Friday, April 27, 2012
April 26, 2012
Today I didn't have my public health class because we had just turned in our projects so I was able to sleep in. My first class wasn't until 10:20. I then went to school and had my Holocaust and Genocide class, where we talked about the war in Yugoslavia. This was very interesting because there was a girl in my class whose family was from Bosnia so we were able to hear her story first hand as she lived in Bosnia until she was 6.
After Holocaust and Genocide I had my Danish Test...EWWWWW. I don't think it was terrible, but I wouldn't call it a masterpiece. The test involved a section that we had where our Danish teacher read something in Danish and we had to answer questions about it, then a section where we had to read a long text in Danish and answer questions about it in English, and then we had to translate certain phrases, and the last part of the test was the culture portion where we had to answer certain questions about Danish Culture.
After my Danish test I went home, and did more work. We then had dinner which consisted of meatballs, potatoes and vegetables. I helped my host dad cook dinner. I was peeling potatoes, but clearly I wasn't peeling them fast enough because he asked me if I wanted to switch jobs. I didn't really want to make the meatballs, so I said I would rather not, so once he got the meatballs started in the frying pan, he helped me finish the potatoes and they were done in no time.
After dinner we had flødeboller. This is pretty much the best Danish dessert ever!! It is a wafer-type thing with lots of marshmallow on top, covered in chocolate. This is one of the types of food I will miss the most I think when I am back in the states this summer. They are so delicious but very rich because I ate two (because my host mom wasn't home) and I started to feel sick from consuming all that deliciously goodness so quickly. It was definitely worth it though. I only have 3.5 weeks left of flødeboller so I have to make the most of the time I have left.
April 25, 2012
Today was Wednesday which meant it was field trip day. I actually had a field trip today. I went to the Danish Pharmaceutical Industry Association today with my Public Health Class. We learned about how the pharmaceuticals are sold in Denmark. I then went to a place called St. Peter's Bakery and bought a cinnamon snail. This place is famous for their cinnamon snails, but I never got a chance to try them until this week because by the time I found out about it Lent had started, and then last week I didn't come to the city at all.
We then came back to DIS and worked on our public health project as that is due tomorrow. We had quite a bit of work left to do with it. It took us longer than we thought to finish it. It had to be good though because this was a large portion of our grade. We finally managed to get it almost done, and then it was time for me to head back to my host family's house. By the time I got back it was almost bed time, so I basically just finished my homework and went to sleep.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
April 24, 2012
Today I met up with my group for my Danish project. We are doing a presentation about the Danish education system. This meeting basically just allowed us to figure out where we are going with our project and what needed to be done.
I then had Public Health Ethics and we talked about immunizations and whether the state should be allowed to mandate immunizations or not. My teacher asked me if there were certain rules in New Hampshire, because after I mentioned about the seat belts, she has been particularly intrigued by my response to these issues.
After public health ethics I had my Human Trafficking class, and we talked about forced labor. We heard stories of how gangs are taking homeless people off the streets in Britain and are using them as modern day slaves, where they aren't being compensated, and are being forced to work, and are being sold from one person to another. It was hard to imagine that this type of stuff is happening right under our noses. It isn't the thing that you just hear about happening in the poor underprivileged countries, but happens all over the world.
After class I came home and slept for 2.5 hours. I probably would have slept longer, but my cell phone rang because my host parents were wondering where I was. They weren't home when I got home so I just came upstairs to take a nap, and since I had said I would be home for dinner tonight I think they were concerned.
April 23, 2012
Today my public health class was cancelled. This meant that I got to sleep in. I ended up going to school earlier than I had to so that I could finish proofreading my Holocaust paper. I finally got that to a point where I was happy with it, and I turned it in. In Holocaust and Genocide class our teacher knew it was pointless to have us do any reading considering we all had to finish our papers so instead of lecture we watched a movie. This movie was about a mass grave excavation in Vukovar, Yugoslavia. This movie was also very graphic. It involved people digging up the dead bodies from the war, and putting them into body bags, and sending them to the lab to be identified. Some of these bodies were still in a recognizable state, as the soil acted as type of preservative. This movie was very informative, but very hard to watch.
I then had my Danish Class. In Danish class we talked more about our test on Thursday, which might be kind of difficult. In Danish we heard some popular Danish music. The types of songs that we heard in Danish class were not ones that I would have expected my Danish teacher to choose. I didn't really like them either, but it was to give us a taste of the type of music that is currently popular.
After Danish I went to the computer lab as I had a skype meeting for Radiance since I am co-president next year. That seemed to go pretty well. All I can say is I am glad I am not in Rochester right now because it was snowing when I was skyping with them yesterday.
I then went to Torvehallen (the glass market) to get dinner. I was hoping to get falafel because when I went there before I got this really good falafel and french fries, and it was pretty cheap, but I got there and the falafel place was closed. I don't know why. I ended up with Shawarma (a meat sandwich) instead. It was really yummy. I then went to this place called Agnes Cupcakes, and got a Caramel cupcake, which was a vanilla sponge cake with chocolate chips and caramel on the top.
I then had to meet up with my group for my public health project. That meeting seemed to be pretty productive. We managed to get a lot accomplished, and I think we are almost done with that project. We worked on it for about 2 hours.
I then went to catch my train home, and that didn't work out so well. I guess they changed the schedule of the trains on April 10th, but I didn't know that because I hadn't stayed late at all since travel break. This meant that I had to take another train to one station and then switch, which would have been fine, but I didn't know that so I managed to miss the last bus back to my host family's house, which is at 9:49. I ended up having to call my host dad to have him come pick me up because I arrived at the station at 9:55.
April 22, 2012
Today I slept in until about 11. I was just too tired I suppose from last week. Today was also a work day as my Holocaust and Genocide paper is due tomorrow. Since we all woke up at different times we decided we wouldn't have breakfast together like we normally do on the weekends. We then had lunch together, and it was later time for more work. Later in the afternoon we decided we would have some cake (muffins) and tea, and play a game. We played Cranium. I thought cranium was hard enough in English, but when you throw in Danish things I've never heard of it makes it much harder. We also kind of made up the rules as we went along, for example if we didn't know what the song was that we were supposed to sing for the humdingers then we would just come up with a new song. Considering we were making up the rules as we went along, and my host family was trying to translate all of the cards into English the game took awhile. Sadly we didn't end up finishing so we don't know who won. Either way it was fun though and we laughed a lot.
April 21, 2012
Today my host mom, Laura, and I went to Sweden. We woke up and left around 10:30 or so. We got to Helsingør and bought tickets for the ferry. When we got to the ticket booth for the ferry they told us that they were having some promotion and the ferry was free. We weren't totally sure how or why, but we didn't argue and we just took the free tickets and got in line for the ferry. When we got to Helsingborg it started to rain. We didn't end up doing too much in Sweden. We wandered around a few shops, and eventually we ended up at this "hyggligt" diner for lunch. I got a sandwich with Brie and Salami on a Baguette and it was delicious. This place also had really good looking cakes (in Danish a cake is basically anything sweet that has been baked). I ended up with a mint chocolate frosted brownie and it was superlækert (super delicious). We then walked around a little more and came to a park. By this time the weather was much nicer so we walked around the park a little bit, then we got back on the ferry, and headed home. We were home by about 5 or so. We really weren't in Sweden very long, but long enough for me to say that I have been to Sweden. It was a fun day out, but unfortunately the weather wasn't nicer. When we got to Sweden though, the foggy rain was kind of how I had imagined it. Thats typical Swedish weather, so I don't think I would have gotten a true Swedish experience if it had been a really nice day.
