Before any daily updates, I really felt like I needed to talk about an incident, or group of incidents, that have been going on in our area these past few days. I can't remember if I wrote about this in the last week or so, but a few Fridays ago there were people setting cars on fire in Copenhagen. It was due mainly to the Mohammed cartoonist conflict from years past in which a Danish cartoonist drew the Muslim god wearing a bomb as a turban with a lit fuse on it. Obviously, Muslims were upset about this and it caused quite a stir back a few years. Well, since Denmark is so liberal about free speech, they reprinted it recently. When Kosovo declared it's independence from Serbia there were demonstrations here in Denmark (and across the world) at the US Embassy. There were a few more political-based acts that spawned from that. The scariest, for me, was the bombing of a tanning salon. Other places like mainland Denmark or government buildings are scary to hear when things like that happen but for some reason knowing that a place I frequent and would never think twice about my safety there really hit hard.
Alright, on a lighter note--the past few days have been filled with workouts, cooking lessons, and a little schoolwork. I really like this new gym I joined, even if it probably was a waste of money since I'll be gone so much traveling. It's really weird too because in the locker rooms everyone showers publicly naked. I guess Midwest America is just not as "open" or whatever because I've never, ever seen/heard of that before. Sooooo weird! Monday Dino and I worked out together, it was nice to have a partner there to keep you motivated and he made me feel less like an outsider there since it was only my second time. During the afternoon, our daily routine lately has been to go to lunch and the library together (me and Dino). After getting some studying done, we go to Fotex and get food to make for dinner. One night we made fajitas, another night we were lazy and starving so we got a frozen pizza, and tonight we made big Italian sub sandwiches. It's fun to try and learn how to cook, but a little intimidating since his mom is such a good cook and I think he tells her how inexperienced at cooking I am. I think his family is really nice, even though I can't speak their language or understand them but whenever he talks to them on the phone they always say hi to me or ask about me.
Besides getting pretty much nothing schoolwork-wise accomplished tonight, we got the email for our Oslo cruise! We leave friday!!!!!!!!!! I'm excited to see something other than CPH for a weekend. Also tonight we had some interesting guests... Ben and Chris (Tordens residents) came in looking for clothes to wear to the 60s party on the cruise. They both snagged some of my tight jeans.. that's a kick to the ego for sure. It was hilarious though, I can't wait to see them at the party.
Other than that, no new news really to report.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Trip to Fields (the largest mall in Scandinavia)
Finally, some serious shopping at a real mall! Nothing like that to make you feel American. Fields is only a few metro stops away from Tordens and claims to be the largest mall in Scandinavia. Saturday we packed up early and headed to spend our millions there with Elyse, Dino, and Dino's brother. The mall itself was...interesting.. it reminded me of a mall. Nothing too big about it, 3 floors, some stores, and some restaurants. Dino and his brother let me and Elyse go wild on our own. We didn't buy too much at all, some high prices but cute clothes. We ate lunch at someplace called The American Diner or something, I had just eaten breakfast so I ordered a Miller (the first one I've seen alllll trip!). It was fun/interesting going with Dinos brother because he speaks less English than the three of us so I had to try and adjust my way of communicating. I realize that jokes that are funny in the US or among exchange students probably are interpreted completely different with non-native English speakers or people who are not accustomed to a more American sense of humor. There was a wal-mart type of store there which was the biggest store I've seen since coming here. We got a few groceries but that was about all. I cannot believe I just wrote a story about me, in a mall, and the conclusion wasn't about how I somehow need a job to fund my spree. Wow, that's impressive! After the day at Fields, we all came back to our residence and watched Superbad. For dinner, Dino and I went to this Turkish buffet right off Norreport. It was hidden on some back street, very cozy with candles on the table, Turkish decor, and very good food. I saw there was a patio outside and can't wait to try that in the spring. We ended up getting into some deep conversation and staying until after 11pm!! We had strawberry tea, which is amazing, I can't stop liking new kinds of tea! Each one is better than the next.
This morning some people from my residence all tried out "The Laundromat Cafe", a cute diner again off Norreport but one bus ride away. It was a funky/retro place that actually had washers and dryers in it. I had some greek yogurt with nuts and syrup and a strawberry smoothie. Total bill: $15. Not too bad, and it was busy but we got served pretty quick. After that I went to Fitnessdk to see about getting a gym membership, went back home, took a quick nap, then got all of my workout stuff ready and headed back to the gym. Fitness dk is a chain with locations all over Copenhagen, and one right across from Solbjerg Plads (our main school building). They had alot of equipment and a big projection screen with some TV show on it. I did the elliptical machine, some other machines, and abs before they closed. It felt great to workout again, I never remember how much better it feels to workout until I actually do it.
Coming home I did some laundry, made dinner, and talked to mom on msn for awhile. Still no homework has gotten done yet, but I have no classes tomorrow so me and the library have a hott date.
Earlier this week...hmm lets see if I can remember...
Thursday--I had classes straight from 8:55-3:20, which was crappy. Three class, overlapping each other, of course. After class I came home went running with Ben. I could lie and say I dominated at running, that I should start training for the olympics or something, but unfortunately I know he stalks my blogs on a constant basis and would totally call me out on that. So yea he's a much more endurance prone runner than I am, big deal, but I still did attempt to run! It was rainy and cold out anyways. A shower and a nap later and we're ready for Nexus. We went for happy hour from 8-9pm, nothing too exciting, alot of Tordens residents. Dino and his friends showed up a little later and I ended up getting a ride home in a sweet BMW! It was cool to see the city from outside the metro when traveling to and from school.
Friday--Dino came over and made us all European pancakes with nutella, he even let me flip a few of them. Very good, but I felt way too full afterwards. Elyse and I went tanning and to Aldi later in the day but the weather was so horrible we layed low for most of the day. That night a few Tordens folks went to Peder (the residence right by ours) to hang out, I didn't stay too late because I had been running on very little sleep and had to be up bright and early the next day for shopping. When I got back my roommate was online and I ended up skype calling them. Skype is an online thing where you can call phones. We talked for about an hour, it really did make me realize how much I miss La Crosse. Just hearing the everyday banter and laughter made me smile.
..and that's all i know.. until next time, goodnight :)
This morning some people from my residence all tried out "The Laundromat Cafe", a cute diner again off Norreport but one bus ride away. It was a funky/retro place that actually had washers and dryers in it. I had some greek yogurt with nuts and syrup and a strawberry smoothie. Total bill: $15. Not too bad, and it was busy but we got served pretty quick. After that I went to Fitnessdk to see about getting a gym membership, went back home, took a quick nap, then got all of my workout stuff ready and headed back to the gym. Fitness dk is a chain with locations all over Copenhagen, and one right across from Solbjerg Plads (our main school building). They had alot of equipment and a big projection screen with some TV show on it. I did the elliptical machine, some other machines, and abs before they closed. It felt great to workout again, I never remember how much better it feels to workout until I actually do it.
Coming home I did some laundry, made dinner, and talked to mom on msn for awhile. Still no homework has gotten done yet, but I have no classes tomorrow so me and the library have a hott date.
Earlier this week...hmm lets see if I can remember...
Thursday--I had classes straight from 8:55-3:20, which was crappy. Three class, overlapping each other, of course. After class I came home went running with Ben. I could lie and say I dominated at running, that I should start training for the olympics or something, but unfortunately I know he stalks my blogs on a constant basis and would totally call me out on that. So yea he's a much more endurance prone runner than I am, big deal, but I still did attempt to run! It was rainy and cold out anyways. A shower and a nap later and we're ready for Nexus. We went for happy hour from 8-9pm, nothing too exciting, alot of Tordens residents. Dino and his friends showed up a little later and I ended up getting a ride home in a sweet BMW! It was cool to see the city from outside the metro when traveling to and from school.
Friday--Dino came over and made us all European pancakes with nutella, he even let me flip a few of them. Very good, but I felt way too full afterwards. Elyse and I went tanning and to Aldi later in the day but the weather was so horrible we layed low for most of the day. That night a few Tordens folks went to Peder (the residence right by ours) to hang out, I didn't stay too late because I had been running on very little sleep and had to be up bright and early the next day for shopping. When I got back my roommate was online and I ended up skype calling them. Skype is an online thing where you can call phones. We talked for about an hour, it really did make me realize how much I miss La Crosse. Just hearing the everyday banter and laughter made me smile.
..and that's all i know.. until next time, goodnight :)
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
A month flew by..
I cannot believe it has been a MONTH since I've arrived! Time has gone by so quickly, yet I think back to where I was a month ago and realize that alot has changed. I feel like I know the city so much better now, even though still not nearly as much as there is to know. I know more about some people here than I know about some people/friends I've known my whole life. Today I even caught myself about to roll my eyes at someone fumbling to understand the metro, weeks ago that was me not knowing what was going on and hating the person looking at me!
A quick recap on the past few days..
Saturday night--we were going to try and find this bar called "Blue Buddha" downtown but walked around and couldn't find it anywhere, so we ended up at Top Dollar. Near Kulor Bar, but with different music and a whole different crowd. We were all dancing and have a good time, more of a place that true Danes hang out in I would guess. After that I met Dino and his friends and were on our way to A-Bar, but ended up not going there, I think a fight or something broke out...?
