Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Year in Review

I only have a little over 2 weeks left here. WAIT, WHAT!? This has been going crazy fast, and I'm not sure I'm ok with that. Sure, I miss feeling like I'm actually learning, but going to school abroad is just way cooler. Ok, maybe not the school part, but I just really like to travel. Anyways, the truth is, what comes after this semester scares me a little bit. Real life is fast approaching and I feel no where near ready to face it. But in the mean time, lately I've been doing a lot of thinking about the future, classes for next semester, what to do when I inevitably graduate, and also just thinking about the whirlwind of a year this has been. I'm so lazy so this may or may not be my last Denmark post, sorry I've actually been M.I.A. from this thing. I'd say life got busy, but it's more like I got lazy. This post is mostly a diary entry for myself, but feel free to read on about my year.


January-May

Well, alright spring semester sucked. I keep trying to tell myself and others (and definitely did this while the semester was actually happening) that I was fine, but let's be real, I wasn't. I felt pathetic, I kind of was pathetic. I wasn't in a good place, and I won't pretend like I didn't throw myself the occasional pity party. And that annoys me because I don't like when people feel sorry for themselves for things that aren't that bad.  I've realized recently, I still hold some resentment and weird feelings from those four months, for a lot of reasons. And those I need to let go of, or probably talk about ha. Especially because of the whole not liking people to feel sorry for themselves. I do often complain about that semester, but I kind of feel bad doing it, I mean it could have been way worse right? Yes, it could have. But I suppose that doesn't take away from the fact that I wasn't happy. Just because things can be worse doesn't mean things still aren't bad. Bright side, I learned about the joy of pinterest and Ellen videos.  Those things are the best. Seriously. Pretty sure pinterest is just as addicting as most drugs. But anyways, I'm trying to let go of a lot of the negative feelings I have from that brief part of the year because let's be real negative, mopey people are annoying. There is no use dwelling, and no use still feeling upset by anything that was so long ago, right? Right.

June

By far the best month of my life. I am seriously not exaggerating even a little bit. I'm not sure I can explain why June was so amazing for me, but it truly was. Despite being terrified after a brief google search of Guatemala City, and even just Guatemala itself, it turned out to be my favorite place in the world. And as much I do enjoy Copenhagen, I'd be lying if I said that I didn't have large waves of missing Guatemala, even while roaming through Europe. I think it was just the entire experience. I loved where I worked, I loved where I lived, and I loved who I lived with. I miss those ladies from the nursing home every single day, and often wonder what they are up to and if they are happy. I hope so. They truly changed my life and career path. You go, ladies, don't know what I would have done without you. I miss all the wonderful friends I made through Cross Cultural Solutions, and thank them all a million times over for making the experience that much better. I attribute so much of my obsession with that trip to the amazing people I got to share it with. I genuinely miss them and hope that at some point in the not so far off future we can all meet again. Plus everywhere I went in that country was breathtakingly amazing. The stress induced from the many car and bus rides on the sides of mountains probably took a good five years off my life, but ya know, it was well worth it. Guatemala, you were really great to me...probably too great and I miss you like crazy.

July-August

This time was decently uneventful. Or, I shouldn't say uneventful, just good. Spent a lot of it knee deep in popcorn, but that is just fine. I suppose. I got to see all my best friends, which is becoming increasingly difficult now that adulthood is fast approaching. So I legitimately feel lucky to have spent time with friends who are now all over the place conquering the world. I met Brock. I chilled in Malibu. I ate froyo among other wonderful Californian foods. Discovered I was born in the wrong state. I ate a lot of Mill No. 3 with my mom. Consulted in the consultation corner. Baked a lot of cupcakes. Took Trevor and Chester for multiple walks. Climbed a mountain every week. I met the wonderful people at Abby's House. I'd say summer 2012 was a success.

August-December

Where to begin? I have been lucky enough to call Copenhagen home for the past four months, and I have to say I've truly loved it. In many ways this city has become like a second home to me. I finally feel comfortable here and know my way around. I'd say I feel like I fit in, but I'm not a super model gorgeous, blonde, stick so that's out.

