We have arrived back home now! It was a great trip full of memories we’ll hold fondly for year to come. Here are some of the final thoughts of the travelers on various aspects of their experience. (We may have two more entries to add later!)

Campbell Spence

One of my favorite parts of our Denmark trip was going to Copenhagen. It was so interesting to me to see how different Copenhagen was from other similar sized American cities. For one, I loved getting to see their Parliament and also the King’s Palace, along with a really old marble church. Although everything in the city was more expensive than in a US city, it was well worth the price, as the wide range of food was always terrific.

I also loved getting to see Christiania, as it was something we would never see in the US. Essentially, it is a seperate part of Copenhagen that does not fully follow Danish laws, and because of that, it has turned into a huge spot for hippies to hang out.

Overall, my experience in Copenhagen was one of the best parts of my trip to Denmark, and it is a city that I would definitely want to visit again.

Emily Montgomery

My favorite part about visiting Copenhagen was all of the sites we go to see. I really enjoyed visiting an old church. It was beautiful and I learned that it took 117 years to build.

I also enjoyed watching the changing of the royal guards. I have never experienced something like it before so it was very interesting to watch.

We also got to go to the top of the government building in Copenhagen and go up to the top of the tower. I saw an entire view of the city and even the bridge to go to Sweden! I loved seeing the architecture in this city and visiting Copenhagen was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip.

Paul Eisenberg

One of the most memorable parts of our (unfortunately) short trip to Copenhagen was our visit to the Danish Parliament building. Along with viewing the building itself, we received a tour from a member of parliament and former minister. He told us about the prime ministers whose portraits are displayed in the Parliament, he brought us through the history of Danish democracy, and he gave us the ins and outs of the Danish political system. After viewing the Parliament room, he took us to the Social Democratic Party’s meeting room where we were surrounding by stunningly vivid paintings, and we ended our time at Parliament trying to climb the tower, which we found was closed specifically on Mondays. Overall, however, although the building itself was beautiful, I personally found what our tour guide was saying to be far more interesting. Learning about Danish politics and how it compares to our own was a highlight of the visit for me.

The most stunning part of the trip was the Marble Church. Its fittingly marble walls and green and gold roof felt both imposing and welcoming, and its interior was all the more impressive. The pews were surrounded by engravings and a giant pipe organ, and its ceiling was intricately decorated and surrounded by golden letters. Out of all the buildings in the city, this one felt majestic.

Joe Gifford

During my two days in Copenhagen there were a lot of things that stuck out to me. Two of the most memorable were the Fansk hotdogs and the Marble Church. On the first day in Copenhagen after a long tour of the parlement we were a short walk away from a hotdog stand which many of us stopped for because we were so hungry. The entire menu was in Danish so we had no idea how to order but our hosts were able to translate for us. I got a Fransk hotdog which is different than the normal hotdogs we see in America. These hotdogs are not in a bun but rather stuffed into French bread with a choice of ketchup, mayo, or mustard. I got a hotdog wrapped in bacon with ketchup, however the ketchup was different to ketchup in America. It was a lot sweeter and thicker than the ketchup we are used to. Me and a couple others on the trip went back at least 3 times to this same hotdog stand because we enjoyed it so much.

On our second day in Copenhagen we visited a beautiful Marble Church which took over a hundred years to make due to Denmark running out of money and not having enough marble. Inside the church there were many colorful murals and a large cross. The Church was silent for prayer and very peaceful.

Jack Heilizer

During my stay in Denmark we went on many different outings and tours. However the one that stuck with me the most would be the bunker tour. Under the HAKA campus lies a bunker fully fit to sustain life in the event of a catastrophic event such as nuclear war or an invasion. The bunker consists of about 8-12 rooms with a fully functioning kitchen, bathroom and sleep area. The bunker was made as a response to growing threats from beyond the borders of Denmark. In the event of an invasion Denmark would fight guerilla style until about half the country was captured, then they would surrender, the bunker was an integral part of this. The tour itself was very hands on. Probably my favorite part of it was being able to mess around with the old technology like typewriters and dial up phones.

The hands-on nature of the tour is reminiscent of the whole theme of the trip. Instead of simply showing students the culture around them the chaperones do a great job of letting the students pick what they want to do themselves, therefore enriching the students in Denmark much more. The tour was the best example I could think of this, which is why it’s what I will take home with me at the end of the day.

Max Gehlhoff

During my time in Denmark, I experienced a lot of things that were different from the United States. From things as small as the height of the water in the toilet bowls, to things as big as a difference in language, it was certain that Denmark had many differences in culture and government. We saw many things that were old. Very, very, old. Many churches, government buildings, and even towns were older than America itself.

But of all the old things we saw, one of the most interesting ones was actually fairly recent. Under the school that we visited, there lies an old bunker that we got to have a tour of. From experience in past wars, the danish government wanted to be more prepared for invasion, and occupation. They built bunkers all across the country, with the intention of assisting Danish governmental control nationwide. If they suffered attack/occupation from opposing forces, they would place government workers in the bunker to keep things like transportation, communication, and police forces in order and operation.
The bunker itself was neat! We got to see the different rooms that they would work and stay in, and we were told the purpose of it all, and the history behind it.

However, the truly fascinating part about it was the Danish attitude during the time they were in use. During the Soviet’s advance against Denmark, they put the bunkers into use, but only with the intent to last for about two weeks. Denmark knew that they couldn’t achieve victory against a superpower like the Soviets, and they were simply buying time, in the hopes that the Americas would assist them.
Denmark ended up lasting a quarter of a day (six hours) but the interesting part is how they were planning. Most of the Americans on the tour were shocked to learn that they only planned for the bunkers to last for two weeks. From the American history that we had learned, we had never really seen our country plan around, and depend on assistance, so the Danish depending on the assistance of others felt somewhat Alien to us Americans on the tour.

To me, it showed how deep the cultural difference lie. Attitude towards realism and power in war is never something I’d think would highlight a cultural difference between the United States and Denmark, but once I heard it, it all made sense.

I loved learning all about how us Americans and the Danes are different, and how our societies function in tiny little ways, and how our thought processes were different. It was moments like this that really made me feel what I was learning.