Being a "snake person" (and other fun)

One of my highlights this week has been hanging out
with Mira. On Tuesday night we did arts and crafts!

I think this has been the longest that I’ve gone without blogging since my arrival in Copenhagen, and while a lot has happened, I somehow expect that this will be a rather short post. At this point, much of my day-to-day life has settled (and has been explained in at least one of the previous 72 posts I've written) and therefore I don’t have a ton of “new” things to report. This doesn’t mean that my life is somehow boring or unexciting; it just means that I’ve settled into a “normal routine,” one involving classes, time with my host family, exploration of the city, long family dinners, volunteering, lots of children in snowsuits, taking photos (especially of the children in snowsuits), and biking. However, there have been several fun and exciting things over the past week that are worth sharing, so I will give you 5 highlights from this week.

Me last summer

1. On Monday during Positive Psychology we learned more about the details of our upcoming Study Tour to London! Yipee! We are meeting at the airport at 5:15am on Saturday morning (a daunting hour given that during the regular schedule it takes me 55 minutes to commute), BUT Lars volunteered to drive me (according to him, at that hour the drive will only take about 15 minutes)... I have to find a good way to repay him. And now that I don’t have to worry about leaving my house at 3:30am, I am free to devote all my energy to getting more and more excited. It sounds like it is going to be an awesome week full of interesting academic visits, fun activities, and plenty of time for class bonding and exploration of the city. I also am going to have the chance to see Professor Ambwani and the team at the IoP (where I interned last summer)! YAY!

The photo is blurry, but this is Eivind doing a
demonstration about systematic desensitization last
week. Yes, that is a heart shaped balloon she is
holding, and yes, that is a real knife he is carrying!
I LOVE THIS CLASS!

2. Tuesday I had the best developmental psychopathology class! I almost thought about posting right afterwards because I was just so excited, but I’ve managed to wait until now. At the beginning of class, we all got out our notebooks/laptops and prepared to take notes, but Eivind (professor) said, “We are going to do something a little different today. I thought it would be good for you to get to meet one of my patients.” We all got really excited. “Unfortunately I couldn’t bring him here, so instead I am going to act as him. His name is Jan—well that’s not really his name, but we’ll call him Jan—and here is what you know about him: he is 18 years old, he lives in an apartment alone having just moved out of his mother’s basement, and he hasn’t had any education since 6th grade. Now, I need 2 volunteers.” We were all silent. “They will act as psychologists and will do a diagnostic interview in front of the class.” Let's be real... I DEFINITELY wanted to volunteer, but given the amount that I talk/participate in that class already, I figured it was a better idea to let someone else do it. One girl raised her hand. He asked for a second volunteer and we sat in silence for about 20 seconds until I raised my hand too. “Excellent!” Eivind said. “Who wants to go first?” I looked at the other girl who said she didn’t care, so I volunteered to start. I think had I known about the activity the day before, I would have been nervous, but with only about 30 seconds between volunteering and going to sit at the table in the front of the room, I didn’t even have time. I sat down and so did my “client.” We began.

The interview lasted for 20 minutes before Eivind broke out of his character and said we needed to pause to get some class involvement. The experience was AMAZING! I cannot even tell you how much fun it was! I will also add that I was nervous that Eivind’s “impersonation” of a person with a mental illness was going to be offensive or distasteful, but I actually thought he did the whole activity very well. The client that he presented was very withdrawn and so he wasn’t actually really doing too much “acting.” Other than his very flat affect, slow speech, and poor eye contact, the majority of what we found important came from his explanations about his life and history. The whole thing flowed so naturally, and there were definitely moments that I forgot I was sitting in a classroom at DIS. 

We broke into smaller groups to discuss what we had learned from my initial portion of the interview, considered what potential diagnosis we would give, which differential diagnoses needed to be considered, and additional questions we wanted to ask. The second volunteer went up and did the next part of the interview before we met in our groups again to come up with a few final questions, which I then posed in the last 10 minutes of class. After class, Eivind approached me to say that he thought I did a really good job! Yippee!! I can't wait for the real life version. 

Mira is being a snake person!

3. Mira and I have hung out several nights this week. On the first night, we played the Danish equivalent of Twister. When Mira called out some strange combination of hands, feet, and colors that left me bent in really odd positions, she would look at me and marvel, “You are such a snake person!” Apparently Danes have a name a person who is very flexible: slange menneske, or literally snake person! I think that this is the most fantastic word ever and so with pride, I announce that as a slange menneske I won every game of twister! 

4. I didn't mention that two weeks ago I learned what I am going to be doing this summer, but I will do so now. While in Amsterdam, I found out that I was accepted to a fellowship program with the American Psychological Association (APA) to which I had applied in January. I really did not think there was any way I was going to get offered a position so I am obviously ecstatic, and this week learned more about what the program will be like. The Summer Science Fellowship (SSF) brings together 12 fellows, selected from around the US, who are all rising seniors interested in pursuing degrees in psychology. Each of us has been assigned to a research laboratory, and we will live together in apartments/houses on the George Mason University Campus. My mentor is a pediatric clinical psychologist who specializes in work with children with eating disorders (can you think of a better fit?!)! She teaches, does research, AND works as a clinician with children/families, so I am going to have SO much to learn from her! I've just been given permission from the APA to formally contact her to introduce myself (though apparently she already "has my file"), so I sent out an email today. I am quite eager to hear back from her! 

The playground as I walked home today

5. Snow! This is not really a highlight, but it is worth mentioning... Denmark is currently having the biggest March snowstorm that they've have in the past 15 years. It is definitely pretty, but it's getting a little old. I've enjoyed winter in Denmark, but I am ready for spring! 

That's it for now. I have a Danish oral exam to study for. I guess if I was going to give a 6th highlight, it would be that my Danish has really taken off! I understand infinitely more than I did even a month ago, and I feel comfortable using basic phrases with my family and their friends. I understand a lot more of what is said at the dinner table, and I am able to interject cute little Danish phrases and words into my conversations with them. For our oral exam tomorrow, we have to be able to translate a text from English into spoken Danish, and also ask and answer questions that we will be provided in English. As I've been studying, I have been very proud of myself for the amount I know. Who would have thought that I could ever hold a semi-understandable conversation in Danish? :-) 

I may or may not post again before I leave Saturday morning. If not, I'll definitely write from my hotel in London! Vi ses!