 I was able to travel to Spain, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Poland all within the span of a few months. I even spent one day in three different countries. I've now eaten churros by Plaza Mayor,  survived a country wide general strike, stood by the Berlin wall, spent endless hours in a German cafe, stolen grapes along a Swiss vineyard, walked in the footsteps of Holocaust victims in two different countries, listened to a Viennese Chamber Orchestra, and ate my way through the Danish bakeries. I can't even begin to describe how thankful I am for these opportunities. I owe my parents and Wheaton big time hahaha. I can't really put into words how the last half of 2012 has changed me, but I absolutely know it has. Sure, I don't actually have my own source of income, but I now know that I can manage to maneuver myself around the world on someone else's dime without too many hiccups. Let's not count that one missed flight and near jail experience in Germany. Wait, did I not almost go to jail? Sorry, it just really felt like I was close. But I really did miss that flight. That wasn't a dream. But anyways, I can now manage to kind of feed myself. Although, let's not go crazy now. My hair is falling out in mass quantities, so maybe I don't have the proper amount of protein down, but I'll get there. At least I know I won't ever starve. This semester has been a whole other level of independence. I wasn't so sure I was going to be able to manage conducting my life in a foreign country for this long, but I'm a boss, so I more than managed. Just kidding, I still talked to my parents every other day and drained their bank account, soooo almost.

Mostly, I feel like I can take on the future with a new perspective. Sure the Danish culture isn't anything too crazy, but it is still different, and I can really appreciate that. I can appreciate my own culture and country even more. AMERICA. The past almost six months now, have helped me figure out what I'm actually doing with my life and where I see myself in the upcoming years. I honestly don't think I would have realized what I really wanted to do unless I'd made the trek to Central America and Europe.

So thanks, Denmark, for letting me come invade your country full of supermodels for a little while. It's been real. And real expensive. Like seriously, do you make your sandwiches with gold plated cheese? Because that's the only way for me to justify your prices. Is the tea made of diamonds? Yeah, that must be it. But really, I still enjoyed myself nonetheless and will always remember Copenhagen as the city that robbed me of all my life savings. And where I learned a few things about life...I guess that too.









Tuesday, October 30, 2012

The hills are aliveeeee

'Ello. Majorly blog slacking lately. I apologize. Last Friday I returned from a week in Vienna, Austria with my European Clinical Psychology class. I know what you are thinking, my life is really difficult, right? To answer your question: yes. Just kidding, traveling around Europe is alright I guess. But to be honest, the whole experience in Vienna wasn't necessarily AMAZING. I mean, don't get me wrong, Vienna itself is super wonderful and amazing and magical, but who you travel with obviously has a huge effect on enjoyment. I'm dying to come back to Vienna with people I know better and also just to see more of Austria. My class is generally awful minus a select few, but given that my blog is public, I find it best I don't go into too much detail about why I spent a lot of time being annoyed. I hate generalizing people, I really do, but it often seems like the majority of people who have grown up very well off missed the memo about manners, respect, appreciation, and humility. I realize I'm not perfect and my personality is generally more easy going, but I don't know man, this week was some other kind of spoiled brat crazy. I mostly just needed to be out of a crowd setting for a while after that week. I have found that traveling is immensely better when you are with only a few people, so you can just decide to sit on a bench for a couple hours and people watch and no one gets too whiney.

But I don't want to dwell on the negatives of the trip, because I did love the city. It's so crazy beautiful, especially for a city and gahhhh I'm just obsessed. Since this was a trip with an actual class, every day we had one or two academic visits. These visits were usually to visit different types of therapists, which was cool, yo. We actually got to go to the U.S. Embassy and talk to the Embassy psychiatrist. It's really hard to get into the embassy, and you have to go through a whole typical United States like security business before you can enter the gates. They do have their reasons, I understand for sure, but it definitely felt like home lol. We also got to go to the Freud Museum, a couple art museums, the psychoanalytic society, plus more. It was a packkkeeddd week. I'm too tired to write about all of it, plus most of the visits would be kind of boring to write about anyways so, sorry.

