Caitlin Takes Copenhagen : A Royal Affair

I have had a busy couple of days since my last post! I feel like I'm finally getting into a routine between classes, homework and time with friends and family. I have now been to all of my classes and am very pleased with my schedule. I am especially excited for a class called Dynamic Project Leadership. In the class, I will learn new ways to develop my leadership skills and social innovation by training with a famous Copenhagen business program called KaosPilot. I will also have the opportunity to work on an actual marketing proposal for Wonderful Copenhagen, a Danish government agency that promotes Copenhagen internationally. Last night, I went out with girls from DIS. I think the highlight of the night was hearing the entire bar burst into song when Mulan's "I'll Make a Man Out of You" came on (in Danish might I add).

Today I had my first "field study"(basically just a long field trip) for my Danish class. First, we visited the Theatre Museum. The museum is located in the old Court Theatre of Christiansborg palace. The theater dates back to the early eighteenth century, making it Europe's oldest standing wood theater. King Christian VII had the theater built for his own private enjoyment. Besides the royal family, only very wealthy civilians could afford to see a ballet, play or opera in the Court Theatre. During the tour, we learned the back-stories of King Christian VII and his wife Caroline Mathilde. Our tour guide was the museum curator, and was a very lively character. He told many funny stories about Denmark's various kings.

After the tour, we walked back to our classroom and watched the movie, A Royal Affair (or En Kongelig Affære in Danish). My cute little Danish professor brought us coffee and wienerbrød to enjoy during the movie. A Royal Affair is a true story about Denmark's scandalous Royal love-triangle between insane King Christian VII, Queen Caroline Mathilde, and the Royal doctor, Johann Friedrich Struensee. Due to his mental state, King Christian VII was clearly not fit to run a country, and Struensee cleverly manipulated him into implementing all kinds of social reforms in Denmark. In a way, Struensee was responsible for exposing Denmark to the Enlightenment. The movie is actually nominated for "Best Foreign Film"in this year's Academy Awards, which is very exciting! I thought the film was fantastic and highly recommend it!