It's a Bird, It's a plane, It's.... Lis attempting to Rock Climb?!

I had an amazing adventure today attempting to rock climb on the cliffs of the Baltic Sea in Sweden.  First let me say it's not as easy as it looks... and it doesn't even look easy. 

I couldn't have asked for a better day to explore the world of rock climbing: the weather was gorgeous, the area was beautiful, and there is no better way to procrastinate on writing final papers!

This was taken right from where we were rock climbing - as we climbed we had an amazing view of the Baltic sea stretching towards Sweden... unfortunately, our faces were usually full of rock at the time. 

It was at this point in my endeavor to successfully climb the 3rd level course that my foot got stuck in a crevice. It was in my attempt to free myself from the captive wall that people attempted to motivate me but saying there was a child who needed my help at the top, or a puppy, or ice cream.  At this point I had already lost my mind and screamed such things as "I hate kids, but I like puppies!" and "I really want an ice cream sundae!"

Eventually I found a way to free
myself from the crevice and continue
on my climb to the top. VICTORY!

Despite my temporary insanity whilst climbing that 3rd rock face - I decided to attempt the most difficult one (at a beginner level obviously)... it is here, my journey truly began... as I started to rock swing instead of rock climb (due to my several failed attempts to initially get up) However, I managed to find a nice resting place about half way up... after I shimmied my way into a little whole. It was there I regained the sanity and strength necessary to make it to the top!

The easy part... the only easy part. And by easy I mean it only took me 3 attempts to reach that point (it was before here that I fell off and started swinging from the cliff, which was actually surprisingly fun)

Shimmying my way over - I needed to get to the jagged part on the right of me because there are no grips for your left hand on this rock face... so it was an interesting balancing act.

Once I had slid over to the right, I was stuck in this position for about 10 minutes as I debated how I could possibly move any farther. I asked my belay to let me back down, but he kindly refused. So I continued to simply hangout at this point contemplating my next move... and what did I decide?!

I scurried my way into a little chair of sorts - as I decided to rest half way up the rock face. Sadly, at this point my camera died and I need to wait for someone to load the pictures of me successfully defeating this cliff.  But don't fret, after I napped here for a little I managed to pull myself into a standing position and continue to conquer the cliff.  After that all I needed was a little dip in the Baltic Sea to call it a day... and by little dip I mean the Sea was so cold it sufficed as an ice bath for my aching muscles. 




Now I can officially cross Rock Climbing off of my to-do list!

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words - any luckily for you, that means you don't need to read as much!

While I'm too lazy to go back through my blogs and add pictures to them like I said I would, here are some of the highlights of the past month!

The stunningly beautiful Nyhavn - We couldn't have asked for a prettier day - however, the entire canal street was jam packed with people. Pesky tourists!

Copenhagen, Denmark 

--> The Little Mermaid: I'm still not sure why this is so famous, but I finally made it there to see it :)

Copenhagen, Denmark

Michael getting really into his picture taking - yeah, we had to put up with this all week. 

Museum Island - Berlin, Germany

Berliner Dom - Berlin, Germany

Absolutely beautiful! The building, not the weather...

Old Town - Prague, Czech Republic

They were having a Easter Celebration at the time, so the whole place reminded me of a renaissance fair. 

Prague Castle - Prague, Czech Republic

While the Castle is beautiful, the real beauty is the Cathedral inside... also note, my parents and I climbed to the top of the tower in the center... well I climbed it, they practically sprinted up it! Such good role models

Trafalgar Square - London, England

The square was pretty empty when I was there, but don't fret the did have the Olympic countdown going!

Westminster - London, England

Much prettier than I thought it would be. The entire area (the abbey, Big Ben, Parliament) was gorgeous!
Also, Big Ben is the name of the bell, not the actual tower.

Windsor Castle - England

I thought this place was much cooler than Buckingham Palace - and there were a lot more funny looking guards here!

Stonehenge - England

I think y'all already know the explanation for this one

A bunch of rocks

The Times... They are a changing

What a difference a few weeks can make.  Copenhagen has decided to skip the Spring season and rocket straight from Winter to Summer... and I don't hate ittttt! Record heat is taking over Denmark, and by that I still only mean mid 60's, but hey I'll take it. The fountains are no longer frozen or empty, people are actually outside, and with that the days of wearing 4 layers are over.  Besides the new abundance of people who are roaming around Copenhagen (including a lot more tourists), the most noticeable difference is the change in fashion.  While Danes have always had good fashion sense, at least in my opinion, their winter wardrobe was full of black, gray, and little else.   All of a sudden the weather changes and out comes the electric yellows, hot pinks, and highlighter oranges, it's great!