Sunday--I was sooo exhausted from the past few days that I couldn't stop sleeping! I'm not sure how many total hours, but it was alot. I wonder if I can still use the "Oh it must be jet lag" excuse..? A little studying got done, but only a very little, it's hard to really focus when you have no classes on Monday.
Monday--Woke up early, ran some errands, which lead me to Norreport, then I was supposed to meet Dino for lunch, but I got lost. Not sure how or where, but I ended up right back where I started. We tried this place called "Sunway" (not kidding), it was a complete rip off of Subway, only the guy didn't understand English very well apparently because only one of the 4 vegetable I ordered made it on my sub, along with a few other random things and this sweet mustard sauce that I guess I don't like. So that was a failure. We hung around for awhile after that, then we were both hungry (still for me and again for him) so we went to Sunset Blvd. We ended up sitting and talking there for a long time, which means still no studying done at this point, then, finally around 4-5pm to the library! Stayed and studied there for awhile, then to Fotex for some groceries. Wooo exciting Monday night!
Tuesday--Had Corporate Finance and Societies in Transition classes today until 6pm. I brought my computer (still with no battery) and luckily the Societies in Transition room had plug-ins so I finally got to use it. Too bad I really don't need it for that class and the class is really boring, so I confess, I didn't pay too much attention. Ended up instant messaging the guys sitting next to me the majority of the time.. oops.. Afterwards, met Dino at the library, then we decided we would try to cook together. So at Fotex we got ingredients for fajitas/tacos... that was interesting. They turned out pretty dang good if you ask me, I think he was impressed by my domestic abilities. After our late dinner, we walked by the canal for awhile because it was a really nice night out, then he went home and I finally got to studying.. hours later Elyse and I still were not in bed. We got an unusual wake up call around 3:30 am from Ben and Warner, they were being destructive in the hallway and then in our room. Now my computer chair is broken (thanks jerk ben), our alarm clock got unplugged, so did my computer, and other random happenings.
Today--Waking up was a bit rough on no sleep... especially when a full day at the library is the only thing to look forward to. Dino and I met and he ate lunch, then studying. I got quite a bit done--International Management assignment and readings, and Corporate Finance assignment and readings. It took probably 3 hours in total though :( After that we headed off to Magasin, this fancy department store that for some reason sells food too because we heard there was an "American sale". I don't know how much of the "sale" part was true, or the "American" for that matter. Things that were/are perceived to be American--Campbells soups, Starbucks coffee, beer, alfredo and marinara sauces, peanut butter, and marshmallows. Interesting.... and as for "sale", a big thing of condensed chicken noodle soup was 25kr, or $5, which for being on sale I'd say is a rip off. For some reason I was still tempted to buy chicken noodle soup, tomato soup, 2 things of marshmallows, and peanut butter. My total bill was $21!!! For that little amount of food! I'm still not really sure why I bought it all, I guess because I was in a frenzy when I saw the red/white/blue flag and food with instructions I could actually read. When we got back I had Dino try "American" peanut butter. He didn't notice a huge difference, and I haven't tried Danish/European peanut butter so I couldn't really judge. We busted out the chicken soup for dinner.. I think he was really grossed out by it, and honestly so was I. After dinner he had some GREAT news to share................ we had been talking about going to Croatia/Montenegro for a trip at some point and he told me that he was looking into tickets and found some cheap ones in May for about 7-10 days. He has family/summer homes in Montenegro so lodging and food will be taken care of. Plus, he speaks a little of the language and is fluent in Bosnian so I won't have to worry about that. He said his mom was also looking and found package deals for really cheap too, ahhhhh how exciting!!!! If you don't know Croatia/Montenegro, please please either use Google Images to see pictures or youtube.com to view videos. It looks amazing I'm so excited!!!
A quick recap on the past few days..
Saturday night--we were going to try and find this bar called "Blue Buddha" downtown but walked around and couldn't find it anywhere, so we ended up at Top Dollar. Near Kulor Bar, but with different music and a whole different crowd. We were all dancing and have a good time, more of a place that true Danes hang out in I would guess. After that I met Dino and his friends and were on our way to A-Bar, but ended up not going there, I think a fight or something broke out...?
Sunday--I was sooo exhausted from the past few days that I couldn't stop sleeping! I'm not sure how many total hours, but it was alot. I wonder if I can still use the "Oh it must be jet lag" excuse..? A little studying got done, but only a very little, it's hard to really focus when you have no classes on Monday.
Monday--Woke up early, ran some errands, which lead me to Norreport, then I was supposed to meet Dino for lunch, but I got lost. Not sure how or where, but I ended up right back where I started. We tried this place called "Sunway" (not kidding), it was a complete rip off of Subway, only the guy didn't understand English very well apparently because only one of the 4 vegetable I ordered made it on my sub, along with a few other random things and this sweet mustard sauce that I guess I don't like. So that was a failure. We hung around for awhile after that, then we were both hungry (still for me and again for him) so we went to Sunset Blvd. We ended up sitting and talking there for a long time, which means still no studying done at this point, then, finally around 4-5pm to the library! Stayed and studied there for awhile, then to Fotex for some groceries. Wooo exciting Monday night!
Tuesday--Had Corporate Finance and Societies in Transition classes today until 6pm. I brought my computer (still with no battery) and luckily the Societies in Transition room had plug-ins so I finally got to use it. Too bad I really don't need it for that class and the class is really boring, so I confess, I didn't pay too much attention. Ended up instant messaging the guys sitting next to me the majority of the time.. oops.. Afterwards, met Dino at the library, then we decided we would try to cook together. So at Fotex we got ingredients for fajitas/tacos... that was interesting. They turned out pretty dang good if you ask me, I think he was impressed by my domestic abilities. After our late dinner, we walked by the canal for awhile because it was a really nice night out, then he went home and I finally got to studying.. hours later Elyse and I still were not in bed. We got an unusual wake up call around 3:30 am from Ben and Warner, they were being destructive in the hallway and then in our room. Now my computer chair is broken (thanks jerk ben), our alarm clock got unplugged, so did my computer, and other random happenings.
Today--Waking up was a bit rough on no sleep... especially when a full day at the library is the only thing to look forward to. Dino and I met and he ate lunch, then studying. I got quite a bit done--International Management assignment and readings, and Corporate Finance assignment and readings. It took probably 3 hours in total though :( After that we headed off to Magasin, this fancy department store that for some reason sells food too because we heard there was an "American sale". I don't know how much of the "sale" part was true, or the "American" for that matter. Things that were/are perceived to be American--Campbells soups, Starbucks coffee, beer, alfredo and marinara sauces, peanut butter, and marshmallows. Interesting.... and as for "sale", a big thing of condensed chicken noodle soup was 25kr, or $5, which for being on sale I'd say is a rip off. For some reason I was still tempted to buy chicken noodle soup, tomato soup, 2 things of marshmallows, and peanut butter. My total bill was $21!!! For that little amount of food! I'm still not really sure why I bought it all, I guess because I was in a frenzy when I saw the red/white/blue flag and food with instructions I could actually read. When we got back I had Dino try "American" peanut butter. He didn't notice a huge difference, and I haven't tried Danish/European peanut butter so I couldn't really judge. We busted out the chicken soup for dinner.. I think he was really grossed out by it, and honestly so was I. After dinner he had some GREAT news to share................ we had been talking about going to Croatia/Montenegro for a trip at some point and he told me that he was looking into tickets and found some cheap ones in May for about 7-10 days. He has family/summer homes in Montenegro so lodging and food will be taken care of. Plus, he speaks a little of the language and is fluent in Bosnian so I won't have to worry about that. He said his mom was also looking and found package deals for really cheap too, ahhhhh how exciting!!!! If you don't know Croatia/Montenegro, please please either use Google Images to see pictures or youtube.com to view videos. It looks amazing I'm so excited!!!
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Happy Danish Valentines Day.. and more
Haven't had a chance to update in awhile, very busy with school and everything. Lets see, a short recap of my past few days here... Tuesday I had a full day of classes (2 classes--6hrs), and then went to the library to work/study until about 9pm, so really nothing exciting. Wednesday I had no classes because my one workshop got moved to Friday. I was still up early though.. 7:30am.. got ready and to the library for the day it was. I had to work on this group project for my Sports Economics class, we presented on Friday, so I got that completed along with readings for International Management and Corporate Finance.
I decided to take a break and get some shopping done at Norreport. (Shopping because I had just recently found out that I had plans for Valentines Day... Dino was surprising me with a whole night of activities!!) While at Norreport, I finally broke down and got a Nutella crepe for lunch, I have been wanting one ever since senior year of high school when we were in Paris and would eat them all the time. It was amazing! On to shopping for a Danish valentines gift--this was tricky because I had no idea what we were doing, maybe it was casual like dinner and walking around the city or going to a movie or who knows maybe it was alot more formal than that. I know he likes psychology so I was thinking about getting him a psych book (I now realize how poor my gift giving skills are..), went into the bookstore and wandered around, finally found what I assumed was the psych section and remember that I dont speak Danish at all so there was no way I would have any idea what I was buying which made me nervous so I decided I'd keep looking. Same thing with the card, there were only 2-3 English cards so I had to settle on a really lame one instead of taking a chance on a Danish one. I ended up finding this shirt for him at a store downtown CPH (Copenhagen) where the two people working (male and female) helped me pick out the right one and gave me some pointers on how Valentines Day is celebrated in Denmark. Sounded more casual than in the US... no one really knows/cares, which is kinda sad. I like it in the states on Valentines day when people are all in a good mood, excitement about getting flowers and nice cards, etc.
