9/27/2009
Post Oktoberfest
So now that Oktoberfest has come and gone,it's time to reflect. I'm sitting here in the Muncih airport, waiting to board my flight in about a half hour. And well, Oktoberfest...definitely an experience that everyone should have. Imagine leederhosens galore, beer after beer after beer...., odd colored sausages, pretzels, and kisses everywhere!
Tim and woke up around 630 to get ready, eat a quick breakfast, some mimosas to start off and then begin our trek to the tents. When we arrived at the tents, we went immediately past the fair/carnival rides in search for the Hofbrau tent, aka HB. We got in line, which was already SO long and were really anxious to get in (it was a little after 8 by then). Then after part one of the line, we waited again (and we were literally second to go in) for another twentyish minutes.
Then we found out after a bunch of German was yelled that they weren't opening this door for at least another hour and we needed to go to the opposite side. Once we finally got in, we just sprinted in to get a table since you can't get served otherwise. We finally managed to get a table on the upper deck and we ran into some fellow Richmonders who joined us. So it was six of us, this young Japanese couple and two German couples who kept to themselves. It was a good time hahaha
Unfortunately by 1030 everyone was kicked out of the top since it was apparently reserved. So all of us had to go and wait outside again for another hour to try and get in. By this time we all needed to use the bathroom and that was a huge setback--the lines for the bathroom...ABSURD. Only 3 stalls for the girls, so everyone just started peeing in line...not so sanitary!
Finally we were all sick of waiting so we tried to sneak in or flirt or bribe our ways in. One girl got in for ten euro and a wink, but they rest of us managed to get in for free. Some waitress saw us and felt bad and grabbed my elbow and pulled us in...hahaha it was great since the security guard next to us had just told us no. So we bought beer from here and big tips because it was so nice of her.
Anywho, I ended finding a bunch of Deltas and we all had a great time together. Our day was full of beer intertwined with random pretzel bites and tap water. Guys kept joining us and wanting to take photos or get to know us but it was kind of creepy... Everyone was so into kissing everyone--not my cup of tea!
By the end of the night I had scored a free pasta and free beer. The next thing I knew was I looked at my phone and it was 9PM. By then, it was time to eat, try and take a Hofbrau liter mug and sleep. Myself, alice and jen left together and went to a little bar bistro by their hotel. Then I went back and headed to sleep so I could wake up and fly back to the good 'ol CPH DKK :)
Afeitazen!
PS,
My gate check-in guy, he is wearing leederhosen....
Tim and woke up around 630 to get ready, eat a quick breakfast, some mimosas to start off and then begin our trek to the tents. When we arrived at the tents, we went immediately past the fair/carnival rides in search for the Hofbrau tent, aka HB. We got in line, which was already SO long and were really anxious to get in (it was a little after 8 by then). Then after part one of the line, we waited again (and we were literally second to go in) for another twentyish minutes.
Then we found out after a bunch of German was yelled that they weren't opening this door for at least another hour and we needed to go to the opposite side. Once we finally got in, we just sprinted in to get a table since you can't get served otherwise. We finally managed to get a table on the upper deck and we ran into some fellow Richmonders who joined us. So it was six of us, this young Japanese couple and two German couples who kept to themselves. It was a good time hahaha
Unfortunately by 1030 everyone was kicked out of the top since it was apparently reserved. So all of us had to go and wait outside again for another hour to try and get in. By this time we all needed to use the bathroom and that was a huge setback--the lines for the bathroom...ABSURD. Only 3 stalls for the girls, so everyone just started peeing in line...not so sanitary!
Finally we were all sick of waiting so we tried to sneak in or flirt or bribe our ways in. One girl got in for ten euro and a wink, but they rest of us managed to get in for free. Some waitress saw us and felt bad and grabbed my elbow and pulled us in...hahaha it was great since the security guard next to us had just told us no. So we bought beer from here and big tips because it was so nice of her.
Anywho, I ended finding a bunch of Deltas and we all had a great time together. Our day was full of beer intertwined with random pretzel bites and tap water. Guys kept joining us and wanting to take photos or get to know us but it was kind of creepy... Everyone was so into kissing everyone--not my cup of tea!
By the end of the night I had scored a free pasta and free beer. The next thing I knew was I looked at my phone and it was 9PM. By then, it was time to eat, try and take a Hofbrau liter mug and sleep. Myself, alice and jen left together and went to a little bar bistro by their hotel. Then I went back and headed to sleep so I could wake up and fly back to the good 'ol CPH DKK :)
Afeitazen!
PS,
My gate check-in guy, he is wearing leederhosen....
9/26/2009
In Munich, counting down the hours until the big day!