April 20, 2012
Today I got up and went to school. My first class was public health ethics. In that class we talked about whether the state has the right to raise taxes on cigarettes or if that is infringing on a person's freedom. Our teacher told us we were playing a "game", but it was basically like a debate with three sides. One side had to argue from the tabacco industry saying it wasn't okay. My side had to argue for the WHO and say that it was okay to raise taxes, and then the third team were the Danish Lawmakers and had to decide what they were going to do. In the end we all ended up winning a prize which was a bag of candy for each team. Normally when you present a group of college students with a bag of candy they devour it like a pack of wolves. This is not the case with Danish candy. Pretty much every type of Danish candy contains either black licorice or black licorice flavoring, and no one really likes it. All of the Danes it by the handful, but I don't think you could pay most American students to eat black licorice.
After public health ethics I had my human trafficking class. During this class we watched a movie called "kidneys on ice". It was about these people in poor Eastern European countries who sold a kidney for $3,000 because they needed the money. These people were also not informed about any of the risks that were associated with donating a kidney. It was a very graphic movie. It was very informative, but it made me very uneasy as I was watching it.
This afternoon I bought an ice cream from one of the really good ice cream shops in town. I was sitting outside enjoying my ice cream for a little while, then I decided I should head home. It was almost 3:30, and I needed to keep working on my paper. I got to the train station and there were a TON of people there. Apparently there was a problem with the trains. The longer I've been here the less I am liking the Danish public transportation system, but I've learned to live with it. I knew if I waited for the train there would be no way I would fit on the train because so many people were trying to get on. I decided I would walk to the train station before Nørreport because that way I would already be on the train when everyone else was trying to get on it. This theory worked, but the walk between Nørreport and Vesterport was much longer than I had imagined. It wasn't that long, but in my mind I thought it was much closer. I then got on the train, but we were squished for about 5 stops. It wasn't until I was 1/2 way home when I was actually able to find a seat on the train. This has never been an issue before, there are usually plenty of seats for everyone.
I got home eventually and I worked on my paper some more. We then had dinner, and my host mom and Laura wanted to watch a movie so we watched "My Big Fat Greek Wedding". I don't know how many times I've seen that movie, but I still think its a very funny movie. We had a feast while we watched the movie which included pineapple, grapes, pistachios, and best of all flødeboller (thats a Danish dessert that is marshmallow creme covered with chocolate) I don't know how they are so good, but that is definitely one thing I will miss when I get back home. No more flødeboller.
April 19, 2012
Today was a typical school day. I woke up, went to Public Health class where we worked on our group projects due next week. I then went to Holocaust class where we were basically just given time to work on our papers in class. This meant that my only real class today was Danish. We talked about the test that we have next Thursday which I am not too excited for.
After school I just came home and worked more on my papers because they needed some work.
Today was not an exciting day, as I basically did homework all day. Due to the lack of excitement I am going to end this post here.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
April 18, 2012
Today is Wednesday which means FIELD TRIP DAY!!! Whooo!! Minor detail....I didn't have any field trips scheduled for today. That's okay because it basically just meant a day off of school. Considering I had so much work to do I ended up spending the whole day (or at least most of it) doing homework. It was a pretty productive day, I managed to complete my book report (I just need to proofread it), finish my research for my Public Health project on the STEC outbreak in Germany, and complete my research for my holocaust and genocide paper on the Irish Potato Famine.
Last night was the elections for Radiance, the dance group that I am a part of at school, and when I was asked what positions I would be interested in running for I said, "Anything but president because I don't know that I will really have the time." I checked my e-mail this morning and guess what? I was elected as co-president of Radiance. I suppose it isn't quite as much responsibility as President. I think Erin and I will be able to do a good job as co-presidents. I am looking forward to next year.
That was pretty much the excitement of my day, as I didn't end up going to school or into Copenhagen at all.
Now I am treating myself to some American TV shows that I have missed while I was on Spring Break.
Considering I have some extra time tonight I will tell you what I am doing this summer: I have been offered a job with the United Church of Christ Summer Communities of Service. I will be working with Central St. Matthew UCC in New Orleans. This job will entail a combination of pastoral visits, and an internship with an external organization. I am not sure exactly which organization. This means that I will be in New Orleans all summer. I will be leaving NH/VT I think May 28th and returning August 15 or so (depending on how long it takes me to drive back from New Orleans.
Last night was the elections for Radiance, the dance group that I am a part of at school, and when I was asked what positions I would be interested in running for I said, "Anything but president because I don't know that I will really have the time." I checked my e-mail this morning and guess what? I was elected as co-president of Radiance. I suppose it isn't quite as much responsibility as President. I think Erin and I will be able to do a good job as co-presidents. I am looking forward to next year.
That was pretty much the excitement of my day, as I didn't end up going to school or into Copenhagen at all.
Now I am treating myself to some American TV shows that I have missed while I was on Spring Break.
Considering I have some extra time tonight I will tell you what I am doing this summer: I have been offered a job with the United Church of Christ Summer Communities of Service. I will be working with Central St. Matthew UCC in New Orleans. This job will entail a combination of pastoral visits, and an internship with an external organization. I am not sure exactly which organization. This means that I will be in New Orleans all summer. I will be leaving NH/VT I think May 28th and returning August 15 or so (depending on how long it takes me to drive back from New Orleans.
April 17, 2012
Today in Public Health Ethics we were talking about paternalism, and whether the requirement of wearing a seatbelt was infringing on people's rights to make their own decisions. I later brought up the fact that New Hampshire doesn't have a law for wearing seat belts if the person is over the age of 18. I said "Our state motto is Live Free or Die". Everyone was very surprised after I said that. This statement changed the direction of the argument entirely because instead of saying that people don't have the right to choose this, we agreed that if they were very much against this law, then they could go to a place such as NH and wouldn't have to worry about this. After class my teacher asked me, what else do you mean by "Live Free or Die" and I mentioned well motorcycle helmets, but I wasn't sure what else exactly. If you have any other ideas let me know.
This afternoon in my Human Trafficking class we had a guest lecturer who had done some work in Cambodia, because we are currently reading a book named the Road of Lost Innocence by Somaly Mam, about a woman who was trafficked in Cambodia.
Tonight we had meatballs and rice in a curry sauce for dinner. After dinner my host sister Laura, asked "What's for dessert?" and no one had anything planned so I suggested baked apples. I remembered the days we were at Grammie's house when I was growing up and when we wanted dessert we just stuffed an apple with some brown sugar and stuck it in the microwave, and I loved it! I taught Laura how to make them last night and they were definitely a big hit. I had forgotten how much I liked them! I am not sure if the reason why I loved them so much was because they were absolutely delicious, or because of the memories it brought back from the days of easy and delicious desserts at Grammie's house.
This afternoon in my Human Trafficking class we had a guest lecturer who had done some work in Cambodia, because we are currently reading a book named the Road of Lost Innocence by Somaly Mam, about a woman who was trafficked in Cambodia.