With the semester wrapping up it means it's time for the work to being.  I'm a week of classes, 2 simulation projects, 2 finals, and 3 papers away from being done DIS (and going to ROME)! And since the weather is nice in Denmark for the 1st time, I decided it's time for me to do something else for the 1st time... work ahead on my papers.  Andrew is coming to visit before my last two papers are due, which means he either gets to spend his time in Denmark watching me write papers, or I need to get them done early.  So with that it's time for me to depart and get back to writing my first paper (10 days ahead of time!).

2 Weeks, 5 Countries, 0 Regrets

So my last day in London was not exactly what I had planned.  I spent a good part of the morning trying to find the free walk-in clinic so I could go see a doctor. Apparently, the free doesn't apply to tourists though.  So a few hours, and $80 later, I walked out of the clinic with not much help, but at least the name of the medicine I needed.  I still managed to go to two museums later in the day though, so not all was lost. 

The next day I woke up bright and early and got ready to depart London for Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Bath. I was taking a bus tour and I knew it would be great when I saw my tour guide.  He was in a full on beige suit, with a matching bow tie, as well as a dress hat of course.  As we started our tour I realized something was already going awry.  I had checked with the tour company to make sure that the last stop on the tour was Bath, because that is where I was planning on spending the night (while the rest of the bus was going back to London) but when the tour began our guide announced that we would be stopping at Bath before Stonehenge.  However, luckily for me, I managed to convince him that was a stupid idea, and that we should definitely go to Stonehenge before Bath.  Windsor Castle was awesome, and I got to step on the graves of a bunch of British Kings. ( I don't know what the big fuss is about Buckingham Palace...I was not impressed, especially compared to Windsor).

Thanks to my protest to stop at Stonehenge second, we next made our way there.  There are many different theories about the significance of Stonehenge, and it's purpose back when it was built.  The one that makes most sense to me is that they used it as a calander.  The summer and winter solstice both match up perfectly with the rocks, and as the months change so does the area of Stonehenge where the light enters.  However I also have an alternative theory... Perhaps, it was simply an arts and crafts project... hell, what teacher wouldn't give some students extra credit for that?!

Lastly we went to Bath.  The Roman Baths weren't that impressive, but the street magic show that happened outside of the Baths was awesome! Also, the city of Bath is just absolutely breathtaking.  It has a city feel in a country environment, which I really liked.  I met up with my friend there and spent that night at her house. We enjoyed a night out in Bath, which is nothing like Copenhagen, or Berlin... or Prague.. In Bath everything shuts down around 11 or 12 if you're lucky....

Fun Fact I forgot to mention: After going to the Doctor on the 18th it became increasingly difficult for me to eat.  So from that point on until about today I was living on what is essentially the college kid diet... Frappacinos and Soup.  YUM

From Bath I left and went to Glasgow, Scotland to visit another friend who goes to Uni out there.  This part of the trip was a nice way to end for me because it was more relaxing and less constant moving about.  We went to a park, the museum of Modern Art (which is creatively named GOMA...get it... like MOMA in the States...), and also the Cinema.  At the Cinema I saw the best 4th sequel ever created, Fast and Furious 5, though besides for Scream 5 which just came out, I don't know how many other movies have had 5 versions. 

Now unfortunately I must go back to reality... the sad reality that I have 2 finals, a project, 3 papers, and a SIM game to get ready for in the next few weeks. Oh joy! At least I have Rome to look forward to! 

Berlin - Prague - London: Leg 2 of Spring Break

I haven't posted in a while, mainly out of pure exhaustion... the second I get back to my room I usually pass out for nap time. I suppose it's one of the hazards of walking upwards of 6 hours everyday.  So, due to my prolonged absence a lot has happened since I last spoke to you all.
Berlin
- Our second day in Berlin the weather was still unpleasant and we ended up spending a lot of time in various museums. The first museum that we visited was the Memorial to the Murdered Jews, we had visited the monument before, but the Museum underneath it was absolutely worth the revisit.  It really put a personal touch on what had happened. Then we went to the Topography of Terror which documented the rise of the SS and Gestapo. So overall it was a seeming sad day topic wise.

Prague
-The train ride to Prague was beautiful as we were expecting, however the train itself was less than we expected. It wasn't as nice nor was it as fast as we had previously thought. However Prague was exactly what we were expecting. A magnificently beautiful place with gorgeous architecture and cheap prices! The beer is literally cheaper than water in some places. We went to Old Town, Joseftov, and also the Castle District.  The cathedral within the Palace was magnificent, and the climb up 287 steps of the bell tower to get a view of all of Prague was breathtaking.  There was also an amazing view of Prague from the Monastery that we visited.  The food was very similar to the German food, the only problem was the occasional 3 hour meal due to slow service.