So I have just landed here in Munich and decided to just do a quick little update while I wait for Sam and Tim to arrive here as well--both their flights are getting in I believer fifteen minutes later, so perfect timing :)
As for my flight...very interesting! After my embarrassing overly dramatic breakdown/ freak out over the travel warnings to germany, I psyched myself up for the trip. Talking with DIS and mom made me feel a lot better. Anywho, my flight...oh boy. The only thing I can think to compare it to was a frat boy reunion/airlines you see in male comedy movies. It was a bunch of Scandavian men, some dressed normally others in no joke, leederhosen (sorry, just sounded it out). Everyone was walking around, drinking, and having a good time on our hour and a half flight. It was certainly the noisiest flight I've ever experienced, but fun. Just what I needed after my morning panic.
Anywho, it was a bunch of guys with long blonde hair (overly gelled I may add), dressed well and taking photos of one another in funny sleeping positions. One guy who was sitting in the row across the aisle from me was seriously like a paprazzi.
Other than that, it was pretty uneventful. I just read The Pact and tried to study Danish for my test Monday.
Updates soon after the big festivities!!!!!
As for my flight...very interesting! After my embarrassing overly dramatic breakdown/ freak out over the travel warnings to germany, I psyched myself up for the trip. Talking with DIS and mom made me feel a lot better. Anywho, my flight...oh boy. The only thing I can think to compare it to was a frat boy reunion/airlines you see in male comedy movies. It was a bunch of Scandavian men, some dressed normally others in no joke, leederhosen (sorry, just sounded it out). Everyone was walking around, drinking, and having a good time on our hour and a half flight. It was certainly the noisiest flight I've ever experienced, but fun. Just what I needed after my morning panic.
Anywho, it was a bunch of guys with long blonde hair (overly gelled I may add), dressed well and taking photos of one another in funny sleeping positions. One guy who was sitting in the row across the aisle from me was seriously like a paprazzi.
Other than that, it was pretty uneventful. I just read The Pact and tried to study Danish for my test Monday.
Updates soon after the big festivities!!!!!
9/20/2009
Drugs, History, and a Reality Check
I guess where I left off was just about 2 weeks ago! I did fortunately make it back and got to go to Ikea. Granted I have never gone to Ikea in the US, but let me tell you--hugeeee! It was basically an amusement park of furniture. I have never seen so many different chairs, lamps, storage units, etc.. All I really wanted was a full length mirror, I know, so vain, but it's so hard to not know what you fully look like! Anywho, I ended up buying a mirror, a new larger pillow, bedding (a duvet cover, pillow case), some kitchenware things like a baking pan, and of course a ton of hangers--but I still didn't get enough!
Of course it would have been nice if I actually thought about how I would have to transport everything home...I was struggling through Copenhagen with all of this and finally managed my way home with only breaking a corner of the mirror. But I definitely love me bed--so much more snuggly and pillowy :) With this inspiration I was able to hang my 89 photos I printed before leaving so I am feeling much more at home in my room.
Then on Wednesday, the 9th, I had a double field study, one at 9:30 to the Danish Parliament and one at 1:10 to Christiania, which is that hippie town Mrs. Kramer talked about (Mom). The Parliament is really neat- so much history, but still very present. Each Prime Minister gets to choose an artist to have paint a portrait of them, and it was cool to see that some men chose very abstract artists, while others were very basic. But also, one of the best things there was that they have a sort of like, revolving elevator, meaning it never stops. It's basically a shaft you climb into when it comes up (there is no door) and it moves through all the floors without stopping, meaning you just jump out of it on your floor...can't imagine handling that every morning in heels!
As for Christiania...I could not live there, but I can see the appeal. In a basic sense, it is a little town made of the men and women who moved to the Christianhavn island when the military base left there. It is very controversial because Christianhavn is a veryyyy nice area--the most expensive real estate in Copenhagen (so probably in Denmark, but I don't know for sure). It's right on the water and very high end. But these squatters who claimed the land, pay nothing to live there and refuse to leave, despite different government demands over time. And the big thing is well, it's a big drug town. They believe very much in pot and hash, but are "Strongly against hard drugs." I took a picture of the rules:
I think my favorite is no bullet proof clothing? I would like to know the story behind that one...But in Christiania, you can't really take pictures, there are a ton of no picture signs. There was a news story this past week about a journalist getting beaten up for taking photos and not turning in his camera. Apparently there are big "bodyguard" types who protect Christiania from photographers and police. For some reason the police aren't really allowed to enter? But the big pull in Christiania is there is "Pusher Street," which is exactly what it is. It's where everyone can buy weed and hash, somewhat discreetly, but actually not at all. When I was with my class, we saw big bricks of what I guess was hash? I don't really know what hash is, just only heard of it so I assume it was that--at first I thought it was chocolate, oops! Haha.
