My Semester in Copenhagen: May 2010

Monday, May 17, 2010

Vi ses, Denmark. Jeg vil savne dig.

Well it's approximately 6:00 in the morning here in Copenhagen and I just said goodbye to my closest friends I've made since being here. Soon I will standing in the airport saying goodbye to my host family and to Copenhagen. Looking back on these past four months I can honestly say that they have changed my life. I have a new perspective of the world and of who I am and what I want to do with my life. I fell in love with this city and the people here and I can't wait to come back. I know that this isn't actually "goodbye," it's just "see you later."

I have done more in since arriving in January than I ever would have thought to be possible. I've been to 18 different cities in 11 different countries with 11 different languages and 7 different currencies. I've been to 16 museums, 9 churches and 3 breweries. I've done two bike tours, went snowboarding in Sweden and climbed to the top of the Eiffel tower. I've seen the sun rise 5 times in 3 different countries, I biked over 30 kilometers everyday to class (once the snow melted) and drank enough beer to last me a lifetime. But beyond all the things I did while I was here it was the lessons that I've learned that are going to really stick with me forever. These are the things I have learned from the Danes:

There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing--you'd think I would have learned this in Minnesota but I was way too optimistic in Copenhagen and thus frequently under dressed.

Do NOT cross the street unless the little man in green. It does not matter if it is 3am and there are no cars or people in sight, you must wait.

If you can sit on the bus without sitting right next to anyone that is preferable. Also, if you are sitting next to someone and another seat opens up you are expected to move.

You can set your watch to the buses but you can bet that the trains will be late. Always.

If a stranger on the street smiles at you, you know immediately that he is either not Danish or drunk. And if he is drunk, he's probably Swedish.

"Religious Holiday" is code word for let's go out and drink since we don't have to go to work/school tomorrow. No one can actually tell you what the holiday is for...

Skål is by far the best "cheers" that any language has. After coming across prost, salute, na zdraví, geluk, a votre sante, na zdrowie and salud I would have to say that Denmark wins because skål is the most fun to say.

AND now this post must be delayed because I just found out my flight was canceled. STAY TUNED! Hopefully I can get home...

Well I made it home! And it was a rough day getting here but now that I made it it feels so good to be home.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

The beginning of the end

I can't believe that in two days I will be in the Minneapolis airport, attempting to find my luggage at the baggage claim and hoping that my dad will show up on time. My time here has gone by way to fast but I guess that can also be a good thing. Never once was I just sitting around, wishing that I was back home or wanting to leave. I packed a lot into these four months and that trend continued with the past two weeks.

After I got back from Paris I wad one week left of classes and it was a busy one. I had three papers to write, an oral presentation (in Danish!) and a final exam. But I managed to survive and have some fun. My host family and Anne (my mom's friend from when she lived in Denmark) and I went to Louisiana on Sunday. No, not the state famous for Mardi Gras and jazz but the art museum in Humlebæk, a city north of Copenhagen. They had an exhibition called "Color in Art" that was incredible! It showed how the use of color changed over time and had works from Matisse, Kandinsky, Miro and many others. The exhibit also had much more than just art--I learned how we perceive color, how different colors evoke certain emotions and how color sensitive I am (I scored a 4 on a scale from 1 to 100 with 0 being perfect). After the exhibit we wandered around o

utside where they had many sculptures on display in these beautiful gardens. There was also a big grassy opening right on the sea and Sweden was clearly visible even though it wasn't the clearest of days. It was a really gorgeous place. After Louisiana we went to Dyrehaven which literally means animal garden. It was the hunting grounds of the Danish king before their current queen and is a big open park with lots of deer! There is a castle in the middle of the park

that Jan told me is where the king kept all of his mistresses. It's up on a hill so that the king could see if the queen was coming and make his lady caller leave quickly. So scandalous! There is a golf course in the garden now and there were a bunch of deer just chillin' right next to the green. Luckily for the deer, we did not play golf because I most definitely would have hit one of them...

The week following my Sunday out and about in the greater Copenhagen area was finals week. Normally this would mean no fun and a lot of studying but let's be honest, I'm studying in Denmark--the most laid back country I've ever been to. So during that week I had my last soccer game, climbed the steps of Our Savior's Church in Christianshavn, enjoyed my last night at Scottish Pub, went to the championship game for a Danish cup and went to Tivoli. The church gave the most incredible view of Copenhagen I've seen. It was a lot of steps and many twists and turns through what felt like an old dusty attic but by the time you made it to the top it was worth it!

My last night at Scottish Pub was very fun but unfortunately I left approximately five minutes before I should have because I missed Third Eye Blind coming into the pub after they finished a concert nearby. Shoot. Maybe next time?
On Thursday my host dad called me and asked me if I wanted to go watch a football game with some of his colleagues. I said yes and was expecting to go a pub and watch a game on TV but before I had time to process what was going on I was in a suite at Parken (Copenhagen's stadium) with a cold Carlsberg in my hand w

atching the championship of the Ekstra Bladelt Cup. Can you say amazing? The game was one of the best soccer matches I've ever watched--super intense, went into overtime and two beautiful goals were scored. It was a much better way to spend a Thursday afternoon than my original plan of studying for my Complexity of Caner final...

The last thing on my checklist of "Things to do before leaving Copenhagen" was Tivoli Gardens and I checked it off on Friday. Tivoli is the inspiration for Walt Disney world and it definitely shows. It's like every childhood fantasy any kid ever had all rolled into one cozy little park. There were garden

s and lights and birds everywhere! It was so picturesque and not to mention fun. We elected to only go on one ride as it cost about $15 but we chose very carefully and I think ended up on then best ride in the park. It's like the tree swings at any amusement park except it goes up really really high. I was able to see Sweden! We also played on a park that was clearly meant for small children and enjoyed a cup of varm chokolade! So now that I've seen it all and experienced everything Copenhagen has to offer I guess it's time for me to go home. My host family is throwing me a goodbye party tonight and we're having our last dinner at Sticks N Sushi tomorrow and then Monday I have to catch a plane and head back to Minneapolis. Crazy!

