Time is over :)

Hi,
Time passed so quickly and here come ou last days in DK. ERASMUS was a great experience for me and I think ı did one of the best things that ı could do in my life. This idea was sometimes frightening and sometimes it sounded enjoyable and different when ı was filling my application forms at that time. I have never lived so far away from my family before ı came here. I have never been regretful that ı came here and it was good for me because ı was with my best friend. Maybe this year was more hard for us in terms of family because some of our friends went to Turkey in semester holiday to see their families and some of them are seeing their parents via internet but Nazlı and me never had this chance. In Turkey, som of them live far way from their parents while studying but Nazlı and me live in Mersin and it is so close to our hometown, so we used to see our parents every weekend. Moreover, ı have never done cleaning or cooking before ı came here. In Turkey generally these household chores are seen our mother's duty and even if ı want to do, ı know she wont let me every time. So, studying in a foreign country was very beneficial in terms of learning household things. Secondly, you recognize your friends and their personalities better in a foreign country. ı made a lot of observations about people. Nazlı's mother said that if you want to know sb, you should either live together or go on a trip with that person. Anyway, Nazlı and me met alot of people and it will be hard for us to say Goodbye to them. Also, it was so hard to say Goodbye to Maria for us as she was always with us and we were having breakfast and dinner together. we were like a family and maria always called me mama as ı always cooked something and she gained a lot of weight after she met with us. When she talked about weight, ı was making a cake for her. :p We never had breakfast and dinner seperately and this made us like a family and it was obligatory for three of us to attend them. Now she left here early to see her Grandmother who is ill. :( And ı am so soor that ı couldnt take care of her so much as ı was dealing with my exam papers at that time but ı know that we will meet one day and she is planning to come to Turkey next year. I have a lot of things to tell but ı cant get my mind around my thoughts to write them. I think ı will go on later... see you...

the exams are about to over :)

Hi,
we have our last exam tomorrow with Anne Kristine, then we are free. it was a hard but efficient period. ı learned a lot of things and also ı had the chance to revise all the topics that we discussed during classes. Last Friday ı had an exam with Peter and ı was so excited and nervous as Peter was so serious at that time. :) However, when ı got in the class and began to talk, ı was just relaxed and confident. Also Peter created a friendly atmosphere and ı felt myself in a discussion about sth with my friends. Dilan was the most excited one but she studied hard and she got an "A" as a result of this effort. when she heard that she got an A, she was screaming. After Peter's exam was over and when ı heard my grade, ı was so pleased and relieved.
  Exams are over and we should be happy for that but when ı knew that this was my last exam here, ı felt so sad. Everything has an end and our time is up here. On the one hand ı am so happy that ı will meet with my family and friends after a long time in Turkey, on the other hand ı have so many memories with the classes and out of the classes. But the memories are to be remembered, so we will keep our memories somewhere in our minds and then retrieve them sometimes to look what we lived once upon a time in Denmark. :)

A Kestrel for a Knave...

Today, Hanna attended to our English class as a teacher. Our general topic is reading and now we are working on a novel called A Kestrel for a Knave. The lesson started with a warm up activity. Then she asked some questions about novel and gave some time to read some parts. We didnt have the book, so she gave the CD to listen it. Maybe some information about the book can be useful.

 

A Kestrel for a Knave is a novel by British author Barry Hines, published in 1968. It is set in Barnsley, South Yorkshire and tells of Billy Casper, a young working class boy troubled at home and at school, who only finds solace when he finds and trains a kestrel whom he names "Kes".^[1]

The book was made into a film Kes and is often used in Key Stage 4 assessment in the UK, as part of GCSE English courses. The book is so named because of a poem found in the Boke of St Albans.^[2] In medieval England, the only bird a knave was legally allowed to keep was a kestrel. ( retrieved from wikipedia)

we searched about the director of the film and author of the book and the place where the story takes place and about the bird, Kestrel. Also, we read some good and bad reviews from the readers and talked about them. As a result, I liked the book and ı want to watch the movie as soon as possible.

Houses in Denmark....

My topic can seem funny but ı really like the houses in Denmark :)

In Vordingborg, the houses are detached (single houses) while maybe in big cities like Copenhagen they are mostly apartment buildings/blocks ( block of flats). I used to see that kind of houses with roof in New Year postcards in Turkey. There is not any houses with roofs in my region because my city is situated by Mediterranean Sea, so it never snows :) Danish people use many ornaments to decorate their gardens and ı saw many garden decorations and they really seem nice. Moreover, generally houses have huge windows and in front of windows, there are many candle as they dont like bright light and prefer to candle light. it is like a tradition but ı dont remember the name of this tradition. :)

 Speakin out light, in Turkey we are used to more shiny and white light but here lights are yellow and dimly lit. one day Nazlı asked our janitor to change the light in her room and the new one was also dimly lit. After two days, Carsten came and said that he couldnt find white light in Denmark. :)

Dormitory matters :))))