Also, we got a guided tour throughout Christiania and I must admit--beautiful! It was very interesting to see children were running around with little to no clothes on in the day care center and that many people just seemed to drugged up, but the community is definitely very art friendly and seems to care about each other. But get this--so no one pays for the house, which means you don't own it, which means you can get kicked out at any point and be left homeless. Our guide was telling us that the town hall decides who can and cannot live in Christiania (you must apply to live here, you can't just set up camp..some have tried and were introduced to the bodyguards). If the town hall decides you can't live there they go to that house and kick you out. It seems ironic since Christiania was founded on a free love environment. But to each their own...
But that day was nice because I got to know Emily and Tim, who I have become pretty good friends with. We have both those classes together so we hung out, calling ourselves jokingly the Tripod. It was good that we got to know each other since literally, none of us could name one person in our European Politics class, which is the class we go on all of our travel tours with.
Speaking of which, that Thursday we left for our first short study tour. We left from Copenhagen at 8:30 to drive to the ferry, which we took to Lübec, Germany, which is apparently on the list of 1,000 places you must see before you die. In Lübec, we went to the Willy Brandt museum, who was a Nazi resistance leader. We also had a nice tour of Lübec from a man who had the most serious mustache:
Here he is, at a 600 year old restaurant (where we ate when we arrived-wish I had known at the time to appreciate it more!) Here are more views of the restaurant:
The restaurant name ^
Here are other pictures of Lübec:
Of course it would have been nice if I actually thought about how I would have to transport everything home...I was struggling through Copenhagen with all of this and finally managed my way home with only breaking a corner of the mirror. But I definitely love me bed--so much more snuggly and pillowy :) With this inspiration I was able to hang my 89 photos I printed before leaving so I am feeling much more at home in my room.
Then on Wednesday, the 9th, I had a double field study, one at 9:30 to the Danish Parliament and one at 1:10 to Christiania, which is that hippie town Mrs. Kramer talked about (Mom). The Parliament is really neat- so much history, but still very present. Each Prime Minister gets to choose an artist to have paint a portrait of them, and it was cool to see that some men chose very abstract artists, while others were very basic. But also, one of the best things there was that they have a sort of like, revolving elevator, meaning it never stops. It's basically a shaft you climb into when it comes up (there is no door) and it moves through all the floors without stopping, meaning you just jump out of it on your floor...can't imagine handling that every morning in heels!
As for Christiania...I could not live there, but I can see the appeal. In a basic sense, it is a little town made of the men and women who moved to the Christianhavn island when the military base left there. It is very controversial because Christianhavn is a veryyyy nice area--the most expensive real estate in Copenhagen (so probably in Denmark, but I don't know for sure). It's right on the water and very high end. But these squatters who claimed the land, pay nothing to live there and refuse to leave, despite different government demands over time. And the big thing is well, it's a big drug town. They believe very much in pot and hash, but are "Strongly against hard drugs." I took a picture of the rules:
I think my favorite is no bullet proof clothing? I would like to know the story behind that one...But in Christiania, you can't really take pictures, there are a ton of no picture signs. There was a news story this past week about a journalist getting beaten up for taking photos and not turning in his camera. Apparently there are big "bodyguard" types who protect Christiania from photographers and police. For some reason the police aren't really allowed to enter? But the big pull in Christiania is there is "Pusher Street," which is exactly what it is. It's where everyone can buy weed and hash, somewhat discreetly, but actually not at all. When I was with my class, we saw big bricks of what I guess was hash? I don't really know what hash is, just only heard of it so I assume it was that--at first I thought it was chocolate, oops! Haha.
Also, we got a guided tour throughout Christiania and I must admit--beautiful! It was very interesting to see children were running around with little to no clothes on in the day care center and that many people just seemed to drugged up, but the community is definitely very art friendly and seems to care about each other. But get this--so no one pays for the house, which means you don't own it, which means you can get kicked out at any point and be left homeless. Our guide was telling us that the town hall decides who can and cannot live in Christiania (you must apply to live here, you can't just set up camp..some have tried and were introduced to the bodyguards). If the town hall decides you can't live there they go to that house and kick you out. It seems ironic since Christiania was founded on a free love environment. But to each their own...
But that day was nice because I got to know Emily and Tim, who I have become pretty good friends with. We have both those classes together so we hung out, calling ourselves jokingly the Tripod. It was good that we got to know each other since literally, none of us could name one person in our European Politics class, which is the class we go on all of our travel tours with.
Speaking of which, that Thursday we left for our first short study tour. We left from Copenhagen at 8:30 to drive to the ferry, which we took to Lübec, Germany, which is apparently on the list of 1,000 places you must see before you die. In Lübec, we went to the Willy Brandt museum, who was a Nazi resistance leader. We also had a nice tour of Lübec from a man who had the most serious mustache:
The side view from the start of our tour
Here he is, at a 600 year old restaurant (where we ate when we arrived-wish I had known at the time to appreciate it more!) Here are more views of the restaurant:
A 400 year old table!
The restaurant name ^
Here are other pictures of Lübec:
And here is a piece of the Berlin Wall, at the Willy Brandt museum--very cool I thought!