London
-I got to London late last night, and meandered from Luton Airport to my hotel in Swiss Cottage.  The hostel experience will certainly be an interesting one.  Half of my room was getting ready for bed when I arrive at 10 and the other half was getting ready to go out.  I think people were moving around in the room until about 3 am, and then other people started waking up at 8.  Today I took a hop on hop off bus tour around London.  Yet with my luck, today was also the day of the London Marathon which passed through sites such as Buckingham Palace, Westminister, and the Tower of London, so getting to those sites proved to be quite the struggle. However, I carried on and made it to most of the sites I wanted too.  Luckily, because of the altered schedule my ticket is also good for tomorrow, so I plan on taking advantage of the Museum Line of the tour and going to the National Gallery by Trafalgar square as well as the British Museum. What I found interesting about the tour buses is that it seemed that I was the only person really taking advantage of the hop on hop off aspect. I was the only person to leave the bus at the Palace, and one of two people to leave the bus in Westminster to see the Abbey, Parliament, and Big Ben.  Hello people.... what exactly are you doing paying a fortune when you aren't actually going to see the sites?  (Due to the bus detours we usually had to get off the bus and walk to the attractions, so you couldn't actually see the main sites from the bus)

Some unanswered questions: Is London Bridge actually famous for any reason? Because it seemed uninspiring to me, yet the Tower Bridge was pretty.  Why are people willing to wait in line for hours to see wax people?

Also, after seeing old men and fat people running in the London Marathon I realized I really have no excuse not too.  I was quite impressed with their perseverance, yet I know for me a 5k is pushing it.   
That's all for now.  

Copenhagen to Berlin: Leg 1 of Spring Break

I'm currently cozied up in a Starbucks in Berlin whilst my parents are both napping back in the Hotel room.  We've done quite a bit in the past few days and still have quite a lot to accomplish in the next few.  My parents finally got to see Copenhagen...well a version of Copenhagen.  Over the past 2 1/2 months they have listened to me talk about the cold temperatures and the fact that the sun never shines in Copenhagen.  Yet, while they were in the city there wasn't a single cloud, and it was a beautiful 63 degrees.  I think they are starting to doubt my version of Copenhagen life. 
I took them to all the necessary sites, and we also went to a bunch of the places I hadn't seen yet.  We took a tour of Carlsberg Brewery (mainly for the two beers they give you at the end of the tour). We navigated our way to the Little Mermaid, and after making a wrong turn, eventually found our way there.  And we went to Freetown Christiania, a little part of Copenhagen that doesn't acknowledge that they are in fact part of Denmark.  The main street, pusher street, is know for openly selling pot and hash.  Though we didn't have any typical Danish cuisine, unless you count the hotdog stands that we went to for lunch...twice, we did enjoy a great Italian restaurant as well as a Sushi place.  

The flight to Berlin was amazingly short.  I only got through two articles in Vanity Fair before we were told to prepare for landing.  Out luggage was out on the belt 10 minutes after we landed... and 2 minutes after that, after no security check or any other bureaucratic process we were waiting in line to by our bus tickets.  Yesterday we meandered through Berlin based on nothing but pure instinct... and what our guide book said... and ended up seeing Hackescher Markt (which is conveniently right behind our hotel) as well as Museum Island which has a beautiful Cathedral as well as 4 museums.  For dinner we walked to an area that is known for their authentic German food, and then we quickly realized that we would be much happier with not quite as authentic German food, i.e., no pickled Pork knuckle for me...
Today we embarked on a 4 hour walking tour of Berlin.  The weather was less than accommodating, but we made the most of it with only a few complaints.  The tour took us to Checkpoint Charlie, we stood over where Hitler's bunker once was, we saw the largest part of the Berlin wall that remains, as well as many other mandatory sites in Berlin.  Oh, and our tour guide looked like Matt Damon.

It has already been quite the adventure, but there is much more to come, which means that more blogs will be appearing when I can find reliable internet access.  And don't you fret, I'll add pictures to this blog once I get the pictures on my computer!

How Time Changes Things

It's amazing how a few months can completely alter the way you look at something.  Over two months ago when I first made the walk to DIS I was absolutely amazed by every sight I saw.  And to be fair to me, on the short walk from the train station to DIS there is a lot to see.  However, the other day I started to realized how in the span of these two and a half months some of these sights that once amazed me have become common place in my mind.  As I leave the station I am standing right across from the gates of Tivoli, one of Copenhagen's more well known areas.  As I continue my journey, a few blocks later is city hall.  A magnificently gorgeous building, but one that I have almost stopped noticing.  Keep going and you're standing right outside of Politiken... the source of all the drama about the cartoons that published the images of Mohammad.  All these amazing sights that I know just zoom past on my way to class.  That is one of the reasons I'm so happy to have my parents here in a few hours... It'll will remind me not to take this beautiful city I live in for granted anymore, and I will remember how amazed I first was when I saw everything...and once again my camera will emerge from where it's been quietly sitting. 

