Who are these people??

Some of you might know but a lot of you probably haven’t noticed that not all of the Højskole-students went home over Easter. Eleven of them stayed – all very sweet and interesting people – and even if they are not taking part in our seminar it would be great to have something to chat about with them if you ran into them at the meals or in the bar, don’t you think?

Here comes a short presentation of those we could get hold of before the blog-publishing-deadline.

Benedikte and Frida are two of the Greenlandish girls at the school. They are 21 and 27 and study Danish, English, keramics, sports (Frida) and math (Benedikte) here. Frida would love to travel to Australia one day and if you feel like looking at some very nice pictures, you should check out Benedikte’s website: www.123hjemmeside.dk/bintitta

Thaneel is a 43-year-old social worker from India. His subjects here are Danish, About Denmark and sports. He is very interested in human rights and in nature – and especially in the nature around here.

Yuliya (27) and Tanya (21) come from Ukraine. Both of them are here to learn Danish and about Denmark because they want to work here. Yuliya likes to go for really long walks in the forest, Tanya not so much…but she’s obsessed with cats!

Niels is South-African and he takes Danish, math and sports here. He likes to debate about islam and christianity and although he is only 17 he has been playing on South Africa’s national cricket team!

Mona, nutrition assistant, 20 years old: her subjects at the school are salsa, choir, boxing and preparing all this lækker food for us! Sometimes when she hears someone saying a word she starts all of a sudden to sind a song containing this word (try it!). And…surprise!…Mona is Danish.

Thomas (22) is half Swiss, half Danish and apart from Danish and About Denmark he takes sports and yoga. When we asked him to tell us an interesting fact about him, he said he usually showers naked. And he doesn’t lock his door at night (but he wouldn’t tell us his room-number).

Friday made a big impact on me as well as my group (Green). What kind of stroke me, after todays subjects, was how prejudices produced by cultural differences could lead to “under the surface” conflicts or just conflicts in general. So to broaden our horizon we chosed to interview two Yemen girls…

Name: Nawal and Amani

Age: 23 and 24

Country: Yemen

How did you react on the Abigale story considering you are Abigale?

N and A:Would place the mother as one of the worst in the story, just after Sinbad, because she doesn’t react at all, to the problems of her daughter. A mother needs to listen and respond to her daughters issues, afterwards the daughter could make up an opinion.

If A and N where put in Abigales situation, she would not even consider Sinbad as a solution to her problem, she would start thinking alternatives right away, and if that means she would be able to see her love, then that must be her decision.

So something inside you already helps you decide!?

N:The mind. The mind is her logical thinking, but the logical thinking is based on her culture such as her family, religion etc. In this way she think her choices rely on a somewhat more save fundament.

And also believes and the protection of the family according to Armani.

So Nawal, if know you’ll regard me as Abigale – how would I react according to the situation?

N:Abigale would have a mind as well, but it would work in another way, regarding Abigales, now western, culture. Her mind would be more logic in the sentence of rational choice. She would, if the mother would have reacted, have listened to her, but her final decision would be founded on her individuality. This means that she weighs good and bad considering the problem with Sinbad, and choose wether see would sleep with him or not to see her love.

Why are we dealing with two different persons? How do you know the reaction of the “western” Abigale, if you haven’t met her?

N:This is Nawals first time outside Yemen ever. So a lot of these thaugths are relied on what see have heard in the Yemen medias about our part of the world, but now she is here she starts to change her view on the people living here. They have all been so kind and open to her. So when she comes home she would tell her friends all her new experiences.

TV have a huge impact on our prejudice Armani points out.

Our comments

So to sum up, we meet each other and judge each other according to prejudices whether they are good or bad. The first thing you know about another person is how they look, so before even speaking to them you already build up a set of expectations of how they would react to different issues according to their look, f.ex. do they wear baggy-pants, expensive dresses, scarfs, are they white, brown, yellow, blue etc…

Breaking down stereotypes at Kalø

This News Blog will take point of departure in general views of stereotypes of people from around the world.... but are they true??

We decided to interview several people, attending the Seminar here at Kalø...and we are truly glad to say; Much of it is totally wroooong!!!!!!!!!!!!!


- AND THANK GOD FOR THAT.....


The Danish Viking

Appearance: Big and dumb looking with blond curly hair. Always mumbling and grunting.
Living conditions: Lives in a cave.
Way of life: Winter-bathing, fishing whales, smacking up his wife with a club and dragging her by the hair.

Breaking down stereotypes. Interview with Stine from Copenhagen, Denmark.

Stine Studies anthroplogy, and she likes to chill out at home, eat looong breakfast and hang out with her friends…and not to forget, to ride her green granny-bike around the styreets of Copenhagen. In the weekends she likes to go to the park and hang out and do homework.Stine thinks that the guys should shape up, but that the girls are just fine! She doesn’t agrre that all Dfanes are blond, but rather have “paté coloured hair”. The Danes are not too extreme, but like to blend in.
She thinks Danes have a high living standard and that most students either rent an appartment or live in community housing.
Motto:” Laugh at least once a day.”


The Russian Mafia

Appearance: Always red-faced with drunken eyes.
Living conditions: Concrete ghettos.
Way of life: Drinking loads of vodka, ice-bathing and rolling around in the snow. Firing off kalashnikovs.

Breaking down stereotypes. Interview with Vioulla from Prague, Czech Republic.

People in Prague are usually fashionable dressed..and don’t look drunk at all! In Czech Republic people outside Prague live in big houses. Near Prague people either live in housing estates or appartment brick-buildings. Vioulla lives in a flat in Prague, and studies. Everyday from 17-23 she hangs out with her friends and often goes to the cinema. In weekends she leaves Prague to do volunteer work or go hiking.Motto: “Enjoy life every second”


The Spanish Matador

Appearance: Slim and rank posture with an oily and well-trimmed mustache. Smells heavily of perfume.
Living conditions: He lives in house full of mirros so he can always admire himself in his tricot. Way of life: Dancing La Cucaracha to the Gipsy Kings all night and all day.

Breaking the stereotypes. Interview with Aitor from Northern Spain.

For Aitor the most important sport in Spain is to rest and have a siesta, and to socialise with friends. He believes that dancing and alcohol is a very important aspect of life. Therefore he parties a lot in the wekends, but also has to work as a indoor football referee.
In Spain it can be quite difficult to get a flat, so most young people live at home until they are 28-30 years old, have finished their studies and got a job.
Aitor’s motto: “Fiesta!”


The Ghanian Hunter

Appearance: A fast running naked man with a spear and pierced through the nose with a twig. Living conditions: In the trees or in huts made of cow-dung.
Way of life: Hunting animals and being lazy.

Breaking the stereotypes. Interview witth Marc from Ghana.

Marc likes to appear clean and neat, and to dress business-like. He believes it’s important to talk nicely and to have control of life without stressing oneself. His virtues are to be patient, articulated and to be careful of what you say and not to judge people.

Marc used to own a company with 25 workers. He was a building contactor – building houses. Now he studies architecture in Horsens.

Marc’s vision is to help orphans by building houses for them to stay in.Marc’s Motto: “It’s easy to choose, but it takes the wiser to pick out the best”.


Cheers from the Yellow team!

Heeeey

How's it hangin' dudes and dudettes?!