Midt-fyns bryg-hus. Again.

This week was "core course" week at DIS. This means that we got to spend the entire week talking about Neuroscience... Could the world get any greater? No. Anyway, a group of me and about twenty other psychopharm students hopped on a bus and travelled to Western Denmark (Jutland)! We started our trip in Århus, where we took a tour of the psychiatric hospital there. It was one of the first in the world to treat patients like people with disorders, instead of misbehaving criminals. Those with mental health issues used to be thrown in jail and left to rot, but soon enough some people realized that it was not their fault for "misbehaving." Yet, the most interesting part of this facility was the art museum. An entire art collection made from former patients, all with psychiatric disorders. Some images from that exhibit really stuck with me. It is hard to forget some of those works.

Then in Århus we went to the ARoS museum for modern art. The main piece would be the rainbow walkway, which has colored panels forming a ring around the roof (picture above with Mike)! Inside the museum there were even more amazing exhibits, with sensory overloads and everything else you could imagine.

Then we went back to the Risskov psychiatric hospital to learn about the Danish Brain Bank. One man is in charge of maintaining and experimenting on over 9,400 brains. It blew my mind. Pun intended. I also couldn't help thinking about this strange scenario: Post-apocalyptic world. Few survivors exist. People wandering in the previously western denmark. Open a warehouse door. 9,400 brains. They would think we were so strange...

After spending a night in Århus, we went to Odense, birthplace of Hans Christian Andersen! We got to tour the museum of his house as well as speak with a scientist involved in the genetic linkages of schizophrenia (completely separate events). H.C. Andersen is a nut. He used to travel everywhere with a 9 meter long rope in case the building he was in would burn down, so he could escape. Paranoia at its finest.

How could I forget the Midtfyns Bryghus? We went on a shuttle 20 minutes out of Odense into a field in the middle of nowhere. In this field... was a brewhouse. A very small one, owned by Eddie. Eddie is a character. He was originally American, then met a Danish woman, quit his brewery job, moved to Denmark, and started his own brewery. He knew a little bit about everything, so it seemed. During the meal, tour, and beer samplings, he would always be dropping little bits of wisdom on our young minds. "The best job in the world changes all the time. It is what you want at that moment in your life, and it will not always be what others want from you. You can be a garbageman, or a doctor, as long as it is what is right for you at that time in your life." Immediately after every life tip came his catch phrase, "Alright, let's cut the bullshit!" Thank you Eddie. And before we left, he made sure to have us repeat the name of his brewery over and over. Thrice with the whole group, once per person, and once again all together. Midt-fyns Bryg-hus.