My newest adventure I just beginning.  17 days exploring Europe! Copenhagen, Berlin, Prague, London, Bath and Glasgow.  I'll try to update things when I can, but be ready for some longs posts and lots of pictures in the future!

Nothing too exciting... but hey at least I'm in Denmark

This week has been a typical week of school work.  The usual academic tests, papers, and last and most certainly least, group projects -- the epitome of academic hell.  However, I get by with a little help from my friends... well, by that I mean listening to songs by Christina Perri and Adele on repeat...and watching Veronica Mars.... again.  (I just wanted to quote the Beatles)
Now, one might ask... how does listening to music and watching tv help with your academic work? In reality it doesn't... but it makes me happy enough to tolerate writing papers, working on group projects, and studying for tests.  It's the balance in life that is essential folks. 

Besides the academic going-ons I have begun to plan where I will be dragging my parents once they arrive in Copenhagen... IN 9 DAYS :) I'm looking forward to seeing them, and also eating real food. On the agenda is the Carlsberg Brewery, the infamous Pusher Street in Christiania (known for the nonchalant drug dealers illegally selling right out in the open), as well as a plethora of Castles and mandatory historical landmarks. 

Lastly, I've discovered how truly amazing google is this week.  Googledocs is essential for when you are forced to do group projects.. and google even has their own international phone that allows me to call any number in the US through my computer for FREE. YAY.  It's fair to say that since discovering that I've used calling my parents as a new and creative form of procrastination. Ellen DeGeneres would be proud.  

Hopefully I'll have more entertaining stories for you in the near future. 

Yaks...they aren't Imaginary

There is nothing better than feeling like a little kid again.  And that is exactly what I felt like for part of this week.  Besides having to deal with a lot of grown up things, like booking traveling plans, checking bank accounts, picking senior year classes, figuring out housing for my summer internship...., on Tuesday and Wednesday I felt like I was a little kid exploring the world again. 

On Tuesday I took a bike ride through the farm area around my Kollegium.  I saw goats, sheep, yaks (they really exist!?), and horses.  We had carrots with us, so we went up to the goats and horses and fed them.  It was just like being at a petting zoo, except it was practically in my backyard... so even better!

On Wednesday, I had two field trips. It reminded me of my Elementary School days... except with a little more substance behind them.  The first one was to Berlingske Media, which is the largest media house in Denmark.  The office building was really cool.  It was such an open environment, and seemed really laid back but still efficient.  After that I sat outside on one of the statues outside of Parliament and ate lunch enjoying the lovely weather.  My second field trip was to Parliament, where we had the youngest MP give us a tour of the place and talk to us about the role of the European Action Committee. 

However, besides feeling like a little kid for a few days, by far the best part of this week has been the weather. We have been close to 60 degrees here for the last 3 days.  Denmark is a completely different place when it's nice and sunny out.  People start to sit out on the park benches or statues, all the cafes and restaurants have outdoor seating. Now I have a three day weekend.  Unfortunately it is going to be filled mostly with reading, writing, and studying, but most importantly SLEEP!

The Only Time You Will See American College Students Excited about Soccer.... I mean Fodbold

Yesterday I embarked on an epic adventure.  About half of DIS as well as myself decided that it is seemingly impossible to get a real feel for Danish culture without going to a soccer game.  So off we went to see F.C. Kobenhavn vs. Brondby.  It was quite exciting because it is the fiercest rivalry in the Danish Soccer league. After giving up the first goal to Brondby, FCK came back in full force after halftime to win the game 3-1, with an amazing last second goal!   To add a little more excitement, the Brondby fans were protesting at the game and many of them boycotted due to new rules requiring them to get fingerprinted when entering the game. 

--- inserting my own tangent here: why is it that when I need to get fingerprinted for a Summer internship with the USAO that it is nearly impossible to get my fingerprints taken, but when there are disputes at soccer games, all of a sudden 1,500 people who don't even want their fingerprints taken have the opportunity.  Not only is this occurring at the game, but also at A Bar the other night.  Security, had electronic fingerprint scanners to ensure that they didn't let anyone in who had been kicked out in the last 3 months.  INSANITY I TELL YOU! 

---now back to scheduled programming: So, the game.  Apparently the last time Brondby came to Parken Stadium in CPH, they lit off flares inside the stadium and some of the stadium seats caught fire.  Hence the reason they were increasing security.  Anyways, FCK won! YAYYYY

Also, if you note the title of this post you will see one of the many peculiarities of the Danish language.  Soccer = futbol in most of Europe, but in Danish it is Fodbold... this is because the letter 'd' sounds nothing lie our version.  Example: Vestergade is the street DIS is on, but it is pronounced Vestergall.. others

Y's sounds like U's - Valby = Valboo

E's are often A's : Roskilde = Roskilla 

and some you just don't know why : Stroget = Strull

Hope you all enjoyed your Danish lesson!

