No Pun Intended

Midterms means my wit has decreased momentarily, so no Danish pun for the title. Sowwy.

Anyway, the past 10 days have been pretty crazy and since it takes me forever to write a blog entry, I just haven't had the time (and still don't) to sit down and do it the right way. Therefore, brief update on my life.

1. I went to my visiting sister Maria's high school play last week with my friend Becca. We ended up arriving late so we sat outside the auditorium for the first act. It didn't hinder our understanding of the performance because we had no idea what was happening in the first place - it was completely in Danish. Anyway, Maria was fantastic, and it was a really great cultural immersion to see a Danish play (written by the students at the school!) and be in a Danish school. 

2. I visited the Louisiana Art Museum on Saturday. It's a modern art museum, and has some really amazing pieces (a few Warhol paintings and lots of Picasso, among others). I forgot my camera (wah) so I didn't take any pictures. However, it's situated on the most beautiful beach, so when it gets warmer (or perhaps when Lizzie comes in April yay!) I want to go back and spend a long time looking at the rest of the museum (it's massive) and hanging out outside.

3. Sunday, my other visiting sister, Lotte, took me to the castle that inspired the play Hamlet (and the title of this blog), Kronborg in Helsingør. Her boyfriend, Mikkel, also came with us. They were absolutely adorable, and hanging out witih them was so fun. The castle is on a beach, and you can literally see Sweden from the coast, so we walked around in the freezing but beautiful weather and admired Sweden! After exploring the castle and it's castmates (passageway/dungeon type things) we grabbed lunch and I tried pickled herring in a curry sauce - it was actually really good! I also had some other traditional Danish food including frikadeller (a meatball which apparently has veal in it but tastes delicious... I'm still struggling personally with the fact that I may or may not have eaten veal... ever since my brother told me what it was/how it was killed when I was little, I have vehemently refused to eat it), remoulade (a condiment that has vegetables and mayo and other stuff in it) and many more. I refused to eat the liver pate (liverpostej as it's called in Danish)... I don't think an explanation is necessary. After a loooong lunch, we visited the aquarium that only has fish/plants from the water between Helsingør and Sweden, and I touched an anemone. We finally headed home, and after an 8 hour adventure, I fell asleep in the car. 

Kronborg!

Me looking extremely cold

Mikkel and Lotte being so0o0o cute. Yes, this was a creeping pic.

The ice covered rocks (courtesy of Lotte!)

4. This week has been pretty uneventful minus lots of studying. I had an exam today, another tomorrow, and another on Monday. The exam went fine, but was rather annoying to study for. I'm really unmotivated even though I find my classes really interesting. I guess it's just harder to get back into school mode when you aren't actually at school.

Random: As I procrastinated, I decided to search on google images "Danish" and this is what came up:

Oh, Minnesota.

Okay. I promise to update with cooler things next week after my last midterm. Vi ses!

S'il Vous Plaît-ing in Paris!

Sorry for the hiatus - I literally took one when I went to Paris this weekend! (Hence the pun in the title!). Also, this week has been super busy, but more on that later.

Ben (a friend from Mac who is also in Copenhagen) and I left on Thursday night and arrived in Paris at around 10:00 PM. We then took the RER to get to Lizzie's stop (after getting lost and very confused in the airport) and met with Lizzie and Elle (who was also visiting!). We pretty much hung out and went to bed that night since Ben and I were pretty tired.

Friday, we woke up really early (8:15 OMG) and went to the Eiffel Tower! The weather was absolutely AMAZING - almost 60 degrees and gorgeously sunny. We took pictures with the tower (duh) and thanks to my bright idea and great odd-object spotting skills, we were able to take these gems...

Bonjour!

Just being French

After that, we went to the Arc de Triomphe, took some more pictures, and walked down the Champs-Elsees to the huuuuge ferris wheel (which we rode on, of course!) and took some sweet pictures. Then, because it was so beautiful, we sat outside at a park and people-watched until it was 3PM and we could go to Laduree (a really swanky restaurant known for their macarons and delicious sweet things). We got mini macaron (an almond paste cookie type thing) and tea, and pretended to be really sophisticated. It was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been, and the food was definitely worth the price tag!

Arc de Triomphe!

