Sunday, January 24, 2010

Elsinore and Kronborg Castle

Figured out how to put up pictures!!

Oh, but I had my first few days of class- cant really tell much yet but they look interesting. Two of my classes aren't starting for a week because theyre going to be at the University of Copenhagen and those start later. EU Politics looks interesting, mostly considering I know very little about it- reading is full of European history. We get to visit a bunch of the Danish political institutions though and more importantly, go to the Hague! Holocaust and Genocide...well you could guess how excited I am for that class, even though Im not sure excited sounds like the right word? Also had International Law, which will probably be my hardest class from what it looks like now. He said not to expect it to be a "study abroad class." But the professor seems amazing, we dont have class next week because he's going to Uganda to see some of the areas for the International Criminal Court. Basically, I want to be him.

Friday, went out with Spanky and Katey to a shindig DIS threw for us which was pretty fun..entertaining to say the least. On the way home we got to watch a guy with his hand down his pants get carried away (literally because he couldnt wake up) by the train security. Slightly glad I wasnt alone. Oh, Spanky (or Mr Spanky as our host mom loves to call him) aka Kyle is the guy staying with the same host family as me if I havent mentioned that before.















Then Saturday, Spanky and I went to Elsinore and Kronborg Castle which is about an hour away from Copenhagen. Im fairly certain its the first castle Ive been to and it is supposed to be the setting of Hamlet, which makes it that much cooler. We had a few hours to go wander around but it was freezing outside, so we went to the Ocean for a tad, wandered around the city, which was mostly little shops, but very quaint (we decided this was the perfect word to describe it) and then hung out in the train station for like half an hour with hot chocolate because we could no longer feel our bodies. Thats what we get for going by the Ocean in the middle of winter, but so worth it. Anywho, we went on a tour of the actual castle. You could see Sweden from the upper levels and we went down into the dungeons where the food and beer were stored. Apparently, the soldiers lived in the dungeons so that enemies would not know the size of the army and they only drank beer because the water was not safe and this kept the army pacified.














Checked out one of the law libraries today. Very different because unlike ours you definitely would not hear a pin drop in this one- people talk, eat whatever pretty much . It's nice though and Ill probably go back there to do some work- its also basically one of the only places open on Sundays as the city more or less shuts down. The work day in general is until 4pm here after which most places close down. Everyone seems much less stressed and doesnt have that get-out-of-my-way attitude either which is a pleasant change of pace. Oh and there are kids everywhere. No really, strollers and youngens running around all over the place. It seems very family-oriented. We've actually been having family dinners every night and the youngest daughter was visiting for the weekend (she lives with her dad) so its been fun. People here are definitely more open and talk about anything and everything- im pretty sure we've already discussed religion, politics, sex and drugs at dinner? After some studies, we grabbed some Chinese, found a Tiger (basically the Danish version of a Target with the most random things you can come up with) because I needed notebooks and came back to Glostrup. Thats about sums up the weekend.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

A multicultural excursion

Yesterday started out with a visit to the Russian consulate in an attempt to renew my Russian passport. I had filled out all the paperwork with my dad to make sure I did not make any mistakes etc etc and would not have any problems there. It was in an area where I have not been before so I left at 9:20 for the 11:00 appointment and figured Id just go wander around when I got there since it was only supposed to be 30 minutes away. Instead, I took a wrong turn when I got off the train, got lost and wandered around for an additional 20 minutes. Lucky for me, it was really nice out and everything was beautiful. At some point I decided I should actually figure out where I was so I asked a guy that was walking down the street if he knew where the address was. He didn't, but was incredibly nice and looked it up on his Iphone (its at times like this that I wish I had one) and took me there. They are not kidding when they say the Danes are incredibly friendly!

Well, once I got to the embassy, still early, the guard that opened the door to see why I was there said that I was not listed for an appointment. After some convincing, he let me in and went to go check with someone else. Twenty minutes and 3 people later, a woman asked for my documents. She disappeared for some time, then came back with a bunch of marks in red on the papers (always a good sign) and told me that I had to make a bunch of corrections and do it much neater because my handwriting was not nearly good enough. Long story short, about an hour, 5 documents, many reminders to write neater and 365 kroner later (including one that required me to remember the address of GBS..really?), I turned them back in. Im supposed to hear back in a few months so hopefully they dont deny me because of my not so perfect handwriting?

Anyway, then I went back to class and learned how to order a Danish (which is not called a Danish here by the way..its weinerbrod and I cannot pronounce it correctly). After class and yet another great dinner with the family, Kyle and I went back into the city and met up with a guy Alex from the class. We went to our first bar in Denmark, which was a Scottish pub where we listened to American music..multicultural indeed. We watched the MCU vs MCC game and then Im pretty sure half of the people in our program showed up. Caught the last train out at 12:50.