Procrastination.... It is in fact universal, I'm living Proof

For those of you who don't know, I'm a huge Ellen DeGeneres fan.  In her "Here and Now" stand up routine she talks about procrastination... it becomes one huge joke throughout the whole set, but by far the best line was her closing line -

"Procrastination isn’t the problem, it’s the solution. So procrastinate now, don’t put it off."

Ellen Degeneres: Here and Now
the clip gets good around 2 minutes, and the procrastination part starts at 4 minutes...
watch it, you'll enjoy it... i promise

Seeing as Ellen is always right in my opinion, I've decided to take her advice, and that is why I am now blogging instead of starting my paper that is due tomorrow. 

First of all, I need to make a shout out to those who helped me with my security clearance woes -- without your secret communication channel I would have never been successful in getting my fingerprints taken this week.  It was quite the experience.  Security at the Embassy is very peculiar, and they made me drink from my water bottle in order to prove that I wasn't smuggling poison into the embassy.  When I was finally in, the lady at the booth looked at me like I was crazy for trying to get my finger prints taken.  I explained to some mean man that I needed them for an internship at the USAO.  He asked me if they told me specifically to go to the US Embassy. I replied that they weren't very helpful in giving me instructions... And he just scoffed and said "typical, no surprise there".  I then informed him I was under them impression that there was a finger print kit there, and he got very suspicious and asked me how I knew that... Finally I had to ask for a secret source I was given because they mean man was of no use.  I should have told him that it shouldn't be "typical" for the embassy staff to be so rude and useless.  However, I was eventually saved and successfully got my fingerprints taken and ink all over me. 

Today I went on a field study to the Cold War Museum in Denmark.  Now my first thought was, "really, the Danes were so involved in the Cold War that they even have a museum about it?" But upon further reflection it made sense seeing as they are part of NATO.  The museum wasn't really a museum, it was in fact a 2 room building... with a lot of missiles and guns nearby.  The really cool part was the underground fortress.  IT WAS HUGE.  There were in fact 2 fortresses with series of tunnels stretching over 2 km connecting them.  Also, it was right on the water, so when we opened one of the doors to the bunker we were actually hanging out on the side of a cliff! We played around with the guns pushing buttons that said fire and destroy... typical activities for kids who are about 10 years old.. not 20, but needless to say we were entertained.

I suppose I should get back to my paper, and by get back to my paper I really mean start writing my paper.  Procrastination can't last forever... or can it?  Ellen, do you have any answers to this?

Beer, Waffles, and Chocolate - At DIS they call this Class!

I'm sure you all have been eagerly awaiting my newest blog post due to my short hiatus.

It's hard to describe the week I've just had.  A week of non-stop moving, exploring, eating, drinking, and well... I suppose I could add learning.

On Sunday my class and I departed for Brussels.  By that I mean, everyone who made the flight.  Three students missed the flight and had to get there on their own. The plane was practically empty and I had an entire row to myself to lay down and sleep.  We landed and went to lunch in the square called Grand Place.  One of the most beautiful places I have ever seen! (Pictures below) Then I embarked on a 3 hour walking tour of the Art Nouveau in Brussels... though I'm still not quite sure what it is.  After that we had time on our own, and basically the entire class ended up at Delirium (a bar) for the night.  The bar was three floors and had over 200 different choices for beer.  We returned there again each and every night for the... lovely atmosphere.... the intellectual conversations... but mostly just for the delicious beer.  I highly suggest Barbar Beer... which is a unique Belgian beer, and one of my new favorites!

  

The next two days were packed with activities that enabled us to explore many aspects of the EU and other related organizations.  We went to NATO headquarters in Brussels, the Danish Representation to the EU, we visited the EU Commission, the EU Parliament (picture below) and interviewed both a permanent representative for the Netherlands as well as a lobbyist for the City of Malmo. The interviews were especially interesting because we gained personal insight into the functioning of the EU.  I also have to mention some great quotes from the guy we spoke to at NATO
- It's like on facebook, the best way to describe EU/NATO relations is simply... it's complicated
-Brazil: They are a peaceful unaligned country that just sells guns to everybody.
-We made a tiny little mistake and bombed the Chinese Embassy... oops.  But we now have googlemaps to clear that stuff up.  Unfortunately, googlemaps also can tell you where we hide our nuclear weapons....

Above is the EU Parliament plenary meeting room... and to the left are the flags outside the EU Commission.  In between our visits we had time to walk around on our own, and I got to see the Royal Palace in Brussels, the Arc of Independence, and a lot of other amazing sights. (Pictures are on my facebook page)

While the learning was a key part of the trip, understanding the culture was equally important! That's why we went to Planete Chocolate and learned how to make our own pralines.  We dined at restaurants that served mussels in Brussels, and Belgian waffles.  And we also made sure to have a beer tasting at a La Trappe, a Trappist beer Monastery....as well as our own tasting at Delirium.  

