Pizza, Venner, and Handball

On Friday, I made it to my visiting family's house with no mistakes, and 4 minutes to spare! Go me! I'm really starting to get the hang of the public transportation system, and Rejseplanen is a God-send.  Friday night at their house is pizza night, which was absolutely fine by me.

After dinner we sat down to watch some tv.  First up: the Daily Show, in English with Danish subtitles.  I really tried to read along and try to pick up on a few words, but I doubt it improved my knowledge of Danish at all.  However... after it was over my family turned on "Venner," my new favorite show ever. Just kidding- not so new.  "Venner" is just Danish for FRIENDS.  For the first time since I've been here, I felt right at home.

Next up was the Danish "X-factor," which was very similar to the US version except all Danes speaking Danish.  The weirdest part was that I didn't understand anything being said until the contestants would open their mouths to sing; all the songs were American and sung in English.

Finally the the main event: Handball World Cup Semifinals! Handball is a really big deal here in Denmark, and the World Cup is treated like the Superbowl in the US.  People throw parties and watch the game, screaming and booing at the television when goals are scored.  The great thing about it is that everyone is rooting for Denmark and Denmark only, so everyone is unified.  The only time I have ever watched handball before was in last summer's Olympics.  I would describe it as lacrosse without the sticks, or soccer with your hands.  Friday's game was against favored Croatia (they had just beaten Olympic champion France in their previous game).  The game was super exciting, and I got surprisingly into it.  Sports are great for fun and bonding because they transcend language barriers.  Denmark ended up finishing really strong with a final score of 30-24.

Friday night we went to two bars: The Drunken Flamingo and The Happy Pig.  I'm not really sure why there are so many bars with animals in the title, but I don't hate it...

Saturday Maggie, B, and I decided to "go shopping". I put this in quotes because none of us actually bought anything- Copenhagen is SO expensive.  We spent the whole day on Stroget (which when pronounced sounds more like "Strolel"), the main shopping street in Denmark.  The second best find of the day was a department store called Illium, which resembled Macy's in NYC.  However, the best stop by far was our last stop, Torvehallerne, or the Glass Market.  It's made up of two clear greenhouse-like structures that contain an open-air market.  The first building contained breads and oils and cheese and desserts.  There were so many samples of bread that I thought I died and went to heaven.  The second building contained butchers with fresh meat and fish.  We decided that we wanted to buy and make steak that night, so we picked out 3 steaks.   The guy selling them said (in broken English) that they were not the most tender so he would fix them for us if we wanted.  We said yes, and then he minced them.  We were so confused (and a little disappointed) as to why our steaks were now basically ground beef.  Turning lemons into lemonade, or rather ground steak into meatballs, we ended up having a very nice pasta dinner.

Saturday night we went out again, this time to a few different places like The Mermaid Bar and Retro and Miami.  I was finally able to talk to Danes!  One guy with whom I spoke (and to whom I expressed my annoyance with how closed-off they are) said that Danish guys don't really talk to girls until post 2am because otherwise they have nothing to talk about.  This kind of disturbed me.  I also still don't understand why appropriate Danish "going out" hours are between midnight and 4-5am.  I've always seen myself as a night person, but that's extreme even for me.

Sunday was reserved for homework and the Handball World Cup.  Denmark was taking on Spain, and it was taking place in Barcelona.  I don't really want to say anything about the game other than that it went very poorly for Denmark.  I watched with my visiting family, and we had to change the channel because it was so painful to watch.

By popular request: PICTURES! I set up a Shutterfly account so that I could easily share pictures with all who wish to see them.  Here is the link - enjoy!  http://wanderlustcopenhagen.shutterfly.com/

Weekly Update

Hej Everyone!

I know I haven't written in a week, but you should probably come to expect that from now on.  I am just so busy with school and exploring and making dinner and sleeping (apparently Denmark is the cure for my insomnia, as I feel myself falling asleep at 22:00 every night and have to fight to stay awake).

