First Day of Classes and Movie Night

Today didnt go as planned either. I ended up sleeping in wayyyy too late (again) and had to rush to the International Office. When I got there, I got my schedule printed out, looks like I only have classes until mid-late April. Exams can be as late as June 20th though, weird system. My first class was definitely interesting... corporate finance. I sat next to one of the other exchange students (Patrick from Bentley), and it was a 3hr lecture. Big class in an auditorium, found out that I will probably need my computer for every class which sucks because my battery is completely dead. So I have to figure out how to get a new one, probably online and I have to get my book too. The class sounds interesting enough... after class I went to the Netto for groceries. I was not in the mood to fight crowds at all so I only bought a few things--chicken breasts, tomato sauce, bread, and eggs. After I got back, I was so psyched to make my first real dinner! Spaghetti and chicken.. oh i am such a good cook! I tried to figure out my "sitescape" (online course outlines, etc) but couldnt because it was mostly all in Danish so I met Dino in the library and he helped me get it all figured out. We had movie night in the main school building, it was set up verrrry romantic because it was a love story movie. balloons, candles, free soda, popcorn, chocolate, very cool! The movie was a Danish one about a gay love triangle, Im not a fan of subtitles but Dino was next to me so he helped me out when I stopped paying attention. It was a good movie with funny humor, thats something I love about being here--everyone comes with their own sense of humor and jokes that usually just keep me laughing constantly. When the movie was over, the whole Torden gang came back together and me and Elyse are stilllll up! It's 1:41am, yikes we have class at 11:40am. Better get to bed...

Baked Fries and CPR Numbers

Last night my roommate and I had the stupidest idea ever.. we were both starving and have not had a chance to go grocery shopping (when I'm sick, that sounds like the worst place ever to go), so we tried to make due with our food but we were too hungry! Around 12am we both agreed that we needed to go to 7-11 to get some/any food. We start walking, thinking its just around the block, but find out its actually toward the end of the walking street. Only about 1.5-2miles... in the dark... I ended up getting a chicken sandwich, a dessert, and some orange juice. Very expensive (of course), and HORRIBLE! They use the grossest dressings/condiments known to mankind here which totally ruins food. After we made it back, we stayed up forever because we were tired. This morning was hard to wake up because I still didnt feel good. I wanted to walk down by the seaside (by canal st) where they have a bunch of cafes and small shops for breakfast but ended up going back to bed. I met up with Dino around 1pm to get my CPR number (sorta like a SSN), that took forever to find the place. CBS had the old address so we were on and off of buses and walking all over. When we finally got there, the lady had asked me which doctor I preferred--male or female. I jokingly looked at Dino and was like "Uhh.. male, duh!", well the lady didn't find that too funny... apparently they take that stuff seriously and doctors dont even get paid that much, who knew?! After that Dino showed me where to buy fever reducing medicine and showed me this sandwich place that is like Subway, it's called Sunset Blvd. I had a chicken and bacon sandwich with their baked fries. The fries might be the best thing I've eaten all trip! Apparently they're supposed to be better for you, but i didnt care they were sooo good. After that I came back, napped, woke up and went to a kiosk by our place and bought noodles and sauce so i could have a somewhat decent dinner. When I got back, I cooked quickly and ate, then went with my roommate to try and find the activity for the night. It was at a place called Cafe Park, which, of course we found out was not a cafe at all but a 3-level club. We, of course, got lost on the way there so it took us around an hour to find it and she is starting to get sick so we only stayed for about an hour. There are a ton more international students now, our first week group of 180 is now around 500! I'm so glad I came for the first week though, trying to meet people in that big of group would suck. Anyways I'm going to try and go to bed early today because I start classes tomorrow.. sick..!

****Address Change and More Pictures*****

I checked and apparently any and all mail should go to the International Office.. here's the correct address:

Katie Zibell
c/o Copenhagen Business School
The International Office
Porcelaenshaven 26
2000 Frederiksberg, Denmark

Also, I have added more pictures too. The first link I have has new ones on it as well as this link:
http://uwlax.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2095849&l=5e18b&id=73404302

I can store 60 photos per album on each link, so make sure you check out the first one too!

