Nice weather is finally here

This past week a lot has happened... here's a quick recap

**Tuesday, May 6th--Dino and I went to the American Embassy to get his stuff settled for his visa to come visit me in the States. It was a big, gray, ugly building with a small waiting room which was also the room that they do the interviews in so you could hear everything. We had to wait an hour and a half before it was time for his interview! When the lady asked him how he knew me he told her we were friends, but I think she caught on. She probed a little harder and he finally admitted that we were "sorta dating" the entire waiting room heard and burst out laughing. It was pretty funny, I've never seen Dino that embarrassed before. Later that day, I went to a park that I had found on the way to the Embassy and studied for my final. I would say there was more napping/tanning than studying.

**Wednesday, May 7th--Today we went to the oldest amusement park in the world which is right outside of Copenhagen. It's called Bakken and is right in with a big nature park. You walk a ways into this park and then finally BAM there are rides, candy stands, restaurants, everything. We ended up buying the unlimited rides bracelet (200dkk) and made good use of it. I think we went on this one that reminded me of the tilt-a-whirl about a million times, each time better than the last. There were bumper cars, race cars, haunted houses, everything.

**Thursday, May 8th--Went back to the park and found a nice place to get to serious studying. I ended up staying there for quite awhile. That night there was a barbecue for one of the girls' birthdays in Tordens. There is a really nice grill and sitting area in our courtyard so a bunch of people from the dorm were there, lasted almost til midnight outside before it was too cold/dark.

**Friday, May 9th--It was such a nice day I decided I would try my hand at a run outside. Considering I love sun but hate running it turned into more of a walk/tan than anything else. After that I was hustled out to go to the beach with Marc Larivee, Chris Brewster, Ben Murphy, and Jonathan Jones (friends from Tordens... I was asked to use their full names so they could google themselves..idiots, I know). Dino met us a little later on. It's so sad to think that this is one of our last outings together!!!!!!! People start leaving on the 17th (one left on the 10th). After that we picked up some grill food and had another dorm-wide bbq. People from other dorms joined us too, turned into a good gathering with lots of people I haven't seen in awhile.

**Saturday, May 10th--Had an early library session to try and stay on track with my studying then I met Brewster, Ben, and Marc in Kings Park for the Whit Carnival celebration. It wasnt the actual carnival part of it, but the parade was on Stroget so a ton of people gathered there. I went with Alex and his friend who was visiting. We got some beer and sat and enjoyed the weather. Another barbecue that night... smaller this time and at some point I got a brilliant idea to go visit Dino and his family in Helsingor. I ended up getting there around midnight...

**Sunday, May 11th--Mothers Day. Dino and I got his mom some flowers and I wrote out a card for her (in Bosnian). They don't really celebrate Mothers Day that much in Danish or Bosnian cultures so I think she was really surprised and happy to be getting flowers. Later that day we went to the beach in Helsingor which was right on the coast and you could see Sweden across the way. Another barbecue.. Bosnian this time though. Pretty much that just entails a lot of food.. the chevapcici sausages, hamburgers, chicken, salads, fruit, everything. That night we rented some movies and had a quiet night

**Monday, May 12th--Another Danish holiday. I don't know or care anymore what all of these holidays are. To me it just seems like another vacation day for them. We worked out, watched movies, then got ready for ANOTHER BBQ! This was definitely the most interesting of them all, and I promise they do stop after this one. It was a BBQ with Dino's friends, the same ones we played basketball with a few months ago. I would say there were about 10 people in all. I can't really find words to describe how I felt during most of the time there, everyone was speaking Danish and making jokes in Danish and laughing in Danish (if that's possible). Dino seemed to be having such a great time with his friends that I felt a little forgotten about, like I was just dumped into this weird sea full of Danish speaking people. Almost a cruel joke because it seemed like they were having so much fun and I could see the fun, feel the fun, but not understand ANY of it. While the food was cooking, a group of people were outside and I got to talking to Dino's friend Stasha. He was so nice and really seemed to take an interest in what I had to say. He spoke almost perfect English and went out of his way to make me feel welcomed. Throughout the dinner whenever there would be a funny joke he (or sometimes a few of the other guys) would translate and make sure I wasn't left out. It was such a nice gesture to try and make sure I could laugh with them but it was hard because jokes don't translate all that well and it felt like the spotlight was on me because everyone else had their laughs already and were waiting on me to react. I really appreciate having the opportunity to have been at a true Danish house and experience a true Danish gathering (even though most of them are foreigners too) because with the exchange program you really don't get integrated into Danish culture, more into being only with other exchange kids. Other elements of human interaction and connections that I hadn't noticed before were more evident--you could tell who were the funny ones and the quieter ones. The experience really did shake me a little bit though.

Tuesday, May 13th--Came back from Helsingor, studied at CBS, workout, then made dinner. Nothing too exciting to report. After dinner Dino and I walked this trail near Osterport station and found a preserved army fortress.

Wednesday, May 14th--See above. Exam Friday