The end (or perhaps just the beginning)

So I realize that it's been over a month since I got back from Denmark (36 days, to be exact), but I never wrote a wrap up post about my trip. I'll admit that after I got home, I kind of forgot... whoops, sorry! I don't even know if anyone will read this anymore, but I figured that I should do one last post anyway, at least for my own sake.

I had a lot of fun during my last week with my family and Amy. I got to show them around Copenhagen and be a tour guide, and we went on a canal tour (finally!) among other things. Joel got to go to a famous jazz club and see Jimmy Heath, who apparently is famous (although I had never heard of him before). We also went to Kronborg Castle, which was nice to see with flowers blooming (I had been there in January). My host family cooked an amazing Danish meal for everyone one night, and it was cool (and also bizarre) for my host family and real family to meet!

After 3 days in Copenhagen, we rented a car and then drove along the bottom of Sweden (and visited a recreation of a viking village along the way) until we reached Ystad, where we took a ferry to Bornholm. Bornholm is an island that belongs to Denmark, so it was nice to see Danish again after being confused by Swedish for half a day. Bornholm has lots of cute little towns along the water, and we rented a cottage for the next 4 nights in Gudhjem. So picturesque!

We went hiking in the center of the island, explored a lot of the coastal towns, and saw these really old round churches that they believe were built by the Knights Templar a really long time ago. So fascinating! It was really nice because it felt like a real summer vacation and it was very relaxing. For the final day, we took the ferry back to Sweden and explored the countryside a bit--we saw the Swedish version of Stonehenge and then stayed at a bed and breakfast in the farmland. It was seriously the most adorable place ever! Before I knew it, it was time to drive back to the Copenhagen airport to fly back to Newark (I had a slightly earlier flight than the rest of my family because it was booked separately). It was very bittersweet driving through the city one last time and getting on that plane!

It was nice to come home and see friends and family, and I didn't even miss Copenhagen for the first few weeks--it had felt like the right time to come home. But now that it's been a little longer, I do have days where I really miss Europe. I miss the great public transportation, the practicality of the Danish, and being able to just wander through medieval-aged streets whenever I want to. I still have the urge to say Danish phrases all the time. When I visited Manhattan a few weeks ago, my automatic urge was to say "undskyld" whenever I bumped into someone and I had to actually think about it to stop myself. I still say "tak" a lot, actually. It's so much easier than saying "thank you"!

What did I learn during these 4 months? Besides learning a lot of European history, I also learned patience on a whole new level. After so much travel and waiting, I've found that I'm just a lot more patient with people and situations. I learned a lot of independence, and I don't get stressed out about traveling by myself anymore. I can handle things on my own just fine! I also learned that the world is a lot smaller than we realize, and the fairytale-esque ideal of other places, especially in Europe, has disappeared for me. They're just different places, with different languages and older buildings. That doesn't mean I don't want to travel anymore--no, it just makes me want to travel more! I want to see even more places in the world, because I know that not only will I learn more about other cultures and traditions, but I'll also learn more about myself when I'm put in new situations. I wouldn't trade the opportunity to go to Denmark for the world, and I'm so grateful that I was able to spend a whole semester there. I'm determined to go back some day (although probably not to live there--too expensive!), and I hope to never stop traveling and learning new things.

Vi ses!

The end is near...

Things are drawing to a close. I've been spending every minute I can soaking up the city this past week, even though I was writing a paper, and now I only have a few days left here. As of this afternoon I'm officially done with finals and papers (hooray!) and that means I'm a senior, which is insane. I spent quite a bit of time in the King's Gardens, caught up with friends, and just kept denying the fact that in a little over a week, I'll be back in the states. My family is on their way to Copenhagen now (they're literally in the air right now) and I'm going to the airport in the morning to meet them!!! I get to show off my city one last time before it's over. I'm trying to look at it positively because there's no avoiding the fact that I've leaving, but I'm still really, really going to miss it here. If I don't get the chance to post again while I'm here, since I'll be busy doing things with my family, I'll make sure to do a wrap-up post when I get home. I just can't believe how fast this semester flew!

Vi ses!

Last weeks

We're finally back to the present with this blog!

I only have 16 days left here, and one of those weeks my family and Amy will be here! We're spending some time in Copenhagen and then going to Sweden and Bornholm, which I'm really looking forward to. Time is going far too fast and I don't want it to end. Today is a great day because it was my last day of classes, I got an A on the paper I cared most about, the weather is sunny and beautiful, I just ate a pastry (I'm going to miss them so much), and I rode my bike to class again!

Last weekend I went on the DIS Tall Sailing trip, which was so much fun! It was great to see more parts of Denmark and the sailboat was from 1901--so cool! I helped make lunch both of the days and it felt like a big accomplishment to prepare food for 20 people in such a tiny kitchen. My new life goal is to become a sailor if nothing else works out. Fun times!

New friends!

This week I did a lot of things on my own that I've wanted to do all semester but have been putting off until the weather was nicer. On Wednesday I biked to Frederiksberg Gardens, since they're so close to where I live, and had a nice leisurely walk around the park. There were very cute goslings everywhere and I was tempted to steal one (but the mother goose looked rather protective). I wanted to go to the zoo there too, but I didn't have enough money (story of my life) so I just tried to peek in from a distance.

Cute!!

Yesterday, I went up the spire of the church in Christianshavn and got a great view of the city, and then I went to see a Titanic exhibition at Tivoli. (In case you don't know, I used to be a huge Titanic buff and have been to multiple exhibits already.) I was rather disappointed by this one, actually. The audio guide was mediocre (it kept telling me I was supposed to feel emotional) and they didn't actually have that many items from the Titanic...most of them were from her sister ship, the Olympic. Which would be fine, but the audio guide kept not acknowledging the fact that they weren't from the Titanic, even though the little sign clearly said they were from the Olympic. Also, I didn't completely agree with all their facts sometimes--sometimes they seemed slightly skewed for dramatic effect. Ah well, that's what I get for knowing too much about the Titanic. Although it was interesting to hear how Denmark and Sweden were involved with the Titanic. If you're in Copenhagen--don't waste your money on the Titanic exhibit! Just go to Tivoli.

Tomorrow there's a big DIS picnic, and also my church group is having a picnic in the same area. Two picnics for me! Hopefully the weather holds up. I'm planning on making the most of my final full week in Copenhagen (and writing one more paper, unfortunately). So bittersweet!

A vacation in Bath

Yes, getting from Salzburg to Bath took about 13 hours. I have discovered that most "travel" does not involve travel. Mostly, it's just waiting around. For instance, I sat in the airport in Cologne for 4 hours. During the course of the day, I read an entire 420 page book because there was literally nothing else to do. I didn't get to Bath until about 2 in the morning! Fortunately, Liza was there to greet me with a delicious cookie so it was all worth it.

