk around the school and see the library, the cafeteria, a few classrooms, and the most adorable children ever! Everyone at the school was so welcoming and hospitable- they gave us plenty of coffee and tea, and even sent us off with sandwiches!
Next, we went to Bazar Vest, which is an enormous indoor market where the vendors sell anything from clothes, food, produce, cars, you-name-it. It was definitely an experience walking around inside, as there were so many different languages being spoken. Interestingly (and probably kind of obviously) is that most people spoke their first language as well as Danish, and English wasn't as common as it would be in Copenhagen. It was cool though, I got to use a few elementary Danish words while ordering lunch!
After exploring the Bazar, we went to Gellerupparken, an area similar to Vollsmose. Again, the neighborhood was comprised of a few high rise apartment buildings complete with lots of satellite dishes. We heard a presentation from Youth-4-Youth, which is an organization that was started to keep kids off the street and reduce crime in the area. They seemed to be well received and plan some nice activities, but I was still (and still am) struggling to wrap my head around the difference between issues in those areas as opposed to a US "ghetto." The presenters seemed hesitant to talk about specifics, only saying that there were issues and it wasn't perfect, but overall it's a safe area, which lead me to be more confused as to why they exist in the first place if they started to reduce crime. Oh well, Criminology major problems I suppose. One interesting thing I did learn was that most crimes are committed outside of the immediate community, sometimes on public transit, because most residents know each other and there is a sense of solidarity with the people who live in Gellerupparken.
Our visit with Youth-4-Youth marked our last real academic visit, so it was time for fun in Aarhus. Incase you weren't aware, I love Aarhus. It's the second biggest city in Denmark, and also my second favorite city (next to Copenhagen of course!) We had a great dinner at a Greek restaurant where I tried the best hummus in the world as well as some other yummy treats. After dinner, DIS snagged us tickets to the hottest show in town- The Pidgeon Detectives, a band from the UK. I was pretty skeptical as to how the concert would be, but it turned out to be super entertaining, and I think the band really appreciated the huge audience that DIS created for them. Before heading home, most people went out to explore the city and Sarah and I met up with our friend Dylan who is studying in Aarhus and who we met on study tour last semester!
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| Aarhus and the charming canal that runs right through the city |
Check out one of their songs!
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| So close... |
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| The closest I've ever been to the stage, perfect for when he poured water on himself and shook his head into the crowd.. |
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| The crowd... 95% DIS |
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| The Pidgeon Detectives with Margaret, me, and Molly |
DAY THREE:
As I said, I don't really care for museums; however, there is one museum that breaks this pattern- ARoS. It is THE COOLEST PLACE in the world. You might remember from last time, but they have a few exhibits themed around rainbows, including a rainbow panorama circling the entire top of the museum as well as a room full of dense rainbow fog. Last year, Sarah and I took a video walking through the fog and ended up crashing into the back wall because it's THAT hard to see. This year, I was able to get a more successful video without any injuries and with a random sighting of my housemate Edwin! Enjoy.
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| Rainbow Panorama |
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| Look familiar? (The best part of this picture is the new SCARF that I got on sale) |
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| Hey Boy! |
After some coffee and cake at ARoS courtesy of DIS (and running to my Danish teacher who was there with another program!!) we had a few hours of free time before boarding the bus home to Copenhagen. It was a great couple of days to get to know the people who I'll be traveling to Istanbul with in just three weeks!!
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