Hi, ı want to write about life in dormitory :) Two weeks ago, we experienced some bad days because of some nonsense arguments with some of our Danish friends. In fact, we dont have any problem with anybody but sometimes nonsense things can turn into huge problems. I dont want to mention about the problem in detail here. For me, the biggest problem was not trying to find solutions for problems but making it bigger by moving it to Facebook or boards. The most annoying thing for us was some irrelevant people's involving in the case and wrote some irritating things on facebook . There are many things to tell but no need to write here and my only aim is to thank our lecturers Anne Kristine and Peter Gundersen. At that day, ı was really having hard time with problems and Peter finished the lesson and tried to find solutions and listened to us and sent email to our coordinator which was very useful, ı think. In fact, ı am very fragile and that day ı couldnt help crying. However, in that cases, you need someone that you can express your feelings. ı mean, you need someone that you can unburden yourself to anyone who will listen to you. Moreover, if this person is a teacher, you feel much more better.
    Now everything is fine and some of our Danish friends apologized to us which was very effective to fix everything. It seems that we have patched up our quarrels. I hope we dont have any problems anymore. :)
    I really want to thank our teachers again for their care. :)

costume party:)



hippie:)



<>

farmers :)



tree, Adam and Eve

Live For Today...Plan For Tomorrow...Party Tonight! :p :p :D


 

COSTUME PARTY :) FUNNY AND FANTASTIC



Last Friday, we attended a costume party at school. ın fact, we were so unwilling to go as we were very tired after malmö trip and felt like doing nothing but just having a rest at home. Also we didnt buy or prepare any speacial costumes. However, Christine said that it wouldnt be a  a prolem that we came to party without any speacial costumes. Finally, we decided to attend the party. However, later we came up with a brillant idea about costumes and we tried to arrange something from theatre room. The result was very funny and creative. Everybody in the party liked our costumes very much and some people wanted to be taken photos with us:) As for the party, it was very colourful and enjoyable. There were many people with funny costumes and everybody looked so sweety while dancing with their costumes. :)

An Unforgettable trip to Malmö :)

 

Hi,
Last Thursday, we went to Malmö with Lars who is very kind and helpful friend from our Class. Although he is married and has three daughter, his spirit is younger than ours. He likes talking and talking and talking :) He is really like a encylopedia. Hence, in Malmö he was talking like a tour guide. He knows many things about cultural elements of other countries as he travels a lot and he has lived in other countries for some years.

 As for Malmö, Nazlı and me were always planning to go to there but everytime we aimed to go, we encountered a problem like bad weather or lessons. So, we were so happy and excited when Lars offered to go there. we set off at 8:30 a.m. for Malmö. For me, it was not so different from Denmark and ı could see Scandinavian people and life-style like in Denmark. But it was still very nice to be in another country. However, on the way ,while ı was sleeping in the car , ı woke up with a sudden noise. When ı opened my eyes, ı understood that a woman bumped into our car from the back. Fortunately, we nobody was injured in the crash. we were just shocked and had some headaches. At that day, the weather also was very windy and we were like flying instead of walking with the strong power of wind. So, in the photos our hair was dancing with the wind :p As for the photos, we tried to take some photos despite naughty wind in front of Turning Torso which can probably be called landmark of Malmö city. we did a bit of sightseeing in Malmö. Then, we set off for Copenhagen and we decided to stop by in Christania also known as Free town in Copenhagen. This region was really very different from the rest of Copenhagen. we observed very different and free life style of people. In the final part of our trip, we went to hospital to be examined in Nætved. It was the first time we have seen a hospital in Denmark, so Hilal and me even took photo with doctor as a memory. :)

Thank you,  Lars for this wonderful trip :)

Danish National Birds: SWANS

Firstly, ı want to give some information about the national bird of Denmark: the Mute Swan

The National Bird of Denmark is the Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) or Knopsvane (of course), made famous in the story by Hans Christian Andersen, "The Ugly Duckling".
In the 1920's the Mute Swan was nearly extinct, until in 1926 it became a protected species and has now regained its population and is seen all over Denmark and most of northern Europe.
They breed in colonies all over Denmark and are a magnificent bird to see.
At an early age the Mute Swan or cygnet is not always white and is usually an off-white, grey or brownish tint. Their beaks/bills are black and it is not until after their first year that they turn all white and the beak/bill gets its orange color.
This is where the Hans Christian Andersen story has its origins. Many Mute Swans are ugly ducklings – some cygnets are white, but most are not - but all Mute Swans are white when they mature.
And that is the story of the National Bird of Denmark.
The Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) is the national bird. Chosen by thousands of Danes in 1984 in a national election initiated by Danish Television. This beautiful and majestic bird is the largest bird here in Denmark and very common throughout the country.
   