Christiania and not feeling well

I feel so sick today! The other kids in my dorm have been getting sick and I think I caught a cold or something. Last night our dorm went to Kulorbar (60kr entrance) but I only stayed for a little while, it was pretty wild in there....! There were quite a few international students there and it was a little more of a club than the other places we went to. After that I walked home with Ben and was about to go to bed when Dino called and said he was outside my res and that he came to pick me up to meet his brothers birthday party. Sooooo I got outta bed and went out for the second time that night. We went to The Australian Bar ("The A Bar"), which I have never been to before...its right off of Norreport station.. half dance/club/bar and half pool tables and darts. Of course the Americans were all over the dance floor! I met my buddy's brother and their friends, they were all very nice to me but I felt bad like I was sorta crashing their "guy thing". Me and this kid Nate (from USA) pulled out the lawn mower dance move and were rapping to "ice ice baby". Around 4am everyone started to leave so Dino walked me home. He made some comment about my obsession of p-i-bs and I was sincerely offended so I pouted for awhile but then we got on the metro to go home. When we got here there was a group in my room being very serious because one of our friends (who is gay) got beaten up at Kulorbar. He was in our room with ice packs and in shock a little bit. I just can't understand how people can do that to other people. Already I've had more "real life" type situations than ever before... between being followed on the metro, assaults, and creepster guys. I'm really lucky that I have such a cool buddy who walks me home and shields me from that stuff but still I can't understand most of the things that happen like that.

Today we all slept in, hung out for awhile, and decided to go check out Christiania because pretty much everything else is closed on Sundays. Christiania is a gated area in part of Copenhagen where things are much more "free" there. It was basically the slums. Graffiti everywhere and a lot of people on/doing drugs. Definitely NOT my scene at all but I'm glad I experienced it. It would be the perfect scene for an anti-drug campaign! People living out of bikes or shacks, smoke everywhere, bear-sized dogs, garbage can fires with people dressed in rags, and even some children. So sad.

Now I'm back to my room and not feeling well at all. I'm definitely staying in and trying to beat this cold or flu or whatever. Its so weird that they don't have regular medicine like we're used to.

Tips/Thoughts:
**bring your own meds
**bring your own hair conditioner and gel
**dont bother straightening your hair, its so pointless
**bring hooks for coats, jewelry, etc
**bring a hamper/bag for dirty laundry
**bring hangers if possible (very expensive here)

Oh and intro week starts tomorrow, should be alot more exchange students (the ones who didnt do crash course) and my classes start Tuesday. Their scheduling is so weird here, its by weeks and every week you can have a completely different schedule and classes can easily overlap. I'm going to the International Office tomorrow to get my intro stuff and see if I can figure out my schedule because I'm not sure how you are supposed to do good if you cant even get to class..?? Dino and I are going to do that and get my CPR number tomorrow.

OH! and a correction.. my friend (yes buddy, we ARE friends :) ) Samual is actually from Switzerland and not Sweden, my bad!

School Bars and Shaving Cream

Back again, running on little or no sleep. Since I've last blogged, we went to Nexxus (CBS bar) and met Dino outside beforehand. When Elyse (roommate) and I went to the Metro station some creepy guy stayed on the escalator and was just watching us (i had a skirt on... ew..) and then he followed us around by the train. We ended up finding a CBS student (guy) who we stayed by and the creep finally left us alone. I think this big city lifestyle is a little shocking because this would NEVER happen in cambridge or lacrosse. They always say how safe this place is, but later that night we walked by a 7-11 that had just gotten robbed. Kinda scary. But anyways, Nexxus was just like the other bars we've been to--lots of dancing, beautiful people (I swear all Danes are gorgeous), and alot of interesting people. I met some of Dino's friend, so that was nice to be more assimilated with true Danish students and not in a crowd of foreigners. We ended up dancing all night then met up with the rest of our group downtown. Dino and I hung out/talked until forever, seriously probably until around 5:30am, its so nuts how long you can really stay out when things dont close. Oh..and side note.. i really didnt want to but was FORCED to get a p-i-b, and it was still delicious :)