While I was in Vienna I did get the opportunity to go to an opera and a chamber orchestra concert. Cultured, I know. The opera was about 2 hours too long, but still, it was a cool experience. I did actually enjoy the orchestra concert, though. The concert hall was gorg, and there really is nothing better than contemplating life with classical music playing in the background...while you are sitting in a golden concert hall in Vienna. Nothing. I made some solid life decisions in those two hours. Oh, Europe. I also now consider Vienna home to the best cake and hot chocolate of my life. We were told on our first day in the city that Cafe Demel on the main shopping square in the city had the best hot chocolate ever, so being a chocolate fan, I felt it my duty to test it out. IT WAS LIKE LIQUID NUTELLA. Plus with a side of truffle cake, oh my dear god. So good. I was in a bit of a sugar coma after and may or may not have thought I was actually going to throw it all back up, but worth it. Seriously so good. If you have no other reason to venture through Vienna, Austria, go for the cake.

This was probably the quickest recap of my life of one of the busiest weeks ever, but I'm lazy, and who wants to read every detail of my trip. Everyone, obviously because you are all so invested and interested in the minute details of my life, but alas, I must keep a bit of mystery about myself.








Friday, October 19, 2012

Getting Deep

I'm not usually excessively serious on this, but I'm in two of the most depressing classes of my life here, and this documentary on human trafficking in the US was just too much. I like most other Americans always wanted to think about human trafficking as a European issue, but turns out it's not. at all. So watch if you wish. Inform yourself. Just have some tissues nearby. But can I just say, worst mother of the year award goes to the mother in this? Seriously.

Human Trafficking in the United States---watch it aqui

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Food

I wish I was better at cooking for myself. However, the sad truth of the matter is, I am no chef. I am not even up to the standards of the greasy kids that throw the mickey d's hamburgers together. I mean that's an art form. Let's be real, I'll never be up to that level of culinary mastery. So tofu and frozen veggies it is. For all those who have been DYING to know what I eat on a daily basis, stop wondering. Knowing will just make you hungry and go running to hug whoever cooks for you. Or if you are a real adult and you cook real food for yourself on a daily basis, just give yourself one big hug right now. Then go splurge on a nice dinner out so you don't have to cook for yourself tonight. I'd say it's on me, but I'm all the way in Denmark, soooo sorry bout it. Plus I'm poor, so double sorry.

I should stop acting like I'm starving and surviving off the scraps that the Danes leave out for the pigeons. I do in fact cook everyday...and it's not as though I really hate cooking, but it's a little inconvenient when cooking in a communal kitchen with really limited ingredients, plus it just takes up time. Props to all those real world people coming home from a long day at the office and actually feeding yourself more than a spoonful of nutella. Plus I'm weirdly not fluent in Danish, so grocery shopping can still be one big mystery. I'm honestly not even really sure what average joe Danes eat on a regular basis, since I haven't actually been to a restaurant here. I go to two sandwich places once every couple weeks. What I'm saying is, I'm not exactly immersed in the food culture of Denmark. Well, except the dessert. I'm fully immersed in that. STOKED for dessert crawls of the future. stoked.

YEAH AMERICA YEAH
ham and cheese...and pickles? USA USA USA

veggie burger and zucchini chips

burnt half my hand off getting these out of the oven. worth it. 

dessert? yes. 

oreo balls. yum yum yum. 

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Adventures in the EU: Germany

Berlin ended up being an accidental and eventful destination. We didn't actually plan on spending two days in Berlin, but our flights just happened to work so that we had a couple days in this historic German city. I, unlike Kat, had never been to Berlin, or any part of Germany, so I was cool with just chilling for those couple of days. The first day in Germany luckily was nice and sunny and warm. It's especially nice because we literally walked the length of the city. I wish I was kidding. But wait, I'm forgetting the highlight of that day. Simply put, Germany was kind of weird to us. As we were riding the train from the airport to the city, for some reason we got to talking about Dunkin Donuts and all the delicious treats it has to offer, which naturally made me want it. So of course we walk into the train station and spot a German Dunkins just waiting for us to purchase it's chai tea and hot chocolate. Oh and it was also German Unity Day so some other bakery was giving away free jelly donuts. Don't mind if I do. Stop giving me the judgey eyes, banana hot chocolate and a free donut, plus a few gummy bears, is a perfectly acceptable breakfast/lunch. YOU DON'T KNOW MY LIFE.