    I learned the swans are national birds of Denmark during my trip to the Port with Nazlı. One day Nazlı and me were so bored that we decided to go for a walk to the port. Also we took some bread to feed the ducks. To our surprise, we encountered with many swans and one of them was sitting in the middle of the road and it was too stubborn to walk away. However, there were cars, bicycle and a truck and they weren't able to move because of that swan. When we saw that scene, we couldn't help laughing and then Nazlı took some bread and run towards the road like a hero and convinced the swan to move. All the drivers said "tak" and went on driving. There were many swans on the seashore and it wasnt normal to see them on the seashore and in large numbers. However, that time the weather was freezing cold and snowy and all the birds( seagulls, swans, and ducks) were about to faint of hunger. we fed them with some bread that we brought from home but it wasn't sufficient and we left there for a while and went to a market and bought some bread and came back. we came across with some people who were feeding them and they said that they were members of Vordingborg Kommune and they moved to another city, so they couldnt feed the birds and requested us to feed them daily during cold weather. we accepted and they gave a lot of bread to us. Moreover, many people are afraid of swans and they think that they tend to attack and bite :) Anyway we did our responsibility even though in times we didnt have any time :) it was very interesting and entertaining(sometimes painful) to spend time with swans :) They were pulling our hair and laces of our shoes and biting when they got angry :)

Paris....

Nazlı and me have been in Paris on  vacation for a week and it was very amazing. we saw many plcaes there and ı felt as if ı was in Turkey in terms of streets, people, cafes, etc. French people were very nice and friendly to us. Although they cant speak English, they tried to help us whenever we asked sth. The funny part is that everybody we met asked whether we are from Spain, Italy or portugal and even some people stopped us to ask this question. Anyway, paris is really city of art as you can see many statues or old buildings in everywhere. The Louvre Museum is really very big and it took our whole day to see works like statues, paintings, Mona Lisa, and the flat of Napoleon Bonaparte. The next day we went to The Eiffel Tower and also many other places. we walked a lot in the streets of Paris and when we got tired, we stopped in one of the amazing cafes to drink coffee. I hope one day ı can go to Paris again...

Teaching practice or observation :)

Hi
ı want to talk about our teaching practice.

we went "Iselinge"School for our teaching practice. it was a really fantastic week for us. we had the chance of observing Danish schools. Firstly, there is a very comfortable atmosphere in the classrooms. Children can call their teacher by his first name. however, sometimes ı couldnt believe that how children can be so nice and listen to their teacher without making noise. pupils in one of the classes that ı have been were so nice and we were able to communicate in English with most of them. Martin ( the teacher ) said that some of the students were very willing to speak English. They were able to make long sentences and even one of the girls read all the series of Harry Potter in English. moreover, their social relationships is very good. They are very good at group or pair works and they help each other. ı hope ı can have pupils like them :) Also, the general atmosphere of the school is very relaxing. students can wear whatever they want and walk around without shoes. ı think they can express themselves perfectly in this way. All of them has their own styles and they can reflect themselves in their clothing. They can lie and sit on the floors. at first, nazlı and me were very surprised and then we touched on the ground with our hands and the floors are very very clean.

     As for lessons, we observed math, English and music classes. ın math class, students made paperflies for learn how to measure. they made their own paperfly but they worked in pairs. while all of the students were flying their paperflies out of the classroom , two students were doing sth else in the classroom. when we asked them why they stayed in, they said that they forgot to do their homework and they wanted to finish their homework and then they would participate in flying paperflies later. ı was very surprised that they knew their own responsibilities and they did this without their theacher's saying anything about that.
   ın English lessons, they listened a story and studied on this story. After they listened this story, they read the story from their books and wrote the story again with their own sentences and filled in the blanks in their books related to the story. Also, students knowledge of vocabulary is very good.
  Most amazing lesson was music lessons. younger students were making rhythmes with their hands and with some instruments and playing games and older students were playing instruments and singing songs. Martin also made some classes listen classic music at the end of the lesson and they all lied on the ground and closed their eyes and took the pleasure of relaxing.
  one more thing is that school was full of posters that studetns made. ı think they are really good at task based works and their products are amazing. they choose their topic and they prepare their demonstrations how they want.
 All in all, it was a fantastic teaching practice. ı have a lot to tell but for now ı could write my first impressions.

a new term with new students :)

     We started our new term in Denmark last week. Many exchange students arrived and most of them are from Turkey and one from Belgium and three from Spain. Actually, one of our friends from Spain is going back to Spain on sunday. Anyway, we are having good times with our new friends. We all together went to volleyball match which is organized by Müslüm and we had a kind of meeting to get to know each other. When we gather, we have a kind of multicultural and multilingual environment. Everybody tries to learn something about each other's language. So, sometimes we make sentences including one word from English, one in spanish, Turkish, Danish, and French. We all learned some simple words in each other's language. I think ı am interseted in learning Spanish. ı learned that Spanish is also like Turkish in terms of being read or spoken like it is written. maybe during second semester, ı can pick up some words from Maria. :)

     Yesterday, Maria, Nazlı and me sat together until the morning and we talked about some of our traditions such as weddings and our countries and our universities. ı think we have some common points with spanish people maybe because of both Turkey and Spain is Mediterranean countries. Moreover, Maria always do experiments with food and make us try. And they are really good and we learned a new technique how to cook potatoe in microwave :). Also, sometimes we cook together and we talk about our food. It is really nice to know something about other cultures like their language, food, government, education, people , etc. I think ı like being social and having friends from different countries.