After my shopping break I went back to school to meet Dino and try and get my computer battery figured out once and for all. Apparently they canceled the order b/c I tried using my card but having it sent to his address. It ended up taking around 1.5hrs and still got nowhere. ahhh frustrating!!! At 4pm I had a group mtg for my Sports Econ project. I definitely felt some culture shock there. At UWL when you have group things everyone is done with what theyre supposed to be done with and are prepared. I can pick out only a handful of times I showed up to a group meeting (there have been plenty!) and someone didnt have a part of their stuff done. Here I was the ONLY one who had everything completed. I thought I might flip out for a second b/c how the heck are things supposed to go good when you dont even have your stuff done?! I had to realize that this wasn't La Crosse anymore so I couldn't impose the standards of the UWL culture to this situation. It was so hard to just sit there and listen to why people weren't prepared.
After that I met Dino again b/c he was in a mtg too, then we walked to the Metro together and got on the subject of dinner.. I told him I was probably having chicken noodle soup and he laughed at me. He was determined to get me some "good" food. (I, personally, consider chicken noodle soup to be one of the best foods, but whatever..) So we went into Fotex and he was translating everything from ingredients to nutritional information to cooking instructions. Finallly got some really good groceries! Later that night was dedicated to planning spring break and homework. Spring break--we're flying into Paris on March 12th and planning on staying in Paris for a few days, then going to Spain, flying back from Madrid to Berlin, staying there for a few days, then back to CPH. Whew. Should be fun!!!!!!!!!!!!! That night everyone was hanging out in the common room on 3rd floor, I ended up staying there until around 2am, and I had class in the morning...ahh.
Three hours of sleep really doesnt cut it when you have a full day of classes. I walked to my first class, figured out it had moved since last week so I ended up doing my homework and hoping to cut in during one of the breaks, didn't happen though plus I had another class that overlapped it so I got my homework done, got some lunch, and then went to International Management. More group work where I was the only one out of 7 people who did the reading!!! I cant believe this! I know everyone is on exchange and its supposed to be fun but it was only about a 15pg article which is nothing compared to the other readings you get here. Unreal. After that I went tanning and then to the library for awhile so I would be free for Valentines Day celebrations!
Okay--my Danish Valentines Day experience.. Dino showed up at exactly 7pm, dressed up and had a single rose. I figured it was going to be a good time after that! We walked to Mamarosa, an italian/mexican restaurant right in the center of the city. He had a table reserved on 4th floor with a welcome drink waiting and everything. The food was sooo good, the place was cool. After dinner we walked some more, ending up at the first place we ever went in Copenhagen. It was the old, round, tower where you can see whole city. It was decorated with candles and red blankets in every windowsill (there are a ton on the way up), we sat in one for awhile and a photography student asked to take our picture..haha weird! We ended up walking to the top, there was telescopes set up to see Saturn and an area where you could look up at the stars. Afterwards we got some tea and stopped at a windowsill again for awhile. When we left there was a bike taxi waiting for us! Ahh it was sooo cool! We rode around and down by the canal, etc. AND there were chocolates, champagne, roses, and a heart shaped pillow too :) I don't think I could've asked for a better Valentines Day. Seriously it was pretty much a page out of a fairytale :)
Then Friday came and I had to do a presentation, it went pretty good, it was in our Sports Econ workshop so smaller groups and we got into some pretty interesting discussions on all sorts of topics. I met Dino for lunch and then had Corporate Finance lecture. I went and picked up my camera (which finally came in) after that, turns out its exactly the same one I had before only it works. Then I came back, relaxed, took a nap, and then we all got ready to go out. We played beer pong and listened to country music, it made me feel so at home! We went out to Club Vega, on the other side of town, free entrance and somehow free beer too. There was some really popular DJ there, it was pretty fun although not my type of music. Today (saturday) I have been completely lazy, talked to mom and finally updated this blog! I should probably go and do something...
I decided to take a break and get some shopping done at Norreport. (Shopping because I had just recently found out that I had plans for Valentines Day... Dino was surprising me with a whole night of activities!!) While at Norreport, I finally broke down and got a Nutella crepe for lunch, I have been wanting one ever since senior year of high school when we were in Paris and would eat them all the time. It was amazing! On to shopping for a Danish valentines gift--this was tricky because I had no idea what we were doing, maybe it was casual like dinner and walking around the city or going to a movie or who knows maybe it was alot more formal than that. I know he likes psychology so I was thinking about getting him a psych book (I now realize how poor my gift giving skills are..), went into the bookstore and wandered around, finally found what I assumed was the psych section and remember that I dont speak Danish at all so there was no way I would have any idea what I was buying which made me nervous so I decided I'd keep looking. Same thing with the card, there were only 2-3 English cards so I had to settle on a really lame one instead of taking a chance on a Danish one. I ended up finding this shirt for him at a store downtown CPH (Copenhagen) where the two people working (male and female) helped me pick out the right one and gave me some pointers on how Valentines Day is celebrated in Denmark. Sounded more casual than in the US... no one really knows/cares, which is kinda sad. I like it in the states on Valentines day when people are all in a good mood, excitement about getting flowers and nice cards, etc.
After my shopping break I went back to school to meet Dino and try and get my computer battery figured out once and for all. Apparently they canceled the order b/c I tried using my card but having it sent to his address. It ended up taking around 1.5hrs and still got nowhere. ahhh frustrating!!! At 4pm I had a group mtg for my Sports Econ project. I definitely felt some culture shock there. At UWL when you have group things everyone is done with what theyre supposed to be done with and are prepared. I can pick out only a handful of times I showed up to a group meeting (there have been plenty!) and someone didnt have a part of their stuff done. Here I was the ONLY one who had everything completed. I thought I might flip out for a second b/c how the heck are things supposed to go good when you dont even have your stuff done?! I had to realize that this wasn't La Crosse anymore so I couldn't impose the standards of the UWL culture to this situation. It was so hard to just sit there and listen to why people weren't prepared.
After that I met Dino again b/c he was in a mtg too, then we walked to the Metro together and got on the subject of dinner.. I told him I was probably having chicken noodle soup and he laughed at me. He was determined to get me some "good" food. (I, personally, consider chicken noodle soup to be one of the best foods, but whatever..) So we went into Fotex and he was translating everything from ingredients to nutritional information to cooking instructions. Finallly got some really good groceries! Later that night was dedicated to planning spring break and homework. Spring break--we're flying into Paris on March 12th and planning on staying in Paris for a few days, then going to Spain, flying back from Madrid to Berlin, staying there for a few days, then back to CPH. Whew. Should be fun!!!!!!!!!!!!! That night everyone was hanging out in the common room on 3rd floor, I ended up staying there until around 2am, and I had class in the morning...ahh.
Three hours of sleep really doesnt cut it when you have a full day of classes. I walked to my first class, figured out it had moved since last week so I ended up doing my homework and hoping to cut in during one of the breaks, didn't happen though plus I had another class that overlapped it so I got my homework done, got some lunch, and then went to International Management. More group work where I was the only one out of 7 people who did the reading!!! I cant believe this! I know everyone is on exchange and its supposed to be fun but it was only about a 15pg article which is nothing compared to the other readings you get here. Unreal. After that I went tanning and then to the library for awhile so I would be free for Valentines Day celebrations!
Okay--my Danish Valentines Day experience.. Dino showed up at exactly 7pm, dressed up and had a single rose. I figured it was going to be a good time after that! We walked to Mamarosa, an italian/mexican restaurant right in the center of the city. He had a table reserved on 4th floor with a welcome drink waiting and everything. The food was sooo good, the place was cool. After dinner we walked some more, ending up at the first place we ever went in Copenhagen. It was the old, round, tower where you can see whole city. It was decorated with candles and red blankets in every windowsill (there are a ton on the way up), we sat in one for awhile and a photography student asked to take our picture..haha weird! We ended up walking to the top, there was telescopes set up to see Saturn and an area where you could look up at the stars. Afterwards we got some tea and stopped at a windowsill again for awhile. When we left there was a bike taxi waiting for us! Ahh it was sooo cool! We rode around and down by the canal, etc. AND there were chocolates, champagne, roses, and a heart shaped pillow too :) I don't think I could've asked for a better Valentines Day. Seriously it was pretty much a page out of a fairytale :)
Then Friday came and I had to do a presentation, it went pretty good, it was in our Sports Econ workshop so smaller groups and we got into some pretty interesting discussions on all sorts of topics. I met Dino for lunch and then had Corporate Finance lecture. I went and picked up my camera (which finally came in) after that, turns out its exactly the same one I had before only it works. Then I came back, relaxed, took a nap, and then we all got ready to go out. We played beer pong and listened to country music, it made me feel so at home! We went out to Club Vega, on the other side of town, free entrance and somehow free beer too. There was some really popular DJ there, it was pretty fun although not my type of music. Today (saturday) I have been completely lazy, talked to mom and finally updated this blog! I should probably go and do something...