Tonight we had meatballs and rice in a curry sauce for dinner. After dinner my host sister Laura, asked "What's for dessert?" and no one had anything planned so I suggested baked apples. I remembered the days we were at Grammie's house when I was growing up and when we wanted dessert we just stuffed an apple with some brown sugar and stuck it in the microwave, and I loved it! I taught Laura how to make them last night and they were definitely a big hit. I had forgotten how much I liked them! I am not sure if the reason why I loved them so much was because they were absolutely delicious, or because of the memories it brought back from the days of easy and delicious desserts at Grammie's house.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
One Month Left....
I know I haven't been updating my blog, but I am going to try to do it for the one month that I have left. I just returned from spring break yesterday, and I have a lot left to do in the one month that I am here. I still have:
3 papers
3 presentations
1 book report
2 projects
4 exams.
I will be surprised if I survive all of it but this semester has been so much fun, and definitely worth it!
Over the past 2 weeks, I have travelled to Amsterdam, Southern France, Paris, Belgium, and Edinburgh. I happened to be in Amsterdam on Ben and Jerry's free cone day, and when I first saw the line at Ben & Jerry's I decided it wasn't worth waiting, but when I saw it was free cone day I knew I had to because I would be a terrible New Englander if I didn't have free Ben and Jerry's.
While I was in Amsterdam I went to the photography museum named "FOAM" and that was really interesting as they had an exhibit about the New York Times Magazine. The best part of it was that the entire exhibit was in English so I felt like I could really understand it. The following day I spent quite a bit of time just exploring Amsterdam, and I ended up walking around Amsterdam for most of 2.5 hours.
After Amsterdam I went to Southern France. Southern France was gorgeous! Spring had sprung! I got to the train station and I was basically sweating because it was 20 degrees Celsius outside, which was very different from the 8 degrees in Amsterdam. The first night I arrived in Southern France we had horse for dinner. I was a little worried about trying it, but I decided since everyone else was eating it I would try it too. This is when I decided that horse meat is delicious. The next day we slept in and we went to go see a Good Friday Procession in the town. That was very interesting, as I had never seen one before. Apparently the one that I saw in Perpignan is the most famous one in France. Sadly I didn't stay for all of it but we watched it for about 40 minutes or so. The following day we went to a place called Les Orgues. This place is a geological site, and the rocks are made out of fine sand and they become eroded by the rain. For dinner that night we ate fish with the heads still on them, I was kind of surprised by that and not totally sure how to go about eating them. One of my favorite things that I ate in Southern France was definitely the strawberries. We ate strawberries with chantilly (whipped cream) after every meal! They were SOOOOO delicious.
I left Perpignan on Easter Sunday and I went to Paris for a night. While I was in Paris I went to dinner and drinks with Cerise, one of my really good friends from The Grammar School. We had a hyggligt (there is no definition of this Danish word) time. I then left Paris the next morning and travelled to Bruges. I was a little disappointed not to spend time more time in Paris, but I really enjoyed all of the other places I travelled.
Bruges was a lot of fun. I went with 2 friends that I have met since I've been in Denmark. It was kind of rainy when we got to the train station and we didn't know where exactly our hostel was, and none of us had a map, so we ended up walking down the street about 10 minutes from the train station, and then realized we didn't know where we were and we had taken a wrong turn from the directions we had, so we turned around and went all the way back to the train station. We then tried again following the directions a bit more closely and walked for another 10 minutes. It turned out that we were literally right around the corner from our hostel the first time, but we didn't know that because we didn't have a map. Needless to say that by the time we got to the hostel we were very cold and very wet. When we checked in the people at the front desk told us that there would be a walking tour in about 10 minutes so we dropped our stuff and went outside and prepared to get more cold and wet. After the walking tour we were getting pretty hungry, but it was only about 4:00 in the afternoon so we didn't want to get dinner. We ended up walking around for a while, and then succumbing to hunger around 5:00. After dinner we were all so exhausted, and wet, and cold that we ended up going back to the hostel and doing nothing. We didn't want to go to bed too early so around 10pm I remembered I had Skip-Bo cards (for those of you who have never played its pretty much the best game in the world!), so we went to the lobby and played Skip-Bo for an hour, until they kicked us out. The hostel was undergoing major construction so the facilities weren't the nicest. It will be a nice place to go back once the construction is finished but right now there is currently one small toilet, and a separate room with a shower and a sink, for the whole floor to use.
Bruges Day 2 was jam packed with things going on. We started the day with a Belgian Waffle, au naturel. We then climbed the Belfry tower, which is the highest tower in Belgium it was 366 steps to the top. Let's just say it wasn't the easiest climb, but definitely rewarding in the end. After the tower we got Frites (French Fries) with curry tomato ketchup. We then went to a church to go see one of Michael Angelo's Famous statues, and then we went to the Hospital Museum. After the Hospital Museum it was time for lunch, and then we went to the Russian Orthodox church because that is where they have the blood of Jesus Christ, and we found the frog in one of the squares and had to kiss the frog. Sadly it didn't turn into a prince like it was supposed to. Oh well. We then decided to go back to the hotel because we were cold and wet, and it was Nap Time. Our Nap time managed to last about 2 hours or so. During this time I had to register for classes which was no fun because the server crashed and that took about 30 minutes to actually work, sadly it cut into my nap time so I only napped for about 1 hour. It was definitely a well deserved nap. After naps we had a light dinner, and then after dinner I realized that the mini carnival that was in town had Olliebollens (Dutch Donuts). They were delicious and I managed to get Powdered sugar ALL over me and my nice black jacket.
Day 3 in Belgium we weren't sure if we wanted to go to Brussels for the day or just stay in Bruges, because we were all leaving from Brussels anyways. We just decided we would stay in Bruges because we had heard about this amazing market where you could buy really cheap cooked meat, so we did that and bought an order of French fries and had that for lunch. Of course we started the day off with Waffles, mine was chocolate and banana. The market also had really cheap chocolate truffles that I had to buy as a snack for later. We ended up taking our lunch back to the hostel, eating lunch and playing more skip-bo because it was still cold and rainy outside, and not a nice day to be walking around too much. I then started my adventure to Edinburgh which included a Train--> a Taxi (It was supposed to be a bus, but I could take the taxi for the same price and get there faster) --> a plane, and eventually I was in Edinburgh. For once I was glad I was American because there were two lines at customs and one was UK/EU passports, and the other was all other passports so I was literally the only person in the all other passports line. Even though I was one of the last ones off the plane. I was pretty much the first one out. I then met Rachel at the airport and we ventured back to her apartment.
Thursday, we both slept in and then we decided we would go into the city and have a picnic lunch and do some shopping, and the picnic was probably the highlight of our day, we didn't do too much else. We did buy a steak pie from M & S and had our hearty Scottish dinner which included Steak Pie, mashed potatoes, and peas.
Friday, sadly Rachel had to work so I attempted to work on my paper for most of the day. I did get quite a bit of work accomplished but not quite as much as I should have. Oh well. We then met up with Sarah and Kathy Christie (Cassie's friend from St. Andrews and her mom) for dinner. We went to an Indian restaurant and had Tapas. When we told the waiter that we didn't want anything too spicy he said that they don't typically eat what was on the menu because it wasn't spicy enough for them, so nothing on the menu was going to be too spicy. After dinner Rachel and I went back to her flat and watched Cars!
