Submitted by Christina Conte on the 2013 spring semester DIS (Denmark’s International Study Program) program in Copenhagen, Denmark…
It has been another great week in Copenhagen! I had two very interesting field studies this past Wednesday for my Epidemiology and Health Beyond Borders courses. For epidemiology we were given the task of conducting a small study on cancer prevalence in Denmark. At first the task seemed very daunting as at this point we had only had three epidemiology courses covering the basics of the subject. My group decided to research the prevalence of melanoma in the north and south of Denmark. We found that using data from the past five years, males in the south of Denmark have a 33% higher risk of developing melanoma than those in the north of Denmark. My next field study was to the United Nations! It was so cool to be in such a significant place in the first place, but the afternoon got even better as we heard from different UN Global Health Initiative (GHIs) such as UNFP, the United Nations Population Fund, and the World Food Programme (WFP). To finish the day off, I then went to a fascinating lecture on climate change and how Denmark has been working on their sustainability at the University of Copenhagen student union.
This week was also very educational outside of the classroom as I learned more about Danish culture living with my host family. There were a lot of birthdays in my host family as well as extended host family this past week and I was surprised to find how differently the day is celebrated in Denmark compared to the U.S. When it is someone’s birthday here, you adorn the house inside and out with the Danish flag. For my host brother’s birthday, we had a small flag pole as the center piece of our kitchen table and the Danish flag hanging outside. When I went to a family birthday party later in the week, the house was adorned with flags on the napkins, porcelain plates, tables, and of course proudly displayed outside. Another cultural experience I had this past week was visiting the town of Roskilde, which is about 45 minutes from the Copenhagen city center. I went there with a group of students from my program to the National Viking Museum and the Roskilde Cathedral, also known as the church of Denmark. The Viking museum was fascinating to me because I previously only associated Vikings with the horned hats they are typically drawn with. In fact, this one “fact” I thought I knew about Vikings was not even true! They were actually for the most part traders and citizens spreading Christianity. The Roskilde Cathedral was by far the most beautiful building I have seen so far in Copenhagen! Not only was it an architectural gem, but it also houses so much history as it contains the tombs of the majority of kings and queens of Denmark and is where the kings and queens are married. This week was definitely a learning experience inside and outside of the classroom and I am looking forward to what week four will bring me!
