Reykjavik, Iceland

Wednesday we took a jeep tour around the Golden Circle. We started by stopping by one of the geothermal plants. The hot water and electricity for Reykjavik and surrounding areas comes from these plants. Our next stop on the tour was Pingvellir National Park; to get there we drove around this gorgeous blue lake. Iceland’s parliament was founded at this national park in 930 AD. Gullfoss waterfall was the next stop on this journey. This waterfall was so big that it felt like you were getting a shower from the spray when you walked close to it. The picture on the right is the waterfall. We had lunch here which was a traditional Icelandic meal of lamb stew. We then went to Iceland’s second largest glacier and took the jeeps right up into it and then we got to get out and play in the snow. We then went to see a geyser which is named Geysir. It goes off every 6 to 8 minutes so we were able to see it a couple of times. The picture to the left is the geyser. The last stop was a tour of Iceland’s newest geothermal plants. We were able to learn how it all works and then actually see some of the machines. This adventure was tons of fun because we went off-roading and through the river for parts of it and the four girls in our jeep were screaming and laughing most of the time. The day ended with us having a nice meal and then relaxing after a very fun day.


On Thursday we had our last school visit of this journey. The school was very interesting and they had many interesting philosophies for the school. This school along with many of them we saw in Denmark has immigrants. About 10% of their students are immigrants and some are learning Icelandic as their third language. One thing I found very interesting about the school is that the students remove their shoes at the door and then wear their socks through the school but the teachers all wear their shoes. We got to see many of the classrooms and there was much more home economics type classes such as foods, sewing, and wood shop. This was a very good school visit to end the trip on because it was very interesting. This afternoon we went whale watching. We got onto a boat and then went about 30 to 40 minutes out to the bay to watch for whales. We were able to see about 8 to 10 during the three hour trip. You were not able to see much of the whale and by the time you looked you usually saw their back and maybe their back fin if you were lucky. The last stop on the boat tour was at an island that is home to a puffin community. We were not able to get very close on the boat but you were able to see some of them sitting in the grass on the island. The boat ride was very wavy so it made it very interesting to walk around on the boat. The picture on the right is another boat, similar to the one we were on, our whale watching. Today is our last night of the trip so we had a group meal and were able to talk and laugh about many of the memories that have been made!

London, England and Reykjavik, Iceland

Monday morning started with us having a school visit. All the children wore uniforms at this school and the school was more similar to the schools in the United States than the other countries we have visited. The students though only have to stay in school until the age of 16 and then they are able to go onto more schooling or join the workforce. This is changing though so that students must stay in school until they are 18. After the school visit we grabbed some lunch and then found some steps along the river to sit and relax for awhile. We did our last souvenir shopping and then packed up our bags before heading for supper. After supper we all got some ice cream and then sat in a park by some fountains and relaxed for our last evening in London before heading back to the hotel.

Tuesday was a travel day for us; we left for the airport in the morning. We spent some time in the airport before boarding our plan so we kept ourselves busy by playing some games on the computer. When we got to Reykjavik, Iceland we gathered our bags and caught the bus to the Blue Lagoon. The Blue Lagoon is a geothermal spa. The picture at the right is the geothermal water at the Blue Lagoon. It was very warm and relaxing and we made face masks with the silica mud they had there. When we got to Reykjavik we checked into the hotel, grabbed some supper, and went to bed.

London, England

On Saturday we took in many of the city sites. We started by getting onto a boat cruise which took us down the Thames River. We got off to see the Tower of London which is an old castle located right on the river. The Crown Jewels that are part of the Coronation Regalia were here on display. There were so many diamonds and gorgeous crowns. We then walked over to the Tower Bridge Exhibition which had many facts, pictures, and videos about the building of this gorgeous brigde. It is often mistaken as the London Bridge which is actually the next bridge down the Thames River. The Tower Bridge is seen on the right. Our next stop on the day was St. Paul's Cathedral. This was one of the most beautiful churches I have ever seen, I wish I was able to take pictures to show. Two friends from the group and I went up the 528 steps to the Golden Gallery of the tower to be 85 meters from the Cathedral Floor. We were outside and it was a bit windy so it was scary but the view over London was amazing! After we made our way back down the 528 steps we headed back to the boat to get back to where we had started. Saturday evening I went to The Lion King musical, it was absolutely amazing. The music was so much fun to hear and the actors were so good that most of their voices sounded identical to The Lion King movies.