Nothing super exciting has really happened in the past week, but last Saturday I met my visiting family!  I left my kollegium around 11:20, thinking I'd have ample time to get to Frederiksberg by 12:00.  What should have been a 20 minute bus ride with one change turned into about an hour of me getting lost and walking in the wrong direction every time I got off of a bus.  I did, however, find a nice blomster (florist), where I was able to pick up some flowers for my family.  Once I finally arrived, I walked up about a million stairs to enter an apartment full of hugs and warm welcomes and smiling faces.  We chatted for a bit and then sat down for a traditional Danish lunch of smørrebrød, open-faced sandwiches.  There were many options of food to put on my rugbrød (dark bread), ALL of which I tried.  Yes, that not only includes salmon and a type of chicken salad, but also herring curry and liver paste.  Liver paste certainly isn't my favorite new food, but I have to say it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be.  Thomas (one of the boys) told me that he reads my blog, so I want to give a quick tak to him for being my only Danish reader!  The boys left the table after they were done eating, but I stayed to talk to Joan and Peter.  We discussed so many things that wouldn't be traditional for a first encounter in America but are the norm here in Denmark, such as politics.  Everyone here is so open about their beliefs and loves to defend their opinions while respectfully listening to others, as small talk does not really exist.  I have to admit though, every time the "ministry of  [some governmental department]" was brought up, I couldn't help but think about Harry Potter.  After lunch I went to visit the boys in their room, where William was playing Call of Duty: Black Ops on his video game set (I can't remember if it was a PlayStation or an Xbox).  I was surprised to find that his video game collection closely resembled the collections of many of my male friends at home.  I was also extremely surprised when I asked the boys what kind of music they listened to and they responded with "Tracy Chapman" and "Dubstep".  Expecting something Danish, or even more remotely popular in America, this really threw me for a loop.  We then all took a walk around Frederiksberg and I got to take some quick point and shoot pictures (they'll be up sometime this weekend, hopefully).  One of the parks has a bunch of different kinds of plants and trees, each one individually labeled so you know what it is.  Though nothing was really growing because of the season, I can't wait to visit in the spring with all the flowers in bloom.  When I saw the schools the boys go to, Thomas asked me if I would come speak to his 7th grade English class one day this semester.  I am so excited to do this!  Once we got back to the apartment we had tea and pastries, a delicious end to a wonderful afternoon.  I'm returning for dinner in a few hours, and I can't wait to see them all again!

Saturday night a few of us from Keops decided to explore Nørrebro, the borough in which we live that everyone says has such great night life.  (We have done this a few times since and still cannot figure out what all the hype is, as we haven't found any place worth returning to yet).  Someone suggested we go to a place called Drone, which is a bar when you walk in but a dance club when you go downstairs.  When we first arrived there weren't many people there, but around 12:30 or so a bunch of Danes started pouring in.  We were the only Americans there, but the Danes seemed to have no interest in us.  It was very indie and reminded me of 90s grunge.  The music playing was bizzarre and extremely difficult to try to dance to, and the Danes' style of dance mirrored this style- instead of a more hip-based type of movement, it was more of a whole upper body sway/arm flailing.  Really, really strange.  Also really, really smokey, which was the main reason we left within an hour or so of their arrival.

Sunday morning we woke up and had to get our residence permits, taking up a good chunk of the morning.  I then met up in the city for lunch with J and B and our friend Becca who visited from France.  We walked around a bit and then went home and finished off the night with homework.  Did i mention how much work I have? It's SO much reading.  I still can't gauge how much of the assigned reading is really necessary yet, so until then I'm doing all of it in detail.  It's a lot.

The rest of this week has mostly just consisted of school.  Monday night B and Maddy and I decided to explore and go out for drinks in the city even though we were the only people at the Australian Bar. Tuesday night I went to an AWOLnation concert with a few other friends from Lafayette.  Since we have off on Wednesdays, Maddy and Maggie and I decided to do something cultural.  We went to the Rosenborg Palace and then the Statens Museum for Kunst (basically a modern art museum).  Both were really interesting, and I have lots of pictures (which again should be up this weekend).   My class taught in a hospital was based in the Radiology Department on Thursday, which was super awesome.  We were able to see really cool imaging techniques and go in the CT Scanner room.  Last night a few of us in my Kollegium planned out some weekend trips we'd like to take, like to Sweden and Germany.  Today so far has just been classes, but as I said before I am going to my visiting family for dinner and then out with the girls tonight.