Bath is a beautiful little town and it was SO nice to just relax and catch up with Liza. The weather was perfect while I was there so we spent a lot of time having picnics in various parks and soaking up vitamin D. Also, I was successfully English by having a Cornish pasty, treacle tart, tea, and cider & black, among other things. One night, we went to a cute little old movie theater and watched a French film while sipping wine. It felt very classy. (Also, the French film was called "Little White Lie" and it was good, but very sad. I should have expected this from a French film, though...)

A park near Liza's residence, with Bath Abbey in the background.

We went to the Roman Baths (yes, that's what Bath is named after) and it was really fascinating to see such old ruins. I'm still not entirely sure why the Romans thought it was a good idea to come all the way up to England, but they sure had some nice bathing facilities! Things dating back to the 1st century just boggle my mind. Also, it was amusing to see the workers cleaning out the main bath (you can see them in the background of the picture) because they kept knocking scum at each other. A fun job?

Liza and I at the Roman Baths

Another day, we went up on a tower tour of the abbey and got to see how the bells work (it made me jump when they rang right next to us). I love walking down the little spiral staircases in these big cathedrals--the steps are worn down from so many feet, and the middle post is so smooth from so many hands using it as support. You can just feel the oldness and can almost picture a bellringer or a priest walking up the stairs 400 years ago. History!!!

The Royal Crescent, one of the more famous locations in Bath.

I stayed in Bath for three wonderful days, and it felt like a real vacation because it was so relaxing after all the busy-ness of the previous week! But it went way too fast, and it was time to go back to Copenhagen. (Although I was definitely ready to stop living out of a suitcase!) I made a pit stop in London, though, because my flight didn't leave until (far too early) Saturday morning. I stayed with some wonderful family friends on Friday night, and I had the opportunity to wander London for 2 hours on Friday afternoon (that was as long as the station would hold my luggage without the price rate going up). Since I've been to London before, I didn't feel particularly compelled to rush around seeing everything, so I just had a leisurely walk while trying to avoid stepping on the heels of tourists. It was interesting to see all the things being set up for the royal wedding (which was exactly a week after I was there). There were already stands and barricades set up near Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey. In fact, I realized later that I actually walked the exact route that the wedding procession went from Buckingham Palace to Westminster! (Well, it probably is the most direct route). That's my only claim-to-fame with the royal wedding...I was kind of there? Just a week too early. Somehow, I managed to get pictures of most of the touristy things anyway...Buckingham Palace, St. James Park, Trafalgar Square, Downing Street, the ferris wheel, a red phone booth, Big Ben and Parliament, the Thames, Westminster Abbey...pretty good for two hours, eh?

Stands set up for the wedding by Westminster Abbey.

And so, I returned to my beloved Copenhagen, relieved to see that there were finally flowers and good weather! Thus marks the end of my travel break. (Hooray, I finally finished writing it down!)

Salzburg and the beautiful, beautiful Alps

The Austrian (and German) Alps are one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to.

View of Salzburg from Nonnberg Abbey

We got to Salzburg on Friday (with some slight travel confusion on the way) and spent a lot of our time just exploring the city on our own--I love the old part of the city, it has so much character! We opted out of the touristy Sound of Music tour because 1) it was 37 euros and we're frugal, 2) Nikki isn't a big SoM enthusiast anyway, and 3) the tour looked too touristy for even me to handle. I just looked up all the major places online and found them on the map myself! That way it was free and Nikki didn't have to listen to the soundtrack being played over and over (I just kept that in my head). Although I have to say, it was a bit anti-climactic. "Well, there's the gazebo. It's...a gazebo." We couldn't even go inside to jump from bench to bench--it was locked. Lame.

Me (distantly) and the gazebo

On Sunday the 17th (which also happened to be my 21st birthday!!), we took a day trip back into Germany to Königsee. There was a bit of bus frustration (that's an under-exaggeration) because we kept missing things, but we eventually got there! Even if we hadn't found Königsee, the bus ride itself would have been worth it because it went right through the Alps. It was so breathtakingly beautiful for me that I can't put words to it. In fact, it was so beautiful that it made me want to cry (and that doesn't happen very often). Pictures truly don't do justice. I've always preferred mountains over beaches anyway, so this was such a treat for me. Königsee is a cute little town nestled in the mountains on a lake--and not just any lake. Lake Königsee is the cleanest, deepest lake in Germany. Apparently, the lake water is so pure that you could just drink it. Only electric boats are allowed on the lake in order not to get it polluted with motor oil. We went on the boat tour (although it was in German and we didn't understand any of it) and saw things like this:

It was almost unreal! Not bad for a birthday view, if I do say so myself. For the rest of the day, we continued to explore and kept riding the bus on an unplanned side trip to another town in the Alps (called Bad Reichenhall, I think), where we discovered a tour of a salt mine (of which there are many, apparently). It was really fun to see all the towns nestled in the Alps and the bus rides themselves were gorgeous. I could've just stayed on the bus all day!

For my birthday dinner, we found a little Indian place near our hostel that was delicious and cute and decently priced (!) and had the best radler we've had so far! A good birthday, indeed. We spent the last sunny morning just soaking in the views one last time and realizing that this is the calm before the storm of senior year. I wish we could just stay forever!

Oh, and I also found a beer that I REALLY like called Edelweiss, in a random little Irish pub in Salzburg. Unfortunately, it's only made near Salzburg. Figures.

Next: 13 hours of travel and finally Bath, England.

Next stop: München

Unfortunately, the weather stopped being amazing when we got to Munich. The moment Nikki and I got to our hostel from the train station, it started pouring rain and it was significantly colder. However, we didn't let that stop us! We had umbrellas!

Highlights of Munich:

-Wombats Hostel: It was very clean, had private bathrooms, and was especially helpful for young people like us. The map they gave us had lots of recommendations of where to go (although all the bars we tried to find on there were epic fails). We shared our room with 4 other Americans, coincidentally--two girls were from Columbus, OH, going to grad school at OSU, and and two guys were from Wisconsin--small world! There was a bar at the hostel which was great for making friends, and we usually ended up there because of our failed attempts to find other places to go.

Lounge to hang out in the hostel

-Kaufingerstraße: The main shopping street leading to Marienplatz was fun to walk along and we kept getting distracted by stores that were far too expensive for us. (Although I did find a pair of boots for €15 that I succumbed to buying.) Also, I think we went into Crabtree & Evelyn about 4 times just to put on lotion. And we got disoriented in the largest department store I have ever seen. (We suspect that it was a time portal of some sort because we came out of it in an entirely different location.)

The beginning of Kaufingerstraße

-Dachau concentration camp: Originally, we weren't planning on going here but I'm glad so we did. We paid a little extra to have an actual tour guide instead of just an audio guide, which was definitely worth it. Dachau was the first Nazi camp established, in 1933. It was especially interesting to go to in the context of the Holocaust and Genocide class that I'm taking. It was a very thoughtful and moving experience. The original gas chamber and crematorium are still standing--it was really hard to walk through them, and my heart just felt so heavy. The contrast of the camp and all that it held compared to the beautiful spring trees was very jarring. Just as Neuengamme did, it made me realized how blessed I am to have amazing family and friends, out of harm's way. Seriously, don't ever under-appreciate what you have.

