Tuesday, November 30, 2010

BIRTHDAY PARTY

We went to home of Celal and Bitten as it was birthday of Bitten. Celal hired a special place for her wife. ln fact place of party once upon a time was a cumbersome which was converted into a modern place.But lt still preserves its originality. There were tables in stead of the horses which were living there long time ago . We sat table of Lotte (name of one of horse) . There was a table also for gifts. Here l learned there was a traditon. Person of birthday prepares a list before party  to give participants. So the people coming to party decide what to buy according to this list. lt was so logical. so Bitten can have everything she wants. When party began everybody went  to take their food. Ohh there were various food which made me hesitant to choose. When quests came ,we met all of them one by one. They were so sincere and humble. There were different people from different statues.l met with theater, mayoress , doctor , philosopher. But l was shocked with their humility. Then we began our meal. After a while mother of Bitten rang the bell. Then immediately everybody became silent. She started conversation related to her girl.lt was in danish  then she also made explanation for us in english. lt was so kind and made us so pleasent. After the conversation we sang a song and raised a toast.We also talked to man who was a theater.His role was a warrior in Vikings army and he told us that he made an europe tour to display their play. He also invited us to his playhouse. l am really looking forward to seeing it.He is really fond of Vikings as he made tattoo of a viking warrior on his back. . Also l learned that parents of Bitten had taken award for helping foreign people. She said she was giving danish lesson for foreigner living in denmark. They also said danish people dont gather as huge  family. but family of Celal and Bitten was different . Whole dynasty gathers at least twice a year. There were many people from uland ,sealand and fung. l really liked the parties of Denmark especially when it comes to meal time:))))))))

BONBON LAND


l havent seen such a big amuzement park  in my life.l have gone over 20 different ones in my country. But bonbon land is best of them. lt was built in a broad area. We arrived there at 11 o clock and until lt was closed we couldnt get on all items. There were different items and probably they were over 60 rides and attractions as l remember. When l got on circular swing l felt l was died and came back to life again. Teddy bears and rabbits were strolling around to entertain people.There were different kinds of restaurants, in my opinion, which were cheap. The most that l liked was  fantastic world part. ln there you can find characters of almost all cartoons, stories, and novels. l was shocked when l first saw them. Because they are nearly similiar with the real ones. lt is like an adventurous world.lt has everything which is suitable for children and for mature people. There was an atmosphere in which even parents behaved like their children. Bonbon land overwhelms you with its attractions. we bought so much sugar. . We ran from one to another one as our time was limited. Bonbon land was opened only for one week as it is winter.l am looking forward to seeing it again soon

CLASS EXPERIENCE


We went to Copenhagen again but this time not for shopping but for class experience. l was so excited and happy as l would make my first class observation. l was so curious.Because in Turkey we also have english classes that begin from 4 grade. However, we can not communicate except learning linguistic form. So l am interested in how well they speak. l can say that l had so many questions to answer. When we got off train , Peter had already had being waited for us in train station. He took us to school in which we would make our school observation. Students were all in civilian dresses as it wasnt obligatory for them to wear uniforms. They can wear what they want even hat. lt was apparent that most of them had already formed their clothing style. They seemed so mature to me not like children. Ohh l immediately remembered the students in Turkey. They have to wear uniform until university and even everybody has to make same kind  of hair in some schools:(( Then we met the teacher whose lessons we will participate in. She was so kind and sincere to us. Although we had so many questions in our mind , she answered all of them without boredom.Firstly we entered an 8-grade class consisting of nearly 25 students. There were also students who were from different nations.But all of them knew danish.Teacher  started lesson firstly by asking questions related to subject. l think it was probably to attract their attention to lesson. Students answered the questions. She also didint forget to give feedback such as well done, yes, that is right. Students were sitting in groups. . ln most groups strong(hardworking) and weak students were sitting together. That can seem small but effective.So weak students can also learn from the another. While students are writing , as far as l observed, they cant spell truely and they have some grammer problems as well( especially problems with verb agreement). However, pronunciation of them are almost perfect.Then she made an exercise. She wanted them to introduce an animal but not to say its name.while giving this exercise to students , she strolled among them to see what they are doing and to determine whether they have problems. l realized while teacher was strolling , a student said this activity was diffucult for her . Teacher gave different exercise which was more suitable for her. Also from this l got the point that l will also have students whose levels are too less than the rest of the class. So lt made me think about those students.By this class experience l also started to think what l could do for them. After writing about animals, one by one they introduced their animals to class and rest of them tried to guess. Then they stood up in pair they introduced and another one guessed their animals. lt was a excellent exercise for four natural skills ,reading , writing, speaking and listening(all of four skills just in one exercise:: perfect) lt was well rounded one. l can say that their sense of humor is really excellent. l laughed so much in the end of the all poems.` Meaning is more dominant than the form` is clearly seen.Meaning is crucial and teacher is successful to be able to transmit meaning in exercise. She even teaches grammar with context.But in Turkey our teachers dont combine grammar with the context.lt is absolutely different point.She gave an exercise in which there were some gaps to which students will fill grammar items according to context. lt can reguire plural , singular, past, simple. lt is challangable and more permanent for students.
E.g : \but he wasnt ( var det ikke) any more.
We learn grammar by memorizing but they learn in meaningful way. So every year again and again we have to repeat grammar. She also gives extra tasks for the ones who finish their duties in order to make an quiet atmosphere in class. There were more activities that she did similar to those ones above. l hope l can apply them in Turkey. l really liked danish education system. MORE PRACTICE THAN THEORY:)))


 

KNOWING THE DENMARK

To say the truth everything is fine except silence.l am not familiar with living in a place that is not crowded. So l and my friend started to get bored.Because here people are domestic and dont do outdoor activities so much . This is maybe because of climate.The weather is so cold.Before l come to Denmark, the degree was 44 in my city. But here it is almost 7 or 8 degree even we arent in winter. Markets and shopping centers are closed very early.After the 6 o clock you rarely see people in the street. Firstly l supposed that vordingborg was a city.But later l learned that it is a town consisting of 16 thousands people. But here we have the opportunites that we dont have in Turkey. For example , there are three sections of way for transportations, pedestrians and for bycles. But in Turkey we dont have a  road for bicycle. So we cant ride it in anywhere you want. But here you can. The school also provided us bycles. The thing that l like most is going seaside by bycle while listening music by headphone on your ears.

