So Many Activities

My apologies for not writing in a while. I went to some pretty awesome places recently, but this week was midterm week, so I didn't have much free time to write. Luckily, tests are over now. So it's blog time!

Hamburg, Germany

Friday

From Friday to Saturday last week, I went to Hamburg, Germany with my Holocaust and Genocide class. We left Friday afternoon, drove 6 hours in a bus, and arrived in Hamburg around 10 pm. My friends and I decided we wanted to go check out Hamburg, so we took a taxi to the Red Light District. Although the name sounds like its a really sketchy area, it's actually the most popular street for night life in Hamburg and was PACKED with people. The city of Hamburg and it's surrounding areas have as many people (~5 mill) as all of Denmark... so it was quite different from Copenhagen. The Red Light District is a 1km long street called Reeperbahn that goes a little like this: strip club, bar, sex shop, dance club, brothel, theater, strip club, beer-to-go, sex shop, bar, dance club, strip club. It's one of the most famous streets in the city. Down the center of the street was a huge square where there was an outdoor silent rave!! It was so cool. If you're ever in Hamburg, go to the Red Light District.

A taste of the sex shops here

The silent rave! Pretty hard to see... but maybe you'll get the idea.

(To those who don't know what a silent rave is: A huge crowd of people on a stage who are all wearing headphones. Everyone on stage is listening to the same music, and the DJ is also wearing headphones. To the people passing by, its really entertaining because the headphone people are jumping and singing along to music that you can't hear. It looked like so much fun.)

Saturday

Saturday morning was the start of the academic part of our trip. The class is called Holocaust and Genocide, so we traveled to Hamburg to visit the concentration camp Neuengamme. Neuengamme was a labor camp, and it had one of the highest death tolls of all camps of its kind during the Holocaust-- 50%. Most labor camps had a death toll of 35%. Over 50,000 people were exterminated or died in Neuengamme over the course of the war. In Auschwitz, for comparison, over 2.5 million were exterminated or died. To give you some perspective on the scale of the concentration camp network, over the course of the war, there were some 15,000 camps in Germany and occupied countries, a number that completely shocked me.

This picture shows only the major camps. It's truly unbelievable how many there were.

Before I continue, I'd just like to briefly discuss the discomfort that comes naturally when discussing a subject as heavy and emotionally taxing as genocide. To quote my professor, a genocide historian, on the first day of class, "I don't want you to think that I am an emotionless person because I am able to discuss such a horrid subject with such objectivity. It is not that I am not affected by the topics, but rather that I have been studying them and talking about them for so long that I am comfortable discussing them. While it is natural and perfectly acceptable to become emotional, we have to recognize that being sad does not help anything. We can be as sad as we'd like and extend our sympathies to these people, but that alone accomplishes nothing. If we want to study and to learn, we have to go beyond being sad. Then, and only then, can what you learn be applied to the horrors that are occurring today." I didn't think I could have said it better than him.

Janusz-Korczak School

To start the day on Saturday, we went to Janusz-Korczak School, which was a sub-camp of Neuengamme. Here, 20 Jewish children were used in medical experiments and had the glands under their arm pits surgically removed. When the doctors finished with their experiment, the 20 children were hung by SS officers in the basement of the building. Some of the children had such low body weights that they did not die by hanging. For these children, the SS officers squeezed their bodies until their ribs broke and they died. Their bodies were left in the basement.

Today, the building is used as a public elementary school in Germany. We discussed the ethics of this--a previous murder sight being converted into an elementary school. As my teacher explained, there is no way to travel around Germany without encountering a building or an area that was once a sight of a mass killing. If the Germans didn't convert Nazi-occupied buildings, there would hardly be room for the current population. It can also be seen from an uplifting perspective, that Germans today recognize the historical significance of these sights (there was a memorial plaque by the entrance and memorial garden), but do not want to allow the Nazi regime to still consumed their society, which would happen if they left thousands of buildings abandoned reminding them everyday of the horrors that occurred there.

