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.