My Semester in Copenhagen

Vi ses, Denmark. Jeg vil savne dig.

2010-05-17T06:12:00.004+02:00

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.

The beginning of the end

2010-05-15T15:21:00.009+02:00

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 outside 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 watching 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 gardens 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!

My long weekend in Paris

2010-05-04T18:53:00.016+02:00

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 look 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.

Arc de Triomphe

Pyramids at the Louvre

Escargot!

Notre Dame

The Mona Lisa

Paris from the Sacre Coeur

On top of the Sacre Coeur, again

If you look closely you can see the Eiffel Tower between us...

Pond at Luxembourg Gardens

Luxembourg Palace

The Pantheon

Parisian Street

Disneyland Fireworks

Paris at night

The Eiffel Tower Light Show

Tillykke med fødselsdagen, Dronning Margrethe!

2010-04-16T17:58:00.005+02:00

Today Queen Margrethe II turned 70 years old! And the Danes love their queen so this was no minor celebration. At noon the Queen was scheduled to come out onto her balcony at Amalienborg Palace and wave to all of her adoring countrymen and women. So my Danish class set out at about 11:30 to go see the queen. The palace was absolutely packed but we somehow magically found a perfect spot and I was about 50 meters away from the queen! She came out and waved and the crowd went crazy. Thousands of Danish flags were being proudly waved and everyone was trying to get a picture of the Queen. This proved to be a difficult task though because every picture I took seemed to be of a Danish flag and not of the Queen... Then the Queen's husband joined her on the balcony and he was soon followed by her two sons and their families. After they became tired of waving they made their way back inside and the Danish people started chanting something to the effect of "We won't leave unless you come out again!" And sure enough she came out two more times and gave the Danish people what they wanted. Then she got into her carriage and drove through the streets of Copenhagen on her way to her birthday brunch at the town hall (Radhuspladsen). I once again got to wave at Queen Margrethe but this time I was so close I could have given her a high five if I wanted to.

The whole day was filled with excitement and everyone seemed to celebrate in their own little way. Most stores had signs in the windows or were at least flying flags. My Human Health and Disease teacher brought us all pastries and the nice man working at the kiosk where I bought some coffee gave me a discount since it was the Queen's birthday and I was an American trying to speak Danish. Even the city buses were decked out with Danish flags. So it was a very exciting day for Danes and wannabe Danes alike and a very fun piece of Danish culture that I'm glad I got to experience.

More Pictures:

Marmor Kirken (And a massive crowd a people I navigated through to get a front row spot to see the Queen)

A random band that we accidentally stumbled across

Happy Birthday!

Some Queen's Guards

The Queen in her carriage

Second Leg of Euro Trip 2010

2010-04-11T12:44:00.011+02:00

So unfortunately my limited access to the internet over the past week means that once again, this is going to be a bit lengthy. I apologize in advance and will be thoroughly impressed with anyone who reads the entire thing and isn't my mother.

Day 1 (Sunday April 4)

I flew into Venice early in the afternoon and took a waterbus from the airport to San Marco Square to meet up with my friends. It was a minor miracle that we found each other because it was Easter Sunday and the square was even busier than it usually is. After dropping our stuff off at the hotel we headed out for some authentic Italian food. I ordered the ravioli and it was honestly the best pasta I think I've had in my entire life. The pasta was followed by gelati and wine and a walk back to our hotel in the pouring rain.

Day 2 (Monday April 5)

We woke up and went exploring through the markets in Venice and I found some great Murano glass souvenirs. But the shopping was short lived because we had to catch a train to Milan to meet up with one more friend. While on the train we got hungry and decided to get off in Verona for lunch. This decision was made rather quickly and in our hurry we accidentally got off at the wrong Verona station and ended up in the outskirts of Verona. On Easter Monday. In the most Catholic country in the world. Needless to say nothing was open. We managed to find a small bar that had people in it and through a combination of German and French we communicated that we needed food. The bartender was nice enough to make us some sandwiches and sell them to us for 1 Euro even though they didn't technically have food for sale. So all in all our first "oops" of the trip turned out to be a very entertaining adventure. Once we got to Milan we stored our bags at the train station and headed out for a night on the town. We managed to get to the Duomo di Milano while it was still light out (Left) but the rest of the sights of Milan were seen in the dark. It was my friend's birthday so we had a big celebratory dinner complete with wine and gelati and then we went off to find a bar that was open. The whole Easter Monday thing made this a difficult task but eventually we found a great place with a friendly bartender who took good care of us. After the bar closed we went to a dance club and then walked 5 kilometers to the train station. We got there around 6 am and our train pulled up ten minutes later. We managed to get two train compartments between the five of us so we all were able to spread out and get a decent 5 hour nap in.

Day 3 (Tuesday April 6)

Around 11 AM we pulled into the Monaco train station and we were a dirty but hungry group of girls. We recognized that this was one of the richest countries in the world and we all looked like we hadn't showered in days, stayed up all night and then slept on a dirty Italian train but our hunger overpowered any shame we may have felt and we decided to seek out lunch. Then, after checking out the Casino Monte Carlo and mingling with the rich and beautiful people of Monaco we hopped back on the train and made our way to Nice. Nice was our new favorite city, mostly because we were all able to take a shower but also because we found some cheap French baguettes and brie cheese and ate it on the beach. We explored Nice for the rest of the afternoon and decided to call it an early night since we had to get up at 4:30am to catch a train to Marseilles. We were in a 6 person room at our hostel so we had one random roommate who happened to be one of the best looking men I have ever seen in real life. His name was Steve and he was from Australia. Besides being nice to look at he gave us some of the worst but most useful information of the entire trip. When we informed him we might wake him up because we had to catch an early train he looked at us in shock and said, "You do know the French railways are on strike tomorrow right? Nothing is going to be running..." Well, no, we obviously did not know that. Thanks, Steve. It was at this point that I turned to my friend, Jess, and cursed her for saying that she likes France so much she never wants to leave.

