Lørdag Highlights

When I last left you, I was happily falling asleep at the hostel in Arhus, and I will pick up when I woke up Saturday morning. Saturday was a much earlier day than Friday had been, and it was a good thing that we had set another dozen alarms (I slept through the first two). After breakfast there wasn’t much time for resting on the 10 minute bus ride to our 3-hr workshop, but once we began, our energy levels skyrocketed.

Explaining the workshop, which took place at an alternative higher education school/university called KAOS Pilots, will be difficult, and I don’t think I will even make explaining it my goal. We arrived at the school, filled with photographs, poster-paper charts and diagrams, and giant rooms with old, comfy chairs, and it was obvious from the moment we arrived that KAOS Pilots was not your typical institution. While some of us hung out in a classroom, others went to help prepare tea and coffee for the group, and others (myself included) went on a scavenger hunt for candles in the other classrooms and buildings. When I walked around the facilities I was struck by the physical structure and layout of the school. It could be described as “cluttered” or “messy” or “disorganized” by some, but I saw it as what it really was: the product of real brainstorming, communication, problem solving, and learning. 

From the moment we sat down with Sarah, a former student and our group facilitator, we were in charge of our own experience. We even decided the structure/nature of the introduction that she gave us. We learned that at KAOS Pilots, the students do the leading and the teaching, and as students for a day, we would do the same. The next three hours can only be described as a transformative experience that led to both personal growth and major growth in our sense of class community. We shared dreams, fears, passions, and frustrations. We gave feedback and were given feedback. All of us (every single one of us) participated and shared and was “real.”  I learned about my classmates and was finally willing to take some risks in terms of my own self-disclosure.

  

Checking In process 

Though I won't go into all of the specifics, I will describe one activity that we did. After doing a really cool "check in" while sitting in a circle, we turned our chairs around and faced away from each other. On a paper, we each made three lists of 7 items. The first was of our passions, the second of things that made us really angry, and the third of individual talents/strengths. After taking 45 seconds to write each list, we were asked to share some of the items aloud. There was no hand-raising or any specific order to sharing, but it was the chaotic nature of shouting out our various passions/frustrations/strengths that encouraged many of us to take the risk to share some pretty personal things. With our backs turned it wasn't easy to realize (or remember) who said what. It was inspiring and enlightening to hear my classmates' honest responses and to see common issues we faced.

In hindsight, our class agreed that we were lucky to have this activity last. Because over the previous few days we had gotten to know each other better and better, by Saturday morning we were willing and able to share and really engage. I am not able to explain how to apply our experience at KAOS Pilots contributed to any research based application of Positive Psychology, but I can tell you this: As the students in Positive Psychology Section A, we walked into the building as classmates and we walked out as a community. And given our discussions in class today (Monday), I can already tell that the presentations/workshops/activities will certainly affect the way that we experience the rest of our time together at DIS. 

We followed our workshop with a final group meal: a delicious traditional Danish lunch of open-faced sandwiches on dark bread (Kasper would have been so excited) and an even more delicious dessert! 

It was then time for the last activity before our trip back to Copenhagen. There is a famous art museum in Arhus that currently has an Edvard Munch (the guy who painted The Scream) exhibit about anxiety! (too funny, right!?) Turns out that been Edvard had a pretty horrible life (lots of death of his loved ones during early life) and his painting very much shows a progression into illness (and then out... somewhat). We got a really cool presentation by a museum employee and then had the chance to walk around the museum for about an hour.

Though they didn't have the actual Scream painting (Norway wouldn't lend it to them),
I did my best impression to make up for it.  

This was the most famous of Munch's paintings that was at the exhibit

The main permanent exhibit in the museum is built right into its foundation and architecture all the way through: the building is designed/set up to allow visitors to make the transition from hell to heaven (or heaven to hell) as they travel from basement to rooftop. The basement, with all thin corridors and rooms painted black, is made up of 9 rooms, symbolizing Dante's 9 Rings of Hell (from his Divine Comedy of Heaven and Hell). It is very hot (not sure if that is completely intentional) and there are some strange/abstract interpretations of the rooms of hell. My favorite was one with all of these corners/closets of mirrors. You'd look into a look nook and see thousands upon thousands of yourself peeking back at you... weird and COOL! 

The staircase (Purgatory) from Hell to Heaven

In one of the "rooms" of Hell

You then travel up and up and up the staircases (purgatory) and other temporary art exhibits fold off in the wings of each floor. The coolest part, however, is heaven, which you reach only after arriving at the roof of the museum, traveling briefly outside, and entering the rainbow panorama that allows you to walk through a circular rainbow tunnel and to view the city below through the colors. Helen and I skipped, spun, and pranced around, and then spent a good amount of time just staring at the beautiful around us. 

It was so much fun to spend the afternoon with Helen and my other new friends and really gave us a nice opportunity to reflect (from above). I wish we had a bit more time, but alas, we had to be getting ready for our journey home. 

Before loading the buses, we were treated to even more cake (I couldn't even eat it... I was still so stuffed) while sitting together in the cafe of the museum. We paused to take a group photo:

Positive Psychology Section A

The Scream!

Back to the bus for our final journey home, and despite the exhaustion that I felt, I was unable to sleep. Instead, I took some time to look out the window and reflect back on our 3 day trip. We were chasing the sunset as we drove along, passing farms and rivers and forests. It occurred to me how happy I was that our study tour had been to another part of Denmark instead of to another country in the region. Originally I had wished that my class had been going to Sweden or somewhere else (since DIS was paying for it, I thought it would be better to go to another country), but I realized once I had gotten outside CPH just how much there is to see in Denmark! The landscape is so varied as is the architecture, the food, the accents, the city life, the demographics, etc. I am very grateful for having the opportunity to explore even just 3 additional cities. 

Mads had left us in Arhus (since that is where he lives), but Louise was with us for the trip back and kept us occupied and stuffed with sweets! We watched Inception and munched on a constant flow of chips, cookies/cakes, candies, breads, and juice. By the end of the ride none of us could manage the final chocolates and we sent them home with Louise for her son to enjoy.

The napkins that Mads and Louise got us for our snacks on the bus had mustaches. Naturally every one of us did the same thing with it, so we decided we had to take a picture.

We unloaded the bus, and Evan, Ilana and I made our way through the snowy streets to Kobenhvan main train station. We were tired, but happily so. After waiting for our respective trains, we parted ways, saying "vi ses" until Monday. 

Back at Herlev train station, Lars picked me up in the car and drove me home (I was very grateful not to have to wait for the bus in the cold/dark/snow). I received hugs from Mira (and kisses from Balou and Junior), unpacked my belongings, and spent some time with my family catching up on the end-of-week events. Before collapsing into bed just around midnight I made my gratitude list for the day [15 items long (and I could have fit more)!] and thought about what had changed over the course of the trip. My reflections only made me even more excited about our long study tour (to London) in March! Who knows what adventures it will have in store? 

I will post again with some mid-week updates (from Sunday and today) either tomorrow or Wednesday, but for now my Danish homework and Developmental Disorders readings await me!