Then we left for Hamburg on Friday, which is definitely a larger city with more stuff to do. I wish we could have had a lot of time there, but we were able to extend our stay, but not for the night since we were supposed to stay at a hostel in Sønderborg, Denmark (very southern part).
While in Hamburg, we went to their Parliament to hear about their relations with the EU. I also got to try my very first Schnitzel! Not bad...it reminded me sooo much of Milanesa from Argentina. In fact, I'm pretty positive it is the same idea. Lightly breaded thin meat. I went to the grocery store when I went back to Copenhagen and bought chicken schnitzel. I really wanted to get a pretzel while in Germany, but never did :( But hey, OKTOBERFEST IN 5 DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!! Yay Richmond reunion!!
Oh and also, while we were in Hamburg, we saw a pro-Nazi and anti-Nazi march. It was so intense to see a pro-Nazi march! We briefly walked with the anti-Nazi march while walking to meet the bus.
Once we arrived in Sønderborg that night, we tried to find a place to go out. So a bunch of us walked for about 25 minutes and found a hopping little street where we first to Penny Lane, which was a Beatles tribute bar, where we met some Icelandic guys, who then took us to MexiBar....as sketchy as it sounds. We stayed there for about 12 minutes and left for our walk back to the hostel. And let me say, I hope to not stay in too many hostels...I could not help but think about all the hygienic problems with them....Thank goodness I brought my own sheets :)
On Saturday morning, we went to a lecture on German-Danish relations at Southern Denmark University, which was pretty interesting and then we went to the "Danish Gettysburg," even though the death toll was not even a quarter of Gettysburg. But it is where Denmark lost a huge part of their territory to Germany in 1864, I believe? Here is a photo from the fields:
After that, we drove a ways to go to an art museum, which I think was dedicated to Arne Jacobsen who was a famous Danish chair designer. It was a very contempary museum with lots of chairs. He created the egg chair and lots of chairs that are kind of funky that are veryyyy common. Here's an example:
After that, we traveled back to good ol' Denmark. That night Emily and I just hung out and had a good time. And then it was back to the grind when Sunday came. This past week was pretty basic. On Tuesday, it was Emily's birthday, so I helped plan her birthday dinner at her kollegium. We made our cobb salad (yesssss!), a creamy curry chicken, and I bought a bunch of Danish bakery desserts for her cake. I think it was a good time for all. Then we all went downtown to go out since she hadn't been out yet and we definitely got her to have some fun :)
Then on Wednesday I had a field study at an Islamic art museum at 8:30, and another tour of Parliament, but I also got to hear a very enlightening talk on Turkey-EU relations (since my field study was for my Turkey at a Crossroads course). Our speaker was very diplomatic in her talk, and helped sway me a bit to accepting Turkey into the EU. Right now, however, I don't think I really think it is the time for them to join. There are so many variables, like it will be the 3rd largest member state, meaning large amount of representatives, meaning strong voting power at first entry and within 10 years it is supposed to have the largest population....Also, with the EU membership, there is free travling within EU borders...meaning Iraq will now border EU nations...I am worried how that would affect terrorist activities...But a huge bonus of Turkey joining is there would be a bridge between "Eastern" and "Western" culture, as well as the Islamic and "Christian" culture, which I think would be a huge benefit for both sides.
Then on Friday, a bunch of us went to Tivoli for the evening and my friend Jen and I got to go on a bunch of rides, including the famous swings, which is (I think) the highest points in Copenhagen--you litereally see everything when you're on the swings and it's kind of like the ones at typical amusement parks, but A LOTTTTTTTTT higher, like a lot a lot, faster, and only seats of two every so often. But it is seriously AWESOME, one of the coolest things you can do. I hope they keep it open, even when all the rides close so we can go on them when y'all visit! Then we were able to hear the band that was performing that night, Infernal, which is a really famous Danish pop band. I think I am going back to Tivoli Monday night to see another concert.
Then after, Jen and I walked around and met many random people who came and talked to us, including some guys who were from Italy and Turkey. Then we finally settled on going to Happy Pig, which is a really popular bar/dance place. Reminds me of Richmond. But it was an awesome night, we just danced the night away with different people and stayed out until 6 AM! I saw the sun beginning to rise....
Then on Saturday, I went to my friend Brielle's (from UR) "apartment." It was a teacher she babysits for apartment, but while they were away she and our friend Abby were living there since they hate their kollegium. We ate pizza and drank some girlie drinks and then went out. We ended up going back to Happy Pig so we could meet up with some of Richmond guy friends. We ended up staying there until about 2, then we decided to hop around and then went back pretty early.
