Second student mobility: Copenhagen 25-28 May 2023
The 1mk class from Metis and their teachers traveled to visit Greve Gymnas, Copenhagen.
Title student mobility: Cultural contrasts
When the students met in Norway in March, the focus was on the nature of western Norway, along with building social relationships across borders. The trip to Denmark focused on physical activities and Danish nature and culture: cycling, Tivoli, visiting Christiania and badminton.
City walk in Copenhagen:
On the first day, the Metis team met the Danish students with their teachers at Nørreport station, and together they went to Nørrebro. The Danish teacher Michael told about the history of Copenhagen, including the connection between Nørreport and Nørrebro. The students then went together in Norwegian-Danish groups to have lunch and work on a rebus in Assistens Cemetery. Here we visited the graves of some famous Danish people, including HC Andersen and Natasja Saad. We ended the day at Tivoli with adrenaline, laughter and a good atmosphere.
The second day started in the Free City of Christiania, where we got to see and hear about what it's like to live here. After a small snack and many impressions, we went on to Refshaløen to challenge our comfort zone with climbing and bouldering. Tired, hungry, but with an enormous sense of accomplishment, we rounded off the city walk with lots of delicious "street food" at "Reffen". After an eventful day, the students traveled home to their Danish host families in Greve, and got a little taste of everyday Danish life.
Student activities at Greve Gymnas:
On the third day, we were finally able to see the beautiful school of the Danish students. The large and airy school contrasts with our small “city school”. The students first worked on an assignment, before we were given a tour of the suburb of Greve from the saddle of our bicycles. We stopped at “Mosede Fort” on Greve beach and filled up on some energy. In the evening, the Danish students had arranged a fun evening for our Norwegian students.
The last day started with a session of badminton, which is a big sport in Denmark. Now the trip is coming to an end, and the students made a poster comparing the experiences from the Norwegian and Danish visit which they also presented to each other. Suddenly it was time to say goodbye, and it was clear that many nice Nordic friendships had been formed.
Feedback from students and teachers:
From the students: "We have experienced an incredible amount, and even though it has been a tight schedule and we were tired when the trip was over, we have had a great time. We have already agreed that we will return to visit the Danish students."
From the teachers: Despite some language challenges on the first visit to Bergen, it was clear that the students now had a much greater understanding of each other's languages. Shared experiences have created good bonds between several of the students and we even saw tears at the airport. It seems that the students have had a lot of fun, and I'm sure we teachers have too. What a great group of young people we have!