Some other random things...

1. My number 1 complaint is the cold, but I can't believe it's actually colder at home than it is here. What?! I'm not complaining, though...

2. I am OBSESSED with Danish babies and things that Danish babies have/wear.  They all wear one-piece snowsuits with pointy hats that cover their ears and tie below their chins.  And my favorite thing- THE STROLLERS.  They are all black, HUGE, and look super old fashioned.  I just did a quick google image search to show you all what I'm talking about.  These things are mini carriages.

3.  I am on a mission to find a big wrap around scarf for under 80 DKK.  As soon as I find one I am buying it.

4.  Grocery stores do not have delis inside of them.  It is so difficult to make lunch without having lunchmeat to put in sandwiches.  The stores sell prepackaged lunchmeat, but they kind of gross me out because they have so many preservatives in them that they stay good for months.  Apparently there are delicatessens in København, but they are ridiculously expensive.  I need to find some roast beef soon though.  There is supposedly a big indoor open-air glass market behind Nørreport Station that I have been told to check out, so hopefully I will have more success there.

5.  I make delicious rosemary potatoes.

6.  Danish is really, really difficult to pronounce.  There was a a recent study done comparing the language development of Scandinavian infants that found that it takes longer for babies to learn Danish than Norwegian or Swedish, most likely due to a lack of distinction between sounds.  I don't feel quite so bad about my awkward attempts anymore.

7.  Did I mention it's cold here?

8.  Flying in and out of Copenhagen is more expensive than pretty much any other European country.

9.  I am always thirsty.  I'm not sure if it's because of the cold air or the fact that there is always heat on indoors, but I can't get enough water.  I try to drink the tap water (they don't have filtered water fountains, or any kind of water fountains, for that matter), but I don't really care for it if it's not cold.  At least carrying a bottle around outside with me keeps it that way!

10.  There are candles everywhere.  Every dinner involves candles, whether intended to be romantic or just a friendly encounter.  I like it, but I'm constantly afraid that my clumsiness will start some sort of fire (or even worse, I'll catch on fire).



I'll finish with a quote from one of my Medical Ethics readings by Danish philosopher Soren Kirkegaard: "It is true what philosophy tells us, that life must be understood backwards, while not forgetting the second sentence, that it must be lived forwards."

The "Study" in "Study Abroad"

After three very long days of orientation, I had almost forgotten why I was here.  I have now been to all of my classes, and I can honestly say I love them.  We have classes here that run Monday/Thursday and Tuesday/Friday, each an hour and 20 minutes per day (other than my core course, which is 2 hours long each day).  My schedule is great in that I never have a class before 10:05 am. Woooo!!

Yesterday my day began with Health Beyond Borders, a class on public/global health.  Didn't start off so well- I had the wrong textbook and couldn't do any of the required readings, but it turned out not to be a huge deal for the first day.  It is a class like nothing I have ever taken before, but I am so excited to learn about healthcare from an international perspective.  My professor, Siri, is brilliant.  She is Danish, received her post graduate degrees at Harvard, and worked for the UN until recently retiring.   Danes call all their professors by their first names- it might have something to do with the fact that Danes have the lowest score of all countries on how they perceive authority (this is what Siri told us, anyway).  Authority really does not exist, and it is not so much a lack of respect as an intellectual challenge in every interaction.  This class (as well as every other class) requires a ton of readings, something I am not really used to being a science major at Lafayette.  It will certainly be a different approach to learning, though I'm not quite sure how I feel about it yet.

My next class, Medical Ethics, was also one unlike any other class I have taken before.  It is a philosophy class and raises questions with which all physicians have to grapple multiple times throughout their careers.  Like most Danish classes, there is only a midterm and a final.  Our professor told us how strange it is that Americans see grades as such a life/death situation; in Danish universities what matters most is the relationships students make with professors in their department and jobs they get within the department.