Saturday we slept in again, and then we made Swedish Pancakes, essentially crepes, and we put some Nutella and strawberries in them. We then went to the Botanical Gardens. Sadly there weren't too many flowers in bloom, but I guess that is to be expected in April in Edinburgh. We then went to the center of Edinburgh and walked around for a while on Princes Street, and through the Princes Street Park and had dinner at Pizza Express! I LOVE Pizza Express. After Pizza Express we walked up the Royal Mile to the Castle. We later ended the night with Cars 2! We weren't sure what else to watch and decided since we watched Cars the night before we should watch Cars 2.
Sadly that was pretty much the end of my spring break. Now its back to reality. Today was the Queen's Birthday and I honestly contemplated skipping class to go to see the queen at the palace, but I realized that probably wasn't a good idea since it was my first day back from break, but how many other opportunities am I going to have?
3 papers
3 presentations
1 book report
2 projects
4 exams.
I will be surprised if I survive all of it but this semester has been so much fun, and definitely worth it!
Over the past 2 weeks, I have travelled to Amsterdam, Southern France, Paris, Belgium, and Edinburgh. I happened to be in Amsterdam on Ben and Jerry's free cone day, and when I first saw the line at Ben & Jerry's I decided it wasn't worth waiting, but when I saw it was free cone day I knew I had to because I would be a terrible New Englander if I didn't have free Ben and Jerry's.
While I was in Amsterdam I went to the photography museum named "FOAM" and that was really interesting as they had an exhibit about the New York Times Magazine. The best part of it was that the entire exhibit was in English so I felt like I could really understand it. The following day I spent quite a bit of time just exploring Amsterdam, and I ended up walking around Amsterdam for most of 2.5 hours.
After Amsterdam I went to Southern France. Southern France was gorgeous! Spring had sprung! I got to the train station and I was basically sweating because it was 20 degrees Celsius outside, which was very different from the 8 degrees in Amsterdam. The first night I arrived in Southern France we had horse for dinner. I was a little worried about trying it, but I decided since everyone else was eating it I would try it too. This is when I decided that horse meat is delicious. The next day we slept in and we went to go see a Good Friday Procession in the town. That was very interesting, as I had never seen one before. Apparently the one that I saw in Perpignan is the most famous one in France. Sadly I didn't stay for all of it but we watched it for about 40 minutes or so. The following day we went to a place called Les Orgues. This place is a geological site, and the rocks are made out of fine sand and they become eroded by the rain. For dinner that night we ate fish with the heads still on them, I was kind of surprised by that and not totally sure how to go about eating them. One of my favorite things that I ate in Southern France was definitely the strawberries. We ate strawberries with chantilly (whipped cream) after every meal! They were SOOOOO delicious.
I left Perpignan on Easter Sunday and I went to Paris for a night. While I was in Paris I went to dinner and drinks with Cerise, one of my really good friends from The Grammar School. We had a hyggligt (there is no definition of this Danish word) time. I then left Paris the next morning and travelled to Bruges. I was a little disappointed not to spend time more time in Paris, but I really enjoyed all of the other places I travelled.
Bruges was a lot of fun. I went with 2 friends that I have met since I've been in Denmark. It was kind of rainy when we got to the train station and we didn't know where exactly our hostel was, and none of us had a map, so we ended up walking down the street about 10 minutes from the train station, and then realized we didn't know where we were and we had taken a wrong turn from the directions we had, so we turned around and went all the way back to the train station. We then tried again following the directions a bit more closely and walked for another 10 minutes. It turned out that we were literally right around the corner from our hostel the first time, but we didn't know that because we didn't have a map. Needless to say that by the time we got to the hostel we were very cold and very wet. When we checked in the people at the front desk told us that there would be a walking tour in about 10 minutes so we dropped our stuff and went outside and prepared to get more cold and wet. After the walking tour we were getting pretty hungry, but it was only about 4:00 in the afternoon so we didn't want to get dinner. We ended up walking around for a while, and then succumbing to hunger around 5:00. After dinner we were all so exhausted, and wet, and cold that we ended up going back to the hostel and doing nothing. We didn't want to go to bed too early so around 10pm I remembered I had Skip-Bo cards (for those of you who have never played its pretty much the best game in the world!), so we went to the lobby and played Skip-Bo for an hour, until they kicked us out. The hostel was undergoing major construction so the facilities weren't the nicest. It will be a nice place to go back once the construction is finished but right now there is currently one small toilet, and a separate room with a shower and a sink, for the whole floor to use.
Bruges Day 2 was jam packed with things going on. We started the day with a Belgian Waffle, au naturel. We then climbed the Belfry tower, which is the highest tower in Belgium it was 366 steps to the top. Let's just say it wasn't the easiest climb, but definitely rewarding in the end. After the tower we got Frites (French Fries) with curry tomato ketchup. We then went to a church to go see one of Michael Angelo's Famous statues, and then we went to the Hospital Museum. After the Hospital Museum it was time for lunch, and then we went to the Russian Orthodox church because that is where they have the blood of Jesus Christ, and we found the frog in one of the squares and had to kiss the frog. Sadly it didn't turn into a prince like it was supposed to. Oh well. We then decided to go back to the hotel because we were cold and wet, and it was Nap Time. Our Nap time managed to last about 2 hours or so. During this time I had to register for classes which was no fun because the server crashed and that took about 30 minutes to actually work, sadly it cut into my nap time so I only napped for about 1 hour. It was definitely a well deserved nap. After naps we had a light dinner, and then after dinner I realized that the mini carnival that was in town had Olliebollens (Dutch Donuts). They were delicious and I managed to get Powdered sugar ALL over me and my nice black jacket.
Day 3 in Belgium we weren't sure if we wanted to go to Brussels for the day or just stay in Bruges, because we were all leaving from Brussels anyways. We just decided we would stay in Bruges because we had heard about this amazing market where you could buy really cheap cooked meat, so we did that and bought an order of French fries and had that for lunch. Of course we started the day off with Waffles, mine was chocolate and banana. The market also had really cheap chocolate truffles that I had to buy as a snack for later. We ended up taking our lunch back to the hostel, eating lunch and playing more skip-bo because it was still cold and rainy outside, and not a nice day to be walking around too much. I then started my adventure to Edinburgh which included a Train--> a Taxi (It was supposed to be a bus, but I could take the taxi for the same price and get there faster) --> a plane, and eventually I was in Edinburgh. For once I was glad I was American because there were two lines at customs and one was UK/EU passports, and the other was all other passports so I was literally the only person in the all other passports line. Even though I was one of the last ones off the plane. I was pretty much the first one out. I then met Rachel at the airport and we ventured back to her apartment.
Thursday, we both slept in and then we decided we would go into the city and have a picnic lunch and do some shopping, and the picnic was probably the highlight of our day, we didn't do too much else. We did buy a steak pie from M & S and had our hearty Scottish dinner which included Steak Pie, mashed potatoes, and peas.
