Over the last couple of weeks, I've managed to get a first-hand look at some of the pros and cons of the Danish healthcare system.
Up until two weeks ago, I'd only needed to see my regular doctor a couple of times for minor things. But sometimes life decides to toss a whole lot at you at once, and this appears to be one of those times.
Having visited my local hospital 3 times in the last week and a half, and with more visits impending, I now have a much clearer understanding of the way the system works. And, in some cases, doesn't work.
I'll start with my first trip to the hospital, which was about a week and a half ago. We probably should have asked the taxi to take us to the ER, but we just asked to go to the hospital. So, he dropped us off at the main door, and we went to the information desk to ask where to go. Instead of sending us to the ER, he sent us directly up to the department that would deal with my particular issue. The nurses there were lovely. I filled out some forms, and waited around for a while. They were right in the midst of a shift change, so it ended up being a couple of hours of waiting, but otherwise they were all perfectly nice. When I finally saw a doctor, she was absolutely lovely. When it was all done, I was sent on my way, relived at the idea that I wouldn't be getting a huge bill in the mail from the ordeal.
Visit number two happened a few days later, and didn't start out quite as smoothly. We went, once again, to the information desk, who sent us to the same department we'd been in a few days prior. When we got there, we couldn't find anyone. We finally came across a doctor and explained why we were there. She looked at us baffled, and told us, "You can't just come up here. You have to have a doctor call us and tell us you're coming." I explained that it was Saturday, which is why we couldn't have gone to my doctor, and she told me that an emergency doctor had to call her department. When we asked where we could find an emergency doctor in the hospital where she works, she responded with, "I don't know. Can't you just Google it?" At that point, we went back to the information desk and were directed to the emergency room. From that point on, everyone was much nicer and more helpful.
At the end of visit number two, I was told that (if necessary) I could come back within the next seven days without having to go through the ER first. This turned out to be necessary. I decided to call first to let them know I was coming, so I looked the number for the department up on the hospital website. The woman on the phone was lovely, but told me to call another number. I called that number, and was rudely told to call another number. Luckily, the third number was the charm, and off I went. This third visit also went fairly smoothly, though there was some confusion when my doctor changed in the middle due to another shift change.
One thing that I've observed over the last year of living here and my occasional trips to see the doctor, is that they seem to like to do as few tests and examinations as possible. In fact, I have never once actually been examined by my doctor. Every time I visit him, I sit in a chair and we chat. Sometimes he'll refer me somewhere for blood tests or other various things, but he has never once even touched me other than to shake my hand. It makes sense that, with socialized medicine, they don't want to spend any more time or money than necessary, but I do worry that they might miss something crucial.
That being said, the hospital is planning to have me back for even more tests for an issue that my American doctors never seemed to question.
The best thing about all of this is knowing that, not only will I not be getting a bill in the mail, I also won't have to spend days on the phone arguing with an insurance company to get them to cover it.
The bad news? My impending hospital visits involve needles. Lots and lots of big, scary needles.
Have I mentioned my needle phobia?
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Monday, July 8, 2013
Studieskolen - Module 5.1, The Overachievers
Who goes to Summer classes at Studieskolen?
The overachievers, that's who.
At least, it seems that way.
While the class is supposedly supposed to have 11 people in it, it seems that there are actually only 5-7 students. This is the smallest Danish class I've been in at Studieskolen, and it's nice to be able to have more individual attention.
Like I said, though, the other students in the class are all damn good at Danish. One girl said on the first day that she only reads books in Danish, so her vocabulary is freakin' enormous. One guy (the only guy in our class, other than the teacher) said that he learned Danish at age 16, though I'm still not quite sure why (he's Turkish, and Danish seems like a pretty obscure language to learn in high school). Still another girl has already done module 5.1 once before, so she's got all of the answers in her book already. Not to mention, when I arrived in class this morning I saw her reading the dictionary!
So, I'm feeling a bit behind at the moment.
The good news is, the class is as relaxed as a Summer class should be.
The bad news is that it turns out that our class will be cut short by 2 weeks, as the teacher who was supposed to teach at the end is in the hospital (she's fine, but won't be able to teach, from what I understand).
So, more than ever, I'm glad that I decided in advance to repeat module 5.1 in the Fall, so that I'm sure not to miss anything important.
I'm still annoyed that my own memory for words sucks so much. Anyone have any memory-improving tips?
The overachievers, that's who.
At least, it seems that way.
While the class is supposedly supposed to have 11 people in it, it seems that there are actually only 5-7 students. This is the smallest Danish class I've been in at Studieskolen, and it's nice to be able to have more individual attention.
