As our first trip away from Brussels comes to a close, I thought I would reflect on some of the highlights of our time Copenhagen. Most of Sunday we spent all together, which was nice. It gave us all an opportunity to enjoy an incredible Danish meal together and catch up. Being spread out amongst our host families in Brussels makes it difficult to frequently chat with each other, but getting to spend the past few days together has definitely helped us develop better relationships. After returning to the hotel and settling in for a bit, we decided to go on a walk with no destination. The weather couldn’t have been better for getting lost in Copenhagen. Wandering around helped my friends and I decided where we should visit for our coming free day.

The Danish Refugee Council was our first site visit in Copenhagen. My classmates and I can agree that it was one of the most interesting and informative visits that we have had. Hearing the Danish, Copenhagen, and even our presenter’s perspectives was an awesome experience. We haven’t heard much of that from other presenters. It’s always nice to hear a little more than just the basic facts. Following our presentation, our presenter led us to the rooftop where we were able to see a beautiful view of the city. After several pictures, we headed out for lunch before meeting up at the hotel to head over to the University of Copenhagen together.

Once we arrived at the university, we were greeted by Ian Manners, a Professor of Political Science. He talked about a lot in such a short two hours. Of course, once the questions began, we went over our set two hours by about thirty minutes. Manners gave us a wonderful presentation and had a lot of information to share with us. It was cool to hear his opinions on problems such as migration and a possible Brexit. It was a nice way to end our first day.

The Little Mermaid

Tuesday was much more relaxed and finding things to do was all on us. After gathering friends after breakfast, we set out for the famous Little Mermaid statue. Our first stop along the way was Rosenborg Castle, a renaissance castle. It was originally built as a country summer home in the early 1600s. It is home to the crown jewels and is surrounded by beautiful gardens and a park. After briefly walking around the castle and through the gardens, we returned on our path to the Little Mermaid. We were once again side tracked, this time by St. Alban’s Church.

Not often do you come across open Anglican/Episcopalian churches in Europe, so it was especially touching to me as an Episcopalian. Immediately upon entering, I noticed similarities to my church at home in everything from the structure to the linens used. The church was built in 1885 and is the only Anglican/Episcopalian church in Denmark. After spending a little time inside, we finally headed for the Little Mermaid statue. The statue happened to be a little underwhelming, but it was still a wonderful opportunity to see such a famous piece of art.

After all of this exploring, we had really worked up an appetite. We headed for Papirøen Copenhagen Street Food. It is essentially a waterside marketplace that features independent food stalls and trucks that sell snacks, meals, and drinks. I enjoyed a pulled duck sandwich (similar to a BBQ sandwich, but better) and fries that were double fried in duck fat! It was hands down one of my favorite meals in Copenhagen. With this, our first free day was in the books. We returned to the hotel to watch lots of soccer together.

Wednesday morning was all booked up with our second site visit. After a short thirty minute walk, we arrived at the Danish Foreign Ministry where we were briefed by two gentlemen. About an hour and a half later, it was time for lunch. We all went together to another street food type market. This time I indulged myself in some tacos. Once everyone had finished eating, we headed for the parliament building where we climbed (rode the elevator) up to the top for an incredible view of Copenhagen. By the end of our visit there, we were all ready for our canal tour. A lovely hour boat ride accompanied by lots of history was the perfect way to wrap up the long day.

View From the Parliament Building

Today being our last day here, we were all up for different things. Some of us checked out a few museums while others took a day to catch their breath and relax a little bit. Copenhagen is a beautiful city with a lot to offer. Five days isn’t enough to take in any city, especially this one.

Today was our third full day in Copenhagen, and it was an incredibly exciting and fun one! We started off the day quite early when we visited the Danish Foreign Ministry and received a briefing from a Senior Advisor in the European Policy Department. He gave us some insight on where the European Union stands currently and how Denmark fits into the EU and its issues.

He addressed issues such as migration and the refugee crisis and how Schengen policies affect that, as well as Grexit and Brexit. Something really interesting he mentioned was in regards to borders closing due to the sudden and severe influx of refugees. He said that even two years ago, the idea of closing borders was “unthinkable.” I thought this was really fascinating to think about, especially in terms of how quickly things can change. It made me think of the domino effect that one action can have, and how those actions can illicit change so rapidly in a manner that was previously thought of as impossible.