Memorial at Dachau

-Bike tour: We held out until Thursday to go on the bike tour, hoping that the weather would improve--and it did! The afternoon cleared up and it was actually sunny! There was a hunt for gloves in the fear that our hands would be too cold, but it ended up being fine and we didn't need gloves (which was a relief--the cheapest pair we could find was €20!). We ended up getting a private tour because no one else showed up--which would normally be way more expensive! The tour guide was from Australia and he was very cool, although sometimes he was a bit hard to understand with his accent. It was SO nice to get on a bike because my feet were so tired of walking. And it let us see so much more of the city, so much faster! We got to learn about all the history I had been dying to know about (of course) and we had a beer in a cute little place in the Englischer Garten. I loved biking through the park--by far my favorite place in Munich! If you ever go to Munich, I would definitely recommend Mike's Bike Tours.

Nikki in the Englischer Garten

-Beer halls/beer gardens: Such a fun atmosphere! We went to Hofbrauhaus, which is one of the most famous beer halls, and also found some other ones. Unfortunately, a lot of the outdoor beer gardens weren't open because it was cold and rainy the majority of the time, but it was still fun to see them. Also, they have delicious (and very large) pretzels everywhere. Munich is as good a place as any to start appreciating beer (which I did)! And radler, of course.

Beer hall staples

All in all, it was a great three days in Munich and, even with some mishaps, it made me fall in love with Germany even more. Add that to places I would like to live!

Next post: Salzburg and the Alps

First stop: Baden-Württemberg area

What can I say? I fell in love with southern Germany. Maybe it was the perfect weather and fresh spring green and flowers and blue skies, but it was one of the prettiest places I've ever been. And for some reason, I wasn't expecting to love it so much. Having no expectations makes a new place even better, I think.

I started off flying to Stuttgart from Copenhagen on Saturday, April 9,

where I met Simone, a good family friend, and Nikki. We stayed with Simone in her cute little apartment for the next three nights, and got to explore lots of smaller towns around the German countryside. The first night we saw Tübingen, an old university town similar to the more famous Heidelberg. Nikki and I discovered radler, which is a beer/lemonade mix (which I personally like better than regular beer...). We had this quite often over the next week! It was beautiful at night with all the buildings lit up along the river, with a great atmosphere.

The next day, we traveled to Ludwigsburg (we became very good at the German train system by the end of the week!) and saw the palace there. It's one of the largest Baroque palaces in Germany and the gardens surrounding it are absolutely gorgeous. There was also an old car show in Ludwigsburg, which was fun to see. The weather was perfect and the flowers were all in full bloom. There was a children's fairy tale garden to explore, complete with a tower that had Rapunzel's hair coming down. There is seriously nothing more adorable than a little girl exclaiming "Rapunzel Rapunzel, let down your hair!" in German. I think we could have easily just sat in the garden all day, soaking up the sun and people-watching. We also stopped in Stuttgart to explore it in the evening, but by that point my heels were in protest from wearing my flats and I could barely walk, so we didn't stay for too long...oh, the pains of wearing cute shoes. Stuttgart was definitely a little less quaint and more industrial, but it was still fun to see everyone out in the good weather, sunning on the grass in the main square.

On Monday we took the train to Konstanz, which is a cute little town on a beautiful lake on the border of Germany and Switzerland. It was another gorgeous day and I even

got a little sunburned! There were great views and we went on a paddleboat out on the lake and ate ice cream and drank radler and even hopped over the border to Switzerland (but it wasn't very exciting). We were going to get our passports stamped as proof, but the guy wasn't at the window so we gave up. Ah well. I really enjoyed just walking around all these little German towns and soaking in all the German culture without being in all the places overrun with tourists. I think it made me appreciate Germany a lot more than if I had just gone to the big cities. I also loved traveling by train everywhere because the German countryside was so beautiful. Rolling green hills spotted with yellow and white and pink, with little red-roofed houses nestled in-between, church spires rising above them. I would happily move to any of these towns and live there! Seriously, every place I go, I just want to live there.

Next on the itinerary: Munich!

Frilandsmuseet

I'm sitting on the back patio in the sun and it's 19°C again and I'm wearing shorts! (although the sun makes it a bit hard to see the computer screen and keeps reminding me how dirty my screen really is.) We'll see how long my battery can last.... (probably not long.)

Today my host family took me to the Open Air Museum (Frilandsmuseet), about a 25 minute drive from Copenhagen. It was SO COOL. It's basically a large area of land (over 86 acres, according to the website) that you can walk around and they've taken different old houses from around Denmark and put them back together exactly as they were. There are houses there from the 1600s and you can just walk in and look around! This is exactly the type of history I love and it was so fascinating to see what it was like to live on a farm in Jutland a few hundred years ago. They also had houses and stores from the early 1900s, and some farm animals (including some baby goats and sheep that I wanted to steal). Even better--it's free, and a great place to go on a walk or have a picnic! It's the type of place I could keep going back to and discover new things...I didn't even see all the houses while I was there, there were too many! (The website says there are over 50 farms, houses, and mills from every region in Denmark and the Faeroe Islands as well as the former Danish provinces of southern Sweden and northern Germany.) It made me want to just step back in time and see the kinds of people that lived in the houses, although I don't think I would want to stay long...a lot of the farms had the stables directly connected to the living quarters and there was no toilets or electricity. We also drove a scenic way home and I got to see some of the Danish countryside and some pretty lakes. I love this country so much! It was a lovely afternoon and I highly recommend seeing it if you ever visit Copenhagen and it's warm out.

Here's the website with some info if you're interested.

A lovely Easter day

There is so much to update on that I don't even know where to begin...so I will begin with now. Happy Easter (God påske)! Today is a gorgeous day in Copenhagen--it's 19°C here (that would be 66°F) and sunny! The flowers are finally out and everything is starting to turn green! I just got back from traveling yesterday, so it was a welcome sight that Copenhagen finally decided to have spring. (But, compared to Germany and England, it's still not quite as warm.) Yesterday after I got back, I took my first bike trip around the city (finally!). I loved it and I'll be doing that quite often for the last 3 weeks, I hope. (yes, only THREE weeks left.) I have two weeks of class left and a paper, which will be difficult to write if the weather continues to be this nice. At church this morning I got some flowers to take home with me so now they're brightening up my room as I sit here and eat a delicious chocolate easter bunny from my mom. I was very excited that the outside part of the botanical gardens are finally looking like gardens...they're so nice to walk around now!

I think I'm going to do separate posts for each area I visited in Europe, so I will be posting them in installments over the next week! For now, though, I will enjoy this beautiful Sunday and sit out in the sun. I have to work on my tan!