My last class of the day, Human Health and Disease, has the potential to be the best class I will ever take in my life.  It is the core class of my Medical Practice and Policy program, and it is taught inside of a hospital.  My hospital is Gentofte, which is about 45 minutes north of center city.  We're also lucky in that our professors work at some other hospitals and we will be able to have classes in about 5 of them. My professors are two female doctors, both dermatologists.  They are so enthusiastic and inspirational- each of them have 3 children (possibly the CUTEST children I have ever seen) and are extremely bright.  I was also impressed with their fashionable sense of style beneath the white coats they donned.  The classroom was so hygge (cozy), and there was coffee, tea, fruit, and cookies laid out for us.

I could get used to this.

In the class, we will be learning various basic medical school techniques, like putting in sutures and IVs.  We will be able to talk to real patients and conduct group differentials.  I literally could not be more excited for this practical form of learning.  Our professors gave us a basic overview on the process of becoming a doctor in Denmark, which is very different from the US.  For starters, medical school begins directly after high school (3 years general classes, 3 years in specific fields).  The biggest difference in my opinion was that they actually get PAID to go to medical school here.  While they don't make as much money as US doctors in the long run, I still think that being paid to go to med school is a more than fair trade off.  Being a doctor is not a high paying job, but it still is considered an extremely high social status.  After the 6 year program, doctors take the Hippocratic Oath and then specialize for 6 more years (1 year of an internship, 1 year of a specialty-specific internship, 4 years of a specialty-specific rotation).  In some specialties, like dermatology, a doctor must then pursue a PhD (another 3 years).  Both my professors are dermatologists, one of the most highly sought-after specialties in Denmark.  Another thing that I thought was very interesting was that there are many more female doctors than male doctors.  We have 4 males in our class of 20, which our professors said was pretty representative of the hospital.  An additional interesting fact: because of the universal healthcare system, patients do not have to pay for appointments or costly treatments such as chemotherapy and insulin, though medicine is not covered.  Dental care and mental health care are also not included.

Sorry about all that info; I just found it extremely interesting.  Making our way back from the hospital to our kollegium was an experience in itself.... thank goodness there was one other girl in my class who lives in my building.  We were so flustered at the train station that when the random person we asked for help turned out to have originally been from London (thus speaking English), the other girl screamed, "THANK GOD!".  We ended up making it back without frostbite despite how cold the weather was.

Today I had two classes, the first of which was Developmental Disorders.  My professor is Norwegian, not Danish, so his accent when he speaks English is a bit different from the professors I have.  He is really attractive.  This class is super exciting for me because one of the professions I might want to have is a child psychiatrist, which he is- he only teaches on the side.  I love that my professors actually work in their fields and have real-world experience.  We did a funny exercise in which we had to anonymously write down what we would most look forward to doing if we woke up tomorrow and were a member of the opposite gender, and then he read them aloud to the class.  About a third of the girls wrote "pee standing up," something that hadn't even crossed my mind. 

My final class was Danish Language and Culture.  Many people here are required to take that class by their home institution, but I am taking it of my own volition.  It will be so nice to finally be able to pronounce the street names correctly and go grocery shopping with ease.  I learned why I have been receiving strange looks at the grocery store when I ask where the kylling (chicken) is.... I have been pronouncing it "keeling," which is actually the pronounciation for the Danish word killing, or in English, "kitten". (Kylling is pronounced "kooling").  While the class will be extremely difficult, I am confident it will be every bit as rewarding.

I guess that's in for my first two days of classes! Let my first weekend in Copenhagen begin!

How many days does it take to fall in love with Copenhagen?

The answer is 3, for me at least.

It wasn't quite love at first site, but that may have been because of my severe lack of sleep.

As I mentioned before, I had gone a very long time without sleeping and passed out at promptly 7pm the night of my arrival.  The next morning I woke up around 3am, and unable to go back to sleep, I decided to shower, unpack, and wash every single piece of kitchenware provided for me.  The showers are an experience in themselves- you can literally sit on the toilet and shower at the same time.  I actually have to remember to remove the toilet paper each time I turn on the water.  The bathroom floors are supposed to be heated to help with the evaporation of the water, but unfortunately my floor heating does not work.  Unpacking and dishwashing took up a few hours, and before I knew it 8am had rolled around, the time we were meeting at the bus stop to travel to orientation.  Opening ceremonies were held in the Royal Danish Academy of Music, and some nice speeches were given along with an absolutely charming performance by the DIS Strings.  Following opening ceremonies, we were on our own for an hour to make our way to the next location where a Student Affairs session would take place.  I have learned that I am rather good with a map (so good that I have been referred to by multiple people over the past few days as "map girl") despite the poor sense of direction I once had growing up.  I guess when the bitter cold is motivating you to reach your warm destination, anything can happen.

