Monday, September 10, 2007

False advertising

So I went to Tivoli, which is like the Disneyland of Denmark. Of course that would be inaccurate to say because Walt Disney actually got his inspiration from Tivoli. Tivoli was basically created by the fairy tales of Hans Christian Anderson, and though he has a very charming mind, his park was a little less than expected. There were a few rides, nothing like Six Flags or King's Island of course. Mostly is was pretty scenery, lots of restuarants, a theatre, a concert stage, and yes, of course, icecream every square block. I would say the best part of the experience was going through Hans Christian Anderson's fairly tale land (kind of like the ride "Small World" at the Disney parks) because we just sat in a thing that revolved us around scenes and toys that compromise his stories. There were many, but I only recognized "The Little Mermaid," "The Ugly Duckling," "The Princess and the Pea," and "Thumballina" (sp). Anyway, the total experience minus some german food I consumed was $279 kroner, so roughly $50. I guess the Danes are appreciate this one tourist attraction, besides Legoland, but I could of done without. I did appreciate the danish experience however, and appreciate it's marketing techniques.
I have also been thinking lately that the kollegium experience I signed-up for was falsely advertised. The social areas aren't so social, I apparently live in a not so good part of greater Copenhagen, and I don't even have a can opener to open my can of tuna I purchased a week ago. Though I have met several people from my kollegium that I hang out with on a daily basis, it wasn't entirely because of the kollegium setting. It was because when we had introductions in class, several people announced they were in the same kollegium as me. Then after that I started talking to them. Oh well, what are you going to do. I have signed up with a danish visiting family, so hopefully they reply soon and I can have another danish get-together.
Before I end this post, I would also like to note the atrocity of assigning essays that are due the day after we get back from field studies. All of the readings and overlapping papers are going to stress me out completely and it will become quite difficult to balance the traveling with the homework. I am completely jealous of those students who are allowed to make all of their study abroad classes pass/fail. This way, they don't actually have to be so in-depth with the academics, but enhance the abroad experience through fully living in another culture. In the end, I can only hope that my experience contains the quality of "hygge"...a danish word that is apparently not translateable, but used to describe a feeling of enjoyment. This of course I have to now turn into a 2000 word essay.

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