Sunday morning we woke up early to get on a bus tour around parts of England. Our first stop on the day was Warwick Castle. This castle has been decorated to represent different times of the castle. There were also many wax statues of important people that had been in the castle. After the castle we went to Stratford upon Avon, here we got to see the house that William Shakespeare was born in. It was a very warm day out so after going through the house Shakespeare was born in some of us walked down and around the river area. The last stop on this tour was Oxford. Here we got to see Christ Church which is where the great hall from Harry Potter was filmed and there were also many other places around the area that were used for the movies as well. The picture on the left is the great hall used in the Harry Potter movies. We then had the couple hour bus ride back to London. This evening the weather was so nice that after supper a group of us went to Trafalgar Square. This area has a couple fountains and places to sit so we just enjoyed the evening.

London, England

On Thursday we started the day by walking around the outside of Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament. We then went to watch the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace and was able to see extra activities as they were practicing for the queen's birthday again. The picture on the right is part of the changing of the guards ceromony. We then went to the British National Museum which was full of many artifacts from all over the world. Later in the day we met with our group and made our way to where we were going to eat supper. On the way we visited the Clink Prison, this was very sad seeing all the torture people had went through in the prison a long time ago. We ate a group meal and then went to Macbeth at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. It was a very good play and very fun to see one of Shakespeare's plays at the Globe Theatre.

Today we started the day with a school visit. The schools here are more similar to the United States than the previous countries we have visited. The kids were fun to talk to being they could all speak English. After the school visit we stopped by Platform 9 3/4, in one of the subway stations, from the Harry Potter movies. The picture on the left is Platform 9 3/4 in the subway station. As a group we then went to The Foundling Museum which used to be an orphanage for children. After this we wandered the city some and came back for a little rest before going out for supper. We had a really good supper at an Italian restaurant before going to Wicked. The musical Wicked was very good to see and it was a lot of fun being there as a group!

Bergen, Norway and London, England

Tuesday was our last day in Norway. We started the day with a school visit. The school that we visited is a private school who sends about 30 students a year to Hillcrest Lutheran Academy in Fergus Falls, Minnesota. We were able to speak to some of the older students and ask them questions. One interesting thing about Norway is that they are similar to Denmark in that they have the same teacher for a few years in a row. After the school visit we were able to do a little more shopping before heading back to the hotel to pack our bags. In the evening we had our group meal and then us eight students climbed to the top of the hill. This is the same hill that we took the train to the top of before to watch the sun set. We watched the sun set and then walked back down.

We had to be up really early this morning to catch our flight to London! Once we got to London we made our way to the hotel. A group of us went to watch the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace, we were not able to see the changing because there were other events going on. Someone had told us that the queen's birthday is coming up so they are practicing for that. This evening a group of us went walking down by the Thames River. We took a ride on the London Eye which is a very large slow ferris wheel type ride. You ride in a capsule which moves very slowly so that it takes about half an hour to get all the way around. From the top you are able to see much of London. We were able to see Big Ben and the House of Lords!The image on the above is of the House of Lords and Big Ben and the image on the left is the London Eye and the Thames River.

Bergen, Norway

On Sunday we did the Norway in a Nutshell tour. We started out by taking a train from Bergen to Myrdal. When we got to Myrdal to transfered trains and got onto one heading to Flam. There were many beautiful sites to see. One was a waterfall that was pretty big and we got to get off the train to take pictures, one of which is on the right. It was very interesting because parts of the waterfall were still frozen. We followed a river for much of the train ride which made it beautiful for the entire train ride. From Flam we took a ferry through the Sognefjord to Gudvangen. The Sognefjord is the "King of all the fjords" because it is one of the world's longest and deepest fjords. The picture below is of the fjord. The weather was a little cloudy and windy but the fjord was still amazing. There were many waterfalls coming from the snow capped mountains and some small villages along the fjord. When we got off the ferry in Gudvangen we got onto a bus which brought us to Voss. On the bus ride we went down the steepest road in Norway which had 13 hairpin turns! From Voss we took another train back to Bergen and then walked back to the hotel in the rain. The rain did not start until we were off the ferry and able to be inside for the rest of the tour.