There is also historical structure called  ` Goose Tower` lt is the most attractive thing in the town. As far as l learned lt was built around 12th century against enemies of Denmark. ln the past there were nine towers and long wall to protect to town. But today only one tower(Goose Tower) and wall remained. Although wall is in ruin , Goose Tower is preserved well. l also learned that the tower takes its name from the golden goose on the top of castle.

We also went to Copenhagen which is the capital city of Denmark. l really liked there. l dont think l can count the historical and attractive places of there. Because there are so many things  that should be told. ln Copenhagen we saw tivoli which is a kind of amuzement park. we couldnt enter as we had to go shopping centers. There were two famous long streets in which we enter so many shopping stores. We also learned that there was a tour which takes you  along the cannel but it was closed. We went a cafe to drink something. l was really happy in contrast to vordingborg. Copenhagen was so crowded and lively . Along the streets there were many small groups of singers. First we saw a music group playing guitar after 100 metres there was a man playing violin. lt was like walking in music box.These were the first  impressions of mine related to denmark. after a while l hope that l will learn much more things and details

EXPLORING MY NEW SCHOOL



 The first day there was a party which is prepared to celebrate the coming of new students. We couldnt go to that party as we are so tired to which l regreted too much later. l heard it was so enjoyable one. At first it was so confusing for me to memorize name of people and pronunce them correctly. We went to school the following day . l met many people in that day. When we have the lesson of Enchristen , l realized most differences in systems of Turkey and Denmark even in the first day . There were many students whose ages are over thirty . Most of them are married , have children , and work as well. We have cicular seating order which rises more connection, interaction among students.and participation to lessons. And l liked to skip out using the word  ` teacher `. Here you only say first names of your teachers and the best one is that you can eat in lessons . You can even walk in the lessons on the condition of not disturbing  the others. Danish students in university take many different branches of lesson. Every year they have different branch of topic and when they are graduated ,they can be teacher of any of branches they take.Unfortunately we dont have any choices except from your single branch. We take only one topic ,for us only english, and during the university you dont take any other topic except from english. So they are so lucky to have this selection.
 In Denmark education is so important and easy to take.If you want to take education  your age, economical status and etc arent problems. Even goverment pay money to you if you get education. When l contrast it with my country , l immediately realize that there are so many limitations to take educations. In my class most of them are in fact teachers in different schools. However, they come to school to go on learning and develop themselves. It is very useful for them to discuss whether the strategies they use are suitable or not and to learn the new ones. Being in multicultural class is a big chance for me as l feel l can learn so many things from them.l am so happy as  l have experienced and various people in my class.

Monday, November 22, 2010

FIRST STEP INTO DENMARK

Before l came to Denmark , l didnt have so huge excitement and curiosity. Because l have already been aware of what kind of lifestyle, tradition , culture danish people have, thanks to media. So l guessed Denmark would contain the same thing as media reflected. But experiencing it will be totaly different. I had so many questions in my mind `why l go there, what is the aim of it. Is it for improving my language , learning their culture closerly, having an adventure or going away from our strict theory based school system. I really wasnt sure maybe for all maybe not.However, the thing that l know is that l want to experience differnt things and to open the doors of my horizen.
  l am used to be away from my family as my university is in the different city which takes 21 hours bus voyage to arrive the city in which my family live. So l wasnt excited to go a remote place until l saw my friends. Their excitement also made me feel like them. At airport there were so long procedures. In Turkey ,if you want to go abroad ,you have to set off at least 4 hours ago because of heavy traffic . It is also possible that you can confronted with long lines out of the airport in which people are hurrying to catch their planes. The population of Istanbul consists of 16 million people.But there are only 2 airports in that city. Now you can imagine the case. When we got on the plane at night with my friends Delal, Semra and Muslum, the more we went forward to northern part the more cold we got. We could feel cold inside of our bones.Generally l travel by plane . But l didnt see a plane in which so many coffees were bought by the passengers. You should have certainly seen how many glasses  hostess collected when passengers finished. Almost everybody bought coffee :))). When we got off at Danish Airport , the first native people that we saw were the men who checked our passport. When l saw them l understood that now l am in different country. Because they are totally blonde , had white skin and huge bodies which was different from my country.
we arent worried what will happen next thanks to relatives of muslum . They came to airport to take us to their home in tsrop. We couldnt see around clearly at night. Instead of darkness l immediately realized how much coordinated country it was. l was so grateful to their excellent sincere hospitality. They even brought us to our  new school. We were luckier than our other friens coming from Mersin as we didint have to wait at airport until the morning . At last l saw the my new school and the dormitory called `White House` . l liked my room and the scene of my window so much ...The first people we meet as natives were Trine and Martin. They were our tutors and showed us around the school. l can say that Martin was the person who speaks faster then anyone that l met here. Ohh my god , l cant imagine that how much energy he spends while speaking