Sort of going off of that, we also discussed the implications of Brexit on the EU and on Denmark. He mentioned that a possible Brexit won’t affect Denmark too heavily in terms of trade and economic policies, but that it will significantly impact the European Union as a whole. On the other hand, he mentioned that if Britain chooses to remain, there will be a final certainty about the UK’s position and commitment to the EU. It’s crazy to think that the British Referendum is only eight days away; we’ve spent so long discussing it and what could or couldn’t happen depending on what is decided, and now the decision is so close. I’m really looking forward to seeing what happens on the 23rd.

After the briefing, we headed back to the hotel to change quickly and then head out for some lunch at the Torvehallerne Market, which was beautiful in today’s weather. The inside of the market was also packed full of stores and places to eat, and some of us were looking for something traditionally Danish, so we got fish cakes, rye bread, and remoulade from a fish stand.

After a great lunch, we went to the top of the Parliament building, called Christiansborg Palace, for a gorgeous 360 degree view of the entire city.

While we made our way to the top, we also worked through some interesting riddles that someone brought up. It was a lot of fun trying to figure them out (and very satisfying once we finally did), and I think that just goes to show not only how intelligent and inquisitive everyone on this program is, but also how quickly everyone has become good friends.

After taking some pictures of the view, we headed over to a canal tour, which was really informative and enjoyable. Our guide talked about Danish architecture and different buildings that were around us, and we also got a glance at the famous Little Mermaid statue.

Overall it was a fantastic day, balanced with both work (during our site visit in the morning) and play (for the rest of the day). I’m loving Copenhagen so far, and I’m excited to see what the rest of the Scandinavian trip has in store for us!

On Monday June 13 we were given the opportunity to visit the University of Copenhagen and were given a lecture by Ian Manners, a Professor of Political Science. In our discussion we covered three categories: member state perspectives, the future of Europe and possible scenarios for the EU moving forward.

In talking about the member state perspectives, Manners gave us some interesting facts about how nations act and think. We talked about the changing border controls and were presented with the idea that was founded in the 70’s that border controls within the EU couldn’t stop terrorism. This seems to be true given that the terror attacks on Paris in November were by French and Belgian nationals and the recent shooting in the US was perpetrated by a US citizen. Ian Manners confirmed this saying “terrorism is home grown,” which is both an interesting and somewhat scary thing to think about.

Ian also talked about the economic situation in the EU and specifically about the Eurozone. While previous speakers have said that Sweden simply isn’t adopting the Euro because it cannot be forced on them and they don’t want to adopt it, it turns out that they are using a much more sophisticated method in order to not have the Euro forced on them. In order for countries to take on the Euro as their national currency they have to have stable currency for two years. Sweden controls its interest rates close to the Euro while letting their currency flow enough to not be eligible.

Another interesting fact we learned was about political parties specifically in Denmark. The second and third most popular parties in Denmark, Venstre and the Danish Peoples’ Party respectively, have made a coalition in order to gain power. Though the Socialists & Democrats are technically the most popular party in Denmark, Venstre is in power. The same thing can be seen in the European Parliament with the three largest socialist parties forming a coalition in order to have a majority over the European Peoples’ Party. This is one of the more interesting aspects of European politics that we don’t see in American politics since we have a two party system. It is also interesting to see the number of parties in the member countries and how this same coalition forming happens at a national and supranational level. Ian Manners ended his discussion saying “Danish politics is extremely volatile right now.”

As for the future of Europe, our speaker talked about three main challenges. The first is demographic challenges. The age distribution of most European countries is very heavily older. The work force in the next 15 years will be much smaller than it is now, which will put a strain on many countries’ economies. The only two countries that have a sufficiently high reproduction rate so as to not face these demographic challenges are the US and India, according to Manners.

The second issue is climate change. Though there have been movements towards a greener global community, the implementation of policy has to be relatively uniform in order for effective change.

The third issue is the move to the right, though this issue may be short-term. Austria recently nearly elected a very far-right party, the Freedom Party of Austria. Manners even called the Greek and Hungarian parties that are in power fascist. This is a problem as it creates friction within the EU, which can be seen as the EU has issued a warning to Poland over its abuse of power and limiting of constitutional rights. However, I think that this is a short-term issue as historically there can be seen a rightward shift following economic crises such as that that happened in 2009.