After Day 1 of orientation, a few people in my kollegium decided to take another trip to the grocery store.  This trip was to a different, bigger/cleaner one called Føtex, which will probably be where I do most of my shopping from now on.  Food certainly isn't cheap in Copenhagen in general, but there are enough things on sale that prices don't have to be so bad.  Our SRAs made dinner for us again, and we spent the night bonding with others in the kollegium.  I have yet to meet anyone other than the Americans who live here, which is really disappointing.  Apparently the Danes have major exams that count for ~100% of their grades in January, so they're in hibernation mode.  The international students who live here (typically from Australia and New Zealand) won't be coming until the end of the month.  I really do like the Americans who live here though, even if we are quite a homogenous population.  While from all over the country, most everyone seems to be from a small, private liberal arts/ivy league school.  It's not necessarily a bad thing though, as geographic diversity alone is enough to contribute toward interesting conversations.

Day 2 of orientation was definitely my favorite- the "Amazing Race".  Divided into groups of 5, we were given a map (that didn't even really have street names on it) and a list of locations around the city to visit.  One of the guys in our group felt confident enough in leading us around, but after the first hour or so of walking in circles, I took over.  We had a great time getting lost, seeing the buildings, learning about Copenhagen history, eating Weinerbrød (Vienna Bread, commonly known to Americans as "Danishes"), drinking Varm Chokolade, and getting to know each other along the way.  As soon as Emily posts a picture we had someone take of our team while waiting for the Harbour Bus I'll add it to this post.

Those of you who know me well may be wondering why there aren't a million pictures of Copenhagen posted online already.  The truth is that would be because I have yet to take any (GASP!).  I have decided that because I am living here for over 4 months, I didn't want to start out my experience taking a million pictures.  One of the recurring themes throughout orientation was the phrase, "You see what you know," and I want my pictures to really convey what I know about this beautiful city.

I also made a fantastic dinner on my own last night! It was extremely simple- chicken marinated in Italian dressing cooked on a skillet with rosemary and sauteed onions over a bed of spinach with some mozzarella cheese sprinkled on top and baked garlic bread.  Everyone thinks I'm a culinary genius now, and I'm looking forward to helping plan meals once we get our Keops cooking group started.

Last night we decided to go out and experience the Copenhagen nightlife for the first time since arriving.  We went to a club called Kulørbar, located in center city area and boasting free beer for the night with only a cover charge.  While somewhat disappointing because it was packed with mostly Americans (the Danes were literally being turned away at the door), I had a fantastic time with my new friends.  I also was able to catch up with all the other Lafayette people, as they were all there as well.  Once I returned home one of them actually called me, lost and alone in the middle of the night and needing to find a bus station.  My access to Google Maps and his not-so-great reading of Danish street signs ended up saving the day.

Lights at the club- they sure weren't able to guide S home, to reference Coldplay...

Today, the third and final day of orientation, we had a housing session, academic program session, and an immersion fair.  My core program, Medical Practice and Policy, is the 3rd largest program here, made up of 6 sections of a total of (I'll come back to this number later) students, 79% of whom are surprisingly girls.  It was nice to meet the people in my section, with whom I will be travelling to Western Denmark as well as Budapest and Vienna later on this semester.

Since returning home I have been doing readings for my first day of classes tomorrow! I can't believe they're already beginning.  For the first time in a while I am actually really interested in what I am taking (no more chem/physics... wooo!).  Tomorrow I have Health Beyond Borders, Medical Ethics, and Human Health and Disease, the last of which is taught inside of Gentofte Hospital.  Friday I have Developmental Disorders and Danish Language and Culture.  I'll definitely be posting about how they went!

Just a few of my books... for not even all of my classes.