The next day I didn't go to my crash course class because it was the last day and (sorta) optional. I went to the airport with Dino instead to pick up his "other" buddy. Her name is Jessica and she's nice, very short though which was funny because Dino and I are both pretty tall. We found her dorm (Holger Danske Vej), then I met Matt (a kid from lax) who also lives there. It was so nice to have someone from school there, very comforting. We eventually migrated to the big kitchen where a bunch of students were. After that we went to the crash course party. It amazing how many people you meet in just a week, I feel like I knew soooo many people. (Definitely do all of the planned activities, even if they seem lame, at least you can talk about how lame they are!) I think the bartender had a things for me though because he KEPT giving me my free ticket back and shots, it was sweet! The guys kept making me go get them drinks. I kept pulling out these "sweet" lines.. first i'd ask people "oh yea what are you going to school for?" (keep in mind its a BUSINESS school) then they'd say something in business and my response would be a puzzled look and say "Oh thats sooo weird, there are a ton of people going for something in business here!" Because they just met me they had no idea how to react, either call u out on it or try to be polite. Hilarious! Oh and then I had a straw and would talk to people i already knew and would say "oh yea so wait where are you from again?" as they're answering, u just start sipping their drink. I'm learning how to drink cheaply here!

After the party, our whole group was on the metro together and joking around, ben had my heels on and we were all joking around, it was a wild ride! Everyone came back to Torden (my dorm) after going downtown for a little while (Dino met us) and we played "never have I ever". I was definitely at the butt of alot of the jokes. When non-residents left, we went and put shaving cream on Josef and then everyone got wild with it. The doors had writing all over them with it and Ben picked me up and ran me all down the hall finally to push me up against the wall (still picking me up) so my back was covered in shaving cream. So for the rest of the night I smelled like a cheap old man, sooo gross! My roommate and I ended up staying up until a little after 7am talking. We woke up, got ready, and went on the canal trip today. Horrible weather and you couldn't understand what the guide was saying at all. We all went to dinner at "Danish Lunch" and had $15 sandwiches that were terrible, still a real meal though so that's nice.

Okay well off to nap now :)

A few more things before I forget...

A prewarning (again) that this is my story of studying abroad in copenhagen. A real live view that may be harsher than what some people want to see/know but this is all I've got to remember it by so just skip those parts then!

...a link to my first pictures of the trip:

http://uwlax.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2095421&l=3a0da&id=73404302

...and my address:

Katherine Zibell
Tordenskjoldsgade
Tordenskjoldsgade 30, room 207a

they do their addresses all weird here but apparently thats right for now, unless i have to just have it mailed to the international office..? crap, i dont know..

I finally have a little time to update this blog! Things have been very busy for me lately so I hope I can remember everything thats been going on here. Okay the next day (after the last posting) I went to class from 1-5. I'm really beginning to like this class because everyone in it is hilarious. I find myself laughing more than learning almost all of the time. My new friends Rob (from Holland), Patty (from Ireland, haha), Samuel (from Sweden), Nicole (from California) Peter (from Slovakia), and a few others too are all in my class. The breaks from the class (we get 2 15min breaks) are so much fun!! Its almost all of the international students just hanging out together. That night we went ice skating... i cant describe how hilarious a bunch of foreigners trying to ice skate is...! After that we all went to Netto (cheap grocery store) and bought some beverages for the night. It reminds me of Quillins on a Thursday, Friday, or Saturday night in lax. That night we had people over to our residence (about 70people on 2 floors) which was a ton of fun. I had so much fun meeting people and hanging out with the guys from my floor. After awhile we went out downtown to The Wall Street bar. After maybe 5 minutes the dance floor was packed with international students. Everyone was dancing and having a good time and we loved the fact that they played such old music (like hot in 2004) haha. My new favorite obsession is pigs-in-a-blanket from 7-11. Its pretty much like Taco Bell in lax.. haha.

School the next day, then we had a planned party in Porceilianhaven residence. Our whole dorm went out together and had a stop at the Netto before hand. The party was just more international kids and the danish coordinators. I ended up meeting MORE dutch guys, who are apparently all nuts, and the Americans taught everyone how to play flip cup. After that, we went back to The Wall Street. Same story pretty much as the night before...lots of dancing and p-i-b (pigs in a blanket...im too ashamed to say I like these now!).

Today I was supposed to meet Dino but my alarm never went off again!!!!!!! I feel so bad that I didnt show, he came all the way from his town (50mins) to meet me. After that I went to the mall and bought a cell phone so this wont ever happen again. He was surprisingly fine with it and still wants to hang out tonight at Nexus (bar in our school). I went and bought more stuff at Fotex today because I'm already out of food. Ugh!