Bicycle culture

I feel like I should make another post since I won't be around for the next two weeks...

This week has been relatively uneventful since the majority of it was spent writing the two big papers I had put off. It didn't help that I was pretty sick the week before, so I got kind of behind. But, it's done now! All I have left now until the end of the semester is one final and one paper. Hooray!

I had a really great guest lecture today in my Copenhagen urban history class about livability and today's bicyling culture in Copenhagen. It was really interesting and made me realize how unique Copenhagen is as a city. Did you know that at the morning peak on weekdays, there is more bike traffic than cars? That's very unique in the world. Their bike lanes are consistent and user friendly and there are so many little details (like the little ramps to go down the Metro stairs and covered places to park bikes) that make it such a great place to cycle. A lot of cities around the world are starting to adopt the "Copenhagen model" for bike lanes. (including NYC!) Also, people from every social status cycle, whether they're wealthy or poor. There is no green hippie status associated with biking here! There's a whole website called "Cycle Chic" that follows bike fashion around the world, but especially Copenhagen (I've put in a random picture from there to give you an idea of normal fashion on bicycles here). Even the crown prince bikes his kid to daycare! Not only is it cheaper, it cuts down on commuting times, which means the Danes get more time at home with family and food. This is one of the reasons Denmark is the "happiest place in the world"! Cycling also makes you live longer if you do it every day.

...I really need to start biking soon! For sure after I get back from my travel break. It's just been too cold for me to brave it before. (Not that the cold stops most Danes...they'll go out in a blizzard.)

Also, side note: about 21 inner Copenhagens fit into Manhattan. Just to give you an idea of how compact and small Copenhagen really is!

Today on the bus, a man came on with the usual pram, put the brake on it, and then just went to the back of the bus where there was a spare seat without even worrying about his child. I love Danes and their trustfulness!

Tomorrow begins my two week travel break!! Basic itinerary: Stuttgart, Munich, Salzburg (BIRTHDAY!), Bath, London (very briefly). The first week I'll be with Nikki and the second week I'll be with Liza! (Both friends from Denison, for those of you who don't know.) I feel completely prepared and I'm not even nervous this time around--just excited! I finally get to feel more like an independent world traveler. (Yes, I know I've been traveling already. But this is the first long trip that I've actually planned completely on my own!) Also, the weather will be about ten degrees warmer than Denmark and then by the time I get back, spring will be in high gear! I love spring!

Time is going so fast...

It is entirely the wrong time to be writing a blog post--I'm in the Black Diamond writing a paper (down to the wire) and this is the last thing I should be doing. So, I'll try to make this relatively quick. (Ha.)

Last weekend I was in Edinburgh, and it was SO lovely! Whenever I visit a new place, I just want to live there for at least a year. I'm very determined to go back to Edinburgh someday--I think it might tie with Copenhagen as one of my favorite cities! Here is the facebook album with my pictures: Edinburgh (See how lazy I'm getting?)

I could easily spend a long time talking about what I did there, but I hope you'll forgive me because I'm short on time and you can get a pretty good idea of what I did by looking at the pictures. Thank you SO MUCH to Gavin and Alison for letting Nikki and I stay with you! We may or may not have been plotting on ways to take David (2 years old) with us because he was so sweet and adorable. (...is that creepy?)

Spring is emerging here (it's April now!), and today is a such a beautiful day! Unfortunately, I'm stuck inside writing this paper. But I will be going to the botanical gardens tomorrow, as usual, and I'm looking forward to see what has sprung up in the last two weeks since I've been there. Also, tomorrow my host family is cooking a Christmas dinner for my friends and I, so we can experience some Danish traditions. Christmas in April! I'm looking forward to that (I always look forward to food). If you can believe it, I'll be leaving in exactly one week for my two-week travel break to Germany and Austria. I have a lot of work to do before then, though! I'm writing a paper on bystanders in genocide, and it's actually really interesting. I just don't want to be stuck inside! I'm also just getting over a pretty terrible cold--on Tuesday I had a fever of 101 and I felt off all week, but it has been steadily improving since then and today is the first day I feel relatively normal, besides a cough. Thank goodness that didn't last any longer!

Ok, ok, I'll go back to my paper now!

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy

Today was one of those days that I couldn't stop smiling even though, in theory, it should have been a bad day. My first class was cancelled but I still had to go in for a meeting and then the wireless wouldn't work for two hours. But that didn't phase me!

You know why? Sunshine. Today was a milestone because it was the first day that I took my winter coat off in Copenhagen! As long as the sun is shining on my face I'm happy. The bus was twenty minutes late this afternoon, which would usually annoy me, but I was as happy as a clam because there was a spot of sun at the bus stop that I was standing in. You can't go wrong with sunshine while listening to Jack Johnson!

Some other interesting things from this week:

-On Sunday I went to a F.C. Kobenhavn football game (no, it's not called soccer here) and it was fun! Why do hot dogs, beer, and popcorn taste infinitely better at sporting events? It's a mystery. Oh, and in case you were curious, FCK won against Brondby, 3-1. It was an exciting game!

-Today in my espionage class, a Danish man who was actually involved with HUMINT in East Germany and Poland in the 1980s came and talked to us. He told us his story and it was fascinating and so cool! You don't get to see that everyday...

- In my genocide class, we talked for the entire class period today about the current situation in Libya and how it relates to genocide. I love connecting current events with history, it makes it so much more relevant and interesting! There are some crazy things going on in the world right now...

-Tomorrow morning, I leave for Edinburgh until Sunday! I'm so excited!! (/stressed because I have a lot of connections to make before I actually get there. Travel is the one thing that stresses me out!)

"Joan of Arc stood RIGHT HERE!"

Yep, this sums up my excitement for history. My friend took this picture in Reims Cathedral so I thought I'd share. :)

Copenhagen Perspectives

I've put together some video clips that I've been taking for the past two months for you to get a glimpse of what I see everyday. I was afraid it would never export from my computer so I'm very happy that I can finally share this!

Je ne veux pas travailler...

is the line of a French song that I constantly had in my head while in Paris. Also, it means "I don't want to work," which is exactly the sentiment I'm feeling right now.

So, yes, I went to France for a week! Obviously, I'm not going to do a day-by-day summary or that would take forever and you would probably get bored. Instead of painstakingly inserting pictures into my blog post like I normally do (i.e. I'm becoming increasingly lazy), you should look at my facebook albums to get a better idea of what my week was like. I spent far too much time editing the albums down to about 200 pictures from the over 600 pictures that I took (yes, 600). Here are the public links to my albums if you don't have a facebook: (and yes, I have devoted an entire album to food.)

