back in the US?!

When I have been awake for 40 hours, traveling for 17, in line just to talk to you about my cancelled flight for 2.5 hours, and on the verge of tears I would really appreciate you not giving me Jersey attitude.

Flying home was a drag and I ended up spending the night in Newark. I have never spent the night in a hotel room by myself before. My bed could have fit four people, the shower floor was not the bathroom floor and the man who booked me a room was super nice. He let me call my parents and gave me a discount and told me not to cry and set up a wake up call. Interesting evening and slightly disorienting to wake up in a huge bed in a room that was bigger than my apartment this semester. The flight attendant on the plane was quite amusing. He used spirit fingers to demonstrate the safety instructions while continuously smiling. Not exaggerating in the slightest. He was not positive that Memphis was in Tennessee. His announcements were more stream of consciousness than anything else. And then we finally arrived in Tennessee?! who would have thought? Felix gave me a warm welcome and not the cold shoulder routine I was kind of anticipating. Brother comes home tonight so the parents have to make another trip to the airport today. I am definitely not going any where anything related to aviation for a while. Sidenote: Felix just nuzzled the fake plant in the dining room.

what a weekend

This weekend was full of so many awesome things.

Friday
We went to Emily's Kollegium and met some of her friends. I got to dance, met an excitable French dude, watch a great game of pool, and explore another part of this great city. I would totally stay in a Kollegium if I were here another semester. You get your own room but share a kitchen with about five other people who are probably Danish. I loved that they had a game room, a party room, and a bar.

Saturday
We were going to the Christiania Christmas market. But as I walked out of Christianhavn station, I could tell something was up. It was the same feeling I had in Berlin right before I saw that man in a pink rabbit costume get arrested. We walked out to the median and saw an endless streetful of people. We happened upon the climate march. Every group imagineable was there. The vegetarians, the hardcore environmentalists, unions, sherpas, people wanting the Iraq war to end, and communists (yes, there were actually self-proclaimed communists there). Standing on the median the crowd kept passing me on both sides. At times, banners were hitting me the face. Other times I had to duck under large signs that were too wide for just one side of the road. The road from Parliament to the Bella Center was completely shut down by the sheer force of numbers. The New York Times estimate was about 60,000 to 100,000. I saw dancing, listened to music, and saw more dredlocks than I have seen in a while. It was amazing to be part of it. Inflatable snowmen and people dressed in polar bear costumes were constantly passing by. There were even babies being pushed in their prams. Also, there were some dogs who are apparently eco-conscious. We stood there for about an hour and the end of the march was no where in sight. Then, we finally decided to head to the Christmas market that was held in this huge barn. There was very relaxing live music and a lot of Danes buzzing with Jul spirit. When we left, four riot vans with flashing lights pulled up to the stop light and cops piled out. They ran to a corner of Christiania. Apparently, four cars were on fire and one cop had his jaw broken by a thrown rock. So crazy. Afterwards, another fun night of dancing.









Sunday
Sweden. Yup, I went on a day trip to Malmö. Sweden is much colder than Denmark. We were walking around and looking for some place to eat. There was this unobtrusive middle eastern restaurant that was delicious. I had a great falafel sandwich and coffee. Everyone else went for the buffet, which included waffles. The place was really nice and had pretty pillows on the benches to make it more comfortable. I learned how to count in binary and reminisced about Mr. Cook. Such a plesant lunch. Then we went to brave the cold for a bit and strangely enough I realized that the squares had the same names as the stops on my bus route in København. Trianglen and Gustav Adolf. And the funny part is that these stops on the bus are also next to each other. Peculiar to say the least. We played with this amazing touch screen in Trianglen. Afterward, we tried St. Lucia buns because today is the holiday. A little lackluster after all the build up, but I can say I have had an authentic bun. Then we watched the singing. It was awesome to hear and then IT STARTED SNOWING. Large, lardy, white snowflakes!!! I was so excited. I watched my friends take a ferris wheel ride and then began the journey back to warm Tåsingegade.