Like I said, though, the other students in the class are all damn good at Danish. One girl said on the first day that she only reads books in Danish, so her vocabulary is freakin' enormous. One guy (the only guy in our class, other than the teacher) said that he learned Danish at age 16, though I'm still not quite sure why (he's Turkish, and Danish seems like a pretty obscure language to learn in high school). Still another girl has already done module 5.1 once before, so she's got all of the answers in her book already. Not to mention, when I arrived in class this morning I saw her reading the dictionary!
So, I'm feeling a bit behind at the moment.
The good news is, the class is as relaxed as a Summer class should be.
The bad news is that it turns out that our class will be cut short by 2 weeks, as the teacher who was supposed to teach at the end is in the hospital (she's fine, but won't be able to teach, from what I understand).
So, more than ever, I'm glad that I decided in advance to repeat module 5.1 in the Fall, so that I'm sure not to miss anything important.
I'm still annoyed that my own memory for words sucks so much. Anyone have any memory-improving tips?
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Studieskolen - Module 4.2, Exam Part II
Oops! More than a week later, and I still haven't posted about the second half of the module 4 exam.
So, here it is:
On the day of the first half of the exam (which was a Friday), the teacher paired us up and gave us our time-slots for the spoken portion, which would take place the following Monday. I was paired up with a friend that I'd been in classes with since module 1, so I felt good about that.
The spoken exam was almost exactly like our spoken exam for module 2. In the first half, we blindly chose from a list that we'd made of the 3 books we'd read during the module and two topics which we'd researched and prepared a 2-minute presentation for. I ended up choosing one of those topics, and spoke a bit about the difference between how radio stations and media conglomerates work in the US as compared to how radio functions here in Denmark. The friend that I was paired with spoke about one of her books, which I believe was called something like "Den Grå Mand" ("The Gray Man").
In the second half, the teacher handed us a piece of paper with a topic and a few words to use as jumping-off points. The goal was simple to have a brief conversation with our partner about the topic. Ours was TV, so we chatted a bit about how neither of us watches much Danish TV, but that she likes the show "Matador" (which is an older Danish program), and that my husband and I are planning to get caught up on seasons 2 and 3 of "Forbrydelsen."
In the end, we passed without any major issues, as was the case for everyone in the class (as far as I know).
Since it's been a week and a half since all of that, expect another post about my impressions of the start of module 5 sooner than later.
So, here it is:
On the day of the first half of the exam (which was a Friday), the teacher paired us up and gave us our time-slots for the spoken portion, which would take place the following Monday. I was paired up with a friend that I'd been in classes with since module 1, so I felt good about that.
The spoken exam was almost exactly like our spoken exam for module 2. In the first half, we blindly chose from a list that we'd made of the 3 books we'd read during the module and two topics which we'd researched and prepared a 2-minute presentation for. I ended up choosing one of those topics, and spoke a bit about the difference between how radio stations and media conglomerates work in the US as compared to how radio functions here in Denmark. The friend that I was paired with spoke about one of her books, which I believe was called something like "Den Grå Mand" ("The Gray Man").
In the second half, the teacher handed us a piece of paper with a topic and a few words to use as jumping-off points. The goal was simple to have a brief conversation with our partner about the topic. Ours was TV, so we chatted a bit about how neither of us watches much Danish TV, but that she likes the show "Matador" (which is an older Danish program), and that my husband and I are planning to get caught up on seasons 2 and 3 of "Forbrydelsen."
In the end, we passed without any major issues, as was the case for everyone in the class (as far as I know).
Since it's been a week and a half since all of that, expect another post about my impressions of the start of module 5 sooner than later.
Friday, June 21, 2013
Studieskolen - Module 4.2, Exam Part I
It's been hot and humid in Copenhagen over the last couple of days. While 70+ degrees (fahrenheit) never used to feel especially hot, here in Copenhagen it feels oppressive. Something about the combination of the angle of the sun and the high humidity.
That, and the total lack of air conditioning anywhere.
It was in these sweaty conditions, and accompanied by the seemingly unending sounds of construction outside of the Studieskolen building, that we took the first part of our module 4 exam.
The test was fairly similar to previous exams, although it seemed to take much longer. We started with one of two written bits, for which I wrote a letter about where and how I grew up to a fictional person compiling stories of people's childhoods. We then moved on to the listening portion, in which we listened to various passages and answered questions based on them. This was then followed by the reading and understanding portion, where we had a variety of tasks involving reading or scanning through texts and answering questions or filling in blanks. The teacher was kind enough to break up the two long writing assignments, so we finished with the second of these. The final written task asked that we write an article for the fictional school newspaper discussing the pros and cons of volunteering to visit lonely elderly people in connection with the Red Cross.