Monday, February 11, 2008
My Swedish Surprises :)
Ahhh Sweden, my new favorite place!! I have so much to blog about this could take hours to write.. better start at Saturday night and go from there.
Sat. Night--Halloween party. I dressed up as Angelina Jolie, pretty much just a short black dress with huge sunglasses. My Japanese neighbor agreed to be my multi cultural child, plus a good excuse to search for a Brad Pitt :) The party was at Pink, a club by my most hated Kulor Bar, but its more of a hard rock place. It was pretty crowded, hard to move around and I had to wake up early the next day to go to Sweden so I only stayed for a little while.
***Interesting note--my camera BROKE! Don't know how/when, but its done for, luckily Dino brought his for the trip*******
SWEDEN TRIP! Okay onto the good stuff now. Sunday morning began with me being woken up from the buzzer on our door going off like crazy. I knew that couldnt be good--sure enough, my alarm failed me again and I had 4 missed calls from Dino. I had asked him to call to make sure I was up cuz my alarm on my phone is so unreliable, turns out I just dont wake up to hardly anything. So I quickly got ready and we were off. We ate breakfast at this bagel shop on Kongens Nytorv (my metro stop), hopped on the metro and then got on a train at Norreport station and took it all the way to whatever stop we get off to go to Dinos place. His car was parked there and we took it to his place. It is soooo weird to be in a car again. The cars are pretty much like in the US except they're all stick shifts, I couldn't stop laughing though when I saw his speedometer. Because it's measured in km/hr, so in town he was going a whopping 50kph... hilarious because we were going sooo slow but it said "50", later we were going an astounding 110 or something like that. His place is soooooo freaking cute. So much less clutter than most American homes. Simple and relaxing decorating, reminded me of some Chinese yen or whatever that was called, just calming and it was spotless. His mom even made me P-I-Bs!!!! Homemade bread and everything, what a lady. I didn't meet his parents at that time because we just grabbed the camera and were off. We drove through his town to Helsingør , the drive was so pretty. Right on the coastline with houses all different shapes and colors, people out and about all around. We parked and walked around the main street there, it was all cobblestone like Copenhagen with the same side streets as the city but a much more relaxed and cozy feel. It was Sunday so nothing was open, but we did find a cafe/restaurant and got a coffee while we walked around. After awhile we decided it was time to get a move on and get to Sweden! We boarded the ferry ship, which was huge, like a cruise ship pretty much. A big store, bars, restaurants, you name it it was on that ship. We went out onto the deck so we could see Denmark and Sweden at once.
Sweden is so pretty, reminds me of a version of Copenhagen. We went to Helsingborg, did a lot of walking around, everything was closed but they have much hilly-er (not a word, oops) streets than in Denmark. Still cobblestone though, which my feet hated. We walked up to this castle and took a lot of pictures there, sooo many stairs! When we reached the top we looked around it was huge! We walked through the streets and found the "football" (aka soccer) stadium where his brother played, reminds me of Camp Randall (Badgers stadium) or something. We were waiting for his friend Kayed so we sat on a bench and watched some (huge) ducks waddling around for awhile. For some reason I get such a kick out of the animals here, they're soo big!
We went back to the ferry dock to meet Kayed and were planning going to eat lunch at a Greek/Turkish restaurant. Kayed cracks me up, his English is not 100% the best but he is like the lovable guy everyone just laughs when he is around. They were both so nice to me the whole day--when Kayed heard me complaining that everything is closed on Sunday and how much that really cut into my shopping habits, they post-poned lunch and took me to the shopping center that was open. Kayed lives in Helsingborg and has a car so he knew his way around. We passed a genuine IKEA in Sweden, that was cool. When we got there they gave me 30 mins to shop, and did I ever make the most of it. I found a store with amazing sales, Sweden is much cheaper than Denmark. Found two shirts/tunics, a gray dress, hair conditioner, leggings, and an alarm clock and barely spent $50!!! I could barely find gum for less than that in Denmark. I tried to buy a digital camera while I was there so it would be cheaper, I called the guys over b/c I found one I really liked. We asked the guy if we could see it and his response: "Well actually thats an mp3 player" hahahaha... whoops! (In my defense, it did look like a camera)
Finally....lunch.. at about 4:30pm. This restaurant was delicious, I let Dino order me something from the menu--it was just a massive plate of all sorts of food. Chicken on sticks, sauces, salad, pasta, bread. For dessert--chocolate brownie w/homemade whipped cream. I thought I died and went to Heaven, it was amazing. The restaurant was decorated so cool inside too--dark with a ton of Greek/Turkish colors, paintings, and statues around, we sat in a big booth with pillows in it.
I thought they were going to have to hoist me out of the restaurant with a crane after that meal! It was getting dark and we still had to go to Dino's place for dinner so I figured we'd get going after that. We drove to the ferry station.. but then Kayed kept driving.. I was a little confused and then Dino told me Kayed had a surprise for me. I got a little scared when he stopped in a dark parking lot and told me to "get out"... I was confused and they told me to get in the front, but not the passenger seat. Drivers seat?! But I don't drive stick... well, I was going to learn! Can you believe it--surprise stick shift driving lessons in Sweden!! I was not by any means a pro and dropped the clutch (I think thats what its called...) right away. I thought I ran over something/one and felt so bad that I wrecked his car. Luckily I did neither, and kept trying. I finally got it once!!!!!! First AND second gear, I was cruisin around like none other. We decided I better stop on a good note, said our goodbyes, and to the ferry we went. What nice guys, seriously! Who just takes time out of their day to spend with a strange foreign girl and then teaches her how to drive stick on a Sunday night????
Meeting Dinos parents was quite the cultural experience. They speak no English and I speak absolutely no Danish or Bosnian (they are from Bosnia). We walked in, said "hello" and then they had to go to Dinos aunts house (we were later than expected due to my killer driving skills). His parents are sooo cute! Tall/lovable dad and the cute little mom. Even though I didn't understand them.. I'm pretty sure I would get a kick out of them. His mom had dinner waiting for us, something I have not had in awhile--a meal prepared w/o me having to make it or find it. She made homemade veggie/meat soup, tomatoes and corn on chicken, rice, and salad. All amazing. I was still pretty stuffed from the last feast but that was not going to stand in my way of a meal made by a mom. After dinner we watched the movie Guess Who and Hitch on his brothers flat screen. We bought chocolates on the ferry and had some of those--the perfect ending to the perfect "fat kid" day :)
*********PICTURES FROM THE TRIP ARE ADDED TO THE END OF THIS ALBUM:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2095849&l=5206c&id=73404302
To view, copy the line and paste it into the web browser address bar.**************
Today (Monday) has been pretty uneventful--meeting for our sports econ workshop presentation due on friday, library to work on that project, frederickberg centre to see about my camera (its completely broke, not worth fixing even), then back home for a housing meeting (long and boring), a quick dinner, some homework, and now blogging. The highlight of my day... PACKAGE FROM MOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So much valentines day candy, homemade chocolates, chicken noodle soup, lemon juice, hair conditioner, ahhh so much American stuff!!! I walked there with Dino and his friend Jamal, I had them try all the candy and chocolates. Watching them eat Warheads was priceless, probably how I look about 80% of the time I'm here trying new things. They were skeptical and curious, nice to be on the other side for a change!
Sat. Night--Halloween party. I dressed up as Angelina Jolie, pretty much just a short black dress with huge sunglasses. My Japanese neighbor agreed to be my multi cultural child, plus a good excuse to search for a Brad Pitt :) The party was at Pink, a club by my most hated Kulor Bar, but its more of a hard rock place. It was pretty crowded, hard to move around and I had to wake up early the next day to go to Sweden so I only stayed for a little while.
***Interesting note--my camera BROKE! Don't know how/when, but its done for, luckily Dino brought his for the trip*******
SWEDEN TRIP! Okay onto the good stuff now. Sunday morning began with me being woken up from the buzzer on our door going off like crazy. I knew that couldnt be good--sure enough, my alarm failed me again and I had 4 missed calls from Dino. I had asked him to call to make sure I was up cuz my alarm on my phone is so unreliable, turns out I just dont wake up to hardly anything. So I quickly got ready and we were off. We ate breakfast at this bagel shop on Kongens Nytorv (my metro stop), hopped on the metro and then got on a train at Norreport station and took it all the way to whatever stop we get off to go to Dinos place. His car was parked there and we took it to his place. It is soooo weird to be in a car again. The cars are pretty much like in the US except they're all stick shifts, I couldn't stop laughing though when I saw his speedometer. Because it's measured in km/hr, so in town he was going a whopping 50kph... hilarious because we were going sooo slow but it said "50", later we were going an astounding 110 or something like that. His place is soooooo freaking cute. So much less clutter than most American homes. Simple and relaxing decorating, reminded me of some Chinese yen or whatever that was called, just calming and it was spotless. His mom even made me P-I-Bs!!!! Homemade bread and everything, what a lady. I didn't meet his parents at that time because we just grabbed the camera and were off. We drove through his town to Helsingør , the drive was so pretty. Right on the coastline with houses all different shapes and colors, people out and about all around. We parked and walked around the main street there, it was all cobblestone like Copenhagen with the same side streets as the city but a much more relaxed and cozy feel. It was Sunday so nothing was open, but we did find a cafe/restaurant and got a coffee while we walked around. After awhile we decided it was time to get a move on and get to Sweden! We boarded the ferry ship, which was huge, like a cruise ship pretty much. A big store, bars, restaurants, you name it it was on that ship. We went out onto the deck so we could see Denmark and Sweden at once.