The end is near

Today I gave a presentation and it was entirely in Danish. I am going to miss this language. Sure the pronunciation is RIDICULOUS, but the rhythm has become a familiar background sound. I might speak to Felix in Danish for a while. Poor dog, I keep changing the language I talk to him in. I cannot wait to snuggle that bunny.

I rode home on my bike in the rain again today. I was thinking how it was not miserable at all because I was on a bike in København. I am going to start biking around Germantown. I can't think about not riding to places. Hopefully, Memphis drivers won't run me over. (oh wait, I forgot that they are terrible) Also I am going to begin my multi-lingual project when I get home. So many people over here speak so many languages. I am going to practice so that next time I am in Europe, I can blend in better.

I am going home in a week and a half. I will understand everything that people are saying around me. I will be able to eat my mom's delicious cooking. I will play with my dog. And it will be Christmas time! Yikes. the Thought of going home is strange. No more Somersby, wienerbrød, bus 14, bike lanes, one room apartment on tåsingegade, lakrids, Amager, or DIS. I have been on so many trips this semester (hence my small bank account) and every time coming home meant Tåsingegade 29. This time home is Memphis International Airport. Danmark, jeg elsker dig!

So, I have a list of things to do during the month before school starts
1. read lots of books
2. bake delicious things
3. get back into piano
4. work on my languages
5. bike
6. play with Felix
7. figure out next summer
8. find snow to play in

Hi Europe, my name is Katherine

So I traveled for fifteen days around Europe and met some really cool people. I cannot imagine how the backpackers do it for four months. It is exciting, interesting, fun, but incredibly tiring. I had the best two weeks.

First, I went to Rome on the DIS trip. Our teacher Thyge/T-bro/Thigh-guh was a really fun guide. he even took the class reps out for drinks one day. Unfortunately, it was campari soda. He told us it would taste like pomegranates, but it tasted like disgusting. The first day, we took at 7 a.m. flight and walked around to see Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, Spanish Steps, Ara Pacis, Largo Argentina, Piazza Navona, and Campo dei Fiori. The first day was a little long, but then we had a group dinner. No one really understood that pasta is an appetizer. And I got to use my Italian. I had to speak with the waiter about having something other that pork, and he did not understand me in English. So, with his patience for my Italian, we understood each other. It was a delicious dinner, and we had our first glass of Italian wine to be quickly followed by our first gelato of the trip. I cannot even begin to count the number of gelato flavors that I tried.

On Monday, we got up early to explore the Colosseum. Even seeing it again, it was impressive. Afterward, we walked around the Forum Romanum (finally!) and had to sketch some buildings. My sketches in the notebook that Thyge gave to us are, well interesting. Tuesday was the Vatican and the discovery of the artichoke/pinecone/avacado. I also got to see some Egyptian and Mesopotamian art. I finally got to look at the School of Athens. And The Last Judgement is just so impressive and scary. I got a stiff neck from staring up for so long. We had a group lunch and then traveled back to see St. Peter's. The next time I am in Rome, I will pay the five euro to climb the cupola. Apparently, it is a good view of the city. But, I did get to enjoy the inside of the Basilica. I still cannot understand how tall it is. We went underneath to see the tombs of the Popes. The tomb of John Paul II still has flowers around it. The people who were down there were still very emotional around it. Wednesday we went to visit Ostia Antica. It was so cool and amazing that the place survived this long. It was not protected by ash and lava like Pompeii. It was just an abandoned city that was never changed into a modern living place. I enjoyed walking through the undergrowth and stumbling upon the public bathrooms, temples, and secret socities. In the evening, we saw the she-wolf and the statue of Marcus Aurelius on the Capitoline Hill. Thursday brought the less seen sites of Rome. We went to the Baths of Caracalla, Circus Maximus (taken over by the army), the Tempietto, and the Pyramid of Sestius. The pyramid is now a graveyard for non-Catholic foreigners. So Keats and Shelley are buried there. Thyge told me about a three-legged cat that made friends with him once. The cat would not leave him alone and decided they would have a snuggle. I also got to visit Jimmy and see his school in the afternoon. That night, I had a great dinner and gave a great toast to my table about who knows what. I was sad for it to be my last night in Rome.

