High-octane adjectives (and no pictures)

Finished with the first week of the very busy program, and I clearly haven't had much time to update! So far, it's been challenging, interesting, educational, thought-provoking, fun, and a whole host of other good adjectives! Though I still get lost in Copenhagen every three seconds, and cannot understand the irreconcilable gap between the way Danish words look and the way they are pronounced.

We started off with a weekend in a summer cottage / Boy Scout campground somewhere in Denmark. (Place names continue to elude me.) The purpose of this weekend was to get to know each other a bit, although we have since done so much more successfully purely by listening to the types of questions and comments everyone makes during our academic sessions.

The group itself consists of: 10 Americans; 10 Danes, all of whom are incredibly knowledgeable and well-spoken; 2 Swedes; and 3 Bosnians. Everyone has a fascinating story and perspective, and on top of it they are incredibly fun and giving people to be around. (And I'm not just saying this because a few of them know about this blog :).) Which is a good thing, because we are together all day every day, and then often again at night just to hang out.

Basically, the way the program works is that every day we have 3-4 lecture/conference-style sessions in various locations around the city, where notable guest speakers on human rights, Danish and European history, Holocaust education, Danish government, etc., give a presentation that culminates in group discussion.

[[TUNE OUT HERE IF A LOT OF QUASI-ACADEMIC STUFF WILL BORE YOU]]

My favorite sessions thus far have been:
1. A talk on the Danish political system by journalist Clement Kjærsgaard, who was totally brilliant and on the ball. Most interesting points: a) We've been focusing on the Middle East as the biggest threat to Western security throughout the first decade of the 21st century, but the reality is that China is fast becoming a world superpower that no one is really dealing with--largely, he claims, because Islam at least shares a Judeo-Christian tradition, whereas Chinese culture is entirely alien to the Western mind. b) The greatest difference between Europe and the U.S. in terms of approaching the Middle East is that in the U.S., the "war on terror" was never about Islam--it was always about national security and terrorism. In Europe, however, it's an issue of feared cultural change that accompanies the influx of Muslim immigrants into society. Many of our talks are about racism against Muslims (like the Mohammed cartoon issue), which seems to be the big racial problem in contemporary Europe.

2. Speaking in Parliament with representatives Kamal Qureshi (Danish Socialist People's Party) and Søren Krarup (Danish People's Party). These two are basically opposite sides of the Danish political spectrum, though there are so many parties on so many different sides that it's difficult to tell. Qureshi is the only political spokesman on human rights in the Parliament, a Muslim and a LGBT rights advocate; Krarup is apparently a household name, generally loathed, who actually makes and supports the statement that "human rights do not exist." He's not loathed enough not to be elected into Parliament, though. The building and the people were interesting, but I was fairly dissatisfied with the politician's rhetoric in both talks and with Qureshi's unnecessarily sentimentalized opinion on Israel-Palestine.

3. A discussion of "old racism" (based on physical characteristics like skin color) versus "new racism" (based on cultural essentialism), and the implications of the adoption of "new racism" into politically correct language and though processes. A somewhat helpful distinction I think, but also probably a false dichotomy. Culture and physical characteristics of race have always been at least partly wrapped up in each other, and I would say that remains true today.

4. Video on Danish Jews sent to the Theresianstadt work camp during World War II. Apparently, the Danish government's cooperation with the Germans led to only 500 Danish Jews ever being sent to work camps (the rest made it to neutral Sweden), and even there they were given special food packages and rations. Then, we discussed what I consider the most interesting topic: comparing attitudes of "otherness" and racial/religious "problem" groups between Jews in the 1940s and Muslims today. This is not at all to say that the actual conditions for Muslims are equivalent to those of Jews during the war, but I think there is something to the idea that the two groups have both been perceived as "others," but problems in the Middle East have often prevented them from recognizing that fundamental similarity that might otherwise allow them to band together. (Also important to note, as some of my very smart fellow students did, that there is a significant cultural difference between Muslims who live in the Middle East and those from European nations, and the failure to recognize that has led to a lot of unnecessary discrimination.)

[[TUNE BACK IN HERE IF YOU GOT BORED]]

So these thought sessions constitute the first phase of the program. Then, starting in two weeks, we will start the "doing" rather than the "learning," where we will write and research an article on some issue we've discussed, hopefully for publication in some sort of English-language Danish paper. Humanity in Action also has a huge network of Senior Fellows (what I will be after I finish the program), as well as some amazing internship/fellowship opportunities following the program. These include work in D.C. government, European parliaments, the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, and more. I hadn't realized what a far-reaching group I was joining!

My home stay family is open and generous, but I feel kind of bad that I am out so often, then spend most of my time at home pursuing the enthralling acts of napping, sleeping, or eating. Thankfully, they don't seem to mind much. I'm living with parents who are both involved in social work (the mother in an unemployment agency, the father with kindergarten kids), and three daughters aged 12, 16, and 18. The Danes only start learning English in school around age 10--impressive, considering that most people I've met in Copenhagen speak almost fluently.

Some observations:

1. It rains constantly in Copenhagen. Constantly. At least as bad as London. Did I bring rainboots? Noooo...

2. The language is absurd. It sounds kind of marbly/mumbly, and I have yet to understand how train stops with names as seemingly diverse as "Ny Ellebjerg," "Amarken," and "Friheden" can possibly sound exactly alike to an American ear when the recorded voice calls them out.

3. Danes serve their ice cream with unsweetened cream and jam. It is adorable.

4. I cannot do this whole "light social beer drinking" thing that Danes (and Europeans at large, I think) engage in. I just don't like alcohol enough to enjoy it for its own sake.

5. I need to charge my camera, if only to make these posts look more interesting.

6. I should learn about soccer. It is like a world language. Here is what I know: England and the U.S. tied yesterday. The World Cup is in South Africa. And...that's about it.

7. Speaking of world languages: the Disney Channel is another vital one for me. It is the sole reason that I first befriended the sweet and wonderful kids of the host family I stayed with in Guatemala, and is proving useful again here. Who would have guessed how important it would be to know Hannah Montana?