Lizzie and Ben in the ferris wheel

Yeah!

So good I accidentally took a bite before taking a picture.

I want to live here.

Friday night Lizzie hosted a birthday party wiht some of her program-mates in her dorm room, and then we went to a club that was underneath the Seine. WE DANCED THERE. How cool is that? I danced BENEATH the Seine. Okay, enough boasting, but it was really awesome.

Saturday we went to An American Diner in Paris! (exclamation point is actually in the title) to get some real American breakfast since we'd all been craving it pretty badly. Then we did the Louvre, and then the Musee d'Orsay (a more modern museum). I loved loved loved the Orsay. It was filled with Impressionist paintings and cool sculptures and artsy fun. Afterwards, we went to Montmartre to see the entire view of Paris. After climbing a tonnn of steps, we made it, and saw the nighttime skyline. It was one of the most breathtaking sights I've ever seen. I kept thinking to myself (and saying out loud) "I can't believe I'm in Paris. I've always wanted to be here. I cannot believe this." It was truly one of the most special moments of my life.

This doesn't give the view justice.

After a long day, we grabbed some dinner, went back to Lizzie's dorm and passed out. Sunday morning we grabbed some breakfast and then Ben and I set out to the airport for the worst experience regarding travel of my life (but I'll spare you the frustrating details). Basically, if you plan to fly out of Paris-Orly, be prepared to be really confused, spoken to extremely rudely, and eternally searching for someone who actually knows the layout of the place of their employment. But I digress.....

Other than the land of baguette and romance, I've been pretty happy in Copenhagen. I actually even missed it while I was in France. I joined the most amazing gym (facilities are fantastic, plus taking a shower that feels like you are standing in a thunderstorm doesn't hurt either!), and have been working out every day since I joined (minus my vacation). This week has been busy! Yesterday was my floormate's birthday so we had a delicious Mexican-themed potluck and went to a few bars to celebrate. Today, I had 2 field studies (basically field trips) and still have one to go! For my public health class, we visited the UN's Population Fund, an organization focused on giving everyone reproductive rights - it's a really amazing organization! Then this afternoon, my Danish class went to the Danish Resistance Museum (from WWII) which was AMAZING and then we watched  a really intense movie about 2 of the resistance heroes. I'm still a little shaken from it. Tonight, for my History of European Ballet class, we're going to see the Royal Danish Ballet perform A Midsummernight's Dream. I am BEYOND excited - I grew up watching the RDB and now I'm actually getting to see them live. Life is good.

Aarhus, in the middle of the street! (Get it? Bad joke.. sorry!)

I am back! You all probably didn't even know I was gone since I don't think I ever actually updated about my brief hiatus from Copenhagen. First, on Wednesday, I went ot the Carlsburg Brewery - it was awesome! We got to try 2 different kinds of beer after our self-guided tour. Here are some pictures!

I drank all of those.

Just hangin at the brewery, makin some beer in the stable.

Delicious!

 Anyway, back to the main point of this entry. I went on a short study tour to Western Denmark with my core course. Between Thursday and Saturday, we visited Aarhus, Kolding, and Horsens. Here is a day-by-day account of it, since I'm sure you all are DYING to know what I did! Also, there are cool pictures, so you should definitely read this obscenely long entry.

Thursday, we arrived in Aarhus after a very exhausting 4 hour busride. We saw a PET scan center and the Center for Integrative Neuroscience. We also visited a general practioner. While the visits seem cool, they were actually pretty disappointing - we sat through really long lectures about things that had nothing to do with our class, and saw way too many MRI scanners - not actually pictures of scans, just the machines. That evening we went to a really delicious Italian restaurant and a cool, privately owned brewery/bar. We stayed in a really beautiful hostel that served amazing breakfast.

My baby beer at the Sankt Clemens Brew House (it doesn't look like a baby sized beer, but compared to the other glass sizes, this was for tiny tots).