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

My long weekend in Paris

Last week there was some sort of religious holiday in Denmark but no one I asked seemed to know what it was all about... Regardless, it meant that I had a couple days off from class and my friend Kirsten and I took advantage of the extra time by going to Paris! It was one of those almost surreal trips where you have to keep reminding yourself where you are and what you're seeing because nothing seems real. Needless to say, I had an amazing time and I'm very proud of how much we were able to pack into our three days there.

We got into Paris late Wednesday night and basically only had the time and energy to eat and go to bed. We woke up Thursday morning bright eyed and bushy tailed and ready to see everything this city had to offer. We started our morning with a bike tour of the city, which was awesome! We saw so much and the weather was absolutely gorgeous so it was a really enjoyable way to start the day and get acquainted with the city. We saw the Gold Dome (Yes, it's real gold), the church where Napoleon Tomb is kept and it's connected Les Invalides, the first veteran hospital ever built.

Then we went over Alexandre's Bridge, the most photographed bridge in Paris and it's easy to see why--it's gorgeous! And apparently it was way ahead of its time structurally speaking because it doesn't have any supports in the middle.

Next we passed through Concorde square where they executed a bunch of people during the French Revolution including Marie Antoinette then we stopped for lunch in the Tuileries garden. It was quite picturesque, enjoying my ham and cheese crepe in the middle of a French park with the Louvre behind me and the Eiffel Tower in front of me. After lunch we continued on our tour and saw the Louvre, the Grand Palais and finally the Eiffel Tower! After our bike tour Kirsten and I decided to be the ultimate tourists and make our way to the top of the Eiffel Tower. After 710 steps to the second floor we had to take the elevator all the way to the top. The view was

incredible and we enjoyed playing "Where's Waldo?" with all the famous Parisian sights. After making it up and back down the Eiffel Tower we decided that it was time to treat ourselves to some sort of French pastry. Kirsten got an eclair and I got some sort of nutty tart from a man who spoke no English whatsoever but his enthusiasm made up for the huge language barrier. Next we made our way to the Arc de Triomphe and walked down the Champs Elysees. At this point our feet were killing us and all we wanted was a bed but instead we forged on and met one of Kirsten's friends in the Jewish quarter of Paris, lovingly referred to as "the swamp." This was a really fun part of the city that we probably would have never ventured to on our own. It was full of bars and shops and was generally a very hip neighborhood. It kind of reminded me of uptown but French. After the best falafel I've ever had, we called it a night and went back to the hostel for a much needed good night's sleep.

On Saturday we woke up to a dreary, rainy day. Luckily we had planned to go to the Louvre that day so the weather didn't spoil our plans one bit. The Louvre was daunting. There were huge crowds around every major work of art but that didn't stop us from getting right up front and getting a good lo

ok at these things. The Mona Lisa was okay, I think pictures of the painting are better though... The Venus de Milo however was spectacular. It really lived up to it's hype and I was thoroughly impressed. The rest of the museum was fun to wander through. Since we got in for free (EU students!) we decided to spring for audio guides so I actually learned a lot about the different artists and their works. After a quick lunch we crossed the river and went to the Musee d'Orsay, the impressionist museum. For me, this was better than the Louvre. There was a really interesting painting in every room and I fell in love with several. I'm really glad we decided to do this museum and it may have been the highlight of my trip to Paris. After we were all museumed out we decided to check out a couple churches. The weather had improved dramatically so we sat outside and admired the Notre Dame for a while before we wandered around inside. After Notre Dame we went on a little adventure to find Sainte Chapelle because we had heard the stained glass was amazing. We could see the steeple but we could not seem to find the church and kept walking in circles. Finally we realized

that you had to go into the Palais of Justice, a gated square, in order to get into it. All the walking paid off though because this stained glass was incredible. It told the entire story of the Bible through the windows of this church--Gorgeous! After a long day of sight seeing we decided to treat ourselves to a classical French dinner. We started with escargot, followed by some sort of chicken with mushrooms and finally creme brulee for dessert! It was the perfect ending to a perfect day.

And this brings me to our last day in Paris. We started at the Sacre Coeur. The church kind of reminded me of Aladdin and

I think that's why I immediately loved it. This church had more steps to climb so naturally we decided to climb them. After 350 steps we were on top of the church. I felt like Quasimodo climbing around up there. The path led us all over the roof of that church before we got into the dome, which gave us the most spectacular view of the city. After the Sacre Cour we tracked down the Moulin Rouge and then made our way to the Luxembourg gardens. We took a nice little nap in the sun in front of Luxembourg Palace, right next to a pond that little kids were sailing boats on. Then we wandered around the Latin Quarter a bit more and saw Sorbonne (University of Paris) and the Pantheon (where a bunch of famous people are buried). To cap off our day we went up the Montparnasse skyscraper in order to take in the city of Paris at night. It was breathtakingly beautiful. We could see the fireworks at Disneyland and about 5 minutes after we got to the top, the Eiffel Towel light show started. It was incredible. It was the perfect ending to the perfect weekend in Paris.

More Pictures:

Eiffel Tower (obviously)

After our bike tour and before Kirsten realized she was
totally fried (In case you can't tell, she's a redhead...)

View from the top of the Eiffel Tower. That tall skyscraper in Tour Montparnasse (The one we went up on our last night) and was built in the 1970's. After it was built the French decided it was ugly and didn't allow any other skyscrapers to be built within the Paris city limits.