Sweden is so pretty, reminds me of a version of Copenhagen. We went to Helsingborg, did a lot of walking around, everything was closed but they have much hilly-er (not a word, oops) streets than in Denmark. Still cobblestone though, which my feet hated. We walked up to this castle and took a lot of pictures there, sooo many stairs! When we reached the top we looked around it was huge! We walked through the streets and found the "football" (aka soccer) stadium where his brother played, reminds me of Camp Randall (Badgers stadium) or something. We were waiting for his friend Kayed so we sat on a bench and watched some (huge) ducks waddling around for awhile. For some reason I get such a kick out of the animals here, they're soo big!
We went back to the ferry dock to meet Kayed and were planning going to eat lunch at a Greek/Turkish restaurant. Kayed cracks me up, his English is not 100% the best but he is like the lovable guy everyone just laughs when he is around. They were both so nice to me the whole day--when Kayed heard me complaining that everything is closed on Sunday and how much that really cut into my shopping habits, they post-poned lunch and took me to the shopping center that was open. Kayed lives in Helsingborg and has a car so he knew his way around. We passed a genuine IKEA in Sweden, that was cool. When we got there they gave me 30 mins to shop, and did I ever make the most of it. I found a store with amazing sales, Sweden is much cheaper than Denmark. Found two shirts/tunics, a gray dress, hair conditioner, leggings, and an alarm clock and barely spent $50!!! I could barely find gum for less than that in Denmark. I tried to buy a digital camera while I was there so it would be cheaper, I called the guys over b/c I found one I really liked. We asked the guy if we could see it and his response: "Well actually thats an mp3 player" hahahaha... whoops! (In my defense, it did look like a camera)
Finally....lunch.. at about 4:30pm. This restaurant was delicious, I let Dino order me something from the menu--it was just a massive plate of all sorts of food. Chicken on sticks, sauces, salad, pasta, bread. For dessert--chocolate brownie w/homemade whipped cream. I thought I died and went to Heaven, it was amazing. The restaurant was decorated so cool inside too--dark with a ton of Greek/Turkish colors, paintings, and statues around, we sat in a big booth with pillows in it.
I thought they were going to have to hoist me out of the restaurant with a crane after that meal! It was getting dark and we still had to go to Dino's place for dinner so I figured we'd get going after that. We drove to the ferry station.. but then Kayed kept driving.. I was a little confused and then Dino told me Kayed had a surprise for me. I got a little scared when he stopped in a dark parking lot and told me to "get out"... I was confused and they told me to get in the front, but not the passenger seat. Drivers seat?! But I don't drive stick... well, I was going to learn! Can you believe it--surprise stick shift driving lessons in Sweden!! I was not by any means a pro and dropped the clutch (I think thats what its called...) right away. I thought I ran over something/one and felt so bad that I wrecked his car. Luckily I did neither, and kept trying. I finally got it once!!!!!! First AND second gear, I was cruisin around like none other. We decided I better stop on a good note, said our goodbyes, and to the ferry we went. What nice guys, seriously! Who just takes time out of their day to spend with a strange foreign girl and then teaches her how to drive stick on a Sunday night????
Meeting Dinos parents was quite the cultural experience. They speak no English and I speak absolutely no Danish or Bosnian (they are from Bosnia). We walked in, said "hello" and then they had to go to Dinos aunts house (we were later than expected due to my killer driving skills). His parents are sooo cute! Tall/lovable dad and the cute little mom. Even though I didn't understand them.. I'm pretty sure I would get a kick out of them. His mom had dinner waiting for us, something I have not had in awhile--a meal prepared w/o me having to make it or find it. She made homemade veggie/meat soup, tomatoes and corn on chicken, rice, and salad. All amazing. I was still pretty stuffed from the last feast but that was not going to stand in my way of a meal made by a mom. After dinner we watched the movie Guess Who and Hitch on his brothers flat screen. We bought chocolates on the ferry and had some of those--the perfect ending to the perfect "fat kid" day :)
*********PICTURES FROM THE TRIP ARE ADDED TO THE END OF THIS ALBUM:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2095849&l=5206c&id=73404302
To view, copy the line and paste it into the web browser address bar.**************
Today (Monday) has been pretty uneventful--meeting for our sports econ workshop presentation due on friday, library to work on that project, frederickberg centre to see about my camera (its completely broke, not worth fixing even), then back home for a housing meeting (long and boring), a quick dinner, some homework, and now blogging. The highlight of my day... PACKAGE FROM MOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So much valentines day candy, homemade chocolates, chicken noodle soup, lemon juice, hair conditioner, ahhh so much American stuff!!! I walked there with Dino and his friend Jamal, I had them try all the candy and chocolates. Watching them eat Warheads was priceless, probably how I look about 80% of the time I'm here trying new things. They were skeptical and curious, nice to be on the other side for a change!
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Figuring it out
A quick update on my life--
Thursday after my opinionated blog I went in the common room and got talked into going out to Nexus with some guys on my floor. It was a pretty good time, they were making me laugh so hard on the metro ride there. Alex and Hideaki (who is Japanese) were sitting next to each other, for some reason Alex had his arm around Hideaki, and said "So, ya know I'm going to be in Tokyo in July" Hideaki responded "Oh you're staying in a hotel, right?" HILARIOUS! I met Dino and his friends there too, nothing too excited. I gave a Danish guy 200kr to get me a beer (its hell to try and get served if youre a girl there, way too pushy people) and he comes back with 2 beers--one for me, one for him, and no change! I said "Oh that was a pretty expensive beer, eh?" He fumbled around and finally gave me 140kr back, a beer is 25 so I clearly bought him one and left him a tip..
Friday I had class again, I finally feel like I'm figuring things out here a little bit. Since it was Corporate Finance class again (which I just had the day before) I didn't realize we had readings due for it, luckily its in a huge auditorium so it wasn't a huge deal. BUT I finally felt like I was somewhat with the program when he gave us a set of finance problems to answer, the first ones were pretty easy and then no one got the last one. For some reason I figured it out and I was the only one who raised their hands when he asked who had figured it out. So I had to explain it to the whole class, kinda nerdy but I guess I'm not always lost/confused! After class I went to the library to figure out all that I had to do for the weekend as far as schoolwork goes. It's going to be alot more work than I initially thought.
Last night we all went out to Kulor Bar, again, $12 entrance and free beer for 2hrs after that. Needless to say it got pretty amusing.
Today I have been pretty worthless--went grocery shopping (found an Aldi), its fashion week in Copenhagen so the entire downtown is decked out and I found a stain on my shirt as I was walking through the square..embarrassing.. did some studying, lounging, relaxing.
In other news--we booked a trip to PRAGUE!!! Not sure if I blogged about that yet or not, but yup april 16th we leave. We're going to a Halloween party tonight though, I don't have a costume.
Sweden tomorrow!!! Yay!
Thursday after my opinionated blog I went in the common room and got talked into going out to Nexus with some guys on my floor. It was a pretty good time, they were making me laugh so hard on the metro ride there. Alex and Hideaki (who is Japanese) were sitting next to each other, for some reason Alex had his arm around Hideaki, and said "So, ya know I'm going to be in Tokyo in July" Hideaki responded "Oh you're staying in a hotel, right?" HILARIOUS! I met Dino and his friends there too, nothing too excited. I gave a Danish guy 200kr to get me a beer (its hell to try and get served if youre a girl there, way too pushy people) and he comes back with 2 beers--one for me, one for him, and no change! I said "Oh that was a pretty expensive beer, eh?" He fumbled around and finally gave me 140kr back, a beer is 25 so I clearly bought him one and left him a tip..
Friday I had class again, I finally feel like I'm figuring things out here a little bit. Since it was Corporate Finance class again (which I just had the day before) I didn't realize we had readings due for it, luckily its in a huge auditorium so it wasn't a huge deal. BUT I finally felt like I was somewhat with the program when he gave us a set of finance problems to answer, the first ones were pretty easy and then no one got the last one. For some reason I figured it out and I was the only one who raised their hands when he asked who had figured it out. So I had to explain it to the whole class, kinda nerdy but I guess I'm not always lost/confused! After class I went to the library to figure out all that I had to do for the weekend as far as schoolwork goes. It's going to be alot more work than I initially thought.
Last night we all went out to Kulor Bar, again, $12 entrance and free beer for 2hrs after that. Needless to say it got pretty amusing.
Today I have been pretty worthless--went grocery shopping (found an Aldi), its fashion week in Copenhagen so the entire downtown is decked out and I found a stain on my shirt as I was walking through the square..embarrassing.. did some studying, lounging, relaxing.
In other news--we booked a trip to PRAGUE!!! Not sure if I blogged about that yet or not, but yup april 16th we leave. We're going to a Halloween party tonight though, I don't have a costume.
Sweden tomorrow!!! Yay!