Here you can see Kathy and I making Pralines... the sign outside the Monastery, and our first of the six beers we tasted. 

We left Brussels and headed to The Hague where we went to the Danish Embassy and also the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia where we saw the Karadzic hearing.  After our short stay in The Hague we departed for an afternoon in Amsterdam.  We had a fantastic lunch, (our professor bought everyone a round of beer because he just became a grandfather) followed by a canal tour through Amsterdam and a quick trip to the Red Light District. 

Overall I had an amazing time! I only wish the trip was longer!

Travel Time!

Not only am I going to embark on my long study tour tomorrow, but I am almost completely done booking stuff for my spring break adventure through Europe! In the next month and a half I will be meandering through Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Czech Republic, London, and Scotland!

Tomorrow at the crack of dawn I'm heading to Brussels.  Some highlights of my time there will include Chocolate, Trappist Beer, and Mussels.  Enjoying the food is essential in understanding the culture... well my professor certainly thinks so.  Don't you fret though, there will be plenty of educational things occurring as well.  We are visiting the US Mission to NATO, the EU Commission, the European Parliament, interviewing Nation's representatives, the Hague, and The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. It will definitely be a busy week!

But now for the exciting part... I've decided on my Spring break plans! I will be going from Copenhagen to Berlin, to Prague, to London, to Bath, and finally to Glasgow, Scotland.  I will be enjoying the first week with my parents (yay!) and the second week with my friends in Bath and Glasgow.  I've booked everything except my flight back to Copenhagen... so worst case scenario, I just don't come back to school!

It's definitely going to be a busy/fun/amazing next 2 months

Various forms of Entertainment

Most of you know that there is nothing I like more than doing nothing.  That's right... sitting on my butt all day watching tv, sounds like paradise to me.  So it should come as no surprise that I've been feeling quite deprived here in Denmark because I can't access Hulu, Netflix, Pandora and other forms of online American entertainment.  But, fear no more.  I have figured out a solution! Freshman year I had to download something called VPN so I could access my Library's database even when I wasn't on campus.  It re-routes something and deceives your computer into thinking you're still back at F&M.  Luckily it works her in Denmark as well! So now on top of having my Slingbox, I can also watch shows online! YAY

Since I now have endless ways to amuse myself I thought it would only be fair if I provided you with some lovely entertainment as well.  In my Virtual Worlds class this week we had to create a Digital Story.  So my group hit the streets of Copenhagen (as well as the halls of DIS) to put together a guide for surviving in Denmark.  (However the title got messed up and shows up as Lalalala title.... Surviving in Denmark?) Oops.  Anyways here's a link to our video, it you watch it all the way to the end (don't worry it's only 2 minutes) I promise you'll get a kick out of my facial expression.

A Guide to Surviving In Denmark - Digital Story

Tomorrow I get my Itinerary for my trip to Belgium and The Netherlands! I'm sooo excited! I'll be sure to update you guys on what I will be doing. 

Once in a Blue Sky

Yes, once again I'm aware that that is not how the actual expression goes, yet it seems to make much more sense, and holds the same meaning here in Denmark.  You see, a blue sky in the middle of winter, is a very rare thing which is why today was a lovely day despite the 25 degree weather. 

This week was pretty much consumed completely by school work, gray skies, and windy days.  The temperature itself isn't so bad... but it's the wind that can really make or break it.  And yet again, my attempts to get anywhere on time were foiled by the faulty regional train system. 

But don't worry, the week got better from there.
Last night we went out to the LA bar and had a good time.  It's very interesting to see what American music makes it big here.  Like us, they enjoy the occasional throw back song, which must explain why everyone went crazy when they played "It's my life" by Bon Jovi. 
Today I woke up to a beautiful blue sky! Not only that, but I could actually see the sun, which is even rarer than seeing anything blue in the sky.  My friends and I took it as an omen that we needed to do something different today, so we went to SWEDEN!!!
Fun Fact: From Kobenhavn K (central station) to Malmo (sweden) it takes 25 minutes.
From Kobenhavn K to Trekroner (my station) it takes 30 minutes. That's right folks, it's quicker to go to Sweden than to my home
....
Fun Fact 2: Kobenhavn K --> Malmo = $28 round trip. 
Kobenhavn  K --> Trekroner = $36 round trip... makes no sense!

We experienced Sweden through the food and the shops... sadly the chocolate factory closed before we got there :(

Picture of us in the streets of Sweden... with cool fake musician statues

Lastly, I finally got my CPR card today.. which means I'm officially part of the Danish Healthcare System. YAY free health care. 