I'm also going to my visiting family's house for lunch this weekend- I'm super excited to finally meet them!

I promise to try to update more often about relevant things so that I don't have to do this long recap sort of post again.

I'm here! (Yes, this is a few days late).

Hi Everyone!

Sorry it's been awhile since my long-awaited arrival post, but I've just been so busy since getting here that I haven't had much time to write.  I'll split this up into two posts (pre-orientation and orientation) so that it's not too long.

I guess I should start with the trip to the airport.  My parents and I loaded up the car and left around 1pm, stopping along the way at Famous Dave's for a last American burger before my semester abroad.  When I got to the airport, I immediately started to meet a number of other DIS students, easily distinguishable by the metal luggage tags given to us by DIS.  I found J and B and eventually two other Lafayette students, and we waited together at the airport while meeting new people at the same time.  The following 5 post-introduction questions were (and four days later still continue to be) the most common phrases uttered by any of us: "Where are you from? What college do you go to? What DIS program are you doing? Where are you living in Denmark?".  I felt/feel like a college freshman all over again.  It's really interesting to see how many people have mutual friends though; the world seems a lot smaller in spite of us travelling to the other side.

Because I don't do well with sleeping on planes, I decided to spent the night before leaving pulling an all-nighter (my reasoning waws that I would be so tired on the plane I would have to fall asleep).  It didn't work.  I was unable to sleep the entire 7.5 hour plane ride to Oslo, Norway.  I did, however, have my first "legal for the rest of my life" drink on the plane- a free glass of white wine.  Not too shabby.  When we finally did get to Oslo, it was about 8am their time and the sun was just beginning to rise.  There was snow everywhere, as far out as I could see from the plane.  And when we got off, it was FREEZING.  The layover at the airport wasn't too long, but we were struck by the reindeer skin coats and other Norwegian paraphernalia.  We weren't in Newark Airport anymore, that was for sure.

These guys were pretty prevalent throughout the Oslo airport.

The plane ride from Oslo to Copenhagen was only a little over an hour long and was spent in good company, the whole flight being mostly other DIS students.  By the time I got to the Copenhagen airport, I was extremely sleep deprived and really didn't feel well at all.  We were luckily able to obtain our luggage extremely quickly, something that never happens.

Eventually we made it out of the airport and into the connected Hilton Hotel, where DIS welcomed us and we were separated into groups according to our living arrangement destination.  After waiting a fair amount of time and meeting others who would be living with us, the shuttle came and took us to Keops Kollegium, my place of residence.

Like I said in my previous description of Keops, it's a little strange in that you have to go outside to get to anyone else's room/the common room.  That's probably my biggest grievance about the place, mainly because it's just so cold outside.  Other than that, my room itself is pretty nice and cozy.  Thank you to the previous resident who left me a bunch of hangers, however I did not enjoy washing your unclean dishes.  That's right.  There were a few bowls that still had food in them from whenever the last person lived here.  Really, really, really not okay.

We went on a short tour of the surrounding area, which basically includes a few grocery stores and a small mall that was not open at the time.  I purchased a few groceries at Nettø, a small cheap little store nearby.  Our SRAs explained some rules to us over dinner, and then I came back to my room around 7pm and fell right asleep after over two days without sleep.

This is the end of this half of the post! Second half coming soon: orientation.

Just a few more hours....

Here are some times I'm currently trying to wrap my head around: It's after 2:00 am right now, which means in less than 12 hours I will be leaving my house for Newark Airport.  In less than 17 hours, my plane will take off.  Approximately 24 hours from now I will be landing in Oslo, Norway.  I'm scheduled to land in Copenhagen at 11:15am, which is 5:15am our time.  Ahhhh!

There are 5 of us from Lafayette on the same flight, so even with the late night layover and plane change I feel confident that we'll be able to figure it all out.  Hopefully our luggage is able to find its way there on time, too...

I am currently backing up all my pictures and videos on my laptop.  Considering these date back to 7th grade, it is safe to say I will be up for awhile.  The good news is that I finished packing on Thursday, both checked bags are under the 50 lb limit, and I have room in my carry-on to spare!