I'm in a serious relationship with food

Verdun and Reims

Paris

The 15 hour bus ride that we took from Copenhagen to France wasn't actually as painful as I thought it would be. We each had two seats of the bus to spread out on, I brought my pillow and blanket, and I just slept the whole time. Yes, I forgot my toothbrush so I went a day with disgusting teeth, but I just dealt. I probably got more sleep on the bus than I did most other nights in the hotels, actually.

From the moment we got to Verdun, our first stop, things boded well. Sunshine, blue skies, and amazing food greeted us when we arrived! As I've said before, DIS always picks the BEST restaurants to eat at and our first lunch was a wonderful wake-up call to the fact that we were in France and they have good food. I was very excited to see Verdun, as I learned about it last semester in my WWI class. It was pretty shocking to see how much the landscape is still so affected by the constant bombardment of shells. Every pit or dip in the ground we saw, even where trees are growing now, was from the war. As usual, pictures never do justice and it's insane to actually see it in person. We got a tour of Fort Douaumont, which was creepy and dark and wet, and there was also a great exhibit on the battle with a lot of artifacts. Verdun is a beautiful little town and I would love to visit it again when it is a little more lively (a Sunday night in March is not exactly peak tourist season).

We worked our way up to a bigger town by going to Reims, with its gorgeous Gothic cathedral. It's unreal to see this thing in person! Most of the French kings had their official coronation here and I got a big kick out of slowly walking down the center aisle of the cathedral, knowing that famous kings walked in my exact footsteps. It's mind-blowing! This is the part of history I love the most--walking in history's footsteps and seeing things in person. Sometimes it's hard to comprehend how old things are, even when you're standing right there looking at it all. These are the times when I wish I had a time machine so I could just go back and just see what it was like 500 years ago! We also got to go on a tour of some champagne caves that used to be below an old abbey, which was very cool. They were originally chalk pits dug out in the 4th century when the Romans were still around, and then became the crypt to the Saint Nicaise Abbey in 1211. Even though the abbey is long gone, the caves have remained and are very good for fermenting champagne. Talk about old! Even Peter the Great visited the caves in the 1700s, which I think is pretty cool. (Peter seemed to go everywhere, didn't he? He went up the Round Tower in Copenhagen, too.)

The last four days were spent in Paris, and I don't think I've ever done more walking in my life. By the end of the week, I was so sore! It was completely worth it, of course. It was so refreshing to understand most of the signs, or least be able to pronounce them! (unlike Danish.) Even though I didn't get to use my limited French that much, I still attempted to order food in French and even succeeded a few times. Although, sometimes I got myself into trouble when I would order in French, not understand a question they had, and then automatically say "Quoi?" Then they would just repeat the question in French and I would look at them idiotically until they switched to English. Oops. Ah well, at least I could finally say "Bonjour" and "merci" without looking silly (my friends know I say random things in French all the time...). It was also exciting to see words that I learned in French class for vocab tests come alive in the city. They're real! They're really used by French people!

The weather was FANTASTIC and we didn't have a drop of rain the whole week. Most days were sunny with blue skies, and it usually got between 15 and 20 degrees C!! (That's in the 60s, for all you Fahrenheit people.) The day we went to Versailles was especially beautiful, and it was wonderful to walk around the gardens without our coats on and soak up some vitamin D! The early spring flowers were already blooming and the forsythia and crocuses and daffodils were in full force! I was maybe a little overly excited whenever I saw flowers, but I'm just so deprived of spring weather that I couldn't help it! (It also made Copenhagen a bit depressing when we came back, because it's only 5 degrees C here and no flowers blooming yet.)

I saw all the main tourist spots in Paris, including: Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, Sacre Coeur, the Arc de Triomphe, Musee d'Orsay, the Louvre (my favorite part was Napoleon III's lavish apartments!), and lots of other monuments. We also visited the Jewish quarter (AMAZING falafel there!) and Belleville, a more multi-cultural neighborhood where we had delicious Lebanese food. I started to get the hang of the Metro, ate crepes with Nutella, and had a meal sitting outside at a cafe. Even though it was only a week I felt like I had a great French experience and it made me want to live there someday. Maybe I should have studied abroad in France, eh? But I love Copenhagen--coming back was a relief because it's so much cleaner and simpler and I actually know how to get around. I'll just be patient for spring here and then I know I won't even miss Paris!

P.S. I had to change the background of my blog because I'm fickle and also I wanted something happier and more springy. (even though I have a sneaking suspicion that this background is actually in the Netherlands...)

Some things I've learned

I've started compiling a list of random things I've learned:

1. I love duvets and I never want to use normal sheets again.

2. Standard printer paper is slightly taller here so it sticks out of my folders I brought from home.

3. Weinerbrød = Danish pastries = heaven

4. I love Danish design--simple and sleek and practical

5. Their gummy candies are addicting (and terrible for your teeth).

6. Two words: Fresh Bread. (and Nutella)

7. Disney channel and cartoons like the Fairly Oddparents are dubbed over in Danish, which make them more awesome.

8. Danes really do party hard.

9. I have seen Danes bike: talking on their phones, smoking a cigarette, without hands, in skirts, in heels, in the snow/rain, drinking beer, etc.

10. Babies are classy because they ride in prams (i.e. real, legit baby carriages).

11. Heated bathroom floors. Why hasn't the U.S. caught onto this yet???

12. Herring isn't that bad.

I'm leaving for France today!!! Au revoir!

‎"No man in the whole world can change the truth. One can only look for the truth, find it and serve it."

First of all, can we just talk about the fact that it's already MARCH? When did that happen?! I'm halfway through week 7 already. And we're only here for 17 weeks, 3 of which will be spent traveling (so they don't count). I'm starting to realize that people aren't kidding when they say your time abroad goes by fast. It really does!

However, I'm perfectly okay with it being March, because March means that I can start to be slightly more optimistic about spring. No matter how pretty the snow is in Copenhagen (see

exhibit A on the right), I've had ENOUGH. Snow isn't so appealing when you have to walk around in it! The pictures look pretty, but every time you take your hand out of your pocket, it gets progressively more painful, even with gloves. I'm surprised my hands haven't fallen off yet. Even

though I told everyone I was going to Copenhagen for the spring semester, that was a lie. I'm in Copenhagen for the winter semester, with a little bit of spring at the very end. I just keep telling myself that I'll appreciate Copenhagen even more in the spring now that I've experienced the winter. I can just tell that all the gardens and landscaping will be so beautiful by May! I understand why the Danes need hygge to get through winter.

Anyway, this past weekend, I traveled to Hamburg with my Holocaust and Genocide class (and my hopes for spring were falsely raised when it was 8°C on Saturday!). Even though it was a short trip (only Saturday and Sunday), I learned a lot and it was great to finally see another city in Europe besides Copenhagen. Hamburg is actually quite different from Copenhagen, which I wasn't really expecting. Because about 80% of the city was completely destroyed by bombs during WWII, the city is much more modern, and has a completely different feel to it. Also, everything is in German (duh) and I can't even pronounce the street names (much to the chagrin of my very German family, I'm sure). Believe it or not, it was a relief to come back to Copenhagen and see Danish again. It felt like coming home!