Today was syttende mai, which is Norway's independance day! We watched two parades this morning which were going on at the same time in opposite directions. One parade was the children from the schools and the bugle corps and the other was bands, sports teams and other groups. The Norwegians were dressed up in their Bunads which are their traditional outfits. The parades were fun but it got a little chilly out. The picture on the right is some of the children in the parade. We went out to eat at a fun restaurant for supper and then walked around to see all the tents that were set up selling goodies. The weather was much nicer in the evening so we took advantage of that. When we arrived back at the hotel my relatives who live in Bergen were here with a Kransekake, which is a type of Norwegian cake, for our group.

Bronderslev, Denmark and Bergen, Norway

On Thursday we left Denmark for Norway! We took an overnight ferry to Bergen and arrived around 8:30 in the morning. The ferry ride seemed pretty long, we left Denmark at about 1:00 in the afternoon and the ferry was not very large for exploring so we played card games to pass the time.

When we arrived to Bergen, Norway we explored the city! It is absolutely gorgeous here with all the mountains and water. There are many fun tourist shops that we checked out and a fun cafe that we had some lunch at. Many of the shops were in Bryggen which is a row of old houses that lines the harbor. The picture on the right is a part of Bryggen. Most of these old buildings are also leaning. Our small group also walked through the fish market which has many fish booths and some small tents with vendors selling souvenirs. Bergen is such a beautiful city so we had fun just walking around for the day!

This morning was started with a delicious Norwegian breakfast. We went to the West Norway Museum of Decorative Art to begin the day of more touring. There were many interesting displays at this museum. After the museum we walked out to a point where we were able to sit and watch the boats come in and out of the harbor and enjoy the beautiful weather. The last two days in Norway have been the most gorgeous weather we have had the whole trip. Another museum that we toured was The Rosenkrantz Tower which is an old castle. We could hear that there were many people outside so we went to see what was happening and it was the Bugle Corps. This is a very old tradition in Bergen that is passed down from the older men in the groups to the younger boys. They had a big parade through the town and each different group had drummers. I was able to meet up with my second cousins later in the afternoon and enjoy their company and a Norwegian meal at their house. This evening a group of us took the train up to the top of the mountain and were able to watch the sun set. From on top of the mountain you were able to see all of Bergen and much of the surrounding waters. The sun set was one of the most gorgeous I have ever seen. The picture on the left is the sun set and part of Bergen.

Odense and Bronderslev, Denmark

Yesterday was our last day in Odense, Denmark. The group again split in half and half of us went to Olav’s school and the other half went to Johnny’s school for school visits. At Olav’s school we got to visit a kindergarten classroom and then play outside with them. The picture on the left is of some of the girls from the kindergarten class playing outside. We got to see a performance by Mr. Larson, Olav’s parrot (who lives in his office). The parrot was able to get the door on his cage open and then he danced to some music for us. After the school visits we had to get to the train station and leave for Bronderslev, Denmark. When we arrived in Bronderslev Karla, our professor’s, relative met us at the train station. He brought us out to his house where we were served a very good homemade Danish meal.

This morning started with a school visit. Each of us was set up with a group of three to four 10^th grade Danish students. These students took each of us on a tour of the school; we were able to ask them questions and they were able to ask us questions. One think that I have never thought about until talking with students at different schools in Denmark is that many people get the wrong impression of Americans because of our movies and television shows that they watch. The students were also interested in talking about the difference in age regulations. We discussed things such as the youngest you can be to get a job, the age you get your driver’s license and the smoking and drinking ages. In the afternoon Karla’s relatives took us for a little tour of the area out to the coast. The coast we went to has been washing away about 2 meters a year, so there are houses close to the edge now. We were able to walk on the sandy beach and touch the cold water of the North Sea. We then went on to a place where there once was a functioning lighthouse that is now being surrounded by sand dunes. The sand from the sea has created large sand dunes which has destroyed the buildings around the lighthouse and made it unusable.The picture on the left is of the lightouse, sand dunes, and the North Sea from on top of one of the sand dunes. We were able to climb to the top of the dunes and look around at the area. It was rainy and very windy so we were all full of sand, especially our shoes. The last stop in our little tour was a tourist town where we were able to see boats that they still pull up onto the beach instead of using a harbor. We ended the evening and our stay in Denmark with a very nice group meal.