Neuengamme Concentration Camp

When I first saw the camp, I was surprised by its appearance. It did not look like my mental image of a concentration camp (KZ) . For most people, their mental image of a KZ is one that looks like Auschwitz. In reality, Auschwitz is an extremely special case; it was unlike any other. Neuengamme, however, was a very typical camp--rather small, located just outside a town, and (if not for that it was a KZ) a rather pretty, grassy area. Overall, my experience here was more informative than emotional--quite the opposite of what I predicted. Most of the structures of the camp have been destroyed, such as the barracks, crematorium, and prison. In their place lie cement squares on the ground, marking where they used to stand. Because of this, it took a lot of imagination to picture how this camp looked during the war. The combination of the signs placed around the camp and my teacher's tour of the camp taught me so much. I still struggle to comprehend how people were ever able to survive under the conditions here.

1 2

1) Where the barracks once stood--now symbolically marked with crumbled pieces of brick

2) The brick oven--the main labor task was brick making, since the camp was placed next to a clay creek. The bricks were a huge source of income for the SS.

3 4

3) A railway cart that transported people to the camp. 80 persons were packed into a singular cart for a multi-day journey with a single bucket in the corner for human waste. Those who died on the trip were piled at one end and used as a place to sit.

4) The canal that was hand-dug by the prisoners who carried shovels of clay into wheel barrows for the bricks. The prisoners had to dig and carry the clay at a running pace with nothing but watery coffee to eat for breakfast. If they slowed their pace or dropped any clay, they were killed by the overseeing SS officers because they were guilty of "sabotage."

Overall, touring the camp was an uncomfortable and unbelievable experience. Unbelievable because I found it nearly impossible to imagine myself ever living under the conditions at this camp. There is a distinct difference between hearing about the horrors that occurred at concentration camps and standing in the exact place where they occurred. I can not begin to comprehend the level of suffering that occurred here.

Biology of Marine Mammals Lab... Warning: the pictures below are not for those weak in the stomach.

Sunday

I returned from Germany at 10pm on Saturday night, and then I was up at 5am the next day to go to an all-day lab for my Biology of Marine Mammals lab. For this, my 12 fellow classmates and I met at the crack of dawn for a 3.5 hour car ride to Esbjerg, a small city on the western-most shore of mainland Denmark (Copenhagen is located on the eastern-most shore of the eastern-most island of Denmark). Once we arrived, my teacher introduced us to the guests of honor for the day: one porpoise and 4 baby seals--guests that we would be dissecting shortly.

Before you begin to yell at scientists for being horrible people, each of the animals was mercy-killed. Occasionally, a baby seal or porpoise is found alone on the shore, abandoned by its mother. The animals are often sickly, very skinny, and if left alone, die of starvation within a few days. It used to be the policy to rehabilitate the animals and re-release them, but studies have shown that even the rehabilitated animals die shortly after released. Plus there are debates about whether it is correct to tamper with natural selection and extend the life of animals that would, if up to nature, die. Anyway, this was the case for all the animals that we dissected today, so fear not, no one's going around clubbing baby seals for fun.

My teacher dissected the porpoise first to show us the procedure of how it's done. Then, we divided into 4 smaller groups and each group dissected one seal. I've never dissected anything in my life, aside from a worm in my high school bio class, so initially I was thoroughly disgusted. A few times throughout the dissection, I had to step away from the table to give my eyes and nose a rest--it was just too gross not to take a couple breaks. Aside from the smell, however, it was really quite cool to see and hold organs up close and checkout see how everything in the body is connected.

Our baby seal!

The insides of a porpoise

Afterwards, we got to see real live seals that are kept outside at the museum. They're so cute!!

Sunday... continued

We got home from the lab trip around 9:30pm, and after a 16-hour day, instead of going home and going to sleep like a responsible human being, I met my friends at Tivoli--a magical land of gardens/amusement park rides/delicious restaurants/gorgeous lights--because it was fireworks night! I simply couldn't miss it. Tivoli at night maybe be one of my favorite places to be in Copenhagen. It is absolutely beautiful. And in true Tivoli style, the fireworks were hands-down the most amazing fireworks that I have ever seen. There was music playing, and the fireworks display was perfectly choreographed to the music. It was truly unbelievable. Definitely an excellent decision to chose this over sleep.