Day 4 (Wednesday April 7)

First stop- Bus station. We knew there was an overnight bus to Barcelona and that had become our Plan B. Well, Plan B failed because the buses were booked for the next 3 days because of the strike. So on to Plan C- wait a day and just cut a couple cities out of the original plan. We were promptly informed that unlike most train strikes which only last 24 hours this one was indefinite and looking like it was going to be at least 3 days long. Fabulous. Plan D- rent a car. After adding in gas and the extra insurance since we're under 25 the price was more than flying there (Plan E). And flying there wasn't cheap. Plan F was my favorite. Go back to Monaco and convince an old rich man to take us to Barcelona in his yacht because one of us was getting married in Barcelona on Friday and the rest of us were her bridesmaids. We even walked into a bridal shop and were very close to buying a veil for emphasis before logic took over. Plans G -K consisted of horses, bikes, kayaking and other slightly unrealistic forms of transportation but they were the best we had. At this point things were looking a little desperate because I had started suggesting apparation, floo powder and broomsticks. We decided it was time to pause and reboot. We headed to the beach for a picnic lunch complete with mimosas and took a couple hours to calm down and enjoy the sun. In one last desperate attempt at the trains we went back to the train station and saw that there was a train to Marseilles in 2 hours. We didn't know what we were going to do once we got there but we did know it was further west so we headed back to our hostel, packed our things and set out for Marseilles. We got into Marseilles after dark and learned that a train to Montpelier was leaving at 6am the next morning. So we decided to continue with our plan to just keep working our way west and went with it. The hostel we stayed in that night was sketchy to say the least but we all made it out with all of our organs, something we weren't positive would happen when we checked in.

Day 5 (Thursday April 8)

We rolled in to Montpelier around 9AM and immediately started seeking out ways to get into Spain. At this point we had given up on Barcelona and just wanted to cross the border. We found out that if we took a train to Perpignan there MIGHT be a bus into Spain. So that's what we did. Once we arrived in Perpignan we were informed that the city wasn't big enough to have a bus station so we would have to find an internet cafe. Well this tiny city didn't have one of those either so we convinced a hotel concierge to let us use their internet and managed to find a bus into Girona, Spain. When we finally crossed the border into Spain we all literally cheered--Success!! A hop, skip and a jump later we found ourselves in Barcelona! So instead of the one train we had planned on taking, it took us 4 trains, 2 buses and metro ride to get into Barcelona... But we made it and we were in good spirits the whole time. It could have been a disaster but we took everything in stride and ended up laughing at most of it. So for our "Yay we made it" dinner we decided to try some authentic Spanish food and took our waiter's recommendations. Probably not the best idea in hindsight but again, an entertaining adventure. We ended up with octopus and peppers which were both delicious and a stew that was not so delicious. The stew had boiled cabbage and potatoes with a Spanish sausage (tasty), shredded pork and beef (blah), a pig elbow (not sure how to eat it so I didn't try it) and a pig ear (cartilagey). Luckily the sangria was delicious and they brought us tequila shots on the house. After a night out on the town we were making our way back to the hostel and noticed that we were being followed by two men. There were five of us girls and we tried to pull everyone in tighter and let them pass but that didn't work. One of the men went up to my friend, grabbed her arm, went for her purse and was immediately tackled by another friend of mine who just so happens to play rugby. She proceeded to rip his very expensive headphones in half and then he got up and ran off. Meanwhile the other guy cut the strap of Jess's purse and turned to run past me so I decided to punch him in the face. He stumbled a bit but kept running. At this point the police had been called and we basically sprinted to our hostel. All of the credit cards in the purse were canceled within 20 minutes and after some calculations we realized that there was only about 2 euro in the purse that was taken. The most valuable thing in the purse was a beer mug we had stolen from the bar we were at earlier in the night. In fact we had moved almost all of the valuable things in Jess's purse into my purse in order to make room for the beer mug. So all in all these two guys got their asses kicked by a bunch girls and only got 2 euros out of it. It was a frightening experience but it ended up the best way it possibly could have.

Day 6 (Friday April 9)

We had to go to the police station this morning and fill out an official report. Almost two hours later we left the police station and surprisingly the stolen cards had been returned, unfortunately the beer mug was not recovered. At this point we were all pretty upset with Barcelona in general and decided to spend the afternoon at the beach to give it a chance to redeem itself. This was a great decision and after a fabulous dinner of tapas and paella we were starting to enjoy Spain a little more. Then we found a free concert in an old square and a bar with 4 euro mojitos. After stumbling across the best Chinese takeout I've ever had, we decided to take a cab home and I would go so far as to say that we were all actually liking Barcelona at this point.

Day 7 (Saturday April 10)

We went on a fabulous free walking tour of Barcelona's Gothic quarter. I learned a lot of interesting fun facts and saw the less touristy side of the city. We had timed the tour perfectly so that once the tour was over we could go back to the hostel, get my things and get to the airport in time to catch my flight back to Copenhagen. However when we returned to our hostel and walked into our room all of our things were gone. Our lockers were empty, our suitcases were missing and we had no idea where they were or why this had happened. After a heated discussion with the hostel staff we found out that my friends (who were staying one night longer than me) had changed rooms but no one had told them this. They were not happy campers... After tracking my bag down, my friends escorted me to the airport slightly behind schedule but not in danger of missing my flight. At this point I was barely phased by this but the girls I was with were fuming. I learned that they got a full refund for last night and several vouchers for free drinks and food at local restaurants. Just as Barcelona had started to redeem itself it all went downhill again.