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Stupid Americans
Not too much to blog about, but a few things that I did want to write about before I forget or they get lost in the mess of things I might have to say in a day or so. Corporate Finance class today, a 3hr lecture in which I got to early so I could plug my computer in and be able to keep up w/the class. There was ONE plug-in spot which, thankfully, I got. I turned my computer on once and it seemed fine, then I bumped the cord which turned it off and I could not get it to turn back on. I tried the other outlet in the spot and still nothing. During the break I walked down the hall and tried another outlet--nada. So great.. I haven't been here a month and my computer dies.. crap. After classes I met Dino so he could help me with some things and we brought my computer to IT, embarrassingly enough, it started right up after I was being so dramatic about it to the guy. Dino just rolled his eyes like "ooh this figures.." oh well I'm glad it works!
In my second class (International Management), we started talking about culture and its influence on our daily lives. One of the exercises we did was to discuss with someone from another background (country) to talk about how you view your country and what stereotypes your partner has about your country. I worked with a girl in my dorm from England who I know would never intentionally say anything to be mean or anything but it still sucked that Americans have the reputation of being "stupid, lazy, ignorant, conservative, and greedy". None of which surprised me in the least and like I said I know it was nothing personal but still it sucked. Its frustrating because thats what people say/think about us but yet I can't help but notice how many "American" things they seem to do or like. For example, in my other classes they always talk about the American model of accounting, of government, of management, you name it and it seems like the US comes up in some way. In Sports Econ, they sent people from the Euro football league to the super bowl to try and replicate that here in Europe. Just so many things that originate in the US and become mainstream in more than just our country and yet no one ever has nice/respectful things to say about Americans in general. I just want to say "well we can't be that stupid if you're doing things that originated in America." I would never want to have this mindset coming here that the US is right or the center or anything and wanted an open perspective but all I hear is negativity and I feel like I'm starting to get defensive in a way. About the "fat" stuff.. yes I agree, it is so unhealthy to be overweight and is a negative thing. BUT on the other hand, and in no way a defense for it, the lifestyles are completely different. We don't have special lanes designated just for bikers or ways of public transportation that can eliminate the need for vehicles completely. Or incentives from the government to be/stay healthy, or gyms on every corner. When it's snowing 15+ inches in small town Wisconsin how on earth are people expected to get as much daily exercise as if you are in the city and have to walk/bike an average of probably 3miles/day in decent weather? Americans are not the only ignorant ones.
In my second class (International Management), we started talking about culture and its influence on our daily lives. One of the exercises we did was to discuss with someone from another background (country) to talk about how you view your country and what stereotypes your partner has about your country. I worked with a girl in my dorm from England who I know would never intentionally say anything to be mean or anything but it still sucked that Americans have the reputation of being "stupid, lazy, ignorant, conservative, and greedy". None of which surprised me in the least and like I said I know it was nothing personal but still it sucked. Its frustrating because thats what people say/think about us but yet I can't help but notice how many "American" things they seem to do or like. For example, in my other classes they always talk about the American model of accounting, of government, of management, you name it and it seems like the US comes up in some way. In Sports Econ, they sent people from the Euro football league to the super bowl to try and replicate that here in Europe. Just so many things that originate in the US and become mainstream in more than just our country and yet no one ever has nice/respectful things to say about Americans in general. I just want to say "well we can't be that stupid if you're doing things that originated in America." I would never want to have this mindset coming here that the US is right or the center or anything and wanted an open perspective but all I hear is negativity and I feel like I'm starting to get defensive in a way. About the "fat" stuff.. yes I agree, it is so unhealthy to be overweight and is a negative thing. BUT on the other hand, and in no way a defense for it, the lifestyles are completely different. We don't have special lanes designated just for bikers or ways of public transportation that can eliminate the need for vehicles completely. Or incentives from the government to be/stay healthy, or gyms on every corner. When it's snowing 15+ inches in small town Wisconsin how on earth are people expected to get as much daily exercise as if you are in the city and have to walk/bike an average of probably 3miles/day in decent weather? Americans are not the only ignorant ones.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
The only tan girl in Denmark
Not only did I find soup and American TV.. but also TANNING BEDS! Its quite a hike to get there, probably 1.5-2miles and past Christiania. Their tanning beds are weird here.. no one is there to take your money, etc.. its just a place you walk in, put coins in a vending machine type thing, select your bed and then go tan. A little weird but I guess it makes sense, what do you really need a person there for anyways?
Before that, I finally did wake up somewhat early and went down by the canal to read. I had this perfect/relaxing morning all set up in my head, but I guess cultural differences kinda killed that for me. I walked into a cafe to get a coffee and the guy working was on his phone the entire time, smelled like booze and cigarettes, and just seemed annoyed of me for coming in there at all. I later found out from Dino that nobody just goes somewhere to relax and read unless its the library or their own house. So anyways I really didn't feel like staying in the restaurant/cafe with the mean guy so I got it to-go, only probably was it was freezing and windy outside. I tried sitting there and reading for awhile but was way too cold. That's when tanning came into play.
After that I booked it to Dalgas Have for my Societies in Transition class. It was pretty packed class, quite a few exchange student too. The class seems like it'll be alright, we dont have to buy a book.. just print off/read a bunch of supp readings (printing at CBS is 1kr/pg) which are about 30-40pgs each and roughly 3 due a class. Luckily we bought a printer (split 3ways) but still all that reading...sick.. we have a project to do for that, I'm in a group with Marc (fellow Torden res) and a girl who lives in Peders (next door neighbor dorm) then two other guys and we're doing Turkey economic transition.
After class I met Dino at Solbjerg Plads (main building) for dinner. We are going to Sweden on Sunday and I was trying to convince him we should leave Friday after my class and stay all weekend but apparently he's busy or something.. danget! But we're going to Helsinbourg which is nowhere near Stockholm and he said theres not much to do in more than one day. Elyse and I had a date at the library to get some reading done, I think its a bad idea to ever try and read when her and I are involved.. we got very little done then decided we should just go home.
Oh we had a lovely symphony orchestra concert at about 3am this morning/last night too.. apparently it was tequila tuesday at the happy pig and people were partying in our dorm too, not this girl though, class bright and early today for 3hrs. I might as well of been though b/c I still didn't get to sleep til around 4am thanks to the SAXOPHONE being played til then (Ben.. im talkin to u..).
Class wasn't toooooooo bad today, sports econ with our regular professor. The career fair was in Solbjerg Plads as well today, I went to that for a little while after class. The majority of companies need people who speak fluent Danish so count me out, but I did find one or two things of interest. When I got home I did some cleaning, ate lunch (chicken noodle soup :) ), called mom and grandma, then took a loooong nap. I did have a full day of things to get done like reading, grocery shopping, running, tanning, and who knows whatever else. Needless to say those didn't get done. I think right now I'll go pick up some groceries so I don't feel like a complete bum.
I hear the weather back home is pretty horrible.. 20inches of snow or something like that.. nuts. Glad i'm not there..!! haha. And the election coverage is pretty big here but I still feel like I'm living in a weird bubble where I know very little current events and when I get back I'll think everythings the same as it was January 19th. Music, TV, news, people, etc.. I know nothing!
Before that, I finally did wake up somewhat early and went down by the canal to read. I had this perfect/relaxing morning all set up in my head, but I guess cultural differences kinda killed that for me. I walked into a cafe to get a coffee and the guy working was on his phone the entire time, smelled like booze and cigarettes, and just seemed annoyed of me for coming in there at all. I later found out from Dino that nobody just goes somewhere to relax and read unless its the library or their own house. So anyways I really didn't feel like staying in the restaurant/cafe with the mean guy so I got it to-go, only probably was it was freezing and windy outside. I tried sitting there and reading for awhile but was way too cold. That's when tanning came into play.
After that I booked it to Dalgas Have for my Societies in Transition class. It was pretty packed class, quite a few exchange student too. The class seems like it'll be alright, we dont have to buy a book.. just print off/read a bunch of supp readings (printing at CBS is 1kr/pg) which are about 30-40pgs each and roughly 3 due a class. Luckily we bought a printer (split 3ways) but still all that reading...sick.. we have a project to do for that, I'm in a group with Marc (fellow Torden res) and a girl who lives in Peders (next door neighbor dorm) then two other guys and we're doing Turkey economic transition.
After class I met Dino at Solbjerg Plads (main building) for dinner. We are going to Sweden on Sunday and I was trying to convince him we should leave Friday after my class and stay all weekend but apparently he's busy or something.. danget! But we're going to Helsinbourg which is nowhere near Stockholm and he said theres not much to do in more than one day. Elyse and I had a date at the library to get some reading done, I think its a bad idea to ever try and read when her and I are involved.. we got very little done then decided we should just go home.
Oh we had a lovely symphony orchestra concert at about 3am this morning/last night too.. apparently it was tequila tuesday at the happy pig and people were partying in our dorm too, not this girl though, class bright and early today for 3hrs. I might as well of been though b/c I still didn't get to sleep til around 4am thanks to the SAXOPHONE being played til then (Ben.. im talkin to u..).
Class wasn't toooooooo bad today, sports econ with our regular professor. The career fair was in Solbjerg Plads as well today, I went to that for a little while after class. The majority of companies need people who speak fluent Danish so count me out, but I did find one or two things of interest. When I got home I did some cleaning, ate lunch (chicken noodle soup :) ), called mom and grandma, then took a loooong nap. I did have a full day of things to get done like reading, grocery shopping, running, tanning, and who knows whatever else. Needless to say those didn't get done. I think right now I'll go pick up some groceries so I don't feel like a complete bum.
