Home Sweet Home

Hej everyone,

I'm so sorry it's taken me this long to write this last post... with finals the last week of Copenhagen and then packing and then spending the past week home at Lafayette and the beach, I haven't had much time. In fact, I should be packing for my next adventure in North Carolina right now as I'm leaving in less than 5 hours, but oh well.

Den Lille Havfrue

My final days in Copenhagen were a blur of finals and being a tourist.  I finally saw Den Lille Havefrue (The Little Mermaid) statue... so anti-climactic.  I climbed the Spiral Tower on top of the Church of Our Saviour.  I saw Amalienborg Palace and the Black Diamond library.  These are all things that I probably should have done throughout the semester, but of course I waited until the end.  It was strange viewing Copenhagen from a tourist's perspective (especially when I went into tourist shops to buy a couple souvenirs) because I had come to really feel at home in the city.  The weather was absolutely gorgeous for once, but as much as I enjoyed the barbecues and sunshine, it was probably for the best that I had to go since my 90% of the clothes I packed were geared toward the winter.

Hej Hej, Nyhavn

Our core class had a final dinner at a cafe with delicious steak.  After a few too many glasses of rødvin (red wine) and sad goodbyes, a couple of us decided to bring more wine to Nyhavn and sit on the side of the canal as the sun went down.  It was such a sad night in one of the most beautiful places in the city, but it was a perfect ending to an amazing experience.

Last night out with the Keops girls

On my 2nd to last night, a student from DIS arranged a farewell event at a nightclub called NASA, which was apparently Copenhagen's hottest club in the late 90s/early 2000s. We went up in an elevator and all the walls were white... definitely an interesting venue.  It was a great way to see everyone in order to say goodbye.  I was even able to convince my Scottish/Irish friends to come as well for one last night out together.

Mine Danske Familie

I spent the very last day with my visiting family.  Thomas and I went shopping together and then cooked dinner for everyone else, and then we just sat around and talked for a while.  They were really a fantastic part of my time abroad and I am so grateful for all that they did for and taught me... it was so nice having a family to visit once a week and it really allowed me to understand Danish culture in a way I would not have otherwise.

The last morning, I said goodbye to the bikes and weinerbrød and then carried my extremely heavy luggage up and down stairs, onto the S-tog and the metro, and finally into the airport.  My flight home was non-stop, which was nice albeit long, and I arrived in Newark safely.

Now that I have been home for over a week, I can celebrate the fact that throughout my entire time travelling abroad I was never once pick-pocketed and I never lost my luggage.  I had such an amazing experience and have made some amazing friends with people from all over the world.  It's crazy to me that it's over- I've never experienced life move so quickly.  I'd like to end this with a big thank you to my parents for supporting me on my trip, and though I would love to post their gift (which some of you may have seen on Facebook), they still have yet to see it as it has not arrived.  I guess I'll add it on once it finally comes.  Also stay tuned on my Shutterfly for the final Copenhagen pictures which will be added soon.  Oh, and if you're interested in learning a bit more about the society I've grown to love over the past 4.5 months, check out this article recently written for the Huffington Post and this fun BuzzFeed piece.

Thanks so much for reading this semester! Now it's off to new adventures in North Carolina... and by adventures I mean Duke neuroscience lab and my apartment/MCATstudycentral.  Not super fun.

Vi ses,

Stephanie

Edit:

Thank You Mom and Dad for Giving Me the World!

Adventures in Sweden

Before I talk about my weekend, I'd like to start off saying that Tivoli was AWESOME.  Strangely

Tivoli at night

enough, only two other people (out of like 30 or so) wanted to go on all the rides too.  We ended up buying the all-ride passes and going on all the best rides at least twice.  There were no lines and everything was so close that walking from ride to ride was super easy.  As an avid thrill ride-goer, I was delightfully surprised at how good/fun some of them were. I had an absolute blast.  One of the rides was a typical "The Swings" ride where you're raised high in the air and travel in a circle.  The view was breathtaking- all of Copenhagen could be seen from the top.  We went on again at sunset and I don't know if I've ever seen a more beautiful sight.  Unfortunately, they pat you down to make sure you don't bring a camera, so I couldn't get any pictures.  But it will be something I remember always.

So like I said before, I decided last minute to use some of my birthday money to take part in a school-

Rönneå from the canoe

sponsored "adventure trip" to Southern Sweden.  It was incredible.  We left early Saturday morning on a coach bus, took the ferry from Helsingør (where Hamlet's Castle, Kronborg Slot is located)  to Helsingborg, and continued to Rönneå where we were able to canoe.  It was BEAUTIFUL outside; I actually wore a tank top.  (I was at the point where I thought that would never happen in Scandinavia.) We rowed for about 3 hours and saw the cutest little cottages and some big beautiful houses.  The
Swedes really know how to landscape, I'll give them that.  There were also many ducks and birds.  Some old guy called out to us from the land at one point and asked what state we were from (apparently he had been calling out to each duo that can gone by and deduced we were American), and Jen and I said "New Jersey".  He then said, "Oh... the gangster state!" It was strange, but funny.  Anyway, as much as I enjoyed canoeing, I think I prefer single person kayaks better... more personal control.