Friday we went to the University of Aarhus' hospital which was definitely cooler than the other 2 places. We saw a pig undergoing lapriscopic surgery and learned about different types of synthetic heart valve replacements. After that, we were able to walk around the center of Aarhus, and I grabbed lunch with a few of my classmates at a pretty terrible buffet (everything tasted like shawarma - even tho it was an Italian buffet haha). After that we went to the most amazing modern art museum, ARoS. We had a lackluster guided tour, but then were able to explore on our own for about 45 minutes.  Below are some pictures of my favorite exhibit by Lemmerz, and here is a link if you want to learn more about him/are as obsessed with him as I am. http://www.faurschou.com/artists/christianlemmerz/info

"Boy"

I don't remember what this is called

Something about the Pope in the afterlife. Lemmerz didn't like the Catholic Church

Strange Fruit

After the museum, we grabbed some hot chocolate, took a bus ride to Horsens, and went cosmic bowling after a buffet at the bowling alley! It was a really nice place - much less sketchy than bowling alleys in the US, and the Danish pop music they were playing at first (they quickly changed to US pop) was hilarious. I actually did pretty well - I got a 70 in one of the games! I'm thinking of going pro.

Some bowling hotties

Saturday, we drove to Kolding where we visited Koldinghus, a castle that burned down in 1808. However, after a renovation by some famous Danes, it's back on its feet and holds a Beatles exhibit (so weird to experience The Beatles in a castle...). The view from the top of the tower was amazing (see below) and it really showed me how out of shape I am since I could barely breathe after the 158 steps to the top. Later, we got lunch and went to Trapholt - a Danish art and design museum. I have never seen so many effing chairs in my life. What was worse was that you weren't allowed to sit on any of them. You just looked and took pictures and listened to the tour guide tell you how sophisticated a wooden chair is. I don't think I'm cultured enough to appreciate that museum. However, we got really delicious cake afterwards, so I was pretty content.

I'm Queen of the World! Or just Koldinghus...

These are chairs on a wall.

This is a chair.

This is also a chair.

This isn't a chair, I just like gnomes.

So, that was my study tour. I arrived back last evening, and then went to a dance club with some of my friends. We met hilarious Italian men, one of whom pretty much confessed his love for me (I'm pretty used to it though- it happens a lot). Today I did a lot of pretending to do homework, and now I'm continuing that by updating here.  Congrats to those of you who made it all the way down here! Vi ses! (That's a way to say good bye in Danish. That's your reward for reading all of this!)

Seeing the World Through Rose Colored (and heart shaped) Glasses

Happy Monday!

I am currently avoiding my last reading for tomorrow and instead updating this blog. The past few days have been really awesome - I finally adjusted. After a subconscious epiphany on Thursday morning, my outlook on life in Copenhagen has really changed for the better! All of my classes are really interesting, I started bonding with the people I live with, and I feel like I fit in while not conforming completely (it's about darn time!!!).

Friday night I went to a kind of sketchy bar with some friends and watched a drunken Danish girl dance with a big wooden statue. Hopefully, you can draw conclusions as to what happened. If not, I'll just tell you: The heavy-looking statue toppled over onto the Danish girl and she, with it on top of her, crashed to the floor. She was ok, but quickly left the buillding. I would too - it was pretty embarassing andeveryone was laughing at her. Saturday I went to the Sleigh Bells concert in Christiania (the part of Copenhagen that declared itself free from Danish law). It was a really awesome venue, but the show was pretty disappointing - they only played for about 30 minutes, and didn't jam or anything. I could have listened to their exact album for free in the comfort of my home, but, it was still a really fun time!

Sunday I hung out with my visiting family - I realized I neglected to update about them - my b! They are John and Bente (dad and mom), Lotte (she is 20), Jan (he is 19), Maria (she is 18) and Mette (she is 23). I've met all but Mette (she doesn't live in the house anymore). The family lives about 25 minutes southwest of Copenhagen, and the train ride is really beautiful. The first day, they made me a traditional Danish meal - pork patties, potatoes with some kind of brown sauce, and a really good (and super traditional) fruit pudding with cream dessert called Rød grød med fløde. It's really hard to say, and when I tried, they all laughed at me. However, it was really easy (and delicious!) to eat.