...And That's Why No One Jaywalks in Copenhagen

Yesterday I did the unthinkable, I acted like a tourist.  I had the day off to do as I pleased, and just this once... I wanted to act like a tourist.  After sufficiently sleeping in I finally looked out my window, and much to my surprise it looked like it was a beautiful day.  The weather was lovely and the sky way blue, so I made my way to the train station.  A train and metro ride later I was back in the King's New Square, but this time I wasn't on a silly scavenger hunt.  I meandered over to Nyhavn Street.  For those of you who have no clue what I'm talking about... just think about all the pretty multi-colored houses on the canal you've seen in pictures of Copenhagen...that's Nyhavn.  After I took enough pictures to prove that I was in fact a tourist, I made my way to Stroget, the longest pedestrian shopping street in Europe, and found a store to go shopping in.  I bought some jeans, a sweater, a skirt, and head band all for around $55 dollars... not bad!

Today was back to school and back to the dreary weather and rain.  Besides the usual monotonous class schedule one thing caught my attention today.  As I was making my way to Norreport station to head home I noticed that there were people jaywalking.  At first I thought they must be tourists, no Dane in their right mind would jaywalk. But then I realized they were in fact rebellious Danes trying to catch their train home. This realization came just before a bicyclist plowed right into one of the culprits. And now you know, that's why no one jaywalks in Copenhagen.  There is much to great a risk of being plowed over by one of the thousands of crazy bicyclists flying by. 

At least I made it to class...

You know the expression "when it rains, it pours"?  Well, in Denmark it should be changed to "when it's windy, all hell breaks loose."
As I was doing homework in my room last night all of a sudden my window flew open.  As I tried to force it shut, I realized that my lock was broken, and had to Macgyver it closed.  I didn't even need to look out my window to understand how windy it was, I could hear it howling and needed to use headphones to drown out the sound as I fell asleep. 
Little did I know that the wind would have a severe impact on getting into Copenhagen today.  As I sat at the train station this morning I found it odd that the departure board was empty.  I continued to sit at the station as all the trains just flew on by without stopping.  Eventually one finally came and it took me over an hour and a half to get into the city this morning.  Getting home was just as complicated.  I had to change trains twice and wait for quite some time.  Apparently the wind had blown a roof onto one of the tracks and also knocked out some of the towers that communicate signals.  Yeah, it was that strong.  At least I was only a few minutes late to class, which is better than most people who missed their first or first and second classes. 

Besides from my challenging commutes I thought I would give you all some insight into the cultural differences here in Denmark.

Eating: While eating Danes hold their fork and knife in their hands at all times... even if the meal doesn't require a knife at all, it remains in their hand.  They even cut up their hamburgers.

Walking: No one jaywalks... I mean no one.  One of the roads on the way to school is closed, and still then... no one will walk on red.  It gets rather annoying. 

Talking: Danes tend to be quite reserved and very quiet.  You don't need to know someone to tell if they are American.  They give it away automatically because as soon as they open their mouth, it seems as if they are yelling compared to all the Danes talking.. that is, if any Danes are talking at all. 

Doors: The doors here are nearly impossible to figure out.  When it seems like you should push, I pull... and when I'm sure I need to pull, it's in face a push door.  Not only that, but it's harder to get out through a door than in.  Most doors have a complex system of locking.  In order to get out you need to push a button while simultaneously turning the knob, which is very complicated when you have something/anything in your hands.    Sometimes there are multiple buttons, and you have no clue which one to push, and the danish words don't help. 

Bridges, Battlefields, Buildings, & Bars

So much has happened since I last posted -- but to give you just a brief highlight before I go into detail of some of the more comical and interesting parts -- I've gone to the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Store Baelt Bridge, Dybbol Battlefield, a little town called Haderslev in Southern Denmark, Schleswig- Holstein Parliament in Kiel (Germany!), Nieddereger Marzipan Shop (in Lubeck, Germany), and Schiffergesellschaft (the most amazingggg restaurant!)

On Thursday I departed for my short study tour to Southern Denmark and Northern Germany.  In the beginning it seemed like it might be a quiet group seeing as everyone immediately passed out on the bus, but after our first stop at the Store Baelt Bridge the fun began!

*Fun fact 1: The island in the middle of store baelt bridge used to house "fallen women" as Jacob, our professor called them. 