I had never been so happy to feel the airplane to touchdown and walking through the Copenhagen airport was incredibly comforting. Don't get me wrong, I had a great week. I realize it sounds like I did nothing but complain about everything that went wrong but through all of the mishaps we managed to keep a positive attitude and make the most of it. I saw some places I had never seen before, tried food and drinks I had never tasted, ate plenty of gelato, learned a lot about the girls I was traveling with and my poor pasty white skin got to see the sun. I had a fabulous two weeks of traveling around Europe and learned a lot but it is so nice to be back in home sweet Copenhagen.

More pictures from the trip:

Cannolis in Venice

Wrong train station in Verona

Duomo di Milano

Monte Carlo Casino in Monaco

In Monaco with France and Italy in the Background

Nice Cathedral

Sunset in Nice

The border between France and Spain--Success!!

The beaches in Barcelona are fake--they stole all their sand from the Sahara Desert

Barcelona Cathedral

Gothic Bridge- If you walk under it backwards and make a wish, it will come true.

Roomie Euro Extravaganza

2010-04-03T12:10:00.007+02:00

Well I just got back from dropping my roommate Jill off at the airport and I must say that we had a most successful week. She got in on Friday and slept all day while I went to class so her jet lag was defeated relatively early on in the trip. On Saturday we toured around Copenhagen trying to fit in everything this wonderful city has to offer in only one day. We started in Christiania, went to the National Museum, walked down Strøget, ate lunch in Nyhavn, made our way to Rosenborg castle and finally had dinner at Sticks N Sushi. After watching the X-Factor final (Danmark's version of American Idol) and being sorely disappointed when my favorite contestant lost we packed our things and got ready to head to Prague.

We got into Prague Sunday afternoon and just explored the city a bit. It's a really fun city to wander through because it's full of old buildings and town squares and cobblestone streets. Around dinner time we were pleased to discover that you could get two large beers, two main dishes and two desserts for about $25. From that first dinner on we knew we were going to enjoy Prague. After sampling a few more of the local Czech beers and getting in some quality people watching, it was time to call it a night. The next morning we had a tour that took us all around Old Town, New Town, up to Prague Castle, and finally on a boat tour. We had lunch at a very traditional Czech restaurant and although Jill wasn't so sure about the whipped cream and jam on top of her pork, the potato pancakes that came with it were like little slices of heaven. The rest of Prague consisted of wandering, eating, drinking the famous Czech beer and people watching. Before we knew it it was time to head to London.

We got into London around noon and were greeted by some cold and rainy weather. Our solution was to seek solace in a pub and treat ourselves to fish and chips. After the weather had cleared up a bit we walked around and saw Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, The London Eye and Trafalgar Square. Then we wandered through the National Gallery and saw some really beautiful artwork, plus the museum was warm, dry and free so it was a most enjoyable experience. That night we watched the Arsenal vs. F.C. Barcelona game at a local pub. These British men definitely took their football seriously-- I think tears were shed when Barcelona scored and two men nearly kissed each other when Arsenal was awarded a penalty kick to tie the game. After a whirlwind day in London it was time to head off to Amsterdam.

We got to Amsterdam and made our way to our home for the next two days--a botel! Boat + Hotel = Botel! It was very cozy and after a quick nap we went out to explore everything this city had to offer. We saw the "I Amsterdam" sign, toured the Van Gogh Museum and wandered through the flower market. Then we went to the House of Bols, a cocktail and Genever experience. There was a room where we explored all of the senses and learned how they all contribute to the way we taste things. We also learned a little bit about the history of Genever and all of the science that went into making Bols Genever, the perfect alcohol for cocktails. Then we got to taste it for ourselves with a free cocktail at the end of the tour. Let me tell you, this Bols guy got it right. There is also a bartending school associated with the House of Bols so we got to learn how to do a bit of flair bartending. Luckily they gave us plastic/rubber bottles to toss around because it took me a while to master it. Day two in Amsterdam was short lived because we had to catch an afternoon flight but we did manage to get in the Heineken Experience. We toured the brewery and learned all about how they make beer. We even went through a 4D brewing experience where we were the beer. We were all shook up and got brewed and bottled and whatnot, very entertaining. After the Heineken Experience it was time to go back to Copenhagen where we enjoyed one last Danish meal together and then Jill headed home this morning. So all in all it was a jam packed week full of sight seeing, eating and drinking--very successful! Tomorrow I'm off the Venice to start week two of my Eurotrip!

Some picture from the trip:

Rosenborg Castle

Prague:

On our boat tour in front of Charles Bridge

St. Vitus Cathedral

Prague Castle
Astronomical Clock in Old Town Square

Lennon Wall

London:

Jill being a tourist in London

Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square

Amsterdam:

I Amsterdam Sign

Flower Market in the heart of Amsterdam

Our tiny but cozy room at the Botel Zebra

Smelling all of the flavors of Bols Genever liquors at the House of Bols

Red light district

Heineken horses trotting through the streets of Amsterdam

The middle stages of the brewing process in the Heineken Brewery

Everybody's doing it...

2010-03-22T22:34:00.002+01:00

When I first arrived in Copenhagen at least three separate people told me to watch out for bikes when crossing the road or getting off a bus. At first I shrugged off their advice, thinking to myself that they were exaggerating just a bit to emphasize how environmentally friendly and active the Danes are, but it didn't take me more three blocks to realize that their concerns were completely valid. Copenhagen is a city full of bicycles and although most of the people on these bicycles obey the traffic laws and stop when the little red man lights up there are definitely some rebels out there that will literally run you over on the street. Recent studies estimate that over one-third of commuters bike to work, including the prime minister! Like I said, it is a city that loves their bikes and since I love this city I decided it was about time I got myself a bike. My host family was nice enough to let me use Emma's bike and I have now started biking everywhere. Not only does it cut five minutes off my commute but I also get to experience so much more of this wonderful city. I notice things that I would never have seen by taking the bus or the metro; it's too easy to just put in your ipod and zone out but when you're on a bike you have to take notice. Just on my way into school today I spotted a cute little cafe I want to test out, a charming mural on the side of a kindergarten, a garden that promises to be beautiful in a matter of weeks and grocery store that is having a sale on Somersby through Friday. (Somersby is a delicious cider that I have grown to love and cherish so much that it deserves it's own blog post just to describe how wonderful it is.) So now I have officially developed a liking for (most) licorice, I prefer open-face sandwiches to the kind with two slices, Aqua is at the top of my recently played list and now, I have a bike! Basically I'm Danish. Now if I could only say rødgrød med fløde they would officially let me into the club...