The Mosque at Tivloi Fireworks!

I wasn't kidding when I said so many activities....

Monday

I got home from fireworks at Tivoli around midnight, only to have to start my homework that I clearly did not have time to do earlier in the weekend. So finally, at 1:30am, after waking up at 5am, I went to sleep. I was in class straight from 10:00am-6:30pm, and then went back to Tivoli without even stopping home because it was Tivoli's last opening day! (Now it'll only be open for Halloween and before Christmas... sad face). To celebrate, there was a huge, multi-band concert!! 25,000 people were at Tivoli that night, myself included, for an epicly-amazing concert. On the set list was THE SCRIPT!! One of my favorite bands (they sing, "Break Even"). And also Stromae, French singer of "Alors on Danse," and Danish sensation Medina played (who's music by the way I will be bringing back to the states cause she's awesome!!), and a bunch of other popular Danish performers. The concert was so much fun!!

The Script on stage :)

Alas, my crazy weekend of activities came to a close, and in it's place came mid-term week. Luckily, just tuesday and yesterday I cried a little studying, but now I'm done my tests/papers! This Sunday I leave for a week-long trip to Berlin, Germany and Pozan, Poland with my hospital class. I will be writing about them when I return!

Football in Copenhagen

Yes, the fans actually lit the stadium on fire.

So tonight I went to a Danish football game! It was the most insane, ridiculous, and amazing sporting event I have ever been to. The two teams playing were FCK (Football Club København)--the home team!-- and Brøndby. Both teams are Copenhagen teams, and they are the two biggest rivals in the league. Even better, the tickets were free, as part of my Danish Language and Culture class :)

At the stadium with my friend Emily

So we all arrive at the game, and everything looks pretty typical of an American sports stadium (see above picture). But, there were 2 distinct sections in the stadium where the hard core fans for each team sat. FCK's section was filled with blue and white jerseys, lots of shirtless-body painted guys, and a gigantic blue and white flag. Brøndby's section was a sea of bright yellow, filled with lots of drunk, loud, and obnoxious fans.

Within 10 minutes of the game, flares start erupting from the sea of yellow fans, along with huge clouds of smoke. Then, the flares start getting thrown onto the field. The game had to be suspended for a few minutes to clear the field of flares. Little did I know, these flares are just minor distractions compared to what came next.

Later, about 2/3 into the game, a mob breaks out in the yellow section. They charge out of the nearest door of the stadium, then come barreling back in down the stairs, wreaking havoc, where they are met by a mass of security guards trying to contain them. Fights break out between the mod and security guards. Finally, after several minutes, everything seems relatively calmed down.

Then, a bondfire-sized fire erupts from the doorway the mob had flooded earlier. I mean this fire was HUGE. Just look at the picture (I tried to upload the video of it, but it wouldn't work). It was nothing short of insane. And while this fire was by far the biggest, there were probably around 15 other "mini" fires throughout the game. Every once and a while, I'd look over to see yet other chair lit on fire.

And apparently the yellow team is notorious for having the most insane fans in the league. Lighting chairs on fire is just a standard day-at-the-game. Needless to say, the game was awesome. Absurd, but awesome.

Oh, right, as far as the soccer part of the soccer game, FCK won 2-0!!

Pancakes!

Apparently "Pancake Night" means something very different to Danes than to Americans

So among the Danes on my hall, my roommate, Blaire, and I have become pretty good friends with about 4 of the guys. The other 10 people we talk to and say hi to, but I wouldn't call us friends. The 4 guys, however, have cooked us dinner about 4 times now, so Blaire and I decided it was our turn to return the favor. We decided to host "Pancake Night" for our hall and make American pancakes (not crepes) with blueberries, bananas, and chocolate chips. We wrote an invitation on the kitchen white board. For a while, only Sunnleif, Magnus, Arni, and Jonas (our 4 friends) had signed up. We assumed this would be the extent of the list. To our surprise, by Monday, the night of the dinner, nearly everyone on the hall had signed up. We suddenly realized we'd be cooking a pancake dinner for 15 people... not 6.