But I digress. On Saturday we left much too early in the morning and took a bus to Hamburg, including a massive ferry across the Baltic Sea from Denmark to Germany. We went to the Hamburg Museum and saw some interesting exhibits on the war in Hamburg, and I was greatly amused by the fact that one of the display rooms was labeled "1998" and had an old Mac computer and printer. 1998 is in museums already?? I feel old. Most of Saturday we just walked around and saw some of the city, and then in the evening we went to a delicious German restaurant (as usual, DIS feeds us well). I have to say, one thing Germany does better than Copenhagen is cheap beer! It really is cheaper than most water. Then I was lame and went to bed at 9:30 at the hostel (the earliest I've gone to bed since my jet lag the first few days here!), but I didn't regret it because we had a very full day ahead of us.

On Sunday, we were thrown headfirst into dealing with the tough stuff. After seeing a bit of the city, including the remains of a church that was bombed in 1943, the first stop was just outside of Hamburg, at an old school building. In 1945, shortly before the Nazi regime fell, the SS wanted to remove all evidence of what they had been doing. At Neuengamme, they had been performing tuberculosis experiments on twenty Jewish children, so they brought them to this school building and hanged them. There is now a small rose garden in memoriam of this awful event, and for me it was much more powerful than any of the big Holocaust memorials because they had a plaque with each child's picture and how old they were when they died. It made the war seem so much more personal and horrible,

especially because they were children between the ages of 5 and 12.

Then we headed to Neuengamme concentration camp, which is about 15 km outside of Hamburg. For some reason, in my head I had convinced myself that the camp wasn't as bad as some of the more well-known ones, since they didn't have as many Jews and there wasn't much gassing. But my assumptions were totally wrong. The prisoners at Neuengamme were worked to death, and in some ways this was even more horrible. Of the over 100,000 men that went through the camp, about half of them died. That's a lot of people. The conditions were absolutely horrible--12 hour work days, even in the winter, wearing only a thin layer of clothing and sometimes no shoes. This was better appreciated by the fact that we were standing out there for 2 hours shivering, even though we had many warm layers on. They had to either lug around clay to make bricks (there was a brick factory there), or dig out a canal. Much of the work had to be done at a running pace, or else you were beaten. If you were beaten, it meant death because you were so malnourished from lack of food and sleep that your wounds probably wouldn't heal. Most men only lasted a few miserable months. Add to that extremely crowded sleeping quarters, often 3 to a bed, and most of them had diarrhea because they were so unhealthy. It

was very sobering to walk around the camp and know that almost everywhere you walked, someone probably died there. No matter how much you learn about these camps, it is very chilling to actually walk in one.

The two barracks on either side are original (one of them is pictured), and one of them had a very good exhibit on life in the camps and how it has been used since. The camp was used as a real prison until 2003, if you can believe it! Naturally, friends and relatives didn't like this, as they couldn't even go on the premises to pay their respects or lay flowers. On the right of the picture, you can see an outline with stones, which is where the wooden barracks that most prisoners slept in were located. It's hard to describe what it's like to see this and realize that these atrocities were actually committed. It was very sobering and if nothing else, I walked away with the knowledge that I'm extremely blessed to have such a great life. It makes the small complaints of life seem silly and unnecessary, and made me appreciate all my friends and family and the warm, clean bed I have every night. I have absolutely nothing to complain about.

So, life is very, very good. This coming Saturday I'm leaving for my long study tour to France already! I'm starting to get VERY excited. I need to brush up on my French. Probablement, je vais seulement dire "excusez-moi" et "merci" parce que je suis un lâche!

P.S. In case you were wondering, the quote in the title is by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. It was on a plaque at the church memorial in Hamburg.

Another normal(?) week in CPH

Now that I've been here for over a month (whaaat?), I've developed certain routines. I think there's a certain point when you cross over from disbelief that you're in Europe to a feeling of normality. Even though sometimes I stand back and think "Wow, I'm in Copenhagen?!", most of the time it feels pretty normal to wake up and go about my daily activities for the day. It has definitely made the world seem smaller because I've realized that, besides older buildings and a different language, Copenhagen really isn't that different than anywhere else. People go about their daily lives--they work, eat, sleep, raise their children, and deal with relationships. It makes Europe seem less magical--but in a good way. Just more real.

This week has been relatively eventful (as most weeks seem to be). On Wednesday I visited the Danish Resistance museum with my Holocaust class, and then later that evening watched the film Le Rafle. It is a recent French film about the large round-up of Jews in Paris in 1942. I thought it was very well done--sad, but eye-opening. Films like this tend to make me cry and this one was no exception. Next weekend I'll be traveling to Hamburg to visit Neuengamme, so that'll be interesting. It's weird studying the Holocaust, because it was so awful and hard to even imagine, but at the same time weirdly fascinating. Even though it's hard to learn about what happened, I think it's really important to understand what occurred and to not brush over it like many have done in the past, so that similar atrocities are never committed again. I almost feel like we owe it to the victims to hear their stories and to not forget what happened. On that note, there was recently an interesting article (linked) about Auschwitz in the New York Times that touches on the subject of how the Holocaust is memorialized and how that is changing.

(After we visited the Danish Resistance museum, we got hot chocolate and dessert at a cafe. I love when DIS pays for things! Yes, be jealous.)

Since all Danish children had a winter holiday this past week, on Thursday (after my morning class) my host family took me to Louisiana, the modern art museum. (I just looked up why it's called Louisiana, and apparently it's because the original owner had three wives, all named Louise. Not because the Danish like the Louisiana in the U.S.) They just opened an exhibit on Picasso so I got to spend the afternoon looking at some of his art, as well other great pieces. Sometimes I think modern art can be a bit weird, but I actually really enjoyed this one! It was very well done, and it's on a beautiful location on the water. (I can tell the outside grounds are amazing when it gets warm.) When we looked over the water, the foam and snow on the edge merged together and looked very cool--a picture doesn't do justice, as usual!

Yesterday (Saturday), Jon--a friend from high school--came to visit Copenhagen, so Rachel and I showed him around the city. I think we walked about 50 miles in -5° C (maybe a bit of an exaggeration...), but he got an extensive tour! We even made it to the Little Mermaid statue, which I hadn't even been to before. For some reason it's very famous in Copenhagen, although it's not particularly exciting. Actually, everyone kept downplaying her so much and saying how small she was that she was actually bigger than I imagined! Now I can officially say I've been a true Copenhagen tourist. She looked rather cold, though, so I'm going to visit her again once the weather warms up a bit.

On Saturday night, I went with some friends to see Aziz Ansari do stand-up in Tivoli. (He's the Indian guy on Parks and Recreation! One of my new favorite tv shows!) Even though Tivoli, an amusement park in the center of the city, doesn't open until April, we got to walk through at night and see all the lights. So cool! I also got a great ab-workout because I was laughing so hard. Soooo funny. I can't WAIT until Tivoli actually opens!