Earlier today (well yesterday, I guess), Thomas, one of my visiting family brothers, added me on Facebook and initiated a conversation.  I am now pretty much obsessed with him.  His written English is nearly perfect!  When I expressed how impressed I was he responded, "hehe, i started to learn English in third grade, and i'm now in seventh grade," with a smiley face at the end.  Actually, there was some sort of smiley face at the end of everything he sent.  He promised to help me out with my Danish learning, which I warned him would probably never amount to much.

Another thing that's happened since my last post is that I've been granted access to Blackboard, the online access center for my courses.  I read over all the syllabi (nerd, I know) and for the first time since I can remember am actually super excited for all my classes.  They all have awesome field study components, an aspect of DIS which I absolutely love.  More on this once I've actually sat through them- later this week!  I have to get through orientation first.  We also received our schedules for our 3 day jam-packed schedule of things that most people hate and have to suffer through but I secretly love.  Don't worry, I'll provide a semi-detailed account after going through it.

For my last night home, I went out to dinner with some of my family members.  Everyone has been so fabulous toward me leaving, I feel they are acting as if I'll be gone much longer than four and a half months.  Either that, or they're trying to give me a reason to come back.  Even my grandmother's parting words to me were that I shouldn't "get married" in Denmark.  I think I'll be able to handle that one... hopefully.

Also! Another great thing about today! It's my birthday!!!  Well, not really.  But as of the moment I cross out of American borders, I will legally be able to consume alcohol for the rest of my life.  That's right, Mom.  I'm basically 21 three months early.  Fun stuff.

I guess I should attempt to clean up my room a bit before I go to sleep, so this is it for tonight.  I'll be in Denmark the next time I write!  (Unless something goes terribly wrong.  Fingers crossed...)

THREE.

Ending my last post, "Here goes nothing," was pretty literal.  By the time I woke up I really did do nothing after going to the bank and coming home.  I was determined to make Tuesday a bit more productive, finally making a list and getting 1 of 4 bags mostly packed.  No clothes yet though- that's going to be the worst task of them all.

So in my other posts I forgot to mention that I have a visiting family!! This means that instead of living with a host family, I have a family whom I get to visit once a week for dinner, fun, and other family-related activities.  MY FAMILY IS THE CUTEST EVER.  They live in Frederiksberg, which isn't super far from my kollegium or DIS.  I have a mom (Joan), a dad (Peter), two little brothers (Thomas and William, 13 and 10 years old), and a 10 month old cat.  Joan emailed me the most adorable welcome message within an hour of our family assignment, instantly making me incredibly excited to meet them.  Since then I have met them all via Skype, and I can't wait to meet them in person!! William, the youngest one, does not speak English.... that should be interesting.  I look forward to figuring out ways of communicating with him other than language. Yesterday I was Facebook chatting with Joan and asked her if the boys might like Reese's, a chocolate and peanut butter candy (she had mentioned the boys wanted to try American chocolate).  Joan responded by saying that Danes do not eat peanut butter.  (WHAT?! NO PEANUT BUTTER?! BLASPHEMY!).  I guess I'll bring them M&Ms or other chocolate-y candies.  In any case, it will be so nice having a pseudo-family while I am so far away from home.  Joan even offered to take me on my first trip grocery shopping in order to help me navigate my way through Danish food products.  I am so lucky to have people over there who already seem to care so much about me.

It is now after midnight, which means three more days! These past two weeks home have been some of the longest of my life.  I've spoken with a few of my sorority sisters who are already abroad and am so jealous that they have begun their semesters!  Everyone seems to love the country in which they are studying, and I cannot wait to visit some of them later on during my travel breaks.

In continuing my jealousy, I'd like to send a shout out to my big and little, A&A! At the moment I am super jealous of your both being in Florida together, and I wish you the best of luck in all your meets this week!

Because there's nothing too exciting to write about and I don't want to turn readers off to this blog before I even get to København, I promise to stay away until right before I leave.  God nat! (Goodnight!)

5 more days...

...and I have yet to start packing.

Oh by the way, as J's blog reminded me, send me mail!!

[My name- don't wanna post it here]
c/o DIS, Danish Institute for Study Abroad
Vestergade 7
DK- 1456 Copenhagen K
Denmark

If you're trying to love me even more and send me a package, make sure to declare $0 on the customs form.