Finally, Manners explained five scenarios that could happen regarding the future of the EU. These are Absentio – no EU, Confederatio – intergovernmental cooperation, Federatio – supranational integration, Stato – a regional state or Communio – regional sharing. Which of these will be put in place is up for debate, they are simply the five possible scenarios. As of right now I believe that Absentio and Federatio are the least likely while Communio or Confederatio are the most likely.

I also got a haircut today. I went to a barber shop that was owned by a British man. During my haircut I told him that I was going to London, to which he responded that it will be interesting to be there after the 23^rd. I asked him what he thought was going to happen and he had a very strong belief that the UK would leave. He also believed that when the UK left it would hurt Europe but not UK. He said that this was because 90% of British Businesses don’t export to Europe. This simply is not true, as evidenced by the link below, and it made me wonder about what kind of information or misinformation is spread about the UK’s role in the EU economy and the EU’s role in the UK economy. It was interesting to hear this perspective as mostly we have heard that the UK should stay. I hope to hear more public opinion on this issue.

How Important is the EU to UK Trade and Investment?

I was lucky to have the first post in Brussels and this time I have the first post in Copenhagen, our first trip with the program! Before I even started this program pretty much everyone I know told me Scandinavia was going to be my favorite place out of the whole trip, and so far it has lived up to what everyone had said. In a way it is how I expected it to be but at the same time it is not like anywhere I have been before.

On Sunday I had to get up around five to make sure I did not miss the bus that took me to the airport because I had to get there by 7:30, and the only bus that would get me there on time left from Schuman at 6:50. Lucy and I got to the metro station and were nervous when we saw that the next one was coming in twenty minutes. Fortunately, out of nowhere another one appeared and we managed to make it on time. Once we got to Copenhagen and saw that not all of our rooms were ready we decided to go for lunch. Dr. Birchfield found an amazing restaurant that served Danish specialties. To say it was amazing is an understatement, we ate for hours, our lunch consisted of two courses. The first one consisted more of fish and the second one consisted more of meat. I still don’t know what part was my favorite because everything was delicious. After our huge meal, we all needed a nap, but then we decided to go out and explore. Part of the group and I decided to walk around without looking a specific place to go first. We wandered around a lot and eventually ended up close to the river were we decided to hang out for a while, then we got diner and called it a day.

Our first site visit in Copenhagen was to the Danish Refugee Council, and in my opinion it was one of the most comprehensive and informative briefings we’ve had. The speaker explained what was happening with the migration crisis, gave her perspective, the Danish perspective and sometimes she even included a Copenhagen perspective which is different than the Danish in some situations. She explained how the migration crisis was a political problem, and began explaining how it all began in 1956 with Hungary. Then, she told us that the Danish Refugee Council is present in Africa, Middle East, and a little in Central Africa. Their newest camp is in Greece. They are legal advisors through every stage of asylum seeking. Some of the activities they do to integrate them in Danish society with volunteers that plan activities, help with the language and getting a job. The biggest groups that get asylum status in Denmark are Eritreans and Syrians because they have the strongest case for asylum right now.

One of the most interesting things she mentioned, which I feel people are not really aware of is that many of the people leaving these countries are well educated. Their children have been out of school for maybe two years and they leave having lost hope on themselves but still seeking a better future for their children.

The speaker shared a quote that helped explained her point for the need of a joint solution, “It seems we have left on war to enter another”. She explained that the resources are there but there is a lack of political will. She explained the different systems in place to help asylum seekers and how they have evolved in time and this really put into perspective how hard it is for people to get in especially when every country has a different idea of how they should be treated and also different amounts of resources available.

In Denmark the package they receive includes Danish language school, job and training if necessary, education, and a house in the municipality they are assigned. Finally, she concluded by explaining that the prevalent reason in Denmark to not want more immigrants is fear. Fear of the unknown or the different, like religion, because this can change the society they are used to; in other words there is a fear of integration because of the difference in culture, when in reality this should be seen as an asset.

After our briefing we went to the rooftop of the building we were in and had a good time taking pictures of the beautiful view. When we left the group split up for lunch and then met up again to have our second scheduled activity which was a lecture by Ian Manners. His lecture was extremely interesting and in two ours managed to talk about everything we have been talking about for the past month in an entertaining but still educational way. I really enjoyed that at the end he mentioned possible scenarios of how Europe would look depending on how strong or weak the Union is.

Finally, to end the day we watched two Euro Cup matches, first Sweden versus Ireland, which ended up as a tie; and then Brussels versus Italy, which ended as a victory for the Italians.