I am now going to rest my tired, sore body and think of further ways to procrastinate from my homework.

Skøjte

I just had a lovely afternoon going ice skating with my host family! It was a beautiful day so I was glad to get outside and soak up the sunshine, even if it was only 2° C. (Yes I use celsius now. Deal with it.) My pride was slightly dented because I kept saying how I could ice skate well and how I've done it my whole life, and then when we got there, the rentals were all hockey skates. I've only skated with figure skates before! Although I never actually fell, I was definitely didn't look like an expert out there...but I was proud to learn a new skill without making a complete fool out of myself.

There were so many children falling everywhere and it was very adorable. They also had these little penguin things that children could hold onto while skating so they wouldn't fall down:

My host sister Carolina and I:

I also enjoyed hot chocolate and fresh chocolate chip scones after my feet hurt too much. Then we walked around the Frederiksberg Gardens. All in all, a lovely Saturday in February!

Open Prisons, Danish Reggae, and the Beatles: Western Denmark tour

[WARNING: Long blog post. Read at your own risk.]

Today is Wednesday, which means no class (best idea ever), so I can finally sit down and write about my short study tour last week! This could take awhile, so I will settle down with my favorite snack, tea and fresh bread with Nutella. (This is my favorite time of day because the sun is shining directly on me through my window and making me feel hopeful about spring.)

The Folkehøjskole: Thursday

Conveniently, there was a bus strike on Thursday morning (sarcasm), so I had to walk an extra 15 minutes to the Metro lugging my heavy bag. I was still on time, though, so all was well. We drove 3 and a half hours (across 2 bridges) until we got to Ry, a small town outside of Arhus on the mainland of Jutland. We were greeted by a delicious buffet lunch being served (can I just say that we ate like royalty this week? SUCH good food). Let me explain what a højskole is: basically, a glorified summer camp with amazing food (and alcohol). After finishing regular school, students can go to a højskole for about 6 months--it's much more normal to take a few years off before continuing to university (which I think is a wonderful idea). So, students are usually from 18-24 years old. There is a focus on figuring out who you are and less of a focus on grades and strict classes. You can choose to do art, ceramics, theater, music, journalism, or nature, just to name a few. Although you do have to pay to go, everyone is accepted and there is no worries about "getting in." They want it to be "education for life" and let students develop and love for learning on their own, without being forced into it. As a teacher-to-be, I think this is a wonderful philosophy and I wish the U.S. had an equivalent! There are about 80 højskoles all over Denmark, and there are only about 70 students there at a time. That way, you get to know everybody and form close relationships. In the afternoon, there were different activities to chose from (including juggling and African drums), so I chose to go on a walk with other Danish students to get to know them. We walked about 7 km through the countryside, and it was so beautiful! (And a little muddy...)

It was really cool to talk to students my age, and one girl I talked to had the exact same birthday as me, year and all! We even think we were born around the same time, because I was born in the afternoon in the U.S. and she was born in the evening. Weird coincidence!

After dinner, we could choose another activity to do (including guitar, hip hop, or Danish sign language), so I chose drawing. It was very "hygge" (cozy), listening to music by candlelight and drawing. I'm not the best artist but I drew a person that I was reasonably proud of! They even have a bar at the højskole, which they opened for us that night, so we all had a great time getting to know the Danes and I even went to bed at a reasonable hour (11)!

Open Prison, Art, and Danish Reggae: Friday

In the morning after breakfast, we attended the morning assembly, which they kindly did in English for us. Guess what song we sang? Let it Be. I was very happy and definitely didn't need the book with the lyrics! Then we drove to an open prison to get a tour. What is an open prison, you might ask? As you might gather, it's open so there are no fences or barbed wire surrounding it. It's where white-collar criminals are mostly sent, although there are also criminals from the closed prisons that sometimes get transfered there. They want to get the inmates ready to go back into society when they are released, so they focus on rehabilitation, not punishment. They have a single room, some prisoners can have TV and internet, they make their own food (there are even knives in the kitchen), they have tennis courts, a gym, mini golf, and even a chapel. They often get menial jobs on the property to get them used to going to work every day (which some of them have never done before), and they can get an education. There is a lot of trust built into the system, and if they are well behaved they can visit their families for a weekend every 3 weeks.

You're probably wondering why don't people try to get into prison on purpose then? Because of the Danish welfare system, you're practically guaranteed food and shelter, and you have to WANT to be homeless to not get these benefits. Therefore, no one needs to go to prison to get these necessities. This type of system would not work in the U.S., unfortunately, because Danish culture is so trusting that they're able to have prisons like this. In the U.S., the system would be taken advantage of because people would just try to escape. And the Danes must be doing something right, because the return rate to prison is only about 30%, the lowest in the world! It's still not perfect, but it's still doing a lot better than the American prison system. It's still prison though--you don't have any real freedom, and you're stuck in the same place for however many years. But even though they're punished, the inmates still have a chance to integrate back into society without ruining their entire lives. It was extremely interesting to see this in person!

In the afternoon (after an amazing traditional Danish lunch at an old inn), we went to an art museum that was in the middle of nowhere. This is because since the late 1800s, the Danes began educating the peasants and farmers and bringing them culture from the cities. This is one of the reasons why there was never a big revolution in Denmark like there was in other European countries. The museum was very interesting, and had some beautiful sculptures.

However, it was cold and rainy outside so we couldn't see a lot of them without getting wet and miserable. Oh well.

We drove to Kolding ("Kulling") next, where we were staying in a very nice hostel. Even though it was extremely cold and windy and rainy, we went out into the town to get dinner and, of course, got lost. We were very cold and wet. We ended up eating at a pizza place that put kebabs on the pizza. Interesting but delicious! That night there was a Danish reggae concert (random, I know), so we got tickets to go since there was nothing else to do. However, we got cold and lost yet again. (Seriously, it was SO WINDY. Are there hurricanes in Denmark??) The band were called Von Dü (I think they have a myspace page if you want to look them up, haha) and they were actually pretty good! Not that we could understand anything, since it was all in Danish... still, an experience!

One of my friends took a video:

Old Runes and the Beatles: Saturday

On Saturday morning, we went to Jelling ("Yelling"), which is basically the birthplace of Denmark. (also, it's a UNESCO World Heritage site which means I've been to all 3 in Denmark now!) They have an extremely old stone with runes that mention "Denmark" for the first time in recorded history. (from the 10th century!) There are also two mounds, one of which is where the first known king of Denmark (Gorm) was originally buried. It was very interesting to me (as a history major), but also very wet and cold so I was glad to get back on the bus!