They had to take the night bus, while I had the metro. And that's when reality struck. It's amazing to think I have been here for about a month. But also because of that feeling, I felt safe and comfortable, so I'm glad I got this somewhat scary reminder. I admit, it's not smart that I went to the metro at night by myself, but it was just easy. But this man followed me down to the metro and cornered me against the esclator asking for my phone number and telling me how beautiful I was. And I told him I had a boyfriend and he wouldn't like this and he kept thinking we should be friendly companions, so I told him I saw my friends and went up to these Danish girls and grabbed one's arm and acted like we were best friends. Fortunately, the one girl whose arm I grabbed, understood, but her friends were confused and were talking so loud like "WHERE ARE YOU FROM?" but I just hung out with them. I got on the metro and then was going to get off with them and wait for the next metro (the guy told me he was going to my same stop--I never told him where my stop was or anything. I said I was from Canada, named Amalia and had been studying here a year and he didn't get why I wouldn't say where I lived). Anyways, as I was getting off, two girls from Richmond happened to see me on the metro and called my name (ughh since I was Amalia, not Caroline!--the guy was watching me the whole time on the metro). So I told them we had to get off at the next stop and wait, so fortunately we got off at Christianhavn and waited ten minutes for the next metro. Safe and sound and with others :)! A reminder to never be by myself, because that was definitely a bit frightening.
9/09/2009
Met the new Fam...hopefully they aren't sick now!
So as it turns out, sickness does in fact follow me. Who knew you could catch the flu while abroad...basically starting as soon as I stepped off the plane. I guess "living the life of riley" (as Dad would say...if it is in fact, "riley") has really caught up to me. I thought I may had just a cold and sore/achy from all the walking, but it was really just the flu, which I left practically untreated, until now. My fever finally broke after not being able to sleep last night (up until at least 4:30 AM to wake up for a 9 AM Field Study!). Anyways, I bought some mystery Danish medicines that the pharmacist recommended and they definitely helped my fever. Now I am just using sudafed for my ear ache and dayquil/nyquil.
I feel guilty now for not treating myself, since I'm now worried I may have gotten my visiting Danish family sick :(...who I met this past weekend!!! There is Dad, Claus, who I had been in contact with and speaks fluent English, Helle (pronounced Hell-ah, I believe), who is pretty good, Isabella (12) and Oliver (6). Oliver does not speak any English and Isabella is just learning. They are such a tall family--not what I was envisioning, since they had brown hair, but still very Danish :) After a fiasco at the train station with trying to find the intercity train, the right spor (aka track), etc. I finally arrived. Claus picked me up at the Roskilde station, which is about 15 minutes from their house. Normally I would go to one much closer, but do to construction this was my only option.
As we driving to their house in Tølløse, a small "suburb" slash country town outside of Copenhagen. Their family has 3 cats, many bunnies, a new very cute puppy Aslac (which I can hardly believe I say it is cute since it's a small brown terrier...but it is so adorable!), and I believe some guinea pigs? They're family is very children oriented--the entire backyard is dedicated to their kids. They had a TV in practically every room in the house, which was unexpected (seemed like a more American trend, or so I thought). The house itself seemed more simple on the outside, but beautiful on the inside, very modern, simplistic--a light wood, white walls, silver accessories. Very trendy. Claus and I talked for awhile and I had the grand tour of the house. It is considered large for a Danish house (had 3 floors), but probably average for an American idea of a house--an interesting difference I noted.
Finally it came time for dinner, and we had burgers and fries. They thought I would be missing some good old American food and apparently Oliver loves burgers. It was exciting though because basically I made the french fries--peeled the potatoes with Oliver, cut them into fry shapes, oiled them, put them on a pan, and let Claus salt them because I was worried I would overdo it...love that salty food! After dinner we all watched TV; they wanted to show me a TV show they really liked which was like a combination of Survivor and Fear Factor, but unfortunately due to the Denmark-Portugal soccer game it was not on. Instead we watched Coyote Ugly, as a family. Not a movie you would expect to be make international fame...At first I thought they kept it on because it was American and English, but I asked if they had seen it before (since Oliver was watching too, not the most appropriate I would have thought) and said yes, so it was an experience! Haha, but it was nice of them to have us all hang out.
After the movie I went to bed in their basement on this semi-pullout couch, it was perfectly decent and I was able to sleep in order to get back on an early train into Copenhagen. I needed to be back by 9, which meant I had a 7:45 train to catch. I needed to be back early for an Ikea trip.
To be continued...
I feel guilty now for not treating myself, since I'm now worried I may have gotten my visiting Danish family sick :(...who I met this past weekend!!! There is Dad, Claus, who I had been in contact with and speaks fluent English, Helle (pronounced Hell-ah, I believe), who is pretty good, Isabella (12) and Oliver (6). Oliver does not speak any English and Isabella is just learning. They are such a tall family--not what I was envisioning, since they had brown hair, but still very Danish :) After a fiasco at the train station with trying to find the intercity train, the right spor (aka track), etc. I finally arrived. Claus picked me up at the Roskilde station, which is about 15 minutes from their house. Normally I would go to one much closer, but do to construction this was my only option.