Friday, sadly Rachel had to work so I attempted to work on my paper for most of the day. I did get quite a bit of work accomplished but not quite as much as I should have. Oh well. We then met up with Sarah and Kathy Christie (Cassie's friend from St. Andrews and her mom) for dinner. We went to an Indian restaurant and had Tapas. When we told the waiter that we didn't want anything too spicy he said that they don't typically eat what was on the menu because it wasn't spicy enough for them, so nothing on the menu was going to be too spicy. After dinner Rachel and I went back to her flat and watched Cars!
Saturday we slept in again, and then we made Swedish Pancakes, essentially crepes, and we put some Nutella and strawberries in them. We then went to the Botanical Gardens. Sadly there weren't too many flowers in bloom, but I guess that is to be expected in April in Edinburgh. We then went to the center of Edinburgh and walked around for a while on Princes Street, and through the Princes Street Park and had dinner at Pizza Express! I LOVE Pizza Express. After Pizza Express we walked up the Royal Mile to the Castle. We later ended the night with Cars 2! We weren't sure what else to watch and decided since we watched Cars the night before we should watch Cars 2.
Sadly that was pretty much the end of my spring break. Now its back to reality. Today was the Queen's Birthday and I honestly contemplated skipping class to go to see the queen at the palace, but I realized that probably wasn't a good idea since it was my first day back from break, but how many other opportunities am I going to have?
Sunday, February 26, 2012
February 26, 2012
We started today with breakfast at the hostel. It was big German breakfast with everything imaginable for breakfast.
We then left the hostel and we went to Nicolai Kirche. This church was one of the highest points in the city, so all of the Allied bombings aimed for this church. This church was one of the only things to survive the firestorm, known as "Operation Gommorah" on July 24, 1943. It is now a memorial to the death a destruction of WWII. It was really interesting to see this church and it was easy to see that the bottom of the church had been scorched as it was a darker color than the top of the spire. We were able to take the elevator to the top of the spire and look out over Hamburg. There were pictures of how the city looked after the bombing in the different sections of spire looking over different portions of the city. It was interesting to see the difference and to see how well the city has been rebuilt since the war.
After the church we went to brunch at a place called Roxie. The food was really good and there was a lot of it. We all ate a lot of food. It was a HUGE brunch buffet with everything.
It was then time to go to Neuengamme Concentration Camp. This concentration camp is located about 45 minutes outside of Hamburg. It was used as a labor camp from December 13, 1938 to May 4, 1945, when it was liberated by British troops. It was then used by the British as Civil Internment Camp number 6 for suspected German war criminals. Neuengamme was a subcamp of Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Neuengamme was located on the grounds of an abandoned brickworks factory. Our professor seemed to know everything about it since he is a scholor of the Holocaust and has been running this trip so many times. He gave us a guided tour of the entire grounds, and that took us about 2 hours. It was really depressing to see it, but I definitely have a much deeper understanding of the types of things that occurred there. After we finished walking around the grounds of the camp we went into the museum/vistors center. That was very informative and there were a number of artifacts and pictures, and it was really interesting to see the map of all the concentration camps and extermination camps. This visit was a very informative visit and an eye-opening experience.
After the concentration camp we loaded back onto the bus and returned to Copenhagen.
We then left the hostel and we went to Nicolai Kirche. This church was one of the highest points in the city, so all of the Allied bombings aimed for this church. This church was one of the only things to survive the firestorm, known as "Operation Gommorah" on July 24, 1943. It is now a memorial to the death a destruction of WWII. It was really interesting to see this church and it was easy to see that the bottom of the church had been scorched as it was a darker color than the top of the spire. We were able to take the elevator to the top of the spire and look out over Hamburg. There were pictures of how the city looked after the bombing in the different sections of spire looking over different portions of the city. It was interesting to see the difference and to see how well the city has been rebuilt since the war.
After the church we went to brunch at a place called Roxie. The food was really good and there was a lot of it. We all ate a lot of food. It was a HUGE brunch buffet with everything.
It was then time to go to Neuengamme Concentration Camp. This concentration camp is located about 45 minutes outside of Hamburg. It was used as a labor camp from December 13, 1938 to May 4, 1945, when it was liberated by British troops. It was then used by the British as Civil Internment Camp number 6 for suspected German war criminals. Neuengamme was a subcamp of Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Neuengamme was located on the grounds of an abandoned brickworks factory. Our professor seemed to know everything about it since he is a scholor of the Holocaust and has been running this trip so many times. He gave us a guided tour of the entire grounds, and that took us about 2 hours. It was really depressing to see it, but I definitely have a much deeper understanding of the types of things that occurred there. After we finished walking around the grounds of the camp we went into the museum/vistors center. That was very informative and there were a number of artifacts and pictures, and it was really interesting to see the map of all the concentration camps and extermination camps. This visit was a very informative visit and an eye-opening experience.
After the concentration camp we loaded back onto the bus and returned to Copenhagen.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
February 25, 2012
Today we left for Germany. We had to meet in Copenhagen at 8:15 so my host dad drove me to the train station very early. We drove the nice long drive to Hamburg and it took us about 5 hours to get there. We watched a movie named the Pianist on the bus to Hamburg. It was very good, but very depressing film as it is the story of a Jewish man during the holocaust, and his struggle of surviving the war.
Our first stop was the Bullenhuser Damm School. This is the site where after WWII the children that were experimented on at the concentration camp were all taken, and hung. There were about 20 Jewish children who were hung there along with their 4 adult caretakers and 6 Red Army Prisoners of war. The cellar where the murders took place is now a museum, and there is a garden with a memorial outside. The building itself is used as a Kindergarten. Originally we were not going to be able to go inside because it was a weekend and the museum is not opened on weekends. When we arrived one of the people in charge of the museum was there and opened the museum for us so we were allowed to visit it. The woman also told our professor to let her know when he was going to come back so that all of the future classes would have the same opportunity that we had.
After that we had some time to explore Hamburg on our own. I walked around Hamburg with some of my friends and we saw a lot of downtown Hamburg. Sadly I didn't know that there was a Hard Rock Cafe in Hamburg because otherwise I would have made sure to get my T-Shirt. By the time I realized that there was a Hard Rock Cafe it was too late and we were headed back to the Hostel so we could leave for dinner.
We went to a place called Schlachterborse for dinner. Our professor had warned us how it was going to be a lot of food, so we were prepared. He also said it would be terrible if we didn't eat steak. When we first arrived we were skeptical about what we were going to eat because we started the meal with a soup. We then were given a 6 oz piece of steak and they had side dishes on the table served family style. We couldn't understand how we could be so intimidated by this food because it didn't seem too intimidating. No sooner had I finished my piece of steak when they came around with more steak and just put it on our plates without asking us. We then started to understand what he meant by it was going to be a lot of food. By the time they came around with steak the third time we decided we had to say no because there was no way we could eat anymore food. As we were leaving our professor said that if we left hungry it was our own fault.
After dinner my friends and I just went back to the hostel and we watched some German television and played airhockey at the little "arcade" area that they had at the hotel.
Our first stop was the Bullenhuser Damm School. This is the site where after WWII the children that were experimented on at the concentration camp were all taken, and hung. There were about 20 Jewish children who were hung there along with their 4 adult caretakers and 6 Red Army Prisoners of war. The cellar where the murders took place is now a museum, and there is a garden with a memorial outside. The building itself is used as a Kindergarten. Originally we were not going to be able to go inside because it was a weekend and the museum is not opened on weekends. When we arrived one of the people in charge of the museum was there and opened the museum for us so we were allowed to visit it. The woman also told our professor to let her know when he was going to come back so that all of the future classes would have the same opportunity that we had.