A Danish Whirlwind

2010-03-17T15:23:00.012+01:00

Last Thursday I decided to skip my cancer class in order to meet two very important people at the airport--my mom and my sister! And the next four days were jam packed with important Danish things to do, see and eat! We started out Friday morning with a canal tour. It was a little rainy so we were happy to see that the boat was covered but we were still able to see all the major sites: the opera house, Amalienborg Palace, the Little Mermaid, Christianshavn and some more but I had to get off the boat to go to class. Then I met up with them for lunch at Nyhavn 17, an adorable restaurant in Nyhavn. We spent the rest of the day walking around Copenhagen and just enjoying the sites. It was really nice to see my mom and sister and give them a glimpse of my daily life here in Denmark.
Day 2 started off with a tour of Christiania, a small community in Christianshavn that governs itself. It's like a mini Amsterdam in the middle of Copenhagen. You can walk up and down Pusher Street and people are openly buying and selling pot. I think my mom learned a lot from this experience. At one point a dealer offered my mom some hash and she turned to me and asked what it was... Oh, my sweet innocent mother. After Christiania we waited in line for an hour to get into Amalienborg, the palace where the Danish royalty live. They just refinished the crown prince's quarters and they opened it up to the public, so we got to see how royalty live. It was pretty incredible. There was a mix of the old fashioned palace with modern artwork. There was even a mural that had Led Zeppelin and Beatles records incorporated into it. Very cool. After a lunch of Smørrebrød (Danish open faced sandwiches), we finished the day at the Copenhagen Ice bar. It was so much fun! Everything was made out of ice--the cups, the bar, the chairs, the walls. There was even a motorcycle you could ride, but it was a chilly ride.

Day 3 was full of soccer, or should I say fodbold? First, my dedicated fans stood in the cold and watch my soccer game (we won 2-0) and then later that night we went to the FCK vs. Brøndby, the biggest rivalry in the Danish soccer league. The Brøndby got a little crazy and started fires. They even threw a firecracker of some kind onto the field! My mom was very concerned for the keeper's safety-- typical mom. After the game, we went to Sticks N Sushi for a absolutely fantastic dinner.
My last day with my mom and sister was full of shopping! We started in Malmö. After two or three hours shopping in Sweden we caught the train back to Copenhagen. We somehow made our way to Georg Jensen and Royal Copenhagen and after drooling over just about everything in the store we made up our minds and got some fabulous souvenirs. After we were all shopped out we made our way home and it was time to my mom and Caitlin to pack their bags. It was a whirlwind of a weekend and we packed a lot into four days. I hope that they had as much fun as I did!

My mom and Anne on the canal tour

Gusties in Gustav Adolf's Square in SwedenAt the Ice Bar!

Mmmm.... Smørrebrød

Christiania

The Little Mermaid

I am Chelsea

2010-03-08T20:38:00.004+01:00

This weekend was quite possibly the best weekend of my life. Seriously, it's going to be hard to top it. Perhaps my wedding or maybe the birth of my first child will be on the same level. What could I have possibly done that was so fantastic? Well, I cheered on Chelsea FC to a 2-0 victory over Stoke City in the quarter-final of the FA cup. Not only did they win but my future husband, Frank Lampard, scored a goal and had an assist. He must have known I was going to be there and decided to show off for me.

So I got home on Friday around 5, did some laundry, repacked my suitcase and left the next morning bright and early. We got into London and the weather was beautiful. It was just my host dad, Jan and me so we walked around Hyde Park, wandered up to Parliament to say Hello to Big Ben and then met some of his co-workers for dinner. Then we met up with my current hero, Paul, who got us tickets for the Chelsea game. He works with Jan and I met him two weeks ago at a pub in Copenhagen where we were watching a Chelsea match. He found out that I was a huge fan and insisted we come to London for a match. Let's just say it didn't take much convincing. The next day was game day! We started off the day with a typical English breakfast and then it was off to Stamford Bridge to cheer on the Mighty Blues. We ate lunch in a restaurant across from the stadium that had a sign in the window, "Chelsea Supporters Only." At first I thought this was a little bit of a joke but when we walked in a police officer stopped us to make sure we were Chelsea fans. They take their soccer really seriously... The game was magical. Everything I expected it to be and so much more. The fans were loud and singing almost constantly. It was a little odd to hear an entire stadium chanting "Come on Chelsea, come on Chelsea, come on Chelsea!" but if we could somehow bring that back to Gustavus I think my game would improve tremendously. As I said, Chelsea went on to win the game 2-0 and now they're in the semi-finals of the FA cup. It was an absolutely fantastic game and an experience that I know I am lucky to have had. Go Chelsea!

An endless amount of sausage and potatoes

2010-03-05T20:58:00.022+01:00

Oh man do I have a lot of catching up to do. I'm going to preface this post by saying it's going to be a long one. I suggest taking frequent breaks--get up, walk around, maybe even get a snack. Do whatever it takes to get through it. However, if you get bored halfway through and give up, no hard feelings. Good luck!