So there are some recaps of my days, here are some other thoughts in case I have any readers out there :) I think this trip would be completely different if I didn't have such good friends and family everywhere. I feel like even when I feel lost and all alone I'll come home and there will almost always be an email, instant message, or dormmate waiting to cheer me up. The internet here is slow or has a bad connection so its hard to respond to everything as I usually only have limited time online, I figured updating my blog would be a way to communicate with the most people.

Another big shock is the money. Things here are so expensive, beyond what I couldve ever imagined. For example, a box of Frosted Flakes is around $11 at the cheap grocery store. In time hopefully I'll find cheap alternatives and already have found Pearly Bay--Cape White wine for $6/bottle. Last night when I got home mom and dad were on webcam and I had a mini-breakdown about the money and everything. I came here hoping to be able to travel, go out, shop, etc, and it never crossed my mind that I would struggle even grocery shopping affordably. I just want someone to sympathize (sp??) with me and understand whats its like to not be able to buy the things you want, and barely the things you need. In time, like I said, I'm sure it will settle down and I'll be able to do all the things I came here to do but its just a little overwhelming right now. Im sure anyone would be more than happy to help me out if I need anything, especially my parents, but that's not really why I'm saying all this, it sounds like I'm just complaining and begging but thats definitely not my purpose at all. I should have had this all figured out before I got here!! Ahh frustrating!

Okay that was too much negative stuff because that was pretty much the one bad thing so far and soooo many good things I've left out. Like, for example, today I found bread for about $3 for a half loaf--I thought I was going to pee my pants I was so overcome with joy! And.. I actually let myself go into H&M today because apparently they were having a "slut spurt" (which apparently means sale..?) and I had to go down to the 2nd floor anyways.. maybe things arent soooo expensive if I figure out where to look. I found a verrrry cute bright yellow t-shirt for around $8, that made me feel better already! Tonight I'm skipping the international dinner to write this, get my stuff in order (oh we rearranged our room the other night too), and make sure im on time to meet dino!!!!!!

My feet hurt really reallly bad, I've been trying to bribe the guys here to give me a foot rub but for some reason they don't want to... weird foreigners! I feel like I have lost about 20lbs and toned every muscle in my body by walking long distances, up stairs, and carrying bags everywhere. Not to mention the food here is so much more nutritious and I havent been eating much because my hunger schedule is all messed up still. Anyways, I sure do miss everyone and hope everyone is doing well. If you have emailed me and I havent responded please know that I can't but want to!!!!

Jeg Hedder Katherine & The Curse of Dutch Boys

I guess things change pretty quickly around here. I thought I was going to stay in and catch up on sleep and somehow I ended up karaoke-ing to “Beat It” (by Michael Jackson) all night with some Dutch guys. It all started when my roommate’s friend, Chris, came in wearing a Giants jersey. We decided we needed to find the game and went downtown. Didn’t find it, but we did find a nice Irish pub and had a beer there. (One tap beer of Carlsberg was 53Kroner or $10.50) After that we were thinking about going back because I still hadn’t slept from the plane ride but we heard a lot of music and noise coming from Sam’s Karaoke Bar so we went in. Sure enough about 15 Dutch guys were singing and dancing in there. We decided to join them and after awhile found out that they had just won the European Championship for indoor hockey earlier that night. As soon as they found out that I hate karaoke, they forced me on stage to sing with them. We were all dancing up a storm and great time, and then we found out that it was 5:15am. I was meeting Dino for an entire day of activities at 10am.

This morning I was very tired and still jet lagged but I managed to get up and meet Dino. We got my Metro card and he showed me school and everything. I stayed there until my class started and went to eat in the cafeteria—had all my food and went to pay and found out they don’t take debit card. So I had to put it all back and decided to just go for a walk. I found the grocery store (called Fotex) and got money out of the ATM and some lunch. Class was alright, met some cool people from around the world. I can now say some phrases… “Jeg hedder Katie” which means “I am Katie”. After class we had an introduction meeting and then a social hour at the bar in the school. The social hour was really nice because I got to talk to and meet with a lot of interesting people. Everyone loves the fact that I am from Wis—connnnnn—sin and the guys in my dorm call me “Green Bay Kathy” which I know my LAX roommates will love! I can already tell that this is going to be a fun trip, everyone is so interesting and up for a good time.