As we driving to their house in Tølløse, a small "suburb" slash country town outside of Copenhagen. Their family has 3 cats, many bunnies, a new very cute puppy Aslac (which I can hardly believe I say it is cute since it's a small brown terrier...but it is so adorable!), and I believe some guinea pigs? They're family is very children oriented--the entire backyard is dedicated to their kids. They had a TV in practically every room in the house, which was unexpected (seemed like a more American trend, or so I thought). The house itself seemed more simple on the outside, but beautiful on the inside, very modern, simplistic--a light wood, white walls, silver accessories. Very trendy. Claus and I talked for awhile and I had the grand tour of the house. It is considered large for a Danish house (had 3 floors), but probably average for an American idea of a house--an interesting difference I noted.
Finally it came time for dinner, and we had burgers and fries. They thought I would be missing some good old American food and apparently Oliver loves burgers. It was exciting though because basically I made the french fries--peeled the potatoes with Oliver, cut them into fry shapes, oiled them, put them on a pan, and let Claus salt them because I was worried I would overdo it...love that salty food! After dinner we all watched TV; they wanted to show me a TV show they really liked which was like a combination of Survivor and Fear Factor, but unfortunately due to the Denmark-Portugal soccer game it was not on. Instead we watched Coyote Ugly, as a family. Not a movie you would expect to be make international fame...At first I thought they kept it on because it was American and English, but I asked if they had seen it before (since Oliver was watching too, not the most appropriate I would have thought) and said yes, so it was an experience! Haha, but it was nice of them to have us all hang out.
After the movie I went to bed in their basement on this semi-pullout couch, it was perfectly decent and I was able to sleep in order to get back on an early train into Copenhagen. I needed to be back by 9, which meant I had a 7:45 train to catch. I needed to be back early for an Ikea trip.
To be continued...
9/03/2009
OKTOBERFEST is official!
YESSSS!!! I finally booked my plane ticket which means I am officially going to Oktoberfest, I have my room already and just need to get the other ticket thing. I also just bought my Sensation White ticket!!! Great times to be had I'm sure! Sensation White is basically an all night techno event--I hear it's one of the best times and it's right here in Copenhagen!
Other than that, I have been getting into the swing of things, building a routine. The rain has officially started. It poured on and off today, proving bringing my rain boots an amazing choice. I have already bought another umbrella because the one I brought cannot handle the wind and rain. I am excited to experience the Danish "hygge" or pronounced "who-gah" which is supposed to be a state of mind of coziness, comfortableness, etc. This is how they are the happiest country in the world....staying cozy with candles :) As the rain was starting up again this afternoon, I passed a bagel stand and this man gave my friend Nicole and I free bagel sandwiches. She got a salmon sandwich and I got a chicken salad one...kind of smelly, but at least it was free! A nice treat considering how expensive DK can be.
On another side, I am meeting my visiting Danish family! They sound great; there are the parents, Claus and Helle, and they have two children and many pets. I can't wait! However, I'm trying to decide what may be a good gift to bring...
Other cultural fact I learned:
No doggy bags from the restaurants! They will look at you like a crazy person if you ask for one
Oh and p.s. daddy, if you thought my feet were dirty before, you can't imagine after these showers! It's so gross thinking about what touches this floor
Other than that, I have been getting into the swing of things, building a routine. The rain has officially started. It poured on and off today, proving bringing my rain boots an amazing choice. I have already bought another umbrella because the one I brought cannot handle the wind and rain. I am excited to experience the Danish "hygge" or pronounced "who-gah" which is supposed to be a state of mind of coziness, comfortableness, etc. This is how they are the happiest country in the world....staying cozy with candles :) As the rain was starting up again this afternoon, I passed a bagel stand and this man gave my friend Nicole and I free bagel sandwiches. She got a salmon sandwich and I got a chicken salad one...kind of smelly, but at least it was free! A nice treat considering how expensive DK can be.
On another side, I am meeting my visiting Danish family! They sound great; there are the parents, Claus and Helle, and they have two children and many pets. I can't wait! However, I'm trying to decide what may be a good gift to bring...
Other cultural fact I learned:
No doggy bags from the restaurants! They will look at you like a crazy person if you ask for one
Oh and p.s. daddy, if you thought my feet were dirty before, you can't imagine after these showers! It's so gross thinking about what touches this floor
9/01/2009
Getting started!
Alright, so I've been here in Kobenhavn for almost 10 days now. I have definitely been adjusting to how things work here...just a little different! So here's what has happened so far.
August 22nd (departure from USA!!!)
We're delayed because of the worsening weather conditions and take off in an alternate flight pattern to try and avoid the weather. Other than that, no major complaints about the plane ride...typical ride. However, I decided to take my ambien after dinner was served and it didn't work! I didn't know this, but I guess if you don't fall asleep while taking it you begin to hallucinate.... well that happened to me for sure! Very weird.