So on Sunday I met my Human Health and Disease class at the airport to embark on what DIS calls a Long Study Tour. They emphasize that Europe is our classroom and we can learn more by getting out and experiencing things so every class goes somewhere in Europe to supplement what we've been learning here in Denmark. So after a nice 40 minute plane ride we landed in Berlin and the sun was shining--something I hadn't seen in a very long time. I knew then and there that this was going to be a fabulous week. We spent the afternoon exploring the city via the 1970's-esque metro and tracking down a tasty bratwurst which I ordered in nearly flawless German and then when asked if I wanted ketchup replied "Nej, tak" (Danish for no thanks) Oops!

Our first real day in Berlin began with a visit to the Berliner Dom, the Lutheran version of the Duomo. It was gorgeous inside and out. Then we went to the DDR museum and learned all about life in East Berlin during the communist era. My favorite fun facts: Potty breaks were scheduled into kindergarten classes that consisted of the entire class sitting on bench toilet and no one was allowed to leave until the last kid was finished. Also, nudism was considered to be a form of protest and was therefore fairly common.
If you were at all covered up at a public beach you were definitely the odd man out.

Little German kids sitting on the bench pottyAfter we had a better grasp of a communist lifestyle we went to visit the German parliament building, the Reichstag. This is where we had the most amazing lunch ever paired with an amazing view of Berlin. The dome structure on top is where the restaurant was. You could walk all the way up to the top and from there you could basically see all of Berlin.

The whole group at Reichstag

And to end our busy day we went on a bike tour of Berlin. This was the coolest way to see the city and I learned so much! We saw all the major sites:

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

Portion of the Berlin wall that is still standing

Reminder of the largest book burning that happened in Germany. If you look closely you can see the empty bookshelves.

The church on the right was on the right of a large square. It was built by French immigrants and considered to be the most beautiful church in Germany for a while. Well of course the Germans couldn't have their most beautiful church be French so they built the church on the left in the same square but on the left side (below). It is almost exactly the same but is 4 cm taller. Germany-1, France-0.

Humboldt University where Einstein was a professor

TV tower built by East Berlin to show off communist power. Unfortunately their plan backfired because a huge cross appears when the sun hits the tower and the West saw it as a sign from God to keep fighting for freedom. But now it is the pride of all of German because it's taller than the Eiffel tower and the Germans love beating the French.

The Brandenburg Gate

And the most important Berlin site of all..... the hotel where Michael Jackson dangled his baby off a balcony

Dinner was as typically German as you can get and consisted of potato soup, sausage, sauerkraut and of course, beer. And after dinner we went to the Jewish Museum which documented the history of German Jews. It was really interesting because it was the only time I learned about Jews in Germany and it didn't completely focus on the Holocaust.

Day number two was more academically focused and began with a trip to the gross anatomy lab at a medical school in Berlin. After the professor pointed some things out, we got to explore the cadaver lab for ourselves. It was so cool! The bodies were already expertly dissected so we got to see and feel pretty much everything with no work whatsoever. It was awesome. Then we went to the Museum of Medical History on the same campus and saw some pretty old school medical tools/techniques. The Checkpoint Charlie museum was the next stop on the schedule. It documented the resistance to communism in general but had a large focus on how people sneaked out of East Berlin and into West Berlin. There were cars, suitcases, oil drums and speakers that had been modified to conceal a person. Many people tunneled over. One person made a zip line and got his whole family across. My personal favorite was the man who dressed up as a cow and grazed his way across the border. He is my hero. That night we went to a Vegas meets Cirque du Soleil type show called Qi (pronounce key). It was thoroughly entertaining and including ice skating, a swimming pool, trapeze artists, singing, dancing and ridiculously strong men lifting each other.

Day three started with a tour to a medical research center where we saw the Operating Room of the Future and a 7 Tesla MRI machine. 7 Tesla is more than twice the normal amount of magnetic field used for MRI. If you got close enough you could feel all the metal on you being pulled to the machine. I felt it in the buckles on my boots, the snaps on my bra and even in my retainer. It was a very strange feeling but really interesting to experience. After this we were done with Berlin and it was time to catch our train to Poznań, Poland.

In the morning of Day Four we shadowed a obstetrician and quickly learned that the rules in Poland are a little different than the US. We started by asking the patient questions but then were thrown into a more hands on experience. I personally palpitated a pregnant woman's stomach while other kids in my class took her pulse, blood pressure and found the fetal heartbeat. Again, so cool! After this we had a walking tour of Poznań and learned a little history.

Parish Church--Impressive inside and out, then you find out the marble, gold and dome are all fake. Hard to say if their trickery makes it more or less impressive...

Inside the fake church.
Market square with the town hall in the middle

Monument honoring specific Poznani resistance events to the Soviet control, the first and largest occurring in 1956.

Saint Marc's Palace built by the Prussians in 1910

Monument celebrating the Polish students who cracked the Nazi code. They were math students in Poznan.

Front of the Town Hall

After our tour of Poznan we got a tour of Lech Brewery.
It was really interesting to see the production line and learn about the whole beer making process. The next morning we shadowed a pediatrician. This was less hands on than the obstetrician but still very interesting. Unfortunately for me this meant the end of study tour but luckily for you (I'm impressed you're still reading) it means the end of this blog!

Walking in a winter wonderland

2010-02-21T14:31:00.009+01:00

This past week Denmark decided that it would be really fun to pretend it was Norway or Greenland or even Minnesota. It's been snowing quite a bit and the cold is not going away. It's nothing I can't handle, I mean I am a Minnesotan after all, but it's a little upsetting that the winter I spend in Copenhagen is the coldest one they've had in decades.

So since my last post I've checked off quite a few things on my "Things to do in Copenhagen" list. On Wednesday some friends and I learned a bit more about the most important part of Danish culture--beer! We toured the old Carlsberg brewery and stables and then got to try a bunch of different beers. They had a room where you could smell different scents and based on the ones you liked best, you could pick the beer you would like. So between the 5 of us we were able to taste 9 different beers and I now feel much more educated about Danish beer. My personal favorites were the Abbey Ale which had hints of licorice, almonds, carnations and red apples and the Carlsberg Lager which had hints of oak, coffee, corn and toasted bread. So if anyone needs advice on good Danish beer, you know who to call.