We wanted to go find the East Side Gallery part of the Berlin wall, but ended up trusting the wrong directions and getting off the train at the historical side of the wall. What is this madness? History? Please, I'm here for the murals. Just kidding, history is kind of cool I guess. Though we had no idea where in the world we were, we decided to just follow the wall, thinking, hey we have to stumble upon it sometime, right? That sometime may have been three hours later, but we did eventually make our way there...even if someone kept telling me with absolutely no real idea, that we were almost maybe, probably there. I'm not going to mention any names. That would be rude. Oh and other weird coincidence as we were searching for a late lunch, we mentioned that all we really wanted was a Subway, and turn the corner and boom, sweet onion chicken teriyaki here I come. 


 

I loved this

super model status? 


The second day in Berlin was a whole other kind of complete disaster. Ok, disaster is a really strong word, but it was one big mess for sure. Unfortunately it was rainy, cold, and windy, three of my least favorite weather conditions, so we decided just to find a cafe to chill out in for a large chunk of the day. Overall, the day was decent. Ate a panini, later a pretzel, wrote a blog post.....but then things took a bad, bad turn. For some reason or another that is unexplainable, the two of us were convinced that our flight back to Copenhagen was really late. We even looked at the boarding pass, like yeah, WE GOT THIS. Yeahhh, we didn't. Military time, it turns out, is really easy to figure out if you've passed the first grade and now how to count. We apparently don't. So after an angry German turned us away from security, we realized we are actually the biggest idiots in the world and missed our flight. Then once we booked tickets for the next flight out the next day we sat in disbelief that we were so stupid. We actually probably spent more time than necessary beating ourselves up over this debacle, but traveling is expensive enough, so another added flight wasn't too pleasing. But people make mistakes I suppose. Just usually not such perfect people such as myself.

Once we realized we were stuck in Berlin for the next fourteenish hours, the time had come to figure out what to do next. We figured we could sleep in the airport, but we weren't really sure what we were going to do with ourselves for the next fourteen hours. A lot of rounds of tic tac toe? But instead we decided to get back on the train to the central train station, find a starbucks with wifi and try to find a hostel. Now, this would have been a stellar plan if Europe didn't close down the continent sharply at 7pm. Starbucks turned out to be closed and we were once again angry at life. Or actually just ourselves, we take full responsibility for this stupid move. Annnnd then when we went to check when the next train left for the airport, we were pleased to find the trains seemed to have stopped running for the night to that particular airport. PANIC. It's one thing to be stranded at an airport, it's a whole other to be stranded at the train station. I wasn't having that one. Panicked we ran up to the information desk and asked if there was any train going to the airport, yup, there was, in two minutes. At this point the whole evening started to turn into a bad, but comical, movie scene. I'm sure we were quite the site running through the train station, especially when I fell running up the stairs and Kat grabbed me by the backpack yelling "We are making this train! You're ok!!" Lol. by far the greatest moment of the night. At this point we didn't actually have time to buy tickets so we had to make the split second decision of whether to get stuck at the train station or hope for the best and get on the train without tickets. Neither option sounded great, but we had to do something. So on the German train we went...ticketless. I'm kind of surprised we are still alive to tell this story and didn't die of heart attacks..or at least whiplash from staring around for a conductor every time there was a noise. Turns out someone was on board checking tickets. yay. Then we spent the night in a German prison. Just kidding, the woman was so nice, and probably just wanted to be rid of us since we were trying to explain in English our complicated story. She actually just took a look at our boarding passes for the plane and let us go. I LOVE HER. Seriously though, thanks nice German woman, I hope Karma was good to you.

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Adventures in the EU: Poland

This is going to be a long one, folks.

I had absolutely no idea what to expect with Poland. I've never ventured to Eastern Europe, and never actually thought I'd make it there, but I'm so glad I did. There were some things I could have done without, like the two by two plane with propellors that we had to take from Berlin to Krakow. I'm not even going to pretend that I didn't panic a little when we drove out to that bad boy. But when your plane has propellors and you barely have to walk up any steps to get on, you try and stay calm. The Dash (as air berlin has named this gem) was not the greatest experience of my life, but I survived. It would have been kind of a shame if I had died in a firey plane explosion. Not that those thoughts ever entered my mind as I tried to listen to some 1D over the propellor noise. Please. Air Berlin tried to make up for sticking me on a toy plane by giving out heart shaped chocolate at the end of the flight. Very sneaky, air berlin, you have now won me over. Kind of, not really, but the chocolate was a nice touch.