August 23rd (arrival in Copenhagen!!)
So around 7 in the morning, we finally arrived. We went through customs and all that jazz--I hate myself for how I packed, almost impossible to manage! Yet, I see no other option. Thank goodness for that man not officially weighing my bags :) After a little bit of waiting, we loaded buses which took us to the DIS IT university (Which they told us we'll never see again) around 8 AM. We had to unload our bags again and store them in a bike room. Then we went to pick up our arrival packets, cell phones, and money stipend to purchase our train tickets. Then we had to wait until 1:30 or so to LEAVE! So, some of us went to an empty room that had some fold down movie theater style seating and slept (including myself). Then we were off to our respective housing!
We arrived at Orseunds, which is where I live and were able to unpack. We had the afternoon off until 7, when they were holding a pizza party for us in the restaurant downstairs. I live on the seventh floor of Orseunds. They're are about 20 DIS students living here and there are about 1000 residents...so definitely a minority! My hall seems pretty quiet, haven't really met many people except a really nice Danish girl, Caelia (sp?) and a guy who I call Lars because I can't remember his name.
Before the pizza party, myself, Ashley (a girl from Richmond), Dom (a boy from Richmond), and Danielle (a girl from Loyola MD, friends with Dom from before) went to visit another guy studying in Copenhagen from Richmond, Mike. We went to his apartment in the city center and hung out on his roof. We definitely had some awesome weather. It was so beautiful and relaxing up there.
Monday through Wednesday we had different orientation stuff, like a scavenger hunt (where my feet and lower back wanted to kill me after the first hour), an opening ceremony with a string quartet, survival danish (hej!=hi!, hej hej!=bye!), and academic program things. All basic.
On Monday night, we all went out to two bars, first called the Happy Pig (but I prefer to call it Bar with an Arrow, since that was it is...pictures to follow!) and the Australian Bar. Both were very American, probably because they were like 10 yards from our school...
The school is set up in an interesting manner. There is a "main building" where there is the front desk where our packages go and the offices are for different departments like housing and study tours as well as the library and lockers. Then across the street there are two buildings (A and B) where almost all the classes are held...at least all of mine are held here except for the one in the main building. A and B are very tall buildings and it is annoying to have to climb 5 flights of stairs into a room with no air conditioning--everyone is literally sweating bullets afterwards because it's just so humid and hot. It seems to me that air conditioning is not popular here. It's either heat or windows open.
---
And now my room. It's definitely very spacious, I can't complain about that at all. I also have a great full wall of windows that I can look out of for weather . The view isn't ideal, but not bad. I look at the other section of our building and parking. They supplied me with a desk, 2 chairs, a bed, and like four shelf sets and awesome closets! Of course, when I moved in no lights worked... I think I have been able to make it a bit more homey now, by hanging my 89 photos haha.
As for the bathroom....oh man. It reeks!!!! Our RA type person, Mimi was telling us that Copenhagen passed some law that all buildings built before a certain year can't be repaired or have work done...including ours! Basically, there is a problem with the sewage system and the smell just stays there. I've already tried to buy a fabreeze type project and a toilet scent thing and no luck. I also bought shower shoes because it grosses me out what may have been on that *concrete* floor since we shower on it! I refuse to go in the bathroom barefoot. It's very interesting using this utility bathroom, but fortunately the person before left a shower curtain so I can prevent half the bathroom from getting completely soaked. But I must admit, the shower pressure is nice, the water gets hot, and it is very convenient to brush your teeth in the shower :)
On Thursday we started classes, my schedule is as follows:
Monday, Thursday:
10:05-11:25 (EU)
11:40-1:00 (Danish)
4:25-5:45 (Terrorism)
Tuesday, Friday:
2:50-4:10 (Leadership Across Cultures)
Friday only:
11:40-1:00 (Turkey)
So far the classes aren't too bad, definitely not a joke though! There is a lot of reading, especially for my EU core class.
And now for the cultural differences I have noticed:
August 22nd (departure from USA!!!)
We're delayed because of the worsening weather conditions and take off in an alternate flight pattern to try and avoid the weather. Other than that, no major complaints about the plane ride...typical ride. However, I decided to take my ambien after dinner was served and it didn't work! I didn't know this, but I guess if you don't fall asleep while taking it you begin to hallucinate.... well that happened to me for sure! Very weird.
August 23rd (arrival in Copenhagen!!)
So around 7 in the morning, we finally arrived. We went through customs and all that jazz--I hate myself for how I packed, almost impossible to manage! Yet, I see no other option. Thank goodness for that man not officially weighing my bags :) After a little bit of waiting, we loaded buses which took us to the DIS IT university (Which they told us we'll never see again) around 8 AM. We had to unload our bags again and store them in a bike room. Then we went to pick up our arrival packets, cell phones, and money stipend to purchase our train tickets. Then we had to wait until 1:30 or so to LEAVE! So, some of us went to an empty room that had some fold down movie theater style seating and slept (including myself). Then we were off to our respective housing!