While in Rome, I really enjoyed the outdoor, public water fountains. There would be fountains continuously running all around the city. All I had to do was lean down to get a drink. Copenhagen has no public water fountains anywhere, so this was a refreshing (pun intended) change. Also, we walked so far everyday that we would have a rest in the hotel before venturing out to find dinner in the evenings. So combining exhaustion and hunger, these rests were quite silly and were the driving force of the bananas with faces on them. Oh, and it rained a heck of a lot. My one pair of shoes were almost always wet. But, we were in Rome which was perfectly fine with me.

On Friday morning, Kate and I began the experiment of traveling without leaders around Europe. Luckily, we turned out to be good travel buddies. There was only one glitch and that was her phone. Overall a major success considering tickets, passports, and money were things that could have been lost. We took a train to the airport and then flew to Prague. Then, we took a bus into the city. We tried to pay the bus driver, but he yelled at us. So that cut down on travel costs! We finally made it to our hostel and then when on the search for dinner. We had our best meal of Prague that night. The portions were huge and relatively cheap. The next day we climbed a mountain and saw the memorial for the victims of communism. It was pretty interesting because it was a sculpture of about five figures, each a more minimalist view of a man. Then, off to the free walking tour. In three hours, we learned a lot about Czech history, saw a lot of cool stuff, and laughed at our hilarious guide. It was during this part of the trip that I got to pet a dog. I was stading in the atrium of my floor in the hostel and a dog runs down the steps. She ran right to us and wiggled a lot while we pet her. Then, she just went back to the stairs and went down. She was never heard from or seen again. Awesome. We also saw the John Lennon Wall, a modern art museum, a TV tower with statues of crawling babies, St. Vitus Cathedral and a fence with lots of locks. St. Vitus is second only to St. Peter's in size. It is incredibly impressive and Gothic. It took 600 years to perfect its exterior.

Tuesday, we found the train station and started our journey to Krakow. We were originally in the wrong seats, but we later found our compartment. Yes, it was like Harry Potter. It had a sliding door and facing seats. It was originally full with six people, but eventually everyone left and it was just us on this seven hour ride. We got into Poland and learned that crossing the street in Poland is a little difficult at times. But, it was worth it because we found our hostel, which was the absolute best! All the people were really nice and we all went out to this bar that was pirate ship/motorcycle/American 80's music themed. Yes, you read that right! It had sails and motorcylces. Who knew that would be successful. I cannot even beging to describe how much I liked Poland. Yes, we went to Auschwitz and the salt mine, but the city is really nice and cozy. Old town is awesome and nice. I was not ready to leave when we did on Friday. But, the Berlin lights were calling.

Berlin is a great city. People go out in jeans and t-shirts. If you have dreadlocks, you are guaranteed to get in anywhere. Also, I was introduced to a delicious Turkish food: borek. Absolutely delicious. We stayed in the East side, and we walked everyday to the West. That was a crazy long walk that always felt longer in the evening. The Germans were a fun bunch. I met such a wider range of personalities that I have met in Denmark. One lady actually came up to us to see if we needed help with directions and then later we encountered a really angry museum curator. But, the biggest and most subtle hint that we stayed the the east was the crosswalk men. In the east the men look different. Green man is chubbier and more dynamic and red man has his arms spread out. I loved hearing the German all day and got inspired to learn German over the summer. I really, really liked. In the mornings, we would get breakfast at bakeries. The first day we got this custard-filled monstrosities that were covered in powedered sugar and delicious. The next day, a man came in and this was what we heard, " Morgen........JA." We really loved that and I am not sure why. The Neues Museum has a lot of cool Egyptian stuff, including the Bust of Nefertiti. We saw the Jewish Memorial, Humbolt University and hundreds of other cool things including a pink bunny being arrested.

All in all, a great and eyebrow raising trip. I was sad to leave Berlin on Monday morning, but I was glad to be going home (which is København!) It was amazing to do laundry and sleep in my own room!

fødselsdag!!!