My first impression of Poland was a little sketch. It was dark, foggy, and there was barbed wire surrounding the airport. It probably didn't help that we were a little thrown off our usual awesome swag wagon by the surprise dash in the Dash...and that Polish sounds a whole lot like Russian. A stray dog also ran up the road near the airport. Normal? But we made our way relatively easily to our hostel, which actually ended up being by far the nicest hostel I've stayed at. Plus they helped us order pizza. So brownie points to you, 4 Friends Hostel.

The next morning everything seemed a little less scary, but we were also heading to Auschwitz and Birkenau, so that was that. Our tour group picked us up and played the most depressing documentary of my life in the van during our drive. I'm actually putting the warning out now that if you are looking for a happy post, stop reading, or just skip to the last paragraph. Seriously.

It's hard to say what I thought of Auschwitz. They have turned Auschwitz main camp into a museum of sorts, but I'm not really sure if what it has become is entirely, hmmm what's the word, appropriate? I kid you not, that food is served right outside the camp in a little fast food hut. That actually disturbed me a lot. There is also just a ton of people there, especially school groups on field trips. And like any kid under the age of fifteen, a field trip just means a day off from school with your friends, not a time to reflect on the history of your country and the world. I think for that reason I found it hard to take it all in when I was standing in the middle of this former concentration camp. A few times I just stood there wondering why I wasn't feeling anything. I think it's also that I have learned about this for so many years, that I just really couldn't connect that I was finally there. It's hard to describe everything I felt while walking through Auschwitz.

In one of the blocks is housed the most well known of the displays: the shoes, the hair, the suitcases. Those legitimately gave me goosebumps, and still do as I think about it an entire day later. We weren't allowed to take pictures of the hair, but it was allowed at other items, yet I couldn't bring myself to turn a lot of it into a spectacle. Therefore, I left with limited photographs. I can't begin to describe what it felt like to stand in front of those displays, especially the hair and suitcases, that stretched so much farther and were piled so much higher than I ever hoped imaginable. It was just so heartbreaking and sickening.

We were also given the opportunity to go inside an actual gas chamber. This was by far one of the eeriest experiences of my life. We were told that after fifteen or twenty minutes in the gas chamber, everyone would be dead. I can't help thinking about just how long that is. I guess I always imagined, or just wanted to imagine, an instant death for those in the gas chambers, but fifteen or twenty minutes of suffocation had to be absolutely unbearable.

"Work Makes You Free"


Zyklon B gas 

walls of the Jewish prisoners

The Killing Wall




After Auschwitz we took a five minute shuttle to Birkenau, a subcamp, and main killing center of Auschwitz. Birkenau has not been turned into a museum and sprawls over a much larger region. I found it to be much more moving, and just a much more appropriate way to commemorate the tragedy. As we walked along the railroad tracks towards the large memorial at then end, it just felt so surreal. It was odd to see the photographs and then realize that you were in the exact same spot. I don't even know. Birkenau itself was much more silent and eerie. The memorial itself was quite beautiful, the inscription on the stone translated into many languages. There were flowers and stones laid everywhere, which was so nice to see. Though I was obviously very moved and saddened by the whole experience, it wasn't until later that night and the days after that I really started to feel everything that I couldn't seem to when actually in the camps. I started to look at the few pictures I took that day later in the evening and just had to stop. I'm not sure why it took so long for me to really react, but it's an experience I'll never forget. I recommend that everyone ventures out there at some point, especially Birkenau. You would never ever regret it.

Birkenau




Remains of the gas chamber




Luckily things got happier that night when we went into Krakow. Everything is so cheap there so we were psyched to have a real sit down dinner. It's been a while since I didn't have to feed myself. We stuffed our faces with pasta and gelato and walked around Krakow's beautiful main square. I'm not sure if I ever plan on returning to Eastern Europe, but I'm so glad I saw Krakow and can officially cross visiting Auschwitz off my extensive bucket list.



Sorry this was crazy long.  I had a lot of thoughts. A much less heavy and more ridiculous Berlin post is on it's way.

