The Natinoal Museum and Practicum

Haj! This is our first full week of classes and it has been pretty busy. So far, I have a good amount of work but my classes are interesting so I don't mind. On Wednesday, I did not have class or a scheduled field study so I did homework in the morning and then met my friend Kendal in the city to go to the national museum. We figured it was something we needed to go see and it was free, so why not. It turned out to be very intresting. They had a whole exhibit on pre-Danish history, about Vikings and other civilizations that lived here before the country was founded. It is amazing just how far back their history goes.. it puts in perspective just how young the US really is. There was also a really cute exhibit on different children's toys through the years and also a really cool few room just of all different coins. Some of the early coins used were works of art while others were not as detailed. When money was first used, a rod of iron was considered a denomination. The whole thing was very cool. While Kendal and I were walking around, we ended up seeing some other DIS students and wandering around with them. It was a fun day. That night, I met my host family in the city for my first non-Danish meal since I arrived. We went to a delicious Italian restaurant in the middle of the city's most famous theme park, Tivoli. We are going back next week so that I can try the rides. However, the park is also a botanical garden and is absolutely beautiful, especially when everything is highlighted in lights after dark.
Thursday (yesterday) was my first day working at my practicum site. The school that I am working at is nothing short of amazing. The facilities look like they are state of the art and they have a lot of equipment to work with the students in many ways. I was placed in one of the highest functioning classrooms at the school and when I got there, they had a breakfast set up to welcome me. They had practiced introducing themselves in English, too, which was so sweet. The students in the class are around my age, some are even older, which is a really different experience for me. When they found out I was from near New York, they showed me a project they had done about the city and asked about the Statue of Liberty. A handful of them took me around the school to give me a tour with the teacher as a translator and they were so proud of their art projects and photos hanging on the wall and their elective classrooms where they explained what they did in each class. It was kind of like an elementary school/middle school feel but with 18-24 year old students. It was wonderful. I ate lunch in the teacher's lounge (so weird, haha) and got to know some of the other staff. Most are younger than I would expect, not much older than I am. Everyone was very nice. During lunch, one of the students burst through the door with a pink sequinned cap on his head, did a bit of a moonwalk and a slide, then 2 Michael Jackson pelvic thrusts and threw his hat at the teachers before dissappearing back through the door. The teachers all laughed and explained that the death of Michael Jackson hit everyone at the school hard. After lunch I was placed in a music classroom for the elective hours. The music teachers are wonderful. There is a main teacher playing guitar, a pedagog, which is a Danish profession we don't have in the US (the pedagog is more focused on the social development of the students and makes sure that the students are happy and making friends. This is common in the kindergardens and in schools like this) who played the keyboard and another teacher that came in to play the base. There were also probably 6 or 7 aids in the classroom to be with their students. The students came alive with the music - those in wheelchairs started kicking their feet and everyone was singing along. Some students were dancing and everyone had a great time. They sang a lot of Danish folk songs but then in the middle they sang their version of "Puff the Magic Dragon," which was the only song I recognized. They even dedicated a song to me and sang my name in it, but I have no idea what it was about.. they could've been making fun of me for all I know. I wouldn't even mind though, because the students laughed and smiled when they sang my name and it made it totally worth it. During the break after this class, I saw a student standing alone at one of the foosball tables they have in the building. Using some sherades, I asked if he wanted to play. It was really cool that we could have fun even though we really couldn't talk because of his disability and because of the language barrier. The last section of the day was spent in a smaller music class with just the pedagog and I and five students. We just sat around listening to CDs and hanging out. Some of the students rapped along with the contemporary music and others danced. I sang along when they played American music, too. I also learned that Aqua is a Danish band - who knew? They were so surprised when I knew their songs. All in all, it was an amazing day and I can't wait to go back next week! My two advisors are really cool and are very experienced- I will learn a lot from them. It was cool also because they use Boardmaker to make visuals just like we did at my camp this summer and there were other therapy tools that we used, too. There are a lot of similaries in strategies but also a lot of differences that I will definitely learn from. I will hopefully do more physiotherapy and sensory stuff next week, too! I hope all is well back home!