On Saturday I went to Malmö, Sweden to go shopping with some of my friends. It's a 30 minute train ride and a very popular destination for Danish shoppers because the sales tax is a mere 7% compared to the 50% they pay here. It's also a nice place for a group of American students living on a budget to go and get some (relatively) cheap European clothes. We were also able to track down some Swedish meatballs and I'm not going to lie, I think the Gustavus cafeteria makes better ones. We were also pretty determined to find Swedish Fish but that mission was unsuccessful. I figured it would be though considering Swedish Fish are actually a Canadian candy. But after a lot of shopping and seeing several Gustav Adolf named things (Notice the picture of the cafe below) it was time to head home and meet Anne for night at the theater! First we enjoyed a delicious Turkish dinner complete with Baklava and then it was off to Mary Poppins. Even though they had to stop for about 30 minutes due to technical difficulties, the play was really wonderful! I actually enjoyed that it was in Danish because I was able put my Danish to the test since I knew the story so well. They were even able to translate Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious into Danish--Superphantaphænomænagenialilistisk. Impressive.

More Pictures from the brewery:

An old bottling machine

Beer chemistry (Possible fall back career?)

Old Tuborg delivery bike

Fodbold in the snow and hitting the cat out of the barrel

2010-02-14T19:31:00.002+01:00

Today was a very eventful day! This morning I had my first soccer game with ØKF (Øresendskollegiat Fodboldklub). We played on a field that was completely covered with at least an inch of snow and even more in some places! Luckily my host parents decided to come cheer us on and my host dad happened to have a shovel in his van. So he shoveled the out-of-bounds lines and the 6 yard box for us. Despite his much appreciated efforts, the field was still very slippery and very unpredictable. Luckily we came out on top and ended up winning 3-2.

After warming up a bit it was time to celebrate Fastelavn! It's a holiday that is a combination of Fat Tuesday and Halloween. It celebrates the days before lent and the kids dress up in costumes and participate in the Danish version of trick-or-treating where they get money instead of candy. For me, this holiday included a delicious Danish pastry called Fastelavnboller (a croissant ball with either cream or fruit filling and topped with icing) and watching the traditional barrel hitting. Dragør, a city on the same island that I live on, is the only city that still participates in this tradition, so it was really cool to get to see a rare part of Danish culture. Originally they put a cat in a barrel and hung it from a rope then they rode by on horses and hit the barrel until it broke open. Now they are much more humane and just paint a picture of a cat on the side of a barrel but they still hit it until it shatters--it's the Danish version of a piñata. There were twenty or so men and women on horseback and they just kept riding up and down this one street that was lined with people, whacking a wooden barrel with their special Fastelavn bats. It was very entertaining and I found myself getting very into it. The person who broke the last piece of the barrel got a trophy/cup thing, some flowers, champagne and she led the procession for the rest of the day. Apparently the rest of day was filled with lots of celebrating and lots of rum punch but my host parents and I opted for some delicious pizza and watching the Olympics.

Here's some more pictures from my soccer game:

Good work, Jan!

And more pictures from Fastelavn:

The barrel before it got its beating

I was so enamored with this event

This little guy has a crown on because he busted open a carboard/kid friendly version of the cat barrel that was full of candy
Another action shot
Dragør, an adorable fishing town full of small houses, many still with thatched roofs. Also, it's a requirement for all the houses to be yellow with green shutters

I think I'm ready for my M.D.

2010-02-12T19:30:00.003+01:00

This week was a very average one with nothing incredibly exciting to share. However, the fact that I'm in Copenhagen still makes it more exciting than your average week at home. I have recently discovered the best bakery in Copenhagen and it is way too close to my school--that was definitely a dangerous find. I had a test in my Complexity of Cancer class on Monday and it was pretty easy. My professors are two young doctors who clearly just want us to learn as much as we can but don't really care about grades or tests or anything like that. My Danish class is going very well and I'm feeling more and more confident using my Danish around the city. Perhaps the coolest part of my week was today in my Human Health and Disease class. We had a very hands on class and learned how to put in IVs, give CPR and intubate. We practiced on fake arms first for the IVs but then if people felt confident/brave enough we could practice on each other. Since needles don't really bother me I volunteered both my hands and have developed some really nice bruises on them because my classmates weren't so sskilled with their needles. But luckily someone volunteered for me to practice on them and I got it in on the first try! To some of you, this may not seem very exciting but I was super proud of myself. The CPR part wasn't all that great since I'm already CPR certified but the intubation dummy was pretty cool. I think they can hand me my medical degree now, I'm ready!

2010-02-07T18:47:00.006+01:00

So the past couple days have been a whirlwind of activity. On Wednesday my Danish class went to the Danish Resistance Museum and learned all about the German occupation of Denmark during WWII. Basically, Denmark knew they had no chance so they were civil with the Germans and were able to keep running their country on their own. Eventually the resistance movement gained some strength but all and all it was a relatively mild WWII experience for the Danes. The picture to the right is of a Danish tank used in the resistance movement. Holes were added to the door after the war was over to make it look more dramatic, otherwise it was completely untouched.

Wednesday evening my family took me to see Skatteøen (Treasure Island) at the Folketeatret in Copenhagen. It was a musical so even though I didn't really understand the exact dialogue, it was still entertaining to watch and I could follow the storyline pretty well. My host parents are friends with the man who plays John Silver (Right) so we got to go backstage and see all the scenes and dressing rooms and what not-- very cool.