After that we had some time to explore Hamburg on our own. I walked around Hamburg with some of my friends and we saw a lot of downtown Hamburg. Sadly I didn't know that there was a Hard Rock Cafe in Hamburg because otherwise I would have made sure to get my T-Shirt. By the time I realized that there was a Hard Rock Cafe it was too late and we were headed back to the Hostel so we could leave for dinner.
We went to a place called Schlachterborse for dinner. Our professor had warned us how it was going to be a lot of food, so we were prepared. He also said it would be terrible if we didn't eat steak. When we first arrived we were skeptical about what we were going to eat because we started the meal with a soup. We then were given a 6 oz piece of steak and they had side dishes on the table served family style. We couldn't understand how we could be so intimidated by this food because it didn't seem too intimidating. No sooner had I finished my piece of steak when they came around with more steak and just put it on our plates without asking us. We then started to understand what he meant by it was going to be a lot of food. By the time they came around with steak the third time we decided we had to say no because there was no way we could eat anymore food. As we were leaving our professor said that if we left hungry it was our own fault.
After dinner my friends and I just went back to the hostel and we watched some German television and played airhockey at the little "arcade" area that they had at the hotel.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
February 23, 2012
So far I am pastry free! You have no idea how many bakeries I have passed the last few days and they all smell so good from the outside. Not much exciting has happened over the last 2 days. Yesterday I went into Copenhagen to work on a group project and then I came back and studied for my public health exam which was this morning. Last night a bunch of people who live in my area got together for dinner and they were supposed to go for a walk around the lake. I had too much work so I said I would pass on a walk around the lake and just meet them at the restaurant. I am very glad I did because by the time 6pm rolled around it was really cold, windy and rainy. Stephanie and I walked back to the bus stop together and in the 5 minutes we were outside we were soaked! It was either a rainy blizzard or a cold hurricane. Either way it wasn't fun weather to be out in.
Today was my public health exam which I didn't think was terrible. I then went to check out Copenhagen public library and I managed to be very productive there. I think I am going to have to spend more time there. I then had my holocaust and genocide class where we learned about the trip we will be taking this weekend. We are going to Hamburg and we are going to see the big concentration camp right outside hamburg. It should be a really interesting trip and I am hoping to learn a lot. I am also hoping to maybe attempt to get some work done on the 5 hr bus ride both ways.
Tonight we watched a movie called "the singing revolution". It was all about Estonia and their struggles of escaping from the Soviet occupation. The one part of their culture that survived this whole time was their singing.
Today was my public health exam which I didn't think was terrible. I then went to check out Copenhagen public library and I managed to be very productive there. I think I am going to have to spend more time there. I then had my holocaust and genocide class where we learned about the trip we will be taking this weekend. We are going to Hamburg and we are going to see the big concentration camp right outside hamburg. It should be a really interesting trip and I am hoping to learn a lot. I am also hoping to maybe attempt to get some work done on the 5 hr bus ride both ways.
Tonight we watched a movie called "the singing revolution". It was all about Estonia and their struggles of escaping from the Soviet occupation. The one part of their culture that survived this whole time was their singing.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
February 22, 2012
Hej,
I'm sorry it has taken me so long to post again. I have been very busy lately. A lot has happened since the last time I posted: Short Study Tours, a week of classes and Fastelavn. During the short study tours my public health class went on a trip to Jutland (the western part of Denmark). We stopped at many different places throughout Jutland. Our first stop was Odense which is on the island of Funen. That is the birthplace of Hans Christian Andersen. We went on a walking tour of the city and we were able to see where he grew up and the church where he was confirmed. We also visited an organization in Odense called Sex og Sundhed (sex and health). This organization is committed to promoting safe sex for middle school students. We then went to an art museum in Odense. We spent that night in a town called Vejle. We met the DIS international business program and the other public health class at the hostel in Vejle. The next morning we got up and went to Region Syddanmark. They are in charge of the health care system in southern Denmark. After that we went bowling. That was a lot of fun but I learned I am terrible at bowling. That afternoon we saw the Jelling (pronounced yelling) stones which is one of the most famous landmarks in Denmark. It dates back to the time of the Vikings. After the Jelling Stones we visited a general practitioner and we learned how general practice works in Denmark. That evening we went to dinner at a cafe and the food was delicious!
The following day, Saturday, we woke up and had a delicious breakfast, and then went to an art museum called ARoS in the city of Århus. That museum was incredible. There is a panorama window on top where you can basically look out at the city through a rainbow.
The following day I made french toast and we ate the sticky buns mom sent me. We then went sledding because they got about 3 or 4 inches of snow. They said we were going sledding in the forest. I had imagined that we were going to walk through the forest and then come to a clearing where there would be a hill where we could go sledding, but I thought wrong. We actually went sledding down the hill in the forest. I only had the guts to try it once. I was terrified as I went down. I was thinking "I'm going to hit the tree!!" I survived though. That afternoon I introduced my host family to hot chocolate with marshmallow fluff!! I think I got them hooked. I said we couldn't eat all of it though because I wanted to make (or at least attempt to make) mom's delicious whoopie pies.
The following week went by really quickly but I managed some time for interesting stuff too. Monday night was quiz night at the student house. The top prize was 1000 krones or about (250 dollars). My team was actually terrible because the questions were just very random.
Wednesday we went to the Danish Resistance museum for my Holocaust class. That was really interesting. One thing that I found most interesting is that most of the Danish Jews were able to escape to Sweden where they were able to be free. Thursday was my host mom's birthday. Birthdays are a very big deal in Denmark. At least in my host family's house it is tradition that they eat breakfast together. I said that was fine with me but I had to be on the 7:20 bus. I think my name was mud after that, because no one was too thrilled that I had to leave so early because everyone was on vacation. That afternoon we went to a cafe in Copenhagen for lunch named Jensens Bøfhus. It was really good. I had steak and fried potatoes (not very Danish). The best part of the meal was that because it was my host mom's birthday everyone got free soft serve ice cream. My host mom's parents were there too and it made lunch more exciting because they don't speak English and the extent of my Danish is "Hej, jeg hedder Katie. Jeg kommer fra Vermont".
I had a lot of fun this past weekend too. On Saturday we went to the Viking Museum in Roskilde, and the church that was there too. Roskilde used to be the capital of Denmark at the time of the Vikings.
Sunday was fastelavn which is essentially Danish Halloween. It is the big feast before the fasting of lent. We went to church for fastelavn which was definitely experience because it was all in Danish. All of the kids were dressed up, the church was packed and then the service was really short. We talked about doves and the holy ghost at church. At the end of the service we sang a song named "Tak Gud" and I at least understood that that meant thank you God. After church everyone went outside and they have barrels for the little kids to hit. The barrels are filled with candy and the object is to break them like a piñata. This came from the time when the barrels had a black cat in them, and you were supposed to break the barrels to get rid of the bad luck. After church we went back to the house and ate fastelavn bolles which are kind of like donuts, they are sweet rolls that are baked with cream in the middle and frosting on top. I have added a picture of the fastelavn bolles.
