May 11
The first thing on the agenda was a school visit to Hedegardsskolen, a K-9 school in Bronderslev. It was another very good school visit, first talking to the principal Jorgen Thorsen about the school and then observing 8th or 9th grade classrooms. This is a strong school, as teacher salaries are set nationally, but the community comes up with more money to pay the teachers extra. Most school policies in Denmark are set at the national level. Joren said he has several teachers who had been in other professions but then went back to school to become teachers. He said very few people who become teachers leave teaching. This is the opposite of the United States where many teachers switch to other professions and very few professionals from other fields switch to teaching.
In the early afternoon Ib and a couple of his neighbors picked us up and took us to the west coast. We made stops at a place where we walked the beach and could see the sea’s erosion of cliffs, at a lighthouse that has been over taken by shifting sand dunes (it’s very windy), and finally at a site where fishermen still pull their boats up on shore rather than harboring them at a pier – we walked the beach here as well.
In the evening, Ib and his family (except Lisebeth and Milene who were working), Mohamed (one of the drivers) and his wife who are from Afghanistan, and our group had dinner together at the hotel. It was another traditional Danish meal: potato soup with local potatoes and barley, rosemary spiced pork with vegetables, potatoes and gravy, and ice cream with a brownie and chocolate sauce with a small watermelon piece on the side. More excellent food. The Hotel Phoenix where we are staying in Bronderslev is quite a nice change from the CabInn. It has very spacious rooms and good sized bathrooms. Like the CabInn it is very clean and well kept. It is also very handy being only a block or two from the train station.
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| A homework assignment in English (mostly). |
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| The Park in Bronderslev |
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| There were two swans and several ducks in the pond. |
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| Megan by a wall of flower in the park. |
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| The swan didn't seem to mind that the duklings were following. |
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| Megan, Kirsten, Britta, Karissa, &Amy |
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| More flowers in the park. |
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| A Club in Bronderslev |
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| When traditional windmills such as this are not working, the windmill is stopped forming an X. This one, however, was stopped forming a cross to commemorate soldiers from the region who were killed in World Warr II. |
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| The Gang |
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| Looking north on the west coast of Denmark. |
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| Karla at the North Sea |
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| These cliffs have been suffering severe erosion for many years. A church and several cottages have fallen down to the beach. |
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| Ib sharing some information about the area. |
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| This cottage doesn't have many years left. |
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| It was raining lightly once in a while. |
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| More Beach |
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| They started taking pictures of each other jumping. |
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| Karissa & Hope Running on the Beach |
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| The lighthouse through a mist. |
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| Mohamed (one of our volunteer drivers) & Karla. |
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| The wind is nearly constant and and strong from the west. In this area just east of the beach, many trees lean to the east. |
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| Sand & Grass |
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| Happy to be at the top. |
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| View looking north from the top of a sand dune. |
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| Karissa coming back down. |
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| Ib & Amy on the way down. |
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| Hearty Little Flowers - the Danish word for flowers is blomster. |
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| The last fishing boats in Denmark that are pulled up on the beach rather than being moored at a pier. |
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| More Beach |
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| Karissa & Ib wading in the North Sea. |
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| Megan, Amy, & Britta |
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| Alli, Karissa, Hope, & Donna |
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| The Group Jump Photo |
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| The gang with Ib (right) & Mohamed (by Karla) |
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| Car in the parking lot by the beach. |
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