Today in my Danish class, we learned how to sing the birthday song. It is much superior to the lame American one, because you get to pretend to play instruments and the song gets really rowdy. I think I will try to implement this song next year. Then I had to blow out the candles and I missed two, which means that I have two boyfriends apparently. The cake was sort of like a fruit cake with rhubarb and almonds. It was very good and I had to eat a lot of it. Also, Mette brought chocolate milk that was so delicious. It was a nice birthday party.
Last week, I visited Legoland. It was so much more than I expected. It had entire cities made out of legos, with working locks, cars, de-icing machines, and windmills. The spaceship from the JFK rocket center acutally has smoke to mimic liftoff. There was this ride that let you pick the intensity and moves. It was a huge mechanical arm that flung Kate and I around and upside down and it was a little scary. I was moving a little in my seat and after screaming the entire time, the machine took a picture of us. My hair was completely in my face and I looked like the fortune teller from my Dante's Inferno movie. I really wanted to buy a t-shirt with that on the front. The entire day, I was in a constant state of amazement. Especially, when I saw this fish that was yellow in the first part of its body and magenta on its hindquarters. I couldn't believe that they had an aquarium with huge crabs, sharks, and weird looking fish. On the three hour bus rides, I played some Spades and an awesome game called Whist. And for dinner, a delicious buffet complete with the best applesauce I have ever had in my life. It had some sort of whipped cream on the top and was perfect. A very good way to spend a Sunday.
And next Sunday, vado a Roma!!!!!!! Non posso aspettare. And after some amazing days in Rome, I am going to travel around and see awesome cities for a week. Study abroad is the best. Of course, these last three weeks have been packed with midterms, presentations, and papers. But the next two weeks will make it all worth it.
Tonight I rode back in the rain for the first time. My rain jacket kept me dry from head to waist, but the tops of pants were completely soaked. I think I noticed that many people were wearing rain pants? I think I should look into this. The ride was fine except for my legs.
Also, the Danish kids wear snow suits when it is cold. It doesn't even snow here. Yesterday on my misty run, I saw these two brothers who were running in their snow suits with sticks in their hands. Their dad was just standing nearby laughing at them. SO CUTE!! Then I ran past a dog carrying a stick in his mouth, it was really just a stick kind of day.

I love Europe

Wow. Stockholm is completely breathtaking. The canals are huge and lined with trees. And it is fall, so all the leaves are beautiful colors of reds, oranges, and greens. The city is majestic with a wonderful mix of old, windy, hilly, narrow streets and the newer stuff. I went to the Vasa Museum that has this ship that capsized on its maiden voyage in 1628. The entire thing was pulled out of the water in the 1960s. very impressive. We went to a Swedish hockey game one night. Another day we went to the Karolinska Institutet. This is a very highly respected medical school, and in one of the conference rooms, a committe decides the medicine/phisiology nobel prize. I sat in one of the seats and the round table that has room for 24. It was amazing to be there the day after the prize was announced in that very room.

But, my favorite part of the trip was the modern art museum. The museum had a visiting exhibit of Salvador Dali. They had a lot of his paintings and some video clips of him. There was this one ad for alka seltzer that had an older and wild haired Dali using paint on a model's white onesie to explain the effects that it has on the stomache. And he declared that the neutralizing action was art. And then I went around and saw some stuff by Andy Warhol, Jean Arp, Max Ernst, Picasso, Ducamp, Kandinsky, Jackson Pollock, Piet Mondrian, and other really cool artists. There was a contraption that was a very complicated fly swatter, that I operated by stepping on a lever. Then, there was this huge statue of a man/beast that had black fingernails and grey fur. That was the only peace that really creeped me out. But, the highlight was seeing "Fountain" because it's a urinal that is "art." Like I learned about this three years ago and then just saw it in the flesh. It was in the same room with the mustached Mona Lisa, which is actually rather small. I have heard this about the real Mona Lisa as well. I walked out of that museum in the best of spirts. I felt so happy. Walking down the beautiful hill to the incredible canal, I wished to be nowhere else in the world.