Yesterday,  John and Bente took me to Kalstrup Skov - a national park of sorts - that has interesting rocks (I wish I took a geology course so that didn't sound so dumb). I think it's a kind of limestone, but I"m probably making that up. Anyway, people have found fossils of squid and crab there, and since I told John and Bente I'm interested in evolution, they thought it would be fun to go hunting for fossils! However, all of the rocks were frozen, so we couldn't crack any open. Instead, we took a long walk around the land which was just as awesome - below are pictures! We also had a delicious stir fry for dinner - complete with chopsticks (I told them about how I went to Japan and had to use them). They are so adorable, and we've already got plans for the rest of my time in Copenhagen (including a dinner when my parents come to visit!).

Okay, that's all for tonight. I am so exhausted after completing 2 more applications for summer positions (3 down, just 2 more to go!). This weekend we go on our short study tour to western Denmark, so I'll make sure to update with lots and lots of pictures upon my return!

Some Cultural Notes

So I know I said I was only going to update once a week, but my last entry was far too long. I write the way I talk and I talk a LOT, so apologies for the longwindedness! Yesterday I was pretty sick, but I feel much better since my fever broke (being sick away from home is miserable enough, but being in another country is worse). However, I am fully functional and excited for life! haha. Anyway, I wanted to share with you all the cultural differences I've noticed in my first week.

1. There are a lot of babies. Like, a billion. Everywhere you look there is a baby. My Danish professor said that could be because of the sweet 1-year maternity leave they receive here. I just think the Danes like to procreate (though the birth rate is only about 1.6 babies per woman. Hey, I'm already learning something in class!) Though I've "seen" a lot of babies, I actually haven't seen very many because their parents keep them completely covered in huge strollers. It's actually really bizarre. However, the ones I have seen are super adorable and very bundled.

2. Public transit is really easy to figure out. Granted, the maps are in Danish, but all of the buses/trains have signs that state what stop is coming up, and they even announce it in Danish. However, I haven't mastered reading the timetables at bus stops yet. Those things are crazy.

3. People smoke a ton here. Bars have smoking sections inside, and they are always overflowing with Danes. Example of how much Danes like to smoke: There is a free concert going on around the corner from me, and 2/6 bandmembers were smoking while playing/singing. I wish I had my camera - it was definitely a sight to see! Their music was pretty awesome too.

4. I have no sense of direction. Okay, so this isn't a cultural thing, but I thought it was funny. I have gotten lost so many times I can't even count. From walking the complete wrong way from the train station to my apartment to walking by the kommune (where I got my CPR card which is equivalent to a social security card + medical benefits + library access) about 12x, I am totally inept at sensing my way home. However, this has made me really really good at asking for help.

No pictures today, but I promise some soon! I just need to stop forgetting my camera...

Liver Paste and Lots of Beer

This week has been totally insane. Orientation was extremely busy (and, kind of badly planned in my opinion), and I'm still adjusting to the time difference I think. Since there are about 700 people on my program, we were split into blue and green groups - I was green. This meant I got to sleep in and go to the Welcome Ceremony at 11am instead of 9am. (I was very greatful for this). During the ceremony, we were given tickets with different words on them, and afterwards, we were told to find our groups using the word-tickets. We then got 50 kroner each (about $10) and went on a scavenger hunt to find important academic places... my group decided to go to a pub and hang out and get to know each other instead! It was really cool to get to know new people, and I actually ended up meeting someone who has a friend at Mac. We get along super well and have been hanging out a lot this week (she's also in one of my classes).

Tuesday we were put into specific orientation groups and met with a DIS professor. We then went on another scavenger hunt in groups of 6, but this time around the city. We saw some beautiful landmarks, and ended up being lucky enough to see the grand changing of the guards at the Queen's Castle. It was really cool! Unfortunately, I forgot my camera so I couldn't take any pictures. We then had to go to a grocery store and pick up a list of items to bring back to our classroom (with money provided by DIS). We all reconvened and had a nice lunch of sandwiches and nutella. There was also liver paste, but I absolutely refused to try that... ew. That afternoon I met with my core course and had a broad introduction to academic policy/info about my study tour, and later that evening I went to a session about my visiting family.

Wednesday, my roommate and I were basically the only ones from my building of 27 to attend the 3-hour long information session... and yes, it lasted all 3 hours. The information was quite helpful, but they could have shortened it to an hour and a half... everyone looked exhausted, and I really wanted to go back to bed. I'm happy I went though, because I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who knows how to fill out my insurance form.