This weekend I decided I would give up buying pastries in greater Copenhagen for lent, so yesterday I went and bought a cinnamon roll with chocolate frosting. It was delicious! It is sad that I won't be having more pastries because they are all delicious, but come Easter-time all bets are off.
Yesterday I also biked to and from the train station. That was okay but now I can feel muscles I didn't even know I had! I don't think I've ever biked 11km in 1 day!
I'm sorry it has taken me so long to post again. I have been very busy lately. A lot has happened since the last time I posted: Short Study Tours, a week of classes and Fastelavn. During the short study tours my public health class went on a trip to Jutland (the western part of Denmark). We stopped at many different places throughout Jutland. Our first stop was Odense which is on the island of Funen. That is the birthplace of Hans Christian Andersen. We went on a walking tour of the city and we were able to see where he grew up and the church where he was confirmed. We also visited an organization in Odense called Sex og Sundhed (sex and health). This organization is committed to promoting safe sex for middle school students. We then went to an art museum in Odense. We spent that night in a town called Vejle. We met the DIS international business program and the other public health class at the hostel in Vejle. The next morning we got up and went to Region Syddanmark. They are in charge of the health care system in southern Denmark. After that we went bowling. That was a lot of fun but I learned I am terrible at bowling. That afternoon we saw the Jelling (pronounced yelling) stones which is one of the most famous landmarks in Denmark. It dates back to the time of the Vikings. After the Jelling Stones we visited a general practitioner and we learned how general practice works in Denmark. That evening we went to dinner at a cafe and the food was delicious!
The following day, Saturday, we woke up and had a delicious breakfast, and then went to an art museum called ARoS in the city of Århus. That museum was incredible. There is a panorama window on top where you can basically look out at the city through a rainbow.
The following day I made french toast and we ate the sticky buns mom sent me. We then went sledding because they got about 3 or 4 inches of snow. They said we were going sledding in the forest. I had imagined that we were going to walk through the forest and then come to a clearing where there would be a hill where we could go sledding, but I thought wrong. We actually went sledding down the hill in the forest. I only had the guts to try it once. I was terrified as I went down. I was thinking "I'm going to hit the tree!!" I survived though. That afternoon I introduced my host family to hot chocolate with marshmallow fluff!! I think I got them hooked. I said we couldn't eat all of it though because I wanted to make (or at least attempt to make) mom's delicious whoopie pies.
The following week went by really quickly but I managed some time for interesting stuff too. Monday night was quiz night at the student house. The top prize was 1000 krones or about (250 dollars). My team was actually terrible because the questions were just very random.
Wednesday we went to the Danish Resistance museum for my Holocaust class. That was really interesting. One thing that I found most interesting is that most of the Danish Jews were able to escape to Sweden where they were able to be free. Thursday was my host mom's birthday. Birthdays are a very big deal in Denmark. At least in my host family's house it is tradition that they eat breakfast together. I said that was fine with me but I had to be on the 7:20 bus. I think my name was mud after that, because no one was too thrilled that I had to leave so early because everyone was on vacation. That afternoon we went to a cafe in Copenhagen for lunch named Jensens Bøfhus. It was really good. I had steak and fried potatoes (not very Danish). The best part of the meal was that because it was my host mom's birthday everyone got free soft serve ice cream. My host mom's parents were there too and it made lunch more exciting because they don't speak English and the extent of my Danish is "Hej, jeg hedder Katie. Jeg kommer fra Vermont".
I had a lot of fun this past weekend too. On Saturday we went to the Viking Museum in Roskilde, and the church that was there too. Roskilde used to be the capital of Denmark at the time of the Vikings.
Sunday was fastelavn which is essentially Danish Halloween. It is the big feast before the fasting of lent. We went to church for fastelavn which was definitely experience because it was all in Danish. All of the kids were dressed up, the church was packed and then the service was really short. We talked about doves and the holy ghost at church. At the end of the service we sang a song named "Tak Gud" and I at least understood that that meant thank you God. After church everyone went outside and they have barrels for the little kids to hit. The barrels are filled with candy and the object is to break them like a piñata. This came from the time when the barrels had a black cat in them, and you were supposed to break the barrels to get rid of the bad luck. After church we went back to the house and ate fastelavn bolles which are kind of like donuts, they are sweet rolls that are baked with cream in the middle and frosting on top. I have added a picture of the fastelavn bolles.
This weekend I decided I would give up buying pastries in greater Copenhagen for lent, so yesterday I went and bought a cinnamon roll with chocolate frosting. It was delicious! It is sad that I won't be having more pastries because they are all delicious, but come Easter-time all bets are off.
Yesterday I also biked to and from the train station. That was okay but now I can feel muscles I didn't even know I had! I don't think I've ever biked 11km in 1 day!
Friday, February 10, 2012
Week #3 part 1
On Monday I really wanted to some thing with my friends, but I quickly learned that all of my friends had managed to stay up until about 4am so they could watch the Super Bowl. Some of my friends were very happy on Monday and others were VERY disappointed. It was pretty easy to tell who was a pats fan and who was a giants fan.
On Tuesday, a group of about 5 of us always end up on the same bus because if we leave later then we are late for class, so we all manage to get into the city at the same time. We then went into a book caffe for coffee. We found the best deal in town. Only 10 krones ($2) for a large coffee between 9 and 10:30 and since we get there about 9:25 and class is at 10:00 it works out quite perfectly. I then had a full day of classes and headed back to my host family's house. It took about 40 minutes to get to my house after i got off my train and it normally only takes about 15-20! Just after i got home my host dad was making dinner and we had homemade pizza, skinke og ogst (ham and cheese).
I have noticed that the days are getting noticeably longer even though I've only been here 3 weeks! I still watch the sunrise on the train on the way to school, but it now is still light by the time I get back in the evening, (if it's before 5:15).
Yesterday was field trip day. I didn't have a field trip until 12:00, so I went with my friend stephanie to go to the Kommune (municipality) so that I could get my CPR number. That is the Danish equivalent of a social security number. We arrived early at the Kommune because when I looked it up online it said it opened at 09:00 but when we got there it said that it didn't open until 10:00. We managed to get inside eventually and when we did we were some of the first people in line. We thought it was going to take forever at the Kommune but after we were called it took about 5 minutes. Stephanie and I then headed back to the train station and took the train to Copenhagen. At 12:00 I met my group for our public health projects. We then left at 1:00 for our interview at 2:00. It theoretically was only about 20 minutes away, but we managed to get on the wrong bus and ended up going about 5 stops in the wrong direction until we realized it. Our interview was at the Statens Serum Institut (Danish CDC). We talked to them about what they do and the role that they play in national health and even some international health. We learned a lot in that interview and it lasted over 2 hours because it included hot chocolate and pastries. By the time the interview was over it was time for me to head back to my host family's house if I wanted to get home for dinner. We had a curry soup with mini shrimp and tomato soup with bread. It was then time to do some homework and then it was time for tea and cookies. I know one thing that's true: I have been eating my share of pastries and cookies since I've been here! How can you say no to pastries and hot chocolate??