On Thursday I left for my short study tour around Denmark. We traveled with my Human Health and Disease class, which consists of 13 girls. Because we are such a small group (most are around 35) we got a really nice bus which made the long bus rides so much more enjoyable. Our first stop was Koldinghus (a castle in Kolding). This castle is different because they didn't try to renovate it to look like the original. The castle had changed so much throughout history that it was hard to choose a certain look so instead they just made it accessible and left it pretty much as it was following a fire in the 19th century. This meant that there was a strong contrast between the new platforms and stairs and the old original building structures, something that was very interesting to me.

Next was a visit to a General Practitioner's clinic in Vejle for the more academic side of our study tour. He told us a little bit about his average day and we learned a lot about the Danish health care system. It was incredibly fascinating and I think we could learn a lot from them.

The next day started off with two visits to different research hospitals in Århus (very cool for me but I won't bore you with the details) and ended with ARoS, the art museum in Århus. Perhaps my favorite part of this museum was the sculpture entitled "Boy." It was a 30 meter tall boy that was so lifelike it was creepy. There was also a really cool interactive exhibit by a Danish artist with smoking benches, moving walls and spinning mirrors.

On the last day of our study tour we visited some German bunkers from WWII that had been turned into a museum and then made our way to Odense. Odense is famous for the home of Hans Christian Andersen so naturally we went to the Hans Christian Andersen Museum where I learned way more about the man than I would have ever needed to know. I even saw his dentures and a lock of his hair. After a very nice lunch in a restaurant called "The Ugly Duckling," (how appropriate) it was back to Copenhagen. It was a busy three days but I learned a lot and got to see a lot of Denmark. Also, I got to know the girls in my class pretty well and now I'm even more excited for the rest of my semester!

This is a map of where we went...
A/E = Copenhagen
B= Vejle
C = Århus
D = Odense

View Larger Map

I thought I was studying in Copenhagen...

2010-02-02T18:26:00.006+01:00

This weather definitely feels more like Minnesota. It's the coldest and snowiest winter Copenhagen has seen in almost 20 years. And it's still snowing! Everyone assured me that Copenhagen has a milder climate and, being a Minnesotan, I should be able to handle their winter no problem. Well let me tell you, this is ridiculous. It wouldn't be nearly as bad if they were equipped to deal with all the snow. I have yet to see a real snow plow, they only have street sweepers. And, as I'm sure you can imagine, they don't quite get the job done. Also, it would be completely tolerable if I didn't have to walk everywhere. It's something that I usually enjoy, I like meandering through the city and discovering little shops and cafes but when it's snowing and the wind is ripping through you jacket, you really start to miss the refuge of your warm car.

However despite my complaining there are definitely things that I love about winter in Copenhagen. Most of them involve children. One, they wear little jumpsuits similar to Randy in "A Christmas Story." They look so cute waddling down the streets with only their eyes, nose and rosy red cheeks visible! And sometimes they can't really move their arms, which is also very entertaining to watch. Secondly, the children are quite often pulled around in sleds. Strollers are still very common but with all the snow it's completely normal to see a mother pulling her children down a city street in a sled. Third, I love how resilient the Danes are. Even though they are definitely not used to weather like this and my host sister has never even experienced weather like this, they still do things as they normally would. They ride their bikes to work and school and continue to walk everywhere. Yesterday, I was walking home in the type of snow that forces you to watch your feet as you walk because the idea of looking forward is absurd unless you enjoy a face full of snow and ice. However, despite the vicious wind and incredibly unfriendly snow, there were still several bikes and mopeds passing by me. Several of the bikers had adorned ski goggles to combat the elements-- so clever, these Danes. And the last thing I love about Copenhagen winters is watching my classmates from Florida, California and states with similar climates struggle hardcore with this weather.

To be or not to be...

2010-01-30T18:28:00.005+01:00

Today I went to Kronborg Castle in Helsingor or as it is more commonly know, "Hamlet's Castle." It was a really interesting trip and I learned a lot! The castle is beautiful and full of original artwork and tapestries.

Kronborg Castle

Me in front of Kronborg

This is Frederik II, the king who built Kronborg

This is Christian IV, Frederik II's son and Denmark's most famous king. He had 23 children with 2 wives and several mistresses... Pretty impressive for a man as good looking as him.

A painting on the ceiling in the king's apartment. The C with the 4 in it stands for Christian IV.

The trumpet tower. Whenever the king wanted to make a speech during a party he would signal drums so that the trumpeters could hear them and start playing to get everyone's attention.

The great hall where they host parties. It was common for each guest to eat 8 kg of food and drink 8 liters of wine. In case you got too full, they had servants who walked around between courses with feathers to tickle the back of your throat and then they held out a bucket so you could empty your stomach and continue eating.

An original painting depicting the Swedish king giving his crown to Queen Margaret.

This one was also on the ceiling but in the Queen's apartment. There's a story about this man who had been told that one of kids would kill him so to prevent that from happening he ate them. But his wife hid one kid and when that one grew up he killed his father and cut open his stomach and all his brothers and sisters came out. This is where they say the Greek gods came from.

Often times they would have dishes that you didn't eat and were there purely for show.

A jail cell that gets narrower and narrower so you can move the gate to make the cell smaller and smaller until eventually the prisoner can only stand.

Holger the Dane. He is sleeping now but if Denmark is ever attacked by foreign enemies he'll wake up and protect the country.

The church

The pigeon tower. The castle was built when pigeons were still used as part of the postal system. It's a Danish version of the Owlery at Hagwarts.

Sweden! This is place where Denmark and Sweden are the closest; they're only 4 kilometers apart.

Getting into the swing of things.

2010-01-26T17:37:00.006+01:00

So I'm starting to feel really settled here. I know how the transportation works and I'm confident that I can find my way home from pretty much anywhere. I've had all my classes twice now so we're actually learning things and getting into some really interesting material. This weekend I went to Sweden with my family to go skiing/snowboarding. It was like an hour and a half away and we spent the day there. It was really fun! Sweden reminds me very much of rural Minnesota-- well at least the part of Sweden we were in. We grilled sausages for lunch and made sure to make it back in time for the Vikings game. We stayed up until 4:30 in the morning watching the Vikings lose... Luckily I didn't have to leave for class until 11 that morning!