I hear the weather back home is pretty horrible.. 20inches of snow or something like that.. nuts. Glad i'm not there..!! haha. And the election coverage is pretty big here but I still feel like I'm living in a weird bubble where I know very little current events and when I get back I'll think everythings the same as it was January 19th. Music, TV, news, people, etc.. I know nothing!
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Quick Odds & Ends
Just a quick post.. I updated pictures from the Thursday night before I left. You can see those and other pictures in my album by going to this link:
http://uwlax.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=33312347&l=7ea90&id=73404302
Also, Elyse found chicken noodle soup!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was amazing...! Also, found a website where I can watch TV :):)
http://uwlax.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=33312347&l=7ea90&id=73404302
Also, Elyse found chicken noodle soup!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was amazing...! Also, found a website where I can watch TV :):)
Monday, February 4, 2008
Productive Day
Yup, got talked into going out for the Super Bowl. So much for my night of being productive and catching up on sleep...! We went to a bar called The Happy Pig (when translated), maybe the most American thing I've done since being here. They had cheap beer and chili with the game on a big screen. It didnt start until 12:35am so I only stayed til halftime but it was nice to do something that familiar. I talked to mom a little bit when I got home, didn't go so well, then went to bed.
This morning my alarm clock (on my phone) didn't go off again..or at least I didn't wake up to it. Luckily I only slept an hour later. The whole day I was just getting stuff done--went to Tiger (a dollar general type store) and got a backpack for 50kr, a 4-hole punch, and other stuff for school. I met Dino at noon to get my student id card in order. All I had to do was stand at a kiosk and get my picture taken b/c it takes a week or longer to process so I easily could've done it before/after class someday but ahh well its done. I had to buy what I hope is my last book--Managing Across Cultures--now I have reading to do in that too. After that I took the long way home walking through some of the side streets to explore more. There are so many cool places that are hidden in these side streets.
Today I think my body started to fight back against my unhealthy lifestyle of the past 2 weeks because I was craving only healthy food. I went to the Netto and stocked up on stuff for some healthy meals. I even found what I thought was soup! Close to a can, more of a carton and I wasnt sure what flavor it was but I gave it a try. I think its a potato/onion thing... not half bad.. only it was not a very large portion for 25kr, I had half of it for lunch w/a salad. When I passed Tiger again, I broke down and bought a scale. I figured it would be a good investment and might in some way save me money if I realize I'm gaining an insane amount. Keeping with my spur of the moment health kick, I went to the vegetable/fruit stand on the corner by our apartment and got some fresh peppers, tomatoes, onions, and some bananas. I even did some form of physical activity today! I got ambitious and went for a run, I ran along the canal for awhile and then down some side streets and I think I passed the castle.. I was a little too into my song to notice at the time but I was surprised how much easier it is to run when theres interesting scenery to look at. Oh and I was brave and stepped on the scale.. moment of truth.. not too bad! I must be walking more than I noticed, but thats good since the other late-night activities counter that.
When I came back I went up to switch my laundry and met up with Jonathan, Mark, and Ben (I know you're reading this!) and we all hung out/talked for awhile. Somehow I got talked into doing Bens laundry too.. then Mark and Jonathan convinced me that they made bread together this morning and were letting it rise. I totally fell for it...clearly it was a joke.. then I made dinner--grilled chicken salad with fresh vegetables.
Other than that, my day has been pretty uneventful but I do feel like I got alot accomplished. I still have some readings to do and cleaning, hopefully tonight will be the night I go to sleep befor 4am!!!
This morning my alarm clock (on my phone) didn't go off again..or at least I didn't wake up to it. Luckily I only slept an hour later. The whole day I was just getting stuff done--went to Tiger (a dollar general type store) and got a backpack for 50kr, a 4-hole punch, and other stuff for school. I met Dino at noon to get my student id card in order. All I had to do was stand at a kiosk and get my picture taken b/c it takes a week or longer to process so I easily could've done it before/after class someday but ahh well its done. I had to buy what I hope is my last book--Managing Across Cultures--now I have reading to do in that too. After that I took the long way home walking through some of the side streets to explore more. There are so many cool places that are hidden in these side streets.
Today I think my body started to fight back against my unhealthy lifestyle of the past 2 weeks because I was craving only healthy food. I went to the Netto and stocked up on stuff for some healthy meals. I even found what I thought was soup! Close to a can, more of a carton and I wasnt sure what flavor it was but I gave it a try. I think its a potato/onion thing... not half bad.. only it was not a very large portion for 25kr, I had half of it for lunch w/a salad. When I passed Tiger again, I broke down and bought a scale. I figured it would be a good investment and might in some way save me money if I realize I'm gaining an insane amount. Keeping with my spur of the moment health kick, I went to the vegetable/fruit stand on the corner by our apartment and got some fresh peppers, tomatoes, onions, and some bananas. I even did some form of physical activity today! I got ambitious and went for a run, I ran along the canal for awhile and then down some side streets and I think I passed the castle.. I was a little too into my song to notice at the time but I was surprised how much easier it is to run when theres interesting scenery to look at. Oh and I was brave and stepped on the scale.. moment of truth.. not too bad! I must be walking more than I noticed, but thats good since the other late-night activities counter that.
When I came back I went up to switch my laundry and met up with Jonathan, Mark, and Ben (I know you're reading this!) and we all hung out/talked for awhile. Somehow I got talked into doing Bens laundry too.. then Mark and Jonathan convinced me that they made bread together this morning and were letting it rise. I totally fell for it...clearly it was a joke.. then I made dinner--grilled chicken salad with fresh vegetables.
Other than that, my day has been pretty uneventful but I do feel like I got alot accomplished. I still have some readings to do and cleaning, hopefully tonight will be the night I go to sleep befor 4am!!!
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Formal Dinner...and Studying?!?!
I thought the time would never come... but I actually have SCHOOL WORK to do! yuck. After an intense 2 weeks of fun, I guess I have to get back to reality. Okay but before that, lets back up to yesterday. We woke up, quickly got ready, then me and a girl on my floor went exploring again. We had the formal dinner later that night, so we were sorta looking in case we found anything cheap for that but mainly just checking out the city more. There are so many people out and about on Saturday, busier than I have ever seen the downtown area before. It was fun to be able to relax and just look around to see what we see. Found a few interesting stores.. some affordable one and some really expensive ones again. I will say that American shoes were definitely not made for any walking like they do here. The soles of mostly all of my shoes have taken a beating. And they dont sell the Dr Scholls insoles like they do back home. They only have the heel part or the very top part, hard to maneuver when youre trying to fit them into boots.
After shopping we all got ready and Dino came to pick me up for the formal dinner at 5:30. The dinner was held in Dalgas Have, a school building where we had our crash course. They did such a good job setting everything up, you would never know it was where we had class. It was nice to see everyone dressed up for a change and being somewhat classy. I finally had an occasion to wear the black halter Grandma got me for Christmas :):) The food was amazing, I ate like a machine because I still havent mastered the eating thing yet. They had roast beef, chicken (on sticks), potatoes, noodles, dessert, bread, oh my gosh everything it was so good. We had to draw random numbers when we got to the door and sit there, a good idea in theory, but not necessarily in practice. My table was..well.. interesting.. a very quiet group with absolutely nothing in common. I was too busy eating anyways to really care, then came the dancing/music/etc. I was way too full and food coma-ed to dance but it was nice to be able to talk to everyone and watch the band.
This morning (afternoon actually) I woke up and realized that today was the day that I had to actual do something besides socializing. Sooo I packed up my backpack with all my books and reading materials and headed to the library. The library is huge, about 4 floors and packed with students. I found a quiet little corner and got to work, probably logged about 70ish pages combined for my Corporate Finance and Societies In Transition classes. In a nerdy way I sorta enjoyed feeling like I had some purpose in life besides doing nothing. I'm guessing that'll pass in a few days though.. when I was sick of reading, I packed my backpack, which loudly broke (embarrassing!), so guess I gotta pick another one up. I tried to go figure out about the gym by school (fitnessdk) but they were closing in 15mins. Nothing stays open ever on Sundays. I found out I need my CPR card, student id card, and a Danish bank account. Its 299kr/month but with the way my lifestyle is going it'll probably be worth the money. Its supposed to be a really nice gym and its right by the school.
Tonight for dinner I tried to cook something...that failed miserably.. defaulted to "soup". Got yelled at for needing a computer battery.. and now have a bunch of cleaning/laundry/reading yet to do. Better get back to my exciting night!
PS--more pictures were added to the 2nd link from the formal dinner
After shopping we all got ready and Dino came to pick me up for the formal dinner at 5:30. The dinner was held in Dalgas Have, a school building where we had our crash course. They did such a good job setting everything up, you would never know it was where we had class. It was nice to see everyone dressed up for a change and being somewhat classy. I finally had an occasion to wear the black halter Grandma got me for Christmas :):) The food was amazing, I ate like a machine because I still havent mastered the eating thing yet. They had roast beef, chicken (on sticks), potatoes, noodles, dessert, bread, oh my gosh everything it was so good. We had to draw random numbers when we got to the door and sit there, a good idea in theory, but not necessarily in practice. My table was..well.. interesting.. a very quiet group with absolutely nothing in common. I was too busy eating anyways to really care, then came the dancing/music/etc. I was way too full and food coma-ed to dance but it was nice to be able to talk to everyone and watch the band.