On Tuesday, a group of about 5 of us always end up on the same bus because if we leave later then we are late for class, so we all manage to get into the city at the same time. We then went into a book caffe for coffee. We found the best deal in town. Only 10 krones ($2) for a large coffee between 9 and 10:30 and since we get there about 9:25 and class is at 10:00 it works out quite perfectly. I then had a full day of classes and headed back to my host family's house. It took about 40 minutes to get to my house after i got off my train and it normally only takes about 15-20! Just after i got home my host dad was making dinner and we had homemade pizza, skinke og ogst (ham and cheese).
I have noticed that the days are getting noticeably longer even though I've only been here 3 weeks! I still watch the sunrise on the train on the way to school, but it now is still light by the time I get back in the evening, (if it's before 5:15).
Yesterday was field trip day. I didn't have a field trip until 12:00, so I went with my friend stephanie to go to the Kommune (municipality) so that I could get my CPR number. That is the Danish equivalent of a social security number. We arrived early at the Kommune because when I looked it up online it said it opened at 09:00 but when we got there it said that it didn't open until 10:00. We managed to get inside eventually and when we did we were some of the first people in line. We thought it was going to take forever at the Kommune but after we were called it took about 5 minutes. Stephanie and I then headed back to the train station and took the train to Copenhagen. At 12:00 I met my group for our public health projects. We then left at 1:00 for our interview at 2:00. It theoretically was only about 20 minutes away, but we managed to get on the wrong bus and ended up going about 5 stops in the wrong direction until we realized it. Our interview was at the Statens Serum Institut (Danish CDC). We talked to them about what they do and the role that they play in national health and even some international health. We learned a lot in that interview and it lasted over 2 hours because it included hot chocolate and pastries. By the time the interview was over it was time for me to head back to my host family's house if I wanted to get home for dinner. We had a curry soup with mini shrimp and tomato soup with bread. It was then time to do some homework and then it was time for tea and cookies. I know one thing that's true: I have been eating my share of pastries and cookies since I've been here! How can you say no to pastries and hot chocolate??
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Welcome to Copenhagen!!
Hej!
Today marks exactly two weeks since I moved in with my host family. Things are going really well. I couldn't have asked for a better family! I have to admit I was terrified until the day before I left because I knew absolutely nothing about my host family, until they sent me a message. It was such a relief when I found out information because I was all packed and ready to go, but I had absolutely no idea about my host family, until that Sunday morning before church.
The only thing I dislike about my host family is the fact that I am living a 1 hour and 10 minute commute from Copenhagen. It is usually fine except when I have 8:30 classes, but I have managed. I thought I was doing so well because my whole time at University of Rochester, my earliest class was at 9:40 and I never had a 9AM class like most of my classmates, and when I had a 9:40 class I was only living in Sue B. so I was only about 10 minutes away from class. One nice thing about having such a long commute is that I have plenty of time to finish my homework. It allows me to spend more time with my host family on the weekends because I don't feel I have to spend all my time doing homework.
My classes are going really well. I am taking Health Delivery and Prioritization in Northern Europe, Holocaust and Genocide, Danish Language, Public Health Ethics and Human Trafficking in a Global Context. I have already been on a field trip for my Danish language class to the Rosenberg Castle, and we had culture night at a book cafe on Thursday. I am going on a field trip for my Health Delivery and Prioritization class this weekend. This field trip is an overnight field trip. We are going to Jutland (the western part of Denmark). We also saw a movie for my Human Trafficking class called Lilja-4-Ever. This movie provided insight into the life a person who is being trafficked.
Yesterday I made pancakes for my host family because they had never had American pancakes. I had decided that no matter how they turned out I would say thats how they were supposed to be considering they had never tasted them before and I didn't have the help of Bisquick, but fortunately Netto (the grocery store) carries REAL maple syrup. Today I made brownies, and that was interesting because it was an American recipe in Danish, so when I was reading the directions I wasn't totally sure how I was supposed to put it together so I just kind of guessed and hoped it came out right, which they seemed to come out pretty well and everyone was pleased.
It has been FREEZING cold since I've been here. I honestly didn't know why the cold was bothering me so much, but I finally figured it out! I am outside so much. When I am at U of R we have tunnels and I am outside for maybe 20 minutes every day maximum, but here I am outside waiting for the bus, then waiting for the train, then walking to DIS once I get off the train, and then walking outside between classes. It all makes sense. It is nice to get the fresh air though even though it may be bitter cold. Last night we got about 4 inches of snow, and it looks gorgeous. I am glad I have at least seen 1 pretty snow this season.
So much has happened these last 2 weeks! I can't even begin to tell all the details. I have met so many interesting people since I've been here.
I will attempt to update my blog on a regular basis, and tell more interesting stories, but for now I should really go to bed as the bus leaves at 6:50 in the morning.
Vi ses!!
Today marks exactly two weeks since I moved in with my host family. Things are going really well. I couldn't have asked for a better family! I have to admit I was terrified until the day before I left because I knew absolutely nothing about my host family, until they sent me a message. It was such a relief when I found out information because I was all packed and ready to go, but I had absolutely no idea about my host family, until that Sunday morning before church.
The only thing I dislike about my host family is the fact that I am living a 1 hour and 10 minute commute from Copenhagen. It is usually fine except when I have 8:30 classes, but I have managed. I thought I was doing so well because my whole time at University of Rochester, my earliest class was at 9:40 and I never had a 9AM class like most of my classmates, and when I had a 9:40 class I was only living in Sue B. so I was only about 10 minutes away from class. One nice thing about having such a long commute is that I have plenty of time to finish my homework. It allows me to spend more time with my host family on the weekends because I don't feel I have to spend all my time doing homework.
My classes are going really well. I am taking Health Delivery and Prioritization in Northern Europe, Holocaust and Genocide, Danish Language, Public Health Ethics and Human Trafficking in a Global Context. I have already been on a field trip for my Danish language class to the Rosenberg Castle, and we had culture night at a book cafe on Thursday. I am going on a field trip for my Health Delivery and Prioritization class this weekend. This field trip is an overnight field trip. We are going to Jutland (the western part of Denmark). We also saw a movie for my Human Trafficking class called Lilja-4-Ever. This movie provided insight into the life a person who is being trafficked.
Yesterday I made pancakes for my host family because they had never had American pancakes. I had decided that no matter how they turned out I would say thats how they were supposed to be considering they had never tasted them before and I didn't have the help of Bisquick, but fortunately Netto (the grocery store) carries REAL maple syrup. Today I made brownies, and that was interesting because it was an American recipe in Danish, so when I was reading the directions I wasn't totally sure how I was supposed to put it together so I just kind of guessed and hoped it came out right, which they seemed to come out pretty well and everyone was pleased.
It has been FREEZING cold since I've been here. I honestly didn't know why the cold was bothering me so much, but I finally figured it out! I am outside so much. When I am at U of R we have tunnels and I am outside for maybe 20 minutes every day maximum, but here I am outside waiting for the bus, then waiting for the train, then walking to DIS once I get off the train, and then walking outside between classes. It all makes sense. It is nice to get the fresh air though even though it may be bitter cold. Last night we got about 4 inches of snow, and it looks gorgeous. I am glad I have at least seen 1 pretty snow this season.
So much has happened these last 2 weeks! I can't even begin to tell all the details. I have met so many interesting people since I've been here.
I will attempt to update my blog on a regular basis, and tell more interesting stories, but for now I should really go to bed as the bus leaves at 6:50 in the morning.
Vi ses!!
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