A few things that sucked today:

1. Waking up

2: Not having a proper alarm clock

3: Still no hooks or bins to keep my stuff on/in

4: Trying to pay with anything on debit card (get cash!)

5: Feeling like a complete foreigner (please never be mean to one again, it sucks to be that person!!)

6: Fumbling around at the grocery store when everyone else knew what to do

7: Buying groceries before the social hour (people were calling me “Tuna” by the end because I had a whole bag full of it)

7: My body aches (must be the grocery-bag party accessory).

Things that I lucked out on and did right..

1. Wore comfortable and stylish shoes (they all wear tall brown or black rider boots over jeans.. seriously, I’d say 85%)

2. Got my metro pass because you get a 600K fine ($125) if you don’t have it with you. They came around and almost got Joseph (“Czech”)

Greetings from København :)

The traveling is finished for the most part and time to get down to business! Ahh I am so relieved that I am done in airports for awhile. My second flight went very well, I flew SAS Airlines and I got two drinks (mini wines, very cute), dinner, and a breakfast all included. I felt like I was getting bedsores after awhile for sitting so long but I think I will pull through. At the airport, I followed the flock to get my luggage thinking this is where Dino (my buddy) would be. I watched as the baggage claim carousel went around about 5 times and finally decided that I had gotten my luggage stolen from me. LUCKILY I didn’t feel like walking over to talk to anyone right away and sure enough my bags showed up J. Next I had to find Dino, I kept circling the baggage claim area for some reason and he wasn’t there. I talked to an airport official and said I would have to leave and re-enter..ughhh.. but as I left, I actually walked into where people meet from arrivals and there was Dino!

My cool buddy took me to the metro station and then we went to find my apartment. I am living about a ½ block away from downtown Copenhagen! It is awesome! The place is kind of junky but not too bad. Also, on the other side of my building is a canal. I have yet to explore that but I’m sure it won’t be too long until I do. When we arrived, I met my roommate—Elyse from Penn State—and then started unpacking. Dino hung around and we all got to talking for a few hours, it was very interesting to hear about their culture. After a short nap, Dino picked me up and we toured the downtown briefly. I can’t even put into words how amazing it is. The most beautiful buildings I have ever seen full of unique character, each one is different than the others and the sidewalk is all rocks. We walked past the Parliament buildings, Tivoli (amusement part/where outdoor concerts are held), eating places, shopping (amazing shopping.. I will be broke soon!), and down side streets. Then we went to this big tower that was a complete circle. Dino got us in and we walked all the way up on the stone floor until we reached the top. We walked out onto the roof and could see all of Copenhagen and even into Sweden. Dino told me that this building was constructed when some King (I was really tired to remember stuff) had driven Scandinavia into debt by building so many extravagant buildings. Apparently that broke up Scandinavia and why Denmark, Sweden, Norway, etc are all independent from each other.

Next on our list of things to do was to get some food. He has been telling me about these Turkish kabobs ever since we started emailing so I had to try one. It was like a hot chicken pita sandwich that you could walk around with and had some sauce on it. It was 40Kroner (or $8) which is very cheap here. As we continued our walk and I was over halfway done with my kabob, I noticed that sauce had been dripping all over me all while I was walking. So now my purse, jeans, and shoes are stained and smell like kabob sauce and I looked like the trashiest girl ever. Dino had a good laugh over it, which made me laugh about it too but still…!

When I came back to my apartment, I unpacked some more, talked to friends/family on webcam (still haven’t figured out the sound so if anyone knows how to do that…??), and went to our shared kitchen to check it out. I met a girl who lives on my floor and we talked for awhile, then I went to bed (again) only to be woken up by a group of kids who live in this building. They seem like a good group of people to be living by---A Canadian, an Irishman, a German, an English girl, and two other people from America. One guy goes to Madison and they were going to watch the first football game but I had just woken up and they were on their way out so I thought I’d try out our shower… it was horrible!!!!!! No water pressure and a showerhead that only trickled water out of the rim of it. Oh, and we don’t even have a bottom to our shower. Our bathroom is just a toilet, a sink, a drain, and a showerhead with a curtain separating the “shower”. No tub or separation at all from the bathroom floor from the “shower” floor. I feel like I look like Jerry Seinfeld when they had no water pressure...