One of the Nimis Sculptures

After canoeing, we headed over to the hostel for lunch.  The hostel was located in the middle of nowhere Swedish farmland, but it was really cute and clean.  Jen and I were even able to get our own room.  From the hostel, we went hiking in Himmelstorpsgården, a wooded area next to the water.  Our destination was Nimis, a really cool collection of climbable driftwood sculptures that actually started a war and are now considered on the land of their own micro-nation, Ladonia.  Fun fact- ANYONE can become a citizen, and one can become "nobility" for the price of about $12 USD.  I strongly considered getting dual citizenship.  We laid out on the rocks for a while, found some blue baby jellyfish, and then hiked (up a steep incline) back to the bus.  We then had a BBQ at the hostel and roasted marshmallows around a bonfire before going to sleep.

The next morning, we left the hostel and went to the Kullaberg Nature Reserve.  This is on the Kullaberg Peninsula, and includes hiking trails, cliffs, pebble beaches, a golf course, and more.  Splitting in half, I was in the rappeling group first.  We first practiced on a baby cliff, making sure to get the hang of it.  Our next task was the nearby large cliff with a stunning view of the land and sea.  I was

Jen rappelling down the big cliff

able to rappel down this cliff twice- the second time being much more fun, as the first time my braid got caught in the rope about 3/4 of the way down, prohibiting me from moving further, and I thought I was going to have to find a rock to saw it off or something.  After lunch, a few of us stumbled across a golf course and met an older Swedish couple who started talking to us.  It turned out they were famous- they'd been on the Ed Sullivan Show 8 times as trapeze artists and toured with the Beatles for 4 months, also opening for The Jackson 5 when "little Michael was just 12 years old".  Jen and I took a picture with them, but as no one can seem to work my camera (it's really frustrating) we found out too late that it unfortunately didn't take correctly.

We then had an orienteering competition, which was basically a navigational scavenger hunt.  Armed with a map and a compass, we had to make it to different areas and then completely various tasks quickly upon arrival.  This was actually rather difficult, as

Vaniljhjärta

we had to climb up and down steep rocky slopes.  Some of the views were spectacular, and though treacherous (and dangerous, with my clumsiness), it was well-worth it.  Once all the outdoorsy stuff was done, our last stop was to Flickorna Lundgren, a cute little outdoor bakery where we tried delicious traditional Swedish vaniljhjärta and cake.  Overall it was an absolutely fantastic weekend with perfect weather and tons of fun and fresh air!

Be sure to check out all of the pictures here!

MAYDAY! MAYDAY!

Winter is finally over, and summer is here.  It's as if spring was just completely skipped over.  With two weeks left before I leave, I am so sad that I will not be able to experience this wonderful weather.  Vendors, open air markets, and outdoor bars and cafes are making appearances all over- all the things I loved about the other cities that I visited.  Copenhagen in the summer has it all, and I unfortunately don't have much time left to enjoy it.

In trying to make the most of things, I decided to go to a fodbold (soccer) game last week. FC København vs. Aarhus, the two biggest cities in Denmark.  They played at Parken, the national stadium that is not too far rom where I live.  It was definitely bigger than I expected for the size of this country, and the stands had a lot of people in them.  Closing my eyes and breathing in, I almost felt as if I was back home at Citizens Bank Park, smelling the athletic event familiarity of hotdogs and beer.  There was a cheering section where everyone remained standing the entire time, singing fight songs and chanting.  I really loved the spirit, although I didn't understand why everyone applauded for all shots on goal (when all of them were missed shots).  The game ended at 0-0, which was a shame because I would have liked to see how the fans reacted to a goal. It was still a lot of fun though.

Anyone who saw my Facebook status will know this story already, but it is too funny to leave out of my blog.  The other day I was at Nørreport metro station when a cute little old American couple approached me, asking for help with the metro system.  I explained what they wanted to know, and then they exclaimed, "Thank you so much! You speak such good English!"  At that point I realized that my assimilation into Danish culture must be complete.

Yesterday was May Day, also known as Labor Day.  All of Copenhagen's 20-30 year olds gather in this giant park called Fælledparken and listen to political speeches from parties from the social democrats to socialists to communists.  Additionally, there are bands playing on several stages, many food vendors, and copious amounts of alcohol and day drinking (gotta love not having open-container laws).  This was possibly my favorite Danish experience to-date, and it made me feel a little better about having to miss Lafayette's All College Day this year.

Tonight I have plans to go to Tivoli, the worlds oldest theme park (opened in 1843).  Disney World is actually supposedly modeled after it.  Unfortunately, you have pay to get in and then again to go on rides, so I'm not sure how much I'll actually end up going on.  The gardens are supposed to be beautiful, though, so I am excited to bring my camera.

I have to decided to go on one more excursion while I am abroad, as someone was selling her spot on a DIS-sponsored adventure trip to Southern Sweden this weekend.  I will be canoeing, kayaking, rappelling  and orienteering- super outdoorsy things, which should be interesting as I am not in the best shape right now.

I''ll try to get in another post or two before I go leave!