This morning (afternoon actually) I woke up and realized that today was the day that I had to actual do something besides socializing. Sooo I packed up my backpack with all my books and reading materials and headed to the library. The library is huge, about 4 floors and packed with students. I found a quiet little corner and got to work, probably logged about 70ish pages combined for my Corporate Finance and Societies In Transition classes. In a nerdy way I sorta enjoyed feeling like I had some purpose in life besides doing nothing. I'm guessing that'll pass in a few days though.. when I was sick of reading, I packed my backpack, which loudly broke (embarrassing!), so guess I gotta pick another one up. I tried to go figure out about the gym by school (fitnessdk) but they were closing in 15mins. Nothing stays open ever on Sundays. I found out I need my CPR card, student id card, and a Danish bank account. Its 299kr/month but with the way my lifestyle is going it'll probably be worth the money. Its supposed to be a really nice gym and its right by the school.
Tonight for dinner I tried to cook something...that failed miserably.. defaulted to "soup". Got yelled at for needing a computer battery.. and now have a bunch of cleaning/laundry/reading yet to do. Better get back to my exciting night!
PS--more pictures were added to the 2nd link from the formal dinner
Friday, February 1, 2008
Mystery Streets and Buddy Dinners
The past two days have been filled with class lectures, mainly Sports Economics, and trying to kick this cold once and for all. In my Sports Econ class we talk about the differences in systems between mainly American pro sports and Euro pro sports. Our first guest speaker was so negative towards Americans it was sickening. Everything he said he acted like the American system was a joke. It definitely got people riled up and after awhile our actual professor raised the issues to the class to get some feedback. There was feedback alright.. tons of Americans and Canadians (even a few Europeans) raised really good points and at the end I think the guy felt a little stupid. If you ask me, his personal opinions about Americans got in the way of actual facts. After class, Elyse and I went to buy school supplies but wanted to go to a new stop instead of the one we always go to. We found a ton of really good shopping and local cafes along this pathway. We looked in a lot of stored but didn't buy anything except computer paper and our books for class but it was interested just to look. Some of the stuff was really weird but a lot was very trendy and reasonably priced.
Danish folk dancing was that night.. I wasn't really in the mood due to lack of sleep, having a cold, classes starting, etc but went anyways. I'm glad I did because we had some laughs at the instructors and at each other trying to dance. Kulorbar had free entrance and free beer for the hour after the dancing so the whole international student gang went there. I was not planning on staying any later than when the hour was over, but it got to be a great time again at Kulorbar..yikes!! The next morning we had an early 4 hour lecture, which was NOT fun at all!! More sports econ all day.. followed by a looooong nap and then the scheduled buddy dinner. We had to trek allllll the way to the countryside to meet other buddy groups for dinner. It was FREEZING and sleeting and pretty much just miserable the whole way there. The authentic Danish meal was pork, potatoes, salad, dessert, and their version of Sprite. It was an awkwardly planned social event and there were not all that many sociable people there so the dinner topics were a bit scarce and weird. I finally got to watch TV for a few minutes though.. it was sweet.. Simpsons! After dinner we went to Nexus, had to wait about an hour to get in, and it was techno night. Not my favorite of music but whatever, better than standing outside in sleet I guess. Me, Dino, Elyse, and a ton of our friends came back to our dorm and hung out but I was still sooo tired I fell asleep almost immediately. When I woke up this morning there was a plate of Danish crouissants (sp??) and orange juice waiting for me by my computer, a little secret elf tried to make me happy :) What a wonderful way to start a Friday! I think I finally got enough sleep because me and Elyse slept until 1pm! We rushed to get our Formal Dinner tickets from the International Office and then walked through more mystery streets to explore more of Copenhagen. We found Zara (store) with tons of sales..jeans for $20, etc. I found a really cute pair of black pants for $11 and a vest for real cheap too. Feels good to finallllllly buy something!! We were late for our "Ladies Dinner" tonight, which was for all the girls in our dorm...oops.. I guess I'm not so good with directions especially when shoppings involved. When that was over, we met up with the guys upstairs and played some games before going out. It was cold/windy/rainy all night so we didn't stay out too long. Elyse and I met some true Danish guys who we talked to for awhile and the one just annoyed me. He was SOO ignorant about America it was sickening. Everything he thought he learned from MTV. For example, that we allll have ridiculously awesome 16th bday parties, are all soooo rich, and that everyone gets a car when their 16. I tried to explain that a big part of getting a car is because we dont have public transport like they do here in the non-main cities and its essential to have cars for getting anywhere in most places. Here its a luxury to have a car but definitely not needed, there are ways to get almost anywhere in the city and in the outskirts/countryside without a car.
About politics... he asked "are you a democrat or republican?" Simple enough.. but I tried to explain that I feel different on different topics. Republican thoughts about government involvement and business, etc but more democratic views when it comes to personal freedoms and liberties. He kept saying "so republican or democratic?", I don't know whats so hard to get about its not just black and white! He just annoyed me..ahh! Another thing that gets to me is that alot of the time when people hear you're from the US, they say "Oh so are you from New York?". Have you seen a map of the country?! ITS HUGE! Everyone thinks Americans are the ignorant ones, but I definitely feel like there are many many more ignorant people out there than just us. The other thing while I'm on my rant--why the heck dont people say "Excuse me", "good morning" or "thank you" around this place?! Geeeeeeeeez! Some common courtesy goes a long way. And, why don't they have (the best meal in the world) Progresso Chicken and Herb Dumpling soup?! Or socks in a pack!? Sometimes I think this place is just nuts...
but most of the time I absolutely love it :)
Danish folk dancing was that night.. I wasn't really in the mood due to lack of sleep, having a cold, classes starting, etc but went anyways. I'm glad I did because we had some laughs at the instructors and at each other trying to dance. Kulorbar had free entrance and free beer for the hour after the dancing so the whole international student gang went there. I was not planning on staying any later than when the hour was over, but it got to be a great time again at Kulorbar..yikes!! The next morning we had an early 4 hour lecture, which was NOT fun at all!! More sports econ all day.. followed by a looooong nap and then the scheduled buddy dinner. We had to trek allllll the way to the countryside to meet other buddy groups for dinner. It was FREEZING and sleeting and pretty much just miserable the whole way there. The authentic Danish meal was pork, potatoes, salad, dessert, and their version of Sprite. It was an awkwardly planned social event and there were not all that many sociable people there so the dinner topics were a bit scarce and weird. I finally got to watch TV for a few minutes though.. it was sweet.. Simpsons! After dinner we went to Nexus, had to wait about an hour to get in, and it was techno night. Not my favorite of music but whatever, better than standing outside in sleet I guess. Me, Dino, Elyse, and a ton of our friends came back to our dorm and hung out but I was still sooo tired I fell asleep almost immediately. When I woke up this morning there was a plate of Danish crouissants (sp??) and orange juice waiting for me by my computer, a little secret elf tried to make me happy :) What a wonderful way to start a Friday! I think I finally got enough sleep because me and Elyse slept until 1pm! We rushed to get our Formal Dinner tickets from the International Office and then walked through more mystery streets to explore more of Copenhagen. We found Zara (store) with tons of sales..jeans for $20, etc. I found a really cute pair of black pants for $11 and a vest for real cheap too. Feels good to finallllllly buy something!! We were late for our "Ladies Dinner" tonight, which was for all the girls in our dorm...oops.. I guess I'm not so good with directions especially when shoppings involved. When that was over, we met up with the guys upstairs and played some games before going out. It was cold/windy/rainy all night so we didn't stay out too long. Elyse and I met some true Danish guys who we talked to for awhile and the one just annoyed me. He was SOO ignorant about America it was sickening. Everything he thought he learned from MTV. For example, that we allll have ridiculously awesome 16th bday parties, are all soooo rich, and that everyone gets a car when their 16. I tried to explain that a big part of getting a car is because we dont have public transport like they do here in the non-main cities and its essential to have cars for getting anywhere in most places. Here its a luxury to have a car but definitely not needed, there are ways to get almost anywhere in the city and in the outskirts/countryside without a car.
About politics... he asked "are you a democrat or republican?" Simple enough.. but I tried to explain that I feel different on different topics. Republican thoughts about government involvement and business, etc but more democratic views when it comes to personal freedoms and liberties. He kept saying "so republican or democratic?", I don't know whats so hard to get about its not just black and white! He just annoyed me..ahh! Another thing that gets to me is that alot of the time when people hear you're from the US, they say "Oh so are you from New York?". Have you seen a map of the country?! ITS HUGE! Everyone thinks Americans are the ignorant ones, but I definitely feel like there are many many more ignorant people out there than just us. The other thing while I'm on my rant--why the heck dont people say "Excuse me", "good morning" or "thank you" around this place?! Geeeeeeeeez! Some common courtesy goes a long way. And, why don't they have (the best meal in the world) Progresso Chicken and Herb Dumpling soup?! Or socks in a pack!? Sometimes I think this place is just nuts...
but most of the time I absolutely love it :)
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