I am going to bed for real this time because I have to wake up bright and early for my first real day here. Dino has some activities planned and then the crash course session in the afternoon.

So today is the day—Saturday, January 19, 2008—I have left everyone and everything behind to be sitting in the Newark, NY airport by myself eating gross cereal. I think this is the point in the trip when I really begin to question why I decided to do this…

The past week has been a busy one. I had my last few days at American Family, outings with friends, one last date, and one last night out with family. It seems like everything was going perfectly this past week—either I really am loved, or everyone is excited I’m leaving J. I’m hoping it’s the first one, but you never know I guess..! Wednesday for my last day of work we ordered in lunch (which was sweet) and that night I went to dinner with the girls. Thursday I hustled to get packed and that night went to Tru for wine and appetizers with my family (aunts, uncles, mom, grandma). I was planning on staying in that night and finish up some packing, etc but that didn’t happen.. I ended up meeting up with some guy friends who made my last night (un-re)memberable. So that’s not a word, but still..

I still cannot get over the fact that I am sitting here in crappy Newark and left behind my amazing friends, family, roommates (who are friends too…except Anna…haha (kidding)), “special” friends, co-workers, classmates, you name it and I’m pretty sure I would rather be hanging out with them! Today I feel like that person that everyone feels bad for, the one who seems to always be lost and down on their luck. I guess that’s because I pretty much have been lost all day and on my first flight I had to sit next to a Giants fan (I’m wearing a Favre shirt..), who then had to switch with a BABY. The baby turned out to be decently funny and handled the turbulent flight much better than I did. I thought her mom was going to have to start distracting me with the puppets she brought for the little girl. I just can’t wait until I’m on the final flight to Copenhagen and don’t have to worry about finding a connecting flight or taking some weird tram across the airport a million times.

All I see is happy families and giddy groups while I’m sitting here alone with a nerdy computer and the biggest “carry on” ever. Sometimes I feel like shouting “I HAVE FRIENDS!” to anyone who gives me a sympathy look for being alone..that would probably backfire though into the “oooh and she’s nuts too” pity looks so I’ll keep typing.

I feel like I should be more excited, but I guess it’s hard to be because all I know is what I’m leaving behind. It’s like I’m taking a gamble and have no idea what’s on the other side when I had it perfectly good before. I can’t wait to read this entry on my return flight to see how much has changed because I’m sure it will be a lot and hopefully in the best of ways.

Just a quick note in case anyone is actually reading this.. this is for my Academic Stipend Award but will be kept as my main source of journaling on the trip. So in case anything sounds weird (like the stages of cultural shock), that’s probably why. If you have any additional questions about anything, I would be more than happy to explain in more detail through an email (zibell.kath@students.uwlax.edu) or instant messenger (AIM: katie12uwl or MSN: katie_12_2005@hotmail.com). Emails or IMs are more than welcomed too if you just want to say hello or keep in touch, I would love to hear from everyone while I’m over there!!

….wish me luck…

So this is the first chance that I have gotten to update my blog since Christmas Eve. I have been so busy these past few weeks trying to manage working full time, catching up with friends and family, packing, and having some fun. A week from today I will be on my way to Copenhagen!! We are leaving Friday around noon and spending the night in Chicago before my 24 hours of traveling.

The other day I got an email from my Danish "buddy", he is a student at Copenhagen Business School who is going to be my mentor while I'm over there. His name is Dino and so far through emails we seem to get along good, same sense of humor, etc. I think I will really like having a buddy over there because I will not have to be so stressed out about finding my apartment, classes, and whatever else and really be able to relax and have a good time. Hearing from him was a big reality check because it makes it finally start to sink in that I'm really leaving.

Another thing that has me stressed out is money. Because the USD is doing poorly, I heard that everything is ridiculously expensive over there. I want to be able to travel, eat out, party, and shop alot but it sounds like that plan might have to be revised if I don't want to run out of money right away.

Only three more days of work left at American Family Insurance and I'm done with that place, for awhile at least. Oh and the other day I got a sweet surprise... my parents got me a new iPod for my trip!!! It's sweet and I am working on downloading videos so I can have things to do during my flights and layover. Other than this, I don't think I have really all that much to "blog" about right now.