After an awesome time in Stockholm, it was time for a booze cruise to Tallinn, Estonia. The ship had a show that was beauty. The caberet dancers were in insane costumes and the singers were sub par in this Viva Las Vegas show, but the music was so entertaining. The show started out with a Pink song and then played "It's Raining Men" and other gems. Then afterwards, the dancers came out into the audience and danced with us for "I Will Survive." The entire show, I had no idea what was going, what I was experiencing, but I knew that I loved it. I ended up dancing for so long and when I finally came back to go to bed, there were all these people outside my cabin that were drunk, 40, and loud. So, the first day in Tallinn was a bit tough. After a good night's sleep, I got to go on a tour of old Tallinn, which apparently means Danish town. During lunch on Friday, we were having a discussion about healthcare and the differences between Denmark and America. We were talking about equality and the right to care, when our tour leader comes up to us and says "Obama just won the Nobel Peace Prize." We were completely shocked. Just three days before we had toured the Nobel Museum in Stockholm and watched the live feed of the announcing of the chemistry prize. The Peace Prize is the only one to be awarded in Oslo because Alfred Nobel wanted to ease tension between Sweden and Norway. It was all in all an amazing way to spend the week. Pictures to come, too many to sort through right now.

oktober looms!

Tomorrow starts the great month of october. I have been here five a half weeks. It seems longer and shorter than that at the same time. Lately I feel like all I do is make food and do dishes- a little taste of being a grown up. But, I am enjoying riding my bike to school with its front basket. It has a lock across the back wheel that makes it really convenient to secure my bike when I park it in the lot. I have been slacking a bit in updates so i will give a short list of awesome things that I have lately encountered:
strawberry-rhubarb jelly
dance clubs
the Danish cheese-jelly-bread combination
delicious müesli
cute first graders walking to school
my new monster-eating-a-cupcake lunchbox
amazing hippie dancer with a foot long beard and homemade felt shoes

Oh, and Barack and Michelle Obama are coming this week. Apparently the entire København polite force are going to be present when Barack is giving his speech. Its sounds like it might be a little difficult to see him, but I might try for Michelle. They are both here to promote Chicago as the 2016 Olympic venue. Today I was probably in the background of several tv shows because so many important people are in town for this announcement. Also, Aqua is coming to Rådhuspladsen (City Hall) and performing on Friday. So I am excited to her some Barbie girl among the masses. Then, on Sunday I am off to Stockholm and then Tallinn. It should be a fun but really exhausting study tour.

Today I watched this Danish movie that is called Festen (the celebration). It was the first Dogme movie to be made. Sheesh, it deals with some really heavy issues in a very realistic fashion, because part of the stlye is only using hand-held cameras. This genre is a reaction against the American movies in the sixties that started using a lot of special effects and artistic touches that made the movies not seem like real life. After this *uplifting* movie, I went to a social resource center for gay men who are HIV postitive. It was really cool to see how they support each other right after someone receives a diagnosis and on through the years. The most important part of the organization is that it is patient run. The ones who cook group dinners, tend to the garden, work on the board are the patients themselves.

With my homework done, jeg slapper af.

Århus, Aalborg, Aawesome

I just got back from my three day study tour to Århus and Aalborg. I am so ridiculously tired. I have no idea how I am going to make it when I go on the longer tour to Estonia and Sweden in a couple of weeks!

On Thursday, we met at 6.45 and began the long drive to Århus. We did this scavenger hunt in the city, which eventually led us to the first ever Paradis. It is an ice cream shop with a play on words. I realized as I was walking to the bus that the Danish word for ice cream is is, so it is an ice cream paradise. I had the kaffe flavor and it was so delicious. The whole city was so relaxing and gave me the same calm feeling as taking a deep breath. It is so much less congested than Copenhagen. The walking streets are more narrow, which makes it snug. The canal is really gorgeous and has all of these little walking bridges over it because the water comes pretty far into the city. The atmosphere was just so pleasant.