Today we had a scavenger hunt throughout the city so we saw the Royal Square, Parliament, the first Stock Exchange, Black Diamond Library (which is insane and we're going back Sunday to study there) and much much more. It was pretty freezing outside and I played photographer for the group. We ended up not going to a few of the places and going to get lunch instead. We had a program orientation shindig after for the European Politics class and everyone I talked to is in the other class (its split into two), but Ill get to see whose in mine tomorrow. Oh yeah, classes start tomorrow. Back to the world of being a student. But its okay, because Ill be a student in Copenhagen :)

Speaking of which, time to do some reading.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Ananas and Hihi

This is my current knowledge of Danish...ananas (that spelling is probably terribly wrong but that is how its pronounced) means pineapple and I only remember that because it's the same in Russian and hihi means bye and well, thats not too terribly hard to remember. We had a 3 hour survival Danish class and that is what I retained. They took us to the grocery store and had us try and figure out what the names of things were, Im pretty sure we got 5 out of about 25 and one of them was wrong (pork instead of turkey). I knew that a lot of the people were going to know English, but Im very impressed with the extent of it. Siri, one of my host sisters, has been learning it since 3rd grade. That means that I started learning it just two years before she did. She, and the rest of the family, also speaks the language of the Faroe Islands but I cannot remember what its called. Turns out the family is from there but moved here 12 years ago. They're incredibly friendly and have definitely opened their home to us.

We got to wander around the city a little bit yesterday and its incredibly beautiful. I forgot my camera, but Ill definitely bring it today and take some pictures because Im not sure how else to describe it other than mesmerizing and very much a fairy tale city. It is also crazy when you realize that some of the buildings around you are older than the US (such as the one where our orientation was held today).

I have to miss the first half of orientation to get my Russian passport renewed today, which I will hopefully get in time to go visit my sister and meet my nephew before I leave. Also, Ive miserably failed at adjusting to the new time...fell asleep at 9 last night and it's currently 5am. Maybe Ill have coffee today so that I can avoid the early morning wake up. This does work well with keeping in touch with people from home though, but as much as I miss people, sorry Im not waking up at 5am to chat. Well, Im going to try and get a few more hours of sleep.

Goodnight!

Sunday, January 17, 2010

First day in Copenhagen

Apparently my settings have switched to Danish so this is going to be fun. Im exhausted so this will be quick, but got in at 7, had a brief orientation, got picked up by my host family along with Kyle (other guy staying with them). Madly love it thus far, the family seems great. It's about half an hour away from school so we're venturing there at 7am tomorrow..which is why im passing out right now. More coming soon. Loooove this :)

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Flight in 9.5 hours

Finally finished packing and getting everything together (somehow managed to fit everything into one suitecase and a backpack, love packing light!) Now I only cant find my camera charger. However, as Im fairly certain I have already turned my entire house upside-down looking for it, Im going to get up early and pay a visit to Best Buy. Better I realized now than in Denmark yes?

Anyway, current mood best summed up by: 'What's your favorite place?' I'm often asked, and my honest answer is, 'The departure lounge."- Tony Wheeler, founder of Lonely Planet...complements of Lindsey Engle.

Next stop, Copenhagen. Well, actually DC for an hour and a half, but really, Copenhagen.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Denmark in Seven

Seven days from now I will be somewhere over the Atlantic on a plane that according to the DIS facebook group will be filled with other students spending their semester in the magical country that is Denmark. It seems like Ive been looking forward to this for so long, but only now, after Ive been able to check the 10-day weather forecast and gotten an email from my host family does it actually seem real. 31F and cloudy for arrival day. My family sounds amazing though, I got the first email from my host mom. Three daughters and one son, but only the son lives with them. I was also surprised to read that there is a guy from Denver who will be staying with them as well- did not know that but I think it'll be a great time and it'll be nice to have someone else to go randomly meandering through Danish streets with me (other than McCabe of course). Two of the daughters are 20 and 22 so Im very excited to know Danes my age from the getgo. Maybe if I hang out with them people wont notice Im not 6' something with blonde hair and blue eyes and Ill fit right in lol

Still have to buy an umbrella and raincoat because everything Ive read basically says not to bother coming without them, unless I plan on walking around soaked 24/7. Oh and I still have to pack everything. Fun times ahead.

Well, hopefully I wont drop the ball and this will continue post-arrival as well. Unless something incredibly fascinating happens, expect the next post to be from Denmark!