We were given the test without any breaks, and the whole thing took 3 hours.
I was sweaty, tired, and starving when I left, but I'm 99% sure that I did just fine.
Providing I didn't somehow manage to bomb the whole thing, and that I don't completely forget how to speak Danish in anticipation of the spoken bit of the test on Monday, my plan is to attend module 5.1 over the Summer. The dilemma I briefly had was that my current teacher, who I have learned so much from, is taking the six-week Summer break and not continuing on to module 5.1 until August.
The solution?
I will most likely repeat module 5.1 again in August, because he's definitely the best teacher that I've had here so far. Plus, the more time I can spend in module 5 before the PD3 exam in November, the more likely I will be to get the minimum 10 required to move on to module 6.
Whatever it takes. Within reason.
That, and the total lack of air conditioning anywhere.
It was in these sweaty conditions, and accompanied by the seemingly unending sounds of construction outside of the Studieskolen building, that we took the first part of our module 4 exam.
The test was fairly similar to previous exams, although it seemed to take much longer. We started with one of two written bits, for which I wrote a letter about where and how I grew up to a fictional person compiling stories of people's childhoods. We then moved on to the listening portion, in which we listened to various passages and answered questions based on them. This was then followed by the reading and understanding portion, where we had a variety of tasks involving reading or scanning through texts and answering questions or filling in blanks. The teacher was kind enough to break up the two long writing assignments, so we finished with the second of these. The final written task asked that we write an article for the fictional school newspaper discussing the pros and cons of volunteering to visit lonely elderly people in connection with the Red Cross.
We were given the test without any breaks, and the whole thing took 3 hours.
I was sweaty, tired, and starving when I left, but I'm 99% sure that I did just fine.
Providing I didn't somehow manage to bomb the whole thing, and that I don't completely forget how to speak Danish in anticipation of the spoken bit of the test on Monday, my plan is to attend module 5.1 over the Summer. The dilemma I briefly had was that my current teacher, who I have learned so much from, is taking the six-week Summer break and not continuing on to module 5.1 until August.
The solution?
I will most likely repeat module 5.1 again in August, because he's definitely the best teacher that I've had here so far. Plus, the more time I can spend in module 5 before the PD3 exam in November, the more likely I will be to get the minimum 10 required to move on to module 6.
Whatever it takes. Within reason.
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Studieskolen - Module 4.2, EXAM PANIC!
They've gone and scheduled our module 4 exam. It'll be broken up into two bits. The first bit will be a week from this Friday, and the last bit the following Monday.
As far as the actual make-up of the test, I don't have too many details. What I do know is that, much like the module 1 exam, we will have a spoken portion in which we are given a topic at random (from a list of three books we've read and two topics that we've prepared), and we are supposed to talk about the topic for two minutes, followed by questions from the teacher.
As far as the rest of the exam, for now I assume it will be much like the previous exams: some reading comprehension, some listening bits, and a written portion involving writing letters and/or emails.
To be honest, I'm not especially panicked about this exam.
It's the module 5 exam that's stressing me.
We were given Monday's class to decide on and research the two topics of our choosing for the spoken section of the test, and I found myself sitting at a computer next to our new teacher. I took the opportunity to grill him on what would be needed to proceed to module 6 after the PD3 exam at the end of module 5.
He explained the grading system, which is on a scale of 12. To pass the PD3, you only need to score a 2. In order to get Danish citizenship, you need to pass the test with a score of at least 4. In order to be allowed to proceed to module 6, which I would need in order to take university courses in Danish...
I'll need to score a 10.
So, the plan is to seriously buckle down. I've downloaded a couple of language-learning apps onto my iPad (the most useful of which, so far, is called Memrise, and teaches languages and loads of other topics), and plan to jump back into the Rosetta Stone practice as well. My main problem is, as always, remembering the vocabulary. I find myself looking up words a dozen times and still not being able to remember them the next time.
My plan, as well, is to try to continue to take Danish classes through the Summer break. There's only one day class offered at Studieskolen during the break, and my teacher admitted that it's entirely possible that there won't be room for everyone and that there's nothing I can do to ensure a spot, so...
Just gonna cross my fingers and hope that everyone else decides that they need a Summer vacation.
As far as the actual make-up of the test, I don't have too many details. What I do know is that, much like the module 1 exam, we will have a spoken portion in which we are given a topic at random (from a list of three books we've read and two topics that we've prepared), and we are supposed to talk about the topic for two minutes, followed by questions from the teacher.