Blaire and I laughed and panicked at the same time. We have friends! How are so many of them coming? Maybe we should make bacon and eggs, too?? Are pancakes alone enough for dinner for this many people? Oh crap... we're going to be cooking so much food.

Blaire and I went out into the city, bought all our supplies, and came back to the kollegium (apartment/dorm). We decided against buying bacon and eggs for the dinner out of frugalness (meat is expensive...). We walked up the stairs and into the kitchen around 6:00pm to start cooking, only to find most of the people on our hall already eating a huge dinner. Blaire and I starred at each other, and, too embarrassed to ask why they were all already eating, ran out of the kitchen into our room.

Then, the reality of the situation hit us, and we started dying of laughter. Danes consider pancakes dessert. So they had read our invite and assumed we were cooking dessert for the hall. We told them the pancakes would be served around 7:30pm, so they all made sure to eat their dinner before then (Danes are very timely). Anyway, that's nice, we thought. No more fretting over whether or not we'll have enough food.

So Blaire, our friend Barathi, and I set out to cook "dessert" for everyone. The pancakes were a huge hit, and all the Danes seemed to really like them. We served them with syrup, butter, and powdered sugar. Then--the funniest moment of the night--one of the Danes goes, "These pancakes are so much better than the ones the last Americans made. These are great. You should have seen it, last time, the Americans had cooked bacon and eggs to go with the pancakes."

From their perspective, yes, bacon and eggs for dessert would be pretty weird. Blaire and I looked at each other and silently acknowledged that our cheapness had really paid off.

Study Trip to Western Denmark

Shots all around! Don't worry, it's on the school.

This weekend, from Thursday morning to Saturday night, I was on a study tour with my Medical Practice and Policy class (the one taught in a hospital) in western Denmark. Our group was 2 of the MPP classes, so there were 30 of us plus 3 interns. We left early Thurs morning (classes cancelled!) for a 3 hour bus ride to Jutland, which is the part of Denmark actually connected to Germany. The rest of Denmark, like where Copenhagen is, is a collection of 406 islands. Around 10:00am, we get to Århus, which is the 2nd biggest city in Denmark. Here, we toured a hospital and a radiology clinic, then drove to our hostel. Then we went to a REALLY fancy dinner. I don't know how my school organizes such cool trips. A gourmet dinner reservation for 33 people? Done. Afterwards, our interns took us to a local brewery and ordered shots of a Danish liquor for everyone, covered by the school. It just cracks me up how different it is here than in the states.

What's the best way to get a group of 20 year olds to bond? Beer and disco bowling.

On Friday, we went to the ARoS Modern Art Museum, which is hands-down the coolest art museum I've ever been to. Modern art is always so funky and interesting. Plus, there was a featured exhibit called "I love you," that was slightly absurd to say the least. It was the definition of "nudity is art." Some of the exhibits were off the wall and we were dying of laughter, but others were really neat. Next, we went to Den Gamle By ("The Old City"), which is a unique historic town in Århus. It's different from a town like Williamsburg, for example, because all the buildings are from all over the country that have been relocated here to form a "town." It was fun to explore the old buildings/barns/mills.

Modern Art Museum Den Gamle By

Next, we visited a general practitioner's office. Then, we drove to a small town called Horsens, checked into our hostel, and went to the bowling alley. Here, we had a huge and awesome buffet of really cool foods, and our interns ordered us TEN pitchers of beer (again, on the school). This night was really funny, because up until now, our group was a little bit awkward around each other, because not many people knew one another. But the combination of beer and disco bowling loosened everyone up, and it was a crazy-fun time. Afterwards, the bus dropped us off downtown and we all went out to a club together. Good times.

Hanging with the Beatles and swinging from trees.