We arrived at Orseunds, which is where I live and were able to unpack. We had the afternoon off until 7, when they were holding a pizza party for us in the restaurant downstairs. I live on the seventh floor of Orseunds. They're are about 20 DIS students living here and there are about 1000 residents...so definitely a minority! My hall seems pretty quiet, haven't really met many people except a really nice Danish girl, Caelia (sp?) and a guy who I call Lars because I can't remember his name.
Before the pizza party, myself, Ashley (a girl from Richmond), Dom (a boy from Richmond), and Danielle (a girl from Loyola MD, friends with Dom from before) went to visit another guy studying in Copenhagen from Richmond, Mike. We went to his apartment in the city center and hung out on his roof. We definitely had some awesome weather. It was so beautiful and relaxing up there.
Monday through Wednesday we had different orientation stuff, like a scavenger hunt (where my feet and lower back wanted to kill me after the first hour), an opening ceremony with a string quartet, survival danish (hej!=hi!, hej hej!=bye!), and academic program things. All basic.
On Monday night, we all went out to two bars, first called the Happy Pig (but I prefer to call it Bar with an Arrow, since that was it is...pictures to follow!) and the Australian Bar. Both were very American, probably because they were like 10 yards from our school...
The school is set up in an interesting manner. There is a "main building" where there is the front desk where our packages go and the offices are for different departments like housing and study tours as well as the library and lockers. Then across the street there are two buildings (A and B) where almost all the classes are held...at least all of mine are held here except for the one in the main building. A and B are very tall buildings and it is annoying to have to climb 5 flights of stairs into a room with no air conditioning--everyone is literally sweating bullets afterwards because it's just so humid and hot. It seems to me that air conditioning is not popular here. It's either heat or windows open.
---
And now my room. It's definitely very spacious, I can't complain about that at all. I also have a great full wall of windows that I can look out of for weather . The view isn't ideal, but not bad. I look at the other section of our building and parking. They supplied me with a desk, 2 chairs, a bed, and like four shelf sets and awesome closets! Of course, when I moved in no lights worked... I think I have been able to make it a bit more homey now, by hanging my 89 photos haha.
As for the bathroom....oh man. It reeks!!!! Our RA type person, Mimi was telling us that Copenhagen passed some law that all buildings built before a certain year can't be repaired or have work done...including ours! Basically, there is a problem with the sewage system and the smell just stays there. I've already tried to buy a fabreeze type project and a toilet scent thing and no luck. I also bought shower shoes because it grosses me out what may have been on that *concrete* floor since we shower on it! I refuse to go in the bathroom barefoot. It's very interesting using this utility bathroom, but fortunately the person before left a shower curtain so I can prevent half the bathroom from getting completely soaked. But I must admit, the shower pressure is nice, the water gets hot, and it is very convenient to brush your teeth in the shower :)
On Thursday we started classes, my schedule is as follows:
Monday, Thursday:
10:05-11:25 (EU)
11:40-1:00 (Danish)
4:25-5:45 (Terrorism)
Tuesday, Friday:
2:50-4:10 (Leadership Across Cultures)
Friday only:
11:40-1:00 (Turkey)
So far the classes aren't too bad, definitely not a joke though! There is a lot of reading, especially for my EU core class.
And now for the cultural differences I have noticed:
- Danes seem unfriendly, but they really just don't talk to people they don't know, unless they talk to them first--> public transportation is basically silent
- Public transportation is so popular, but not as popular as bikes!!! Bikes are EVERYWHERE! And beware of bikers, they are vicious and hold no mercy to those in their way
- There is public transportation etiquette, i.e silence, you don't really sit next to people you don't know, bikers have desginated bike seats and if you're in the way, be prepared to get stared at evily...
- When going out to dinner, not only is it expensive, it is also a long ordeal. You must ask for your check or be prepared to be sitting their until closing...
- Danes have no word for "Excuse Me" or "Please"--> again, not because they're rude, just it's not their nature. You have to shake your bag to get through--it really works! I tried it in a crowded grocery store, I shook my bag and everyone moved to the side like clockwork
- Alcohol is VERY present. Everytime I have gone to class, no matter the time, I see people drinking wine by the metro station...even at 7:45 AM....
- Last, but not least.....the fashion!! It's so crazy. Basically throw all your neons together and some leggings and you're good to go
- Things to have: leather jacket, HAREM PANTS!, way oversized shirts, leggings, opaque tights, boots, comfortable walking shoes that seem cute, prints, and of course, scarves! OHH and definitely some wacky sunglasses....like thing aviator style with cheetah print or something....they love wayfarers, but even spicier looking ones
- I can't wait to get some Georg Jensen earrings though :) Not too pricy.....
Suscribirse a:
Entradas (Atom)