La Dolce Vita: Copenhagen Update

We know its been awhile since our last update, but we’ve been so busy having a blast here in Copenhagen!

On the school front, we have finished our intensive 3-week marketing models course and are now working on the final project for this class. This final project involves running software analysis for marketing problems (cases) and then making managerial decisions about the outcomes of the analysis. We still have another 2 weeks left of our cross-cultural management course, which to say the least has been very interesting. Last week, our Mexican-German professor started off the 8:00AM class with some vibrant salsa music in an effort to wake up his students and encourage some participation. In the class previous to this one, we spent the first 45 minutes, with all the 35 students standing at the front of the classroom… “not leaning on furniture, walls or the board… but just to move freely and discuss…” a case we had read on an English manufacturing company that was attempting to move its operations to China. A riveting class it was INDEED.

Put on by the International Social University Program (ISUP) coordinators, we got to learn some authentic Danish folk dancin’ (dumbed down of course) with a live orchestra and instructors (in COSTUME)! It was really hilarious and everyone there had a really great time attempting to learn the traditional dance moves. After this dancing lesson there was a mid-summer night party hosted at a near by CBS bar, which had a great outdoor patio. It’s hard to believe that the summer is more than halfway finished. Time is just flying by!

folk dancing at the hall

group picture

getting schooled at folk dancing

The Copenhagen Jazz festival was going on all of last week all over the city as well, and one afternoon after doing some homework, we stumbled upon a lovely square filled with beautiful jazz music. It was a gorgeous sunny afternoon and the outdoor Jazz concert was a perfect way to spend the rest of the
day.

concert near Stroget

lots of Jazz shows happening at Nyhavn

We managed to cross the Copenhagen Museum off of our list of “things to do.” We were hoping to learn more about the city of Copenhagen and its history, but the museum instead focused on the city’s specific history of immigration, along with a special exhibit on waste produced by city dwellers in Copenhagen. The museum was a beautiful old building (its original purpose we are still unaware) but the exhibits within it were modern, interesting and presented their content in a non-conventional manner through different mediums (film, photography, props, music, interactive boards people could write and contribute to, etc.)

exhibit on urban culture in Copenhagen

past posters about urban filth and the RATS!

On this past Sunday, the ISUP organized a day trip out to the nearby area of Helsingor (on the sound between Denmark and Sweden) to visit the historical royal castle of Krongborg. The castle is world renowned as the setting of Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet. We had a great guided tour of the castle and its grounds and then were given the afternoon to explore the cute town of Helsingor that surrounded it. It was a great trip, where me met some new friends and enjoyed seeing a new part of Denmark we had not yet experienced. We are starting to think it might be a great idea to explore more of Denmark once we are done school and have a bit more free time.