For classes at DIS students participate in field studies for their courses on Wednesdays. Field studies (from my understandingâŚIâve only had one!) are trips in Copenhagen, or close to Copenhagen that classes take together to experience something related to what they are learning inside their classroom. Today I had my first field study: a trip to the little mermaid statue. On class on Monday my professor told us to meet him at 1:00 at the famous statue, this of course meant navigating there by ourselves. The night before I planned out my trip on rejseplanen.dk. This site is kind of like google maps, it shows you step by step directions on how to get to a specific destination. It will show you exactly what metro stop to get on and off at, how far to walk, what bus to take etc. Despite planning out my short trip pretty well I still left my kollegium at 11:15 for a 1:00 meeting. I had to factor in some getting lost time and some extra time for picture takingâŚhaving a camera always slows me down!
Today was my first time venturing off the metro and onto the train. The entrance to the train is literally 30 seconds away from where the metro drops me off every day to head to the DIS campus, but the train still felt like foreign territory. When in doubt thoughâŚask a Dane! Iâve come to realize that Danes are usually very willing to help (Iâve never encountered one that wasnât, or heard of anyone meeting one who wasnât). I asked a woman waiting next to me for a train if I was getting on the correct train to head to the little mermaid and itâs a really good thing I did. I discovered that to get on the train you have to push a button to open the doors. It sounds simple, but it really wasnât obvious to me at the time. As my train rolled up I stood patiently in front of the doors waiting for them to open like trains I was use to in the U.S do and like the Metro I take everyday does. If it were not for the kind Dane I asked for directions from pushing the button for me and letting me know my mistake my train would have rolled right on out without me.Â
After I got off the metro another Dane helped guide me in the direction of the little mermaid. I had (of course) started off my journey in the completely wrong direction. Then I proceeded to get really distracted taking pictures of some beautiful dark orange housesâŚwhich led to taking some pictures of a cool statueâŚwhich brought me to a taking pictures of a parkâŚwhich had a path that I followed to take more pictures of so some more statuesâŚand before I knew it I wasted a good half an hour walking in the wrong direction again. It turns out leaving 2 hours early for a short trip is just the right amount of time for me.Â
The next portion of my walk to little mermaid went pretty smoothly because my fingers got too cold to take any more pictures. However, once I saw water in the distance I got a little over excited and began to disregard my directions. On my way down the road to the water I saw a canal with something that from a distance resembled the little mermaid. I had pictured the mermaid sitting in more open water, and surrounded by buildings slightly more picturesque than the dull apartment buildings surrounding that statue I saw. I didnât know what else it could be however so I continued walking. The closer I got the more confused I got. When I reached the statue I was completely perplexed. This was not the little mermaid I had seen pictures of on the internet. This mermaid sat atop a bed of rocks in the water, but her face and body looked as though they had been sculpted by Picasso. I had heard that the little mermaidâs body was sculpted in the image of the sculptureâs wifeâs body, and this did not look like any realistic portrayal of the human form. The mermaids legs looked like the wicked witch of the westâs legs did in The Wizard of Oz after they had been crushed by Dorothyâs house. It was honestly very strange. I left discouraged and confusedâŚbut mostly just confused.Â
After leaving the geometric mermaid behind I made my way to a bridge and out by the water. I found âThe Little Mermaid Cafeâ and âThe Little Mermaid Gift Shopâ and a giant statue of a mermaid, but the actual little mermaid was no where in sight. I knew I had to be close so I walked to the waters edge to scan the long stretch of water to my left and right but there was still no mermaid to be found. I wandered around by some boats until I passed by two old women walking and I asked them to please direct me towards the little mermaid. The laughed as soon as I said âlittle mermaidâ and pointed directly behind them. I had been so close! They proceeded to tell me that the mermaid is very small and that people often pass it right by.Â
Once at the mermaid most of us proceeded to take pictures. My professor then called us over an facilitated a discussion about why people come to see the little mermaid when often peopleâs reaction to it is something along the lines of: âItâs so smallâ or âOh, thatâs it?â. He then assigned us the task of asking other tourists why they were visiting the little mermaid. A group of tourists from China explained to us that to them the little mermaid was a symbol of Denmark. They said: âThe little mermaid is very famous in our country. China is the great wall, and Denmark is the little mermaid. Every country has a famous symbol and this one is Denmarkâs.â They said that they were taking the pictures for themselves but also for others back home. It was âlike proof they had been thereâ. Our professor then had us reflect on why we wanted to take pictures with the little mermaid and asked us if seeing famous sites like the mermaid was really âseeingâ Denmark.Â
On a less serious note I learned that the little mermaid has been vandalized multiple times. Apparently the little mermaids current head is not the original head she had been created with. Her real head was cut off (more than once I think?). Who would cut off the mermaids headâŚor have the tools required to do thatâŚI do not know.  She had also been painted red before. This lead to a discussion about the lack of security surrounding the little mermaid. There are no cameras and no barriers, yet this is one of Denmarkâs most visited sites. It was interesting to compare this to security in the U.S, which is usually quite extensive. We speculated that if the mermaid was a tourist site in the U.S you wouldnât be able to get within 50 feet of it.  Â
I also learned that a few years ago the mermaid was removed from its spot on the rocks and taken to China for an arts expo. Two years ago when my professor came to Denmark from London he said there was only a television screen, no mermaid. On the screen was footage of the little mermaid in China at the expo. Small or not, Iâm sure there were quite a few disappointed tourists that year.Â
Following our trip to the mermaid we passed by several other famous tourist sites such as Amalienborg Palace, âThe Marble Churchâ and Nyhavn Canal. As we stood in front of Amalienborg Palace we again had a conversation about the difference in security between the U.S and Denmark. My professor told us that the Queen will actually get on her bike and ride down to the corner store without escorts to buy herself a pack of cigarettes. Apparently âSheâs always getting in trouble for her chain smokingâ. You can additionally walk up and touch the building the Queen stays in.Â
We ended our trip by finding some comfy chairs in Baresso (the Danish equivalent of Starbucks) and enjoying some coffee paid for by our professor. Thereâs nothing better than a hot drink after a long cold walk.Â