Then we visited the largest general practice in Denmark. It has eight doctors that work about 40 hours a week. (Have a mentioned yet that medical school is free in Denmark?) After seeing the facilities, we had a delicious buffet dinner. The next day we got to tour a stem cell research lab and a huge, modern hospital. Both places were so excited to tell us about their work. I felt so welcomed. The lab works a lot with human embryonic stem cells because the laws are more lenient here. Much of their research goes toward trying to heal patients that have heart problems. In the hospital, I got to see how dialysis works. There were about four patients sitting in a room together. They receive dialysis for four hours three times a week. After a long day of touring, we headed off to a brewery. We got a short tour of the tanks where they make the beer and had so many samples!! I now know that I absolutely hate wheat beer.

Today, I got to see this robot exhibition. The coolest one was a pair of glasses that had four cameras attached and many different lenses. The two side cameras record eye movement and the other two record what the wearer sees. This allows someone to know exactly what someone sees and focuses on. Normally, when we look through someone else's eyes it is just like watching a movie. But, movie goers all focus on different details when looking at the picture. So, this shows each specific object that the wearer is actually looking at. I think it is going to be used for medical purposes. For example, showing students how to do a certain dental procedure.

During my trip, I stayed in two different hostels. They were definitely not as bad as they could have been. The first place had these beds that were unfolded from the walls. It is such a strange concept to me that you have to bring your own sheets. And the breakfast at both places was almost exactly the same! And when I came back to my room here in Copenhagen, it felt like home for the first time.

P.S. The day before I left, I found out that I am about a ten/fifteen minute walk to the Baltic Sea. It is so pretty and lots of swans and ducks hang out there.

HE HAD BANGS!!

Today I went on an double decker bus to the West of Zealand. My Nordic Mythology class and I went to the Viking ship museum, the Viking museum, the first gas station/eatery ever built in Denmark, and a cool burial mound. This all day excursion was awesome because we visited the place where Hrothgar, Beowulf, and Grendel all had their spats. The river right by the grave mounds is not there anymore, but there is a little lake that I could imagine Grendel wading through on the way to his cave. The picture is of me standing where the great hall was. very awesome! And while I logged much bus time, I enjoyed the Danish scenery which included a man with a ponytail. Ok, so it's not so strange of a sight. But have you ever seen a man with a ponytail and bangs?! Because now I have. It is definitely a life changing experience. He had a dog with him that was gigantic! The Viking museum was really cool because the stones that mark the boundaries of the buildings in this village are still there. It shows planning that was not common back then. This little village was for the warriors so that they could have the best set up if they were attacked. I crossed the moat by foot since it is barely a puddle now. I always like looking at ancient buildings. It makes you feel old and young at the same time. As we stood there in the valley, we all tried some alcohol that is old, not as old as the Vikings, though. I heard the mead tasted a bit like honey, but I had Viking's Blod, which has a very odd flavor. Oh, and I learned how wonderful plaid is when the rain follows your every move.
P.S I was in the park the other day and saw a bunch of old people with a metal walking stick in each hand. It seemed like they were stretching before a good power walk

Arrival

So this is my first post even though I have been here almost two weeks. It has been a whirlwind of lost luggage, fainting, and all around confusion. Now I am ready to write coherent thoughts.


I was on the train today and these 14 year old kids were sitting next to me. I was listening to their Danish and caught "1,2,3." I was pretty proud of my poor Danish skills. And then out of nowhere, they all started singing a Backstreet Boys song. I guess they are getting pumped for the concert in December. Who knew the Backstreet Boys were still functioning as a band? I was on the train because I was going to meet my visiting family for the first time. The mother met me at the station with her 14 month old son. He is really cute and the messiest eater ever! She also has a 14 year old daughter who likes Lady Gaga and Celine Dion. Apparently, she is watching Titanic in school, so she is really into "My Heart Will Go On." I played some Wii sports games with them. The dancing one was really hard! When I left, I had to ride the bus for a while and then got out of the station and saw my bus, but convinced myself it was going the wrong direction. It wasn't. But eventually I got home, to this lovely place. The monster/dinosaur welcomes me every day.