After another amazing brunch, we went to Koldinghus, the castle in Kolding. It was really cool because it had burned down in 1808 and stood as a ruin until 1980, when they decided to restore it. Instead of trying to recreate what one of the old models looked like, they left the old stuff and integrated it into a new structure. It was very tastefully done and was a very beautiful melding of old and new. It now houses a museum with a variety of exhibits. While we were there, they had a Beatles exhibit, which was one of the highlights for me! They even had the original instruments the Beatles used when they were on the Ed Sullivan show. SO COOL.

In the picture you can see the exhibit and also how there is both old and new parts of the castle combined. Fascinating! We drove back to Copenhagen after Koldinghus, and I definitely listened to the Beatles on my iPod... :)

All in all, this trip gave me a much better understanding of what the Danish culture is like, and made me love Denmark even more! I loved riding on the bus and looking at all the scenery go by. It might be small, but it's a beautiful country!

Skål!

Raindrops on roses

I just got back from my short study tour on Saturday night, so I'll write a longer blog about that soon, but I just wanted to share the lovely Sunday afternoon that I had today!

In the morning, I tried out an English-speaking service for the International Church of Copenhagen--they met in a very nice church called St. Andreas Kirke, which was conveniently close to Nørreport, and I met many lovely people and shared some tea and coffee afterwards. Then I decided to explore on my own, since I need to go to some places and take notes/pictures for my Copenhagen history class. I went in search of Rosenborg Slot, which looked relatively close on the map. Instead, I wandered into the botanical gardens, which were right next to the church. They looked particularly brown and dreary, but I was trying my best to imagine how beautiful they must look in May. This just depressed me that it was only February.

After exploring for a bit (and feeling slightly puzzled as to where this large castle was supposed to be), I wondered what was in the glass houses. In my confused mind, I assumed that since it was winter they weren't open. But I saw a door open, so I decided to check it out. Best decision of my life! I walked into GREEN.

It suddenly dawned on me why they were called botanical gardens. As I walked further in, each greenhouse got significantly warmer and more tropical. The tallest one was very humid and warm and smelled like the rainforest and had very tall trees. I couldn't stop grinning (or taking pictures) because I was so happy to see green plants. In the tallest greenhouse, there was a spiral staircase you could climb to look down at all the trees.

I fell in love with this place and have decided that I will visit every Sunday to get my chlorophyll fix of the week! Here are some pictures that I couldn't resist taking:

This is what I love about Copenhagen. You can be in an old medieval city and then suddenly be in a rainforest. There are always new places to discover and it never gets boring! (Oh, and I did eventually find Rosenborg. It was a couple blocks down.)

Starting to feel like home

Happy Februar!

You're probably wondering how my life in Copenhagen is now that I've been here a few weeks (or maybe I'm just being self-assuming). In a one word answer: great!

...oh, you want more detail?

I didn't realize how hard it would be to describe my life in my blog posts when I agreed to do this. Trying to explain my life in writing really doesn't do anything justice. Now that I've officially been here two weeks, I can say that I'm starting to feel much more at home. I can manage the public transportation system pretty well now (although we won't mention that I missed my bus stop today because I was too busy talking...) and I feel like I'm starting to blend into the city now instead of being an oblivious newcomer.

The day to day routine isn't too exciting, but I will say it once so I don't have to again... wake up (far too early), make my lunch and grab something quick for breakfast, walk to the bus stop and hope I haven't missed the most recent bus, wait in the frigid cold, take the 10-15 min bus ride into the city, walk to the DIS buildings, go to class, maybe do some homework in a study room, buy a pastry at a nearby bakery and have 2 minutes of bliss, take the bus back home in the afternoon, procrastinate on the computer (some things never change), attempt to do homework, have dinner with my family, more homework, go to bed far too late.

Boring, eh? Well, not really. Since I've been here I have:

- seen Kronborg Castle and the town of Helsingor

- wandered around the biggest H&M in Europe

- been to a discotheque

- watched handball (Denmark made it to the world final and lost against France. Booo.)

- made new Danish friends

- experienced Danish nightlife and almost froze to death at 2 in the morning

- eaten weinerbrod almost every day (Danish pastries = AMAZING)

- visited Roskilde Cathedral

- gone to a Viking museum and seen 900 year-old ships

- seen the changing of the guard at the royal palace

Sunset over Roskilde

And much will be added to that list after this week! On Thursday morning I'm leaving to go on my short study tour to Western Denmark, where we'll be visiting a folkehojskole, a castle, and an open prison, among other things. I'm sure I will have much to update next week.

Until then, venlig hilsen!

America could learn a few lessons from the Danes

The other day as I was waiting for my bus, I noticed a lone white mitten laying in the middle of the bike lane. A woman bent over and carefully picked it up, placing it on the curb. That evening, probably 8 or 9 hours later, I noticed the same mitten carefully placed on the bench at the bus stop, as if waiting for its owner to come back and claim it.

When an older couple came on the bus and it was full, someone almost immediately stood up and offered their seat to them. Everyone (quietly) gets out of the way if a baby carriage comes on the bus. The ride is mostly quiet and people are very respectful of each other. If you're sitting by the window, all you have to do is rustle your bag a bit and the other person will stand up to let you out.

At the kommune (where I had to get my cpr card, kind of like social security), I pulled a number from a machine, waited for a few minutes, and then when the digital screen blinked my number, I went up to the desk assigned to my number. Everything was very clean and calm and very orderly, and the whole process only took 15-20 minutes. [compare that to the NJ DMV!]

(Kind of) Learning Danish

I will admit upfront, I'm not very good at learning new languages. I keep trying to pronounce things with a French accent and I have no idea how to pronounce half the letters in Danish. However, there are a few phrases that have been drilled into my head in the past week (I will provide pronunciation for everyone's sake).

1. UDSALG (oo-sell): Sale! This is posted on every store front, especially in January. I'm trying my hardest to resist temptation to buy things so that I can save my money to travel later in the semester.

2. Skål (skoal): This is what you say when you are toasting...I think it directly translates to "cheers!"

3. Undskyld (on-skool): I often hear this on the bus or on the streets when you bump into someone. It means "sorry" or "excuse me."

4. Tak, or Mange tak (mon-geh tok): Thanks, or many thanks. I have long mastered this one, it's one of the easiest to incorporate into daily language for me! The Danes have a lot of different versions of thank you but I haven't figured them all out yet.

5. Jeg kommer fra Amerika (Yie kuh-muh fra America): Pretty easy to figure out... I come from America!

6. Jeg forstår ikke (Yie fu-stor ik-kuh): "I can't understand." Haven't used this one yet, but I figure it'll come in handy eventually.

7. Champignon: Mushroom. Yes, finally something I can pronounce in French and everyone will understand!

Yesterday, I visited Kronborg Castle, which is where Hamlet traditionally takes place. Whenever I go to places like these, I wish I could just travel back in time for a day to see what it was really like! Of course, I'd rather not be able to smell when I go back... dealing with excrement didn't sound very sanitary.

Rachel and I at Kronborg