As far as the rest of the exam, for now I assume it will be much like the previous exams: some reading comprehension, some listening bits, and a written portion involving writing letters and/or emails.
To be honest, I'm not especially panicked about this exam.
It's the module 5 exam that's stressing me.
We were given Monday's class to decide on and research the two topics of our choosing for the spoken section of the test, and I found myself sitting at a computer next to our new teacher. I took the opportunity to grill him on what would be needed to proceed to module 6 after the PD3 exam at the end of module 5.
He explained the grading system, which is on a scale of 12. To pass the PD3, you only need to score a 2. In order to get Danish citizenship, you need to pass the test with a score of at least 4. In order to be allowed to proceed to module 6, which I would need in order to take university courses in Danish...
I'll need to score a 10.
So, the plan is to seriously buckle down. I've downloaded a couple of language-learning apps onto my iPad (the most useful of which, so far, is called Memrise, and teaches languages and loads of other topics), and plan to jump back into the Rosetta Stone practice as well. My main problem is, as always, remembering the vocabulary. I find myself looking up words a dozen times and still not being able to remember them the next time.
My plan, as well, is to try to continue to take Danish classes through the Summer break. There's only one day class offered at Studieskolen during the break, and my teacher admitted that it's entirely possible that there won't be room for everyone and that there's nothing I can do to ensure a spot, so...
Just gonna cross my fingers and hope that everyone else decides that they need a Summer vacation.
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Chatting with Children
Here's a conversation that I had today with a little boy who lives in our building (translated from Danish, as he has not yet started to learn English):
Little boy: What have you been doing today?
Me: I had Danish class this morning.
Little boy: I think you speak Danish well.
Me: Thank you! But there are still a lot of words that I can't understand.
Little boy: Yeah, me too.
All together now... Awwwwwww!
It has actually been really helpful and confidence-building to speak with the children in the neighborhood lately. The language is new-ish enough to them that they don't find it strange or frustrating if there are words I don't understand. In fact, I found myself nervously not unsure about a question that some kids in the dog park asked me a few weeks ago, but they happily obliged me by miming the action of picking up the dog. They were just asking if they could hold the puppy.
I'm getting to the point where I understand quite a lot of what people are saying around me. In fact, I tend to understand more than I think I understand. The trouble comes when someone asks a familiar question in a slightly unfamiliar way, and I completely lose the context and assume they're asking something I won't understand. For example, I was just in the dog park (again) and a little boy asked me how old my dog was. Trouble was, he didn't ask it in the way most people ask, which is "How old is he?" or "Hvor gammel er han?" in Danish. Instead, he asked "How many years is he?" or "Hvor mange år er han?" I knew the words, but wasn't used to being asked that way, so it took me a moment to wrap my head around the question.
It's all just going to take lots of practice.
And I'm going to need to start stepping up my Danish practice and consumption outside of class if I plan to continue on to module 6.
After class today, I asked my teacher if there was anything special I should do in order to continue on to the 6th module, as most people only go through module 5. The big Danish fluency exam takes place after module 5, and only those who want to take university courses in Danish continue on to the 6th. She clarified that I will need to get a very high score on my module 5 exam in order to be allowed to take module 6, so she recommended watching lots of Danish television, reading lots of Danish books and newspapers, and listening to Danish radio. Apparently, once you take and pass your big module 5 exam (known as Prøve i Dansk 3), you cannot be readmitted into module 5 classes without paying for them yourself. So, if I pass the Prøve i Dansk 3, but don't have a high enough score to continue to module 6, I'll have to pay to re-take classes and to re-take the exam.
So... you know...
No pressure.
Little boy: What have you been doing today?
Me: I had Danish class this morning.
Little boy: I think you speak Danish well.
Me: Thank you! But there are still a lot of words that I can't understand.
Little boy: Yeah, me too.
All together now... Awwwwwww!
It has actually been really helpful and confidence-building to speak with the children in the neighborhood lately. The language is new-ish enough to them that they don't find it strange or frustrating if there are words I don't understand. In fact, I found myself nervously not unsure about a question that some kids in the dog park asked me a few weeks ago, but they happily obliged me by miming the action of picking up the dog. They were just asking if they could hold the puppy.
I'm getting to the point where I understand quite a lot of what people are saying around me. In fact, I tend to understand more than I think I understand. The trouble comes when someone asks a familiar question in a slightly unfamiliar way, and I completely lose the context and assume they're asking something I won't understand. For example, I was just in the dog park (again) and a little boy asked me how old my dog was. Trouble was, he didn't ask it in the way most people ask, which is "How old is he?" or "Hvor gammel er han?" in Danish. Instead, he asked "How many years is he?" or "Hvor mange år er han?" I knew the words, but wasn't used to being asked that way, so it took me a moment to wrap my head around the question.
