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."