We returned to the bus after lunch and got ready to embark on yet another journey.  However, we no longer wanted to sleep, and what's a better way to bond than over a deck of cards!? Never will you see so many people condensed into such a small area on a large bus.
As we played cards we made our way to the Dybbol Battlefield where we learned all about the year 1864.  After that we hit the road again to go to Haderslev where we spent the night.  After a delicious dinner we found a lovely bar that had happy hour and we settled down there for the rest of the night.
*Fun Fact 2: There is a dice game you can play at pubs in Denmark called Snooks... if you lose 2 rounds in a row you have to buy a round of beer for everyone who is playing. 
Friday we woke up and departed for Germany.  Our first stop was the Parliament building in Kiel where we spoke to some of the members of parliament.
*Fun fact 3: The elevators in the parliament building are amazing! They don't have doors at all, and they never stop moving... they function on a continuous loop, so you need to hop on and off quickly before they pass your level.

We departed Kiel and drove to Lubeck where we went to one of the oldest Marzipan shops.
The ice skating rink was flooded, so we ended up at the irish pub across the street from our hostel at around 9pm.  We stayed there until last call.  Drinking in Germany is significantly cheaper than drinking in Denmark, so of course we had to take advantage.  While there, Jacob regaled us with tales of his time in Government... most of which had to do with  drinking.
The next morning at breakfast we realized that we were missing a student, he was no where to be found, and the last someone had seen him was at 5 am while he was still out drinking.  We left the hostel with no sign of the missing student and began our tour of Lubeck.  Our tour guide, affectionately called Mr. Mustache, led the most animated tour around lubeck.  Had it been any other guide we all would have miserable walking around in the pouring rain and tornado like winds.  We ended the tour at an amazing restaurant.  Still no sign of the missing student.  Finally, 45 minutes before we were going to leave Lubeck and go back to Denmark we made contact with the missing student, who had no clue where he was.  Jacob told him to get a taxi and provided him with the address that would lead him back to us.  He made it with 2 minutes to spare.
On our trip back to Denmark we took a ferry.  Our bus just drove right up onto it, but not only that... next to us as we drove onto the ferry was a train doing the same thing!!!! Ferry is an understatement... it was more like a cruise ship, shops, restaurants, cafes... the works. 

So much happened, and I can't nearly write all of it, but if you have any questions feel free to ask! Now I can't wait for my long study tour!

A Clarification and an Explanation

As I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, I am taking a class called Virtual Worlds and the Social Media.  As part of the class, I am required to keep a blog and post assignments sporadically throughout the semester.  Luckily for those of you who don't want to be bored by my assignments there is a simple way to skip them!

As you can now see, there is a pink column down the side of my blog... there you will find my updated about me section, as well as on the top something called Tags.  There are two tags, general and VW assignments.  To only see my posts non-related to class, click on the general tag.  As you might have already noticed my first class post is a little repetitious of what I've already shared with you. 

Tomorrow I will post about my field study as well as my itinerary for my upcoming trip to Northern Germany!

Insert Witty Title Here

Some random thoughts on my time here thus far.

- For a transportation system that is supposed to be fantastic, it has a lot of flaws.  Every single train was delayed today.  I''m not talking a minute or two either.  The first train I attempted to catch was canceled.  The next train was running 18 minutes late, and stopped in the middle of the tracks once I was on it for no apparent reason.  The third train I attempted to take today was 25 minutes late.  I ended up being late to my first class because of the trains.  And this makes me ponder, how exactly are Danes ever on time for anything?

- I have finally attended all of my classes! Today was the first day that we had The Spies Within: Espionage in the Cold War Period.  Apparently our professor got sick, and we now have two new professors to share their knowledge with us.  The book for the class is about 1,000 pages long (yuck) but after a slow start seems like it will be interesting.  We watched a documentary about the Cambridge Spies which was very interesting.  I was fascinated by the fact that many of the spies joined the communist movement because they thought it was the best way to stop the fascist movement in Germany. 

-Last night I went out to Kulorbar.  It was pretty awesome and a pretty good deal.   For 60kr ($11) you are given a mug at the door, and you get as many free refills of beer as you want. So as long as you get about 3 beers, it's significantly cheaper than anything else in this country.  Luckily, I was able to catch a train home this time. 

- Each morning I'm faced with a decision of how to get to the train station.  Should I walk, which takes about 15 minutes, or ride my bike, which takes about 5.  While it might seem like an easy decision, it's not.  What you might not comprehend is the effect riding a bike has on the elements.  As you zoom along on the bike, you are suddenly thrust into a wind tunnel, the rain hits your even harder, and the 25 degree weather all of a sudden feels like it's 0 degrees outside.  I have yet to make it to the train station without tears streaming from my eyes due to the wind and bitter cold.

-I FINALLY SAW A MULTI-LEVEL BIKE PARKING GARAGE! so exciting

-I also found corn at the grocery store which made me delighted because my father told me that Danes don't eat corn because they think it's horse food.  Now I'm just faced with the dilemma of figuring out how I cook frozen corn.  Surprisingly, Danish instructions don't help.  Google translate is my new best friend.

Feel free to comment and let me know how things are at home, or if you have any questions about things I haven't mentioned!