It's all just going to take lots of practice.
And I'm going to need to start stepping up my Danish practice and consumption outside of class if I plan to continue on to module 6.
After class today, I asked my teacher if there was anything special I should do in order to continue on to the 6th module, as most people only go through module 5. The big Danish fluency exam takes place after module 5, and only those who want to take university courses in Danish continue on to the 6th. She clarified that I will need to get a very high score on my module 5 exam in order to be allowed to take module 6, so she recommended watching lots of Danish television, reading lots of Danish books and newspapers, and listening to Danish radio. Apparently, once you take and pass your big module 5 exam (known as Prøve i Dansk 3), you cannot be readmitted into module 5 classes without paying for them yourself. So, if I pass the Prøve i Dansk 3, but don't have a high enough score to continue to module 6, I'll have to pay to re-take classes and to re-take the exam.
So... you know...
No pressure.
Monday, May 27, 2013
A Swedish Sojourn
Yesterday was our first wedding anniversary, so we decided to get away for the weekend.
With Sweden so close, it's felt entirely ridiculous that, after nearly a year, I had still never been. So, we spent the weekend in Malmö.
Malmö is just a short train ride from where we live here in Copenhagen, but it seems quite different. Technically, Copenhagen is the older of the two cities, but since much of Copenhagen was burnt down by the Brits in 1807, there isn't much that remains here that is older than that. Malmö, on the other hand, maintains much of it's old architecture, making it look much more like bits of Germany or Flanders in Belgium.
Those of you who know the infamous Eurovision song competition may be quite familiar with Malmö by now, as it was just held there last weekend. Luckily, we did not get married a week earlier, or it would have been much more difficult (and much more expensive) to get a hotel room. As it was, we managed to get a really lovely room right on Malmö's Lilla Torg, or "little square."
We were literally two doors down from a Spanish restaurant that was recommended by a colleague of my husband's, so we went there for dinner on Friday night. On Saturday, we spent the morning wandering around town, and stumbled upon a really lovely park that was crawling with geese and ducks. Not only that, but it seemed were just in time to see a bit of the Malmö Garden Show in the very same park. Dinner was at a little seafood restaurant (which could have been better, to be honest), followed by a surprisingly good and creative dessert in our hotel restaurant.
Malmö really is a lovely town. There isn't a whole lot to do, but it's got lots of beautiful architecture and a really comfortable vibe. If I had any reason to, I could see myself living there. And in fact, there are a lot of people who live there and work in Copenhagen, because the cost of living is so much lower.
Today, it was back to the grind with Danish class. The first day that we met our new teacher, he said (in regards to how difficult it is to learn Danish), "Det skulle ondt!"
Translated, this means, "It should hurt!"
And boy, does it ever.
With Sweden so close, it's felt entirely ridiculous that, after nearly a year, I had still never been. So, we spent the weekend in Malmö.
Malmö is just a short train ride from where we live here in Copenhagen, but it seems quite different. Technically, Copenhagen is the older of the two cities, but since much of Copenhagen was burnt down by the Brits in 1807, there isn't much that remains here that is older than that. Malmö, on the other hand, maintains much of it's old architecture, making it look much more like bits of Germany or Flanders in Belgium.
Those of you who know the infamous Eurovision song competition may be quite familiar with Malmö by now, as it was just held there last weekend. Luckily, we did not get married a week earlier, or it would have been much more difficult (and much more expensive) to get a hotel room. As it was, we managed to get a really lovely room right on Malmö's Lilla Torg, or "little square."
We were literally two doors down from a Spanish restaurant that was recommended by a colleague of my husband's, so we went there for dinner on Friday night. On Saturday, we spent the morning wandering around town, and stumbled upon a really lovely park that was crawling with geese and ducks. Not only that, but it seemed were just in time to see a bit of the Malmö Garden Show in the very same park. Dinner was at a little seafood restaurant (which could have been better, to be honest), followed by a surprisingly good and creative dessert in our hotel restaurant.
Malmö really is a lovely town. There isn't a whole lot to do, but it's got lots of beautiful architecture and a really comfortable vibe. If I had any reason to, I could see myself living there. And in fact, there are a lot of people who live there and work in Copenhagen, because the cost of living is so much lower.
Today, it was back to the grind with Danish class. The first day that we met our new teacher, he said (in regards to how difficult it is to learn Danish), "Det skulle ondt!"
Translated, this means, "It should hurt!"
And boy, does it ever.
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