We started classes on Thursday - I had 2 classes on Thursday and 2 on Friday. My core course, Medical Practice and Policy, meets at an area hospital thats a 25 minute busride away.  We're taught by local doctors and learn some basic skills (CPR, suturing, etc). I'm pretty excited about it even though I don't want to go into medicine anymore. I have a long gap between my 2 classes, so I walked around a bit and took some pictures of my neighborhood (posted below!). I'm really excited about my History of European Ballet class - we get to see 4 Royal Danish Ballet shows! It's going to be so awesome.

Every night, my friends and housemates and I have been going out to different bars - drinking is rather exhausting and extremely expensive. Tuesday night and Thursday night were probably my favorites: Tuesday I went to a Danish bar called the Happy Pig. I ended up talking to a ton of Danes, and it was one of the cheaper bars I've been to (only about 4$ for a beer rather than 8$). Thursday, we went to the Kulor Bar. You pay 60 kroner (about 10 or 11 dollars) to get in and get a mug. From 10-1, you get all the beer you can drink, and they have a really awesome dance floor with amazing music. My roommate and our other friend (who oddly enough lives down the street and goes to St. Thomas - we bond over the TCs all the time!) left at about 3AM. Probably not the smartest idea when we had class the next day, but I definitely don't regret it!

Last night, DIS had a Welcome Party at a club that's literally around the corner from my door - we got free admission, free coatcheck, and all the beer or wine we could drink from 8PM-11PM. I met up with the other Mac people and we headed over together since we hadn't all seen each other yet. I had the time of my life dancing and talking (well, yelling because it was so loud) to other people.

I've been having a good time, but it's definitely been an adjustment. The social scene here is strikingly different than that at Mac - I feel like I'm at a frat party 24/7, and one that I don't know a soul at. While I've met a lot of really cool people, I haven't really made a strong connection with more than 1 or 2, and I'm getting a little bummed out. However, I keep telling myself that I'm obviously not going to a have a best friend after being here 6 days, and that's seemed to work thus far. It's just very hard to be so different (at least on the surface) from almost everyone around you. Don't let this make you think I'm not having a good time - I'm really loving it here and know that it will get easier as time goes on! :)

Tomorrow I'm meeting my visiting family and I couldn't be more excited to have a family away from home. More updates later - now for a few pictures of my neighborhood!

the square near my apartment

"the walking street"

Mac Kids in DK!

No Tears, No Fears... well, sorta

First of all, Copenhagen is awesome! Granted, I've barely seen anything, but I'm digging it so far. Second of all, I am exhausted. However, I'm really happy to be here, and also excited that my orientation doesn't start until 11AM tomorrow.

Going through security was really sad, and before I left JJ and my Dad, JJ said "no tears, no fears" - what he said when he studied abroad. While I didn't actually cry, I definitely teared up, and it got worse when I arrived at my gate: my flight was at leats 60% (if not more) DIS students, but they all seemed to know at least one other person, and I felt really alone and scared. However, I met some nice girls who also didn't know anyone, and we bonded over the fact that we were loners (haha).

The flight was long, but I was sandwiched between two boys from my program and we chatted, slept, and ate. After grabbing my luggage from a crowd surrounding the conveyorbelt that reminded me of lions feeding for the first time in weeks, I hopped on a bus that would take other students and myself to our respective housing options.

I arrived in my shared housing unit (basically like a dorm) called Skindergade 40 (pronounced skin-eh-gal) around 9AM, registered, and started unpacking. My roommate arrived a few minutes after me. Her name is Kait and she's from New Jersey but goes to Middlebury. She seems really sweet, and I'm excited to live with her! On my floor, there are 4 bedrooms: 3 doubles and 1 single. I share  a bathroom with my roommate and 2 other girls, and the 3 boys share a bathroom on the other side. We also have a common area and a kitchen that we all use.  Kait and I, along with one of our "RAs" and some of our housemates, went to a local bakery and grabbed some breakfast. I got a tebolle - basically a roll - with chocolate chips in it - yum!  After unpacking for what seemed like decades, I napped from about 1:15 til 3:45 and then walked around some more.

Tonight we have a house pizza party, and then tomorrow starts a busy and intense orientation to the program and the city. I'll update later in the week with pictures of my room and everything!