While you're at it, if you have a smartphone you should definitely download Viber so we can talk/text for free with wifi. I'll only have ethernet in my room, but at school/local cafes I'll be able to talk lots. 

So my plans for today are as follows:

-Go to the bank

-Come home

-Make a list of stuff I need to bring

-Check and see if I actually have that stuff at home

-Go to Target and buy everything left on the list

-Start to pack

I HATE PACKING. Honestly it's one of my least favorite things to do. I'd almost rather take an orgo exam than have to pack, especially for a trip this long. Procrastination and insomnia usually allow me to start the packing process circa 2am the morning I leave, but I'm trying to turn over a new leaf with this trip (and not have to spend the 25% sales tax Copenhagen has on products I'll need to buy when I get there).

So here goes nothing. 

One week to go!

wan·der·lust 

[won-der-luhst]; noun

a strong, innate desire to rove or travel about.

rejselyst: Danish for "wanderlust"

So I really never thought I'd be one to write a travel blog, but after reading other people's blogs all day it doesn't seem like such a bad idea.  I always get excited about starting things but having trouble following through, so we'll see where this takes me.  What else am I supposed to do with my awful inability to fall asleep at night? Anyway, one week from today I will be boarding a plane to Copenhagen, or København (I might as well start calling it that), Denmark.  I will be studying abroad from January to May through a program called DIS (Danish Institute for Study Abroad).

I guess you could say I'm a little bit excited.

This (yesterday) morning I woke up to a phone call from my friend B, who happens to be in my sorority and also attending the same study abroad program (there are three of us, including J- expect to hear a lot more about them throughout this blog) telling me that the housing email had been sent out.  She said she was living in Keops, an international kollegium in Nørrebro. Upon checking my own email, a very sleepy me told her that I was living in Keops, an international kollegium in Nørrebro.  She thought I had just repeated what she said, but the excitement of living together quickly woke me from my sluggish state. We will be on the same floor, on opposite sides of our building! What are the chances!

Once I am told something about my future and I have the Internet at my fingertips (as well as a plethora of free time, as winter break at home has been dreadfully boring), there is no stopping me until I find out everything I possibly can.  Hours later, I have a pretty good mental picture of what will be my home  for over the next 4 months.

A kollegium is a cross between an apartment and a dorm. My particular kollegium, Keops, is made up of single bedrooms with kitchenettes and personal bathrooms as well as a giant window and a small balcony. My room is on the first floor though, so I'm not sure about how great my view will actually be.  Apparently there are no real hallways, but instead motel-style outdoor breezeways, making it a bit difficult to meet new people unless you really go out of your way to do so. The kollegium is made up of two buildings which together hold about 250-300 students, most of whom are international (primarily Austrailia, New Zealand, etc.). There are some Danes but they are supposedly difficult to find. Finally, there are about 50 DIS students, and we were given a listing of all their names as well as their room numbers. There are a few small common rooms and communal kitchens, where socializing takes place. Finally, there's a bus station just outside which is about a 20 minute commute from center city.  Not too bad for a living situation.

A picture I found of Keops Kollegium.

I keep reading mixed things about Nørrebro, the district my kollegium is in.  Some call it Nørrebronx, the Danish ghetto (but a safe one).  It's where all the riots used to occur.  It is supposedly very multi-ethnic, with a large Middle Eastern presence.  Who knew a year after traveling to Israel I'd be going to Denmark only to encounter falafel and shawarma again? Anyway, other people say that the neighborhood is hipster and trendy, with lots of bars and little shops and young people.  Most notably it is home to the cemetery in which Hans Christian Andersen, Denmark's pride and joy, is buried.  In any case, I'm eager to see everything for myself. Though I've read a lot about my future home, I'm going into it with a completely open mind.

I'm not even there yet and this is a super long blog post.  Just wait until my writing is also supplemented with pictures (taken with my brand new amazing DSLR camera- thanks Mom and Dad!). Hopefully whoever reads this enjoys it... if not, I guess it'll be a great way for me to look back and remember the trip of a lifetime.

One more week! Ahhhh!