Odense, Denmark

Yesterday morning in Odense we were picked up by some of the Danish principals, our professors friends, and they brought us onto a ferry which we took to a small island. This island has very old towns. We got a guided tour of one of the old towns which has many old buildings from the 1700's and 1800's with the oldest from around the year 1690. These buildings were all very small and when we went inside them most people had to duck their heads, some houses are shown in the picture on the left. We then drove through some countryside to get to a different part of the island. The town we went to was and still is a big sailing town. We toured a sailing museum where there were many old pictures of sailors and ships, model ships, and ships in bottles. We took a ferry to a different island and then returned to Odense by bridges. When we got back to Odense Olav brought us to a futbol (soccer) game. The teams playing were one step down from their top teams in Denmark. Olav bought all of us scarves with the team colors and logo. The team we were cheering for won one to nothing and there is a picture to the right.

Today we went on school visits! There were four schools to go to so we split in half and each of us only went to two schools. At the first school I went to I was able to observe a 7th grade physics lesson and then a 6th grade English lesson. One thing very interesting about the schools in Denmark is that the students call their teachers by theirs first names. Another thing that has been interesting is that students will stay with the same teacher for multiple years in a row and it used to be that they had the same teacher their entire schooling, which is only kindergarten to grade nine or ten for us. When I went to the second school our group split again and went into 7th grade English lessons. Dave, our professor, and I were in the same room and the students had prepared questions for us. In the schools we have visited the students begin English lessons in the third grade so the 7th graders were all able to speak English pretty well. We then were able to get into smaller groups and ask the students questions. The students that I was talking to were a majority non-native Danish. Denmark has received many immigrants and now some schools are a majority non-native Danish. They had many questions about the US and it was very fun to hear their English. After the school visits we went to a center that is full of educational resources for the teachers. They are able to get assistance with lesson plans and loan resources to use in their lessons with their students. One of the principals had all of us over for supper tonight. It was a very large meal but very very good! All six of the prinipals that we have met were there as well. Today was a long but very informational day.

Copenhagen and Odense, Denmark

Yesterday we visited the Hamlet Castle in Helsinger, Denmark. The picture on the right is the outside of the castle. After the castle we toured the Museum of Danish Resistance. This museum had many artifacts from World War II. There was a lot of history in this museum some of which was very sad. We also walked through Tivoli which is the oldest amusement park in the world. There are many beautiful flowers and fun amusement rides in Tivoli.

Today we took a train to Odense, Denmark. We explored the city and found some lunch before meeting up with Olav again. Olav and one of his friends from the city council gave us a tour of Odense which is a really old city. We took a tour of the Hans Christian Anderson Museum and saw where it is said that he was born. His fairytales have been translated into 150 languages and there were many of the books in a library in the museum. There were also a few of his original manuscripts and many of his belongings on display.

Copenhagen, Denmark

We made it Denmark yesterday!! We spent the afternoon exploring the city of Copenhagen! We have a Danish principal, that our professors have become friends with, guiding us around the city. His name is Olav and he is a principal in Odense, Denmark.



Today we went on our first school visit. The school has many immigrant children coming from 38 countries and speaking 45 different languages. We met the head master, Lise, and many of the students. They were very excited to see us. Lise and Olav talked with us about many of the issues there are having with immigrant children at the schools. The Danish and immigrant children are needing to adapt to each other and their ways of life. This was very interesting to listen to and they think of things differently than we do.



After our school visit we took a boat tour of Nyhavn, Harbor. The picture to the right is the old buildings of Nyhavn harbor with some boats. We were able to learn some history about many of the old buildings and some of the boats in the water. We also saw the Queen's palace and her royal yacht. After the boat tour we walked over to the Queen's palace and took a tour of the Crown Prince and Princess's future palace. The Queen was not home because the Danish flag was not flying above her palace.