Category: Denmark

Odense – 2019

by CentennialGlobalExperience, posted in Denmark, SIP

I was luckily selected for a SIP to the Southern Denmark University. To be honest it was not what I expected… it was better. The program that I took was extremely interesting, it is called Engineering for Sustainability. Normally, conversations about climate change and where the world is heading tend to be a little pessimistic at times, but I was surprised to see all the positive aspects and solutions our Danish professors had to share. I left this course feeling optimistic and looking forward to supporting the cause.

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               The whole experience for me was a big challenge, but I would say it was a good one. The locals were all very friendly, and I was able to speak English with the majority. Whenever I was lost, there was always a kind Danish who would give me the most detailed instructions to my destination. Going from biking once a month to at least an hour or two every day was another interesting point. I found the fitness life I never had before!

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My team for 10 days 🙂

               I found people to be very down to earth. It surprised me the way the city works, the way they shop, and how comfortable it feels to be there. A lot of the clothing stores that I saw where second-hand clothing stores in very good condition. The use of cars is definitely much less compared to what I see in Toronto and my home country Mexico. I paid attention to these kinds of details such as consumption and their lifestyle to be able to compare it to the one I am used to and my own ideas. This was also very related to my program since the course was centred on the way humans impact the environment.

               It was very nice to be surrounded by all the green spaces, I was even lucky enough to see deer and duck families. Eating out is also something that might not be as frequent in Denmark. I would see the locals mostly bringing something from home. On my accommodation, on the other hand, it was common for a group of friends to gather in order to cook something together and share.

               I loved getting to know another culture and being able to experience first hand the educational programs. Definitely, I learned a lot, and I feel grateful for this experience. It was an invaluable experience, I was able to manage my time, study, get to know the city, and connect with amazing people. I would not change this experience for anything.

 

ANA SOFIA GOMEZ ALVAREZ

SIP – SOUTHERN DENMARK UNIVERSITY

ENGINEERING FOR SUSTAINABILITY

AUG. 2019

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I will share one of my favourite pictures for the end. Yuichi, Dimitri, Rita, Ahmed and Chloe, my five closest!

 

 

 

Italy, Urbania – Unforgettable

by CentennialGlobalExperience, posted in Denmark

It’s been 66 days since I’ve been back from Italy, and I still can’t believe I had the opportunity to experience this unforgettable memory. I spent two weeks in the lovely little town Urbania. When I say little, I mean it. Walking the whole town took no more than 30 minutes, can you believe that? Among the narrow cobblestone roads lived some of the most friendly faces and families. Not to mention, their family-owned cafes and restaurants – Bellissimo! After my morning classes, I would spend my days either wandering the many streets, sketching at the main square or just hang out the central cafe with my colleagues.

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Photographing the narrow streets of Urbania, Italy 

We went on so many wonderful excursions. It was hard to believe how much we were able to see in such a short amount of time. It was pretty impressive how organized this program was!

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Enjoying gelato in Gubbio, Italy 

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Our gondola ride in Venice, Italy

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Personally my favourite visit, Florence, Italy. 

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So much life in such a little town, Urbino, Italy

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Feeling like a total tourist in Rome, Italy  

Even though it’s been 66 days since returning, I’ve thought about this journey every single day. There are just countless stories and memories that I will never forget. My friends and family are probably sick of how I can’t stop talking about it!

Thank you GEO centennial for such an unforgettable opportunity.

South Korea, Seoul

by CentennialGlobalExperience, posted in Denmark

South Korea, Seoul

Chicken Ginseng Soup is Korean traditional food and. It is a light diet, and has high nutritive value, which contains more than one hundred Chinese herbal medicines.
There are lots foreigners traveling in Korea, and Korean fashion industry is quite developed. You can buy the most popular cloth and accessories in Korea.
And on the road, you can buy some Korean snacks, like fried rice cake with Korean chilli sauce，Tempura and breaded fish stick.

Exploring La Rochelle

by CentennialGlobalExperience, posted in Denmark

Hi everyone, I hope you all are doing great. If you remember in my last post  talked about La Rochelle and it beautiful architecture the awesome people here and the search of adapter. Well in this post I will be talking about La Rochelle, school, the experience till now and etc. In case you have not read my previous blog and wish to read it, I will be posting the link in the end of this blog.

Week 2

 I have to say La Rochelle is an amazing city, you should visit it at least once, it is small yet very beautiful. The has a really nice architecture, it is set in the mid 17th century to 18 century and I will be talking about that a lot in my many more posts. here is a photo for you.

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I know it is really pretty. Let me tell you about the school I am enrolled in, it is called Group Sup de co, and the people here are very friendly and helpful. I have to tell you that I am flattered with the hospitality in France, despite knowing English that well people try to help you in any way they can. Luckily people speak English in my school and, it is not that hard to communicate with them as I had thought. The system is a bit weird here, as the courses are not completed in a 4 month span but are wrapped up in about 2 weeks maximum and, sometimes my friend Sudikshya and I are in school from 7:30 am to 8:00 pm (ya I know its brutal). Sudikshya an I are getting used it as we were jet lagged in the first two weeks but things are great now. We have a lot of fun, we go out for our coffee’s in the evening and a long walk to the beach some days and it just rejuvenates us.  I mean who needs to go to spa when they can enjoy sipping coffee and sitting on the beach and seeing the sunset.

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Some nights Sudikshya and I are sitting here until 1 am and no we are not affraid as people in this town are born to party and, unfortunately we live in the center of the city and we can just party from our house because of the music and shouting people, but no complaints. We both enjoy it as much as we hate it. Seems like people in this city follow this quote bellow very seriously.