Today, in my Human Health and Disease we toured the Radiology wing and learned all about X-Rays, CT scans, MRIs and ultra-sounds. They showed us how to do an ultra sound examination and I volunteered to have them take a look inside me. So I got to see one of my kidneys, my liver, spleen, bladder, stomach and abdominal muscles up close and personal. So cool! We also learned how to read an x-ray, an MRI and a CT scan, so it was a super interesting class! Tonight I have a dinner with my Danish class so we can practice ordering things which I am very much looking forward to.

Here's some more pictures from my ski trip:

This is the bridge over to Sweden. We left around 7AM so we got to see the sunrise-- gorgeous!

There were 3 main runs

Jose

Me (In a bunch of hand-me-down clothes)

Jose and Me (after Jose fell down)

Frederik (A family friend), Jose, and Me

Jose and Me

Lisbeth

Jan and Jose

Jan making us a delicious lunch

Some Pictures

2010-01-23T16:05:00.004+01:00

Amalienborg (The Royal Palace)

Rosenborg Palace in the Royal Gardens

A walkway in the Royal Gardens

One of the oldest houses in Copenhagen. It's one of the few buildings that survived an attack in the 1800's that burned down most of the city.
The hall where we had our opening ceremony. It was the original Copenhagen University building.

I am officially in love...

2010-01-23T13:47:00.000+01:00

So I have been here for one week now and I can officially say that I am in love with this city. I love the charming little buildings and the busy cobblestone streets. I love the buses and the metro and my morning commute. I love the Danes. I have yet to meet someone who isn't friendly and genuinely excited to talk to me. I love the lifestyle that the Danes lead. It is so relaxed and welcoming. And even though it sounds like a throat disease, I even love the Danish language.

I started my classes on Thursday and I'm excited for every one of them. On Mondays and Thursdays I have biomedical ethics and complexity of cancer. My professor for biomedical ethics is incredibly passionate about the subject and although we've only had one class I can already tell it's going to be a very interesting class. Our class has wide variety of students with very different perspectives. We have pre-med, pre-law, economics, philosophy and many other majors represented so I think we are going to have some great discussions. My complexity of cancer is taught by two young doctors who are constantly joking around with each other and with the class so I think it's going to be a really fun class. On Tuesdays and Fridays I have Danish and human health and disease. I'm excited to learn Danish and have already been practicing a bit with my host family. They laugh at my pronunciation but I'm sure I sound ridiculous so I don't mind at all. I'm just happy to have someone correct me. I think human health and disease class might end up being my favorite class. We hold class in a hospital and learn how to diagnose and treat the most common diseases. We get to tour several different sections of the hospital and talk to actual patients. So I'm very excited for the rest of my semester and can't wait to see what the next four months have in store for me.

Jeg Hedder Chelsea. Jeg kommer fra Minnesota.

2010-01-18T20:45:00.000+01:00

So today was day one of orientation. They are definitely starting things slowly and there was a lot of down time but it was nice to meet other students. We started the day with an opening ceremony with a wind quintet and some speeches about what to expect and how to make the most of our experience here. Then we got a tour of DIS and all the facilities available to us. And lastly I had a crash course in Danish in which we learned some of the basic dialog phrases and the names of common foods. I have the same general schedule for the next two days, with various orientation classes and then my real classes start on Thursday!

Pictures from last night:

Josephine and me at Amager Strand, the beach that is very close to my house.
(It was a little windy...)

Anne, Lisbeth, Jan and myself at Sticks N Sushi for Dinner

Our dinner. Mmmm...

The bar that was showing the Vikings game. We ended up sitting in front of some Dallas fans but they were definitely outnumbered. There was even a man with a Vikings hat complete with horns and braids!

Jan, Lisbeth and me cheering the Vikings on to Victory.

I made it!

2010-01-16T22:01:00.000+01:00

Well I'm officially in Copenhagen! And after 13 and a half hours of sleep I am ready to take this city by storm! Last night we went to a party that was for everyone who had gone on a ski trip with my host family and it was really fun! I had no idea what was going on most of the time because everyone was speaking Danish (obviously) but I enjoyed myself nonetheless. I loved just watching everyone interact.
My host family is fabulous! Jan is my Danish Dad and he manages nine Sticks and Sushi restaurants in the Copenhagen area. He likes to joke around and reminds me a lot of my American dad... My Danish mom is Lisbeth. She owns her own salon and was nice enough to drive me back last night when she noticed I was nodding off during the ski movie. Oops! And last but certainly not least, my little Danish sister, Josephine or Jose. She's 18 and finishing up her last year of high school. She'll graduate at the end of June and then wants to go on to law school. My room is perfect (Thanks Emma!) and their house is very charming.
Today I have to go to DIS (Danish Institute for Study Abroad) for an orientation-type meeting and then we're off to dinner at Sticks and Sushi. And don't worry, Lisbeth found a sports bar that will be playing the Vikings game so I won't miss a thing!

This is their living room

Dining Room

Kitchen

My Bed

My Desk

Pre-Departure

2010-01-15T16:44:00.001+01:00

Well, I officially leave for Copenhagen, Denmark in T-minus 5 hours and 40 minutes! I am super excited to start my adventure and also very impressed with myself for actually being ready. For the first time in my life I was completely packed by 9 PM on the day before I leave. My flight is at 3:30 so I should be in Amsterdam tomorrow morning at 6 AM and in Copenhagen around 12:30!

I'm going to do my best to keep this updated, just bug me about it if it's been a while. Then next time I post something, I'll be in Copenhagen!!!