Going home

For the second time we had to leave our rooms. But this time it was because we were about to go home. First we went to the danish embassy though, where we finally met people with the same nationality as ourselves. We were able to ask questions on danish (If you ignore Steffen Gram's lecture), which felt very nice. Many of us were particularly interested in this lecture, if you can call it that, because it has so much to do with our international line. This was actually a very short day since we had a little freetime afterwards whereafter we were going home. To Denmark.

The Lectures

Today we had two lectures; The Young Democrats of America and also Steffen Gram, a danish foreign correspondent - some might call him a veteran of this genre.

The Young Democrats of America were very interesting. They are trying to engage young people in American politics. The Young Democrats of America's goal is to build a permanent bloc of young Democratic voters.

Steffen Gram was also very interesting. We have, before we went to the States, learned a lot about American politics and it was therefore fantastic when S. Gram gave us a quick brief where all the pieces we had learned over time, were assembled into one puzzle. The main theme was USA's currently economic situation and America's future role on the international stage.
 We also asked him about whether it was tough being an foreign correspondent, but he said it was not.
All in all some very informative lectures.

Well with a little culture

The first day in Washington DC, the United States Capitol.
We got breakfast at the hotel, the hotel vas very nice an cozy.

Then we had a long walk to the White house, but unfortunately it was closed to the public so we could only see it from a distance, but it was magnificent to see.
then we went to other monuments, we saw the Washington monument on the way.

We reached the Vietnam Memorial where we held a presentation about the wall.
After that we reached The Lincoln memorial, where we had a little break and watched the great monument.
We saw quite a few more monuments including, Martin luther king, korea war and "Teddy" Roosevelt.

A cultural experience so to speak

Fælles (lang!) gåtur i The National Mall, herunder Det Hvide Hus (desværre lukket for offentligheden) samt forskellige Memorials/monumenter

Young Democrats

Bronx

Today it was time to leave our rooms and set course towards Washington DC. But firstly we had to make a analysis of Bronx. We went by the metro to Bronx, and we were very surprised by the new inviroment.
We had a bit of background knowledge about Bronx. We knew that some parts of Bronx were ''Bad Neiborhoods''. But we were surprised that Bronx were such a slum. And that the majority of the people were black or hispanic. We were only present in Bronx in a short amount of time, because we were constantly being watch by people. We felt that it only was a matter of time before we would get mugged. A local lady also said ''You should't walk around here''. So we followed her advise and left Bronx.
Back at the hotel, we sat couse towards Washington DC, a 5 hour bus ride. After 5 hours we arrived in DC where we quickly found our rooms and attended the bed.

We were very excited about what Washington DC had to offer.

Twin Towers / New York Comedy

The morning started as usual; some american breakfast and coffe.

Then we met up with the rest of the class and went to the 9/11 memorial and wall street.

We saw wall street first, with its huge buildings and more suits than you would see in a store.

You could see that big money was made here. Then we saw the famous bull which many money makers touch every morning for good luck.

As we walked along WallStreet made we our way to the 9/11 memorial our minds were filled with sorrow. Not many words were spoken. Some of our own students even began to cry. 

Afterwards we went to Time Square. We were approached by three attractive women. They offered us tickets to the broadway comedy club. They said we look attractive to get on national tv and front row seats. We were of course flattered by the sweet words and that resulted in our appearance at the New York Comedy Central. But the inviroment was not as promised and we sat at a dark comedy bar. But even though we were overdressed and overexcited by the promised words of the beautiful young women. We still had a lot of fun and it was a huge experience.  

The Green Woman...

We started our morning with enjoying real american breakfast.

After that we went down to the Staten Island ferry, where we were going to see the Statue of Liberty. It was very beautiful and magnificent. The woman holding the glowing beacon guiding the immigrants on the right way.
On the ferrytrip Lærke, Laura and Marie held a presentation about Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty

Afterwards we had a few hours, so all of the guys went out to find KFC. We looked for many hours but we were unable to find it. Therefore we ended up at Subway and got some footlongs.

Then the class had to meet again for a tour in the Chelsea-Center, where Lea's uncle held a talk about the way of living in USA as a danish immigrant. As we left the weather changed radically; it began to snow. We asked a passing woman about whether this was normal or not. She told us that it was indeed a rare thing.

Afterwards we went to a dinner to get something to eat. Just like yesterday not a lot of energy was left to spare. And that resulted in early bed time. 

Low Battery

We have heard so much about New York and finally we have arrived. After numerous steps in New York, Harlem, West Side, East Side, Brooklyn and Bronx can we hereby set our final destination for today, after a 12 hours long walk, in the heart of New York... Times Square.
All the impressions were overwhelming and breathtaking. So many different cultures mixed in one melting pot. The different train stops was a reflection of the cultures. Every time you stopped at a certain destination a completly new culture was presented.
There is so much to tell about, but New York has run us down for now. 

Goodnight New York