“I’m gonna party, see how intoxicated I can get and how many rules I can flaunt. That’s my motto.” 
― H.G. Bissinger, Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream

 The buses in La Rochelle are humongous, I am not lying. The bus fair is not that expensive it about euro 1.30 one way, but Sudikshya and I do not take bus often as our school is only 20-25 minutes walk and we are trying to be “healthy” these days. The bus service is called “Yelo” here and the sad part about travelling by bus is that you can not have coffee or tea in it. 

If you have been following posts in this blog and if you have read my friends blog “roti disaster” you would know about us two being south Asians and we love food. If you have not read her blog I will put the link in the end and you should definitely check that out, as she has talked in depth about our mission to make roti (Indian whole wheat flat bread). We both love Indian food as she is from Nepal and I am from India and we usually make Indian food and, if you have had Indian food you would know that roti (flat bread) is an important part of it. So in week two we both were dying to eat roti and we had bought the flour and  kneaded the dough and the vegetables were ready, the only thing that was missing was roti and we were so excited that finally we will have roti today. But guess what? We did not have the rolling pin to flatten the bread ( ya I know it sucks), its then when we saw the bottle that I had brought and we thought of flattening the dough and yes we finally had the roti’s and they were amazing (drools…).

A quote without which the blog will be unfinished is “One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.” 
― Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own

Thank you everyone for taking out your precious time and reading my blog, I hope you enjoyed it and hope that you will have a great day ahead. I would also like to say if you like this blog please read my friends blog and, do read our future blogs because we would love to share our journey and experience with you. 

-Akansha Singh

The city of La Rochelle a dream come true: https://theglobalexperienceblog.wordpress.com/2014/01/21/the-city-of-la-rochelle-a-dream-come-true/

Roti Disaster blog: https://theglobalexperienceblog.wordpress.com/2014/02/24/8576/

Dining in La Rochelle!

by CentennialGlobalExperience, posted in Denmark

Dining out in La Rochelle is an experience in itself. In our third week, Akansha and me tried a bunch of restaurants, for the love of food (and also we were not so energetic to cook).

We were lucky to meet Simona, our Romanian friend who shared our love. She told us about this Italian restaurant, Ragazzi da Peppone and as she says, it was AMAZING!! The classic ambience, amazing food and the decor crossed our high expectations. The best thing I loved about this restaurant is cellar in the basement. You can have a little tour for yourself and choose a wine for the night.

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Another restaurant we tried was a creperie (I know, a restaurant only about crepes). I don’t know about you, but I only knew one version of crepes, with bananas, chocolate syrup and a dollop of cream. Well, actually up until now. There were so many varieties of crepes that I was confused which to pick. As crepe is staple to French cuisine, I wanted to try something authentic. I ordered this three cheese crepe, and was really excited. When it arrived to my table, the smell was Oh-so-good! My host told me that it is a special crepe, because of the cheese used to make it. But that first bite hit me right on my face. It was too cheesy for me. I really wanted to appreciate it. But, I ordered my version of crepe.

This one fine day, we went to this restaurant called Wallilabou Bay. First of all, a pirate was at the entrance to welcome us.

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But that was not the good part. Imagine having dinner in the deck of pirate ship, and not just any food. The food there is amazing. I will talk to you about that in my other blog. This restaurant is really famous for its barbecue chicken, pork and veal. Well it is called “épée du …..”. Also, we tried their pasta and pizza, which both were delicious. This reminds me of a French saying, “Oh! lala!!” 😉

Au revoir, madame et mousieur!

Red Scarlet Macaws

by CentennialGlobalExperience, posted in Denmark

Red Scarlet Macaws

Couple of days ago was a very special day for GAIA! As the host of the Re-introduction program of red macaws to the Manuel Antonio area, Gaia Hotel & Reserve welcomed 15 additional birds of this beautiful species. They are now in the process of being trained and their release will depend on their learning of survival means and local food consumption. These new guests are all looking good and healthy and have been certified by the local inspector and SINAC. Gaia would be grateful for any donations of almonds which can be brought directly to them or can call them at 2777-9797 for pick-up.

My Team!!!

by CentennialGlobalExperience, posted in Denmark

My Team!!!

Gaia is very strict on their employees and strive for the best customer service whether it be in person or behind the scenes. I work with Sandy and Geovaldo behind the scenes. Sandy is the manager for the sales and marketing department at Gaia and Geovaldo does sales. My role is head of everything social media for the hotel. I manage the Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, and Vine accounts. Uploading pictures, making comments, answering comments, making sure the material is sufficient enough to be put up and is managed through Sproutsocial.com. Seems easy and it is but it can also be very tedious. Right now we are starting a blog for the Gaia website and this has proven to be the most time consuming task I’ve had since being here. Working in the sales and marketing department has actually made me think that I may look into something like this on my return to Toronto, it’s definitely something I haven’t thought of before so I’m greatful for the opportunity to learn the behind the scenes action of managing the hotel, at least in the social media aspect. The picture on the top left is Sandy’s desk, my desk is the picture below and Sandy and Geovaldo obviously to the right!

Matrimonio Bruncajc

by CentennialGlobalExperience, posted in Denmark

It has been such a privilege to just be here in Boruca (Bruncajc) but I was even more privileged to get the chance to attend a wedding over the weekend. The couple is Harol’s good friend Chico’s parents who decided to tie the knot after 30 years and 3 grown children. It was like any other Catholic wedding but the difference was the reception which was held outside the couple’s home under a full moon.

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Trying to get a picture of Chico and his mom, the bride, dancing together (far left)

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IMG_8392 Me and my groom 🙂