On our last day, Saturday, we didn't do anything academic, which I found pretty entertaining. First, we went to Kolding Castle, which used to be the castle of Danish King Christian VI until it burnt down in the 1600s. It was reconstructed in the 1900s, and now its a tourist site/museum. Some parts of the castle were made to look like they would have in the 1600s, then randomly the castle opened up into a featured Beatles exhibit, that took up several giant rooms. The neon yellow, green, and orange exhibit was a pretty sharp contrast to the dull browns and maroons elsewhere in the castle. But the exhibit was awesome and had one of John Lennon's original guitars.

Next, we drove to the town of Kolding to go on a high ropes course! It was so much fun. I haven't gone on a high ropes course since summer camp in 8th grade, so I was really excited. Some parts were about 30 feet in the air, and there were several zip lines (my favorite!). To top off an awesome day, our interns had brought Borat and played it for us for the bus ride home. Very nice.

The Beatles Exhibit My friend Barathi on the zip line!

Adventures in Sweden

A Paddle Through Middle Earth

This weekend, I went on an optional trip with my school to Sweden! It was called "Sweden Canoe and Hike Trip," but really it should have been called "Sweden: Epic Adventure Trip." After this weekend, I will forever have a magical impression of the country of Sweden. Our group, 46 students + 4 interns, left Copenhagen early Saturday morning and took a 20 min ferry ride to Sweden (they're so close!). Then, we took a bus into the beautiful countryside and canoed down Ronne Å River. It was gorgeous. Swedes are nice. There were a bunch of old men walking along the riverside who were waving to us, plus, the architecture of the houses there made it feel like we were canoeing through a picturesque hobbit town. In the picture, is a girl I met named Cali, who was my canoeing buddy.

Next, we went to our hostel for lunch. Since there were so many of us, our school rented out the entire hostel for our group, and this hostel was the cutest, prettiest hostel I have ever seen. It was run by this adorable, old Swedish couple. There were marble and granite floors and nice decorations everywhere and it was so clean. We had to take our shoes off when we were inside, and there was a basket of little slippers to wear. So cute. We had a delicious lunch that was prepared by the couple and then were off to go on our hike.

Become a Citizen of the Micronation of Ladonia

We went near the town of Himmelstorpgården to a national park called Nimis. However, what our tour leaders didn't tell us was that the hike itself... not that interesting. It was through woods without many views. BUT the trail leads to THE MICRONATION OF LADONIA!!! What is the Micronation of Ladonia, you ask? Well, its essentially every little boys dream turned into an adulthood reality. This man decided to found his own "nation" and build a series of pathways and towers out of thousands of tiny pieces of wood, nailed haphazardly together. Just look. I can't do it justice in words... or even really in pictures for that matter:

The view from the top of the path leading down into this crazy series of wooden pathways on the beach.


One of the towers (at least 3 stories tall) of Ladonia, complete with the "nation's" flag.

It was like a giant playground. Really, really fun and absolutely amazing to explore. I would definitely recommend visiting if you ever find your self on the coast of Sweden. Also, if you're still intrigued by Ladonia, visit the website: www.ladonia.net. You can become a citizen. If you pay enough money, you can be a member of the House of Nobles.

Wait a second... Rappelling down cliffs in Sweden was not part of the trip description. But I'm game.

On Sunday, we were all thrown for a second loop, because we were told we'd be rappelling down a cliff. This was somehow entirely absent in the trip description, but of course everyone was beyond excited to do it. We went to a nature preserve called Kullaberg near the town of Molle. The coast and water here was gorgeous. Crystal blue waters, with huge rocky cliffs all along the coast. Plus, we had awesome weather--65 degrees and sunny the whole weekend. So we get here to see this little baby cliff, and then a monstrous cliff. The little baby cliff we all had to go down first to get a hang of the motion of rappelling. Then, we graduated to the monster cliff. Probably a good 500 feet or so above sea level. The slide of the cliff was completely vertical (and in some places at a negative angle), so standing at the top was absolutely terrifying. Imagine: You in a harness attached to a rope, being able to see nothing but a vertical sheet of rock and water far below, and telling yourself its a good idea to lean horizontally backward over the edge. So despite my fear in the beginning, once I got over the top edge, it was so fun and really exhilarating. It's something I'll probably never do again, so it was an awesome addition to our trip.

That's me!