Adventures in the EU: Switzerland

Greetings all! Or should I say, Bonjour. I'm so cultured now, it's crazy. In case anyone is unaware, I just recently returned from my first travel break in Switzerland, Germany kind of, and Poland. It was great and all this traveling has just confirmed how much I love exploring new places.

So some quick facts about Geneva: there's no pollution at all, it's the most expensive place I've ever been (almost 25 dollars for a hamburger? no thanks), and it's absolutely gorgeous. We first noticed how clean and fresh the air was here...and I thought Denmark was good...and also noted the mountains, which I haven't seen in over a month, so it was a nice change in scenery. Nothing too exciting happened between the airport and the hostel, other than the fact that Switzerland is so rich that they just give away train tickets to anyone coming through the airport. Must be nice. We managed to get to the hostel with no problems and then just kind of meandered through the city for a couple hours. We made our way to the giant and iconic fountain of the city, which was crazy tall. Sure shoot upy fountains in the middle of bodies of water have no real point, BUT IT'S WATER SHOOTING REALLY HIGH IN THE AIR, IT NEEDS NO POINT. Sorry, I'm just really fond of water. Anyways, Geneva is basically in France so all the architecture has a ton of French influence. Some of it did remind me a little of Paris, especially all the windowy restaurants. And just like in Paris, I can't afford anything. Seriously though, we brought plenty of tuna packets and bought a baguette and apples at the grocery store. Classy people living classy lives.





The next day we had planned to do a seven mile hike along some vineyards a little outside of Geneva. I'm still not exactly sure how we made it to the beginning of that trail so effortlessly, but I guess European train transportation is just really great...or we are just expert world travelers. Probably the second one. LOL anyone who knows about our last day in Berlin knows that's not even close to being true. Don't worry that post is coming. Anyways, I don't have words for how beautiful and adorable this whole hike experience was. And tiring, but that's just a bonus detail. It was mostly presh because Kat and I were for sure the only people on this walk/hike under the age of fifty. I wish I could say that I'm surprised, but I'm really not. We would do something that apparently only seems to appeal to the middle aged. Sorry I'm not sorry. I would recommend that hike to everyone, you don't just have to be retired. But seriously, the scenery was absolutely breathtaking. We even got to walk through a couple little villages which were probably even cuter than Kat and me having a picnic lunch on a bench overlooking a vineyard and Lake Geneva. I know, it's hard to imagine anything cuter than that, but the villages just might win. Golly gee, Europe. Being our usual rebellious selves we stole some grapes from the vineyard along the way which were super delicious and a nice free snack for us broke children. Hey, you build a seven mile pedestrian path along your vineyards, you are just asking for the desperate college students of the world to come and eat your grapes. I'm just stating the facts. Highlight of my day was easily when we came across two Americans with their dog, Gus, and I got to pet him. I mean I guess the mountains and lake and vineyards were cool and whatever, but I mean come on, it's Gus. I was absolutely exhausted by the time we were done because I'm a super athlete, but I felt accomplished and generally awesome. Although I always feel awesome, so maybe that wasn't because of the hike. It's hard to tell sometimes.





That night we unfortunately had to move to a different hostel, meaning we had to tiredly do more walking, but I guess how can I complain since I was in Switzerland? We planned on going to find some Swiss chocolate after dropping our stuff off at our new hostel, buuuut we forgot for a minute that we were in Europe and everything closes down at noon. Ok that's an exaggeration, but we it wasn't even 8 o'clock yet, AND I JUST WANTED CHOCOLATE. Thankfully the airport opened up its chocolate shop at 6 am, so don't worry chocolate has been consumed. I bought a Lindt orange and milk chocolate bar for myself and had to conjure up a lot of will power not to eat that whole thing in one sitting in the past couple days. Best lindt I've ever had. Best hike I've ever....oh wait Guatemala was pretty legit too. I have no words over the fact that I can't decide if Guatemala or Switzerland was a more awesome hike. WHAT IS MY LIFE? I don't really know, but I'm sure not complaining. 


Thursday, September 27, 2012

Copenhagen Facts

Ok, these aren't really facts, since I didn't consult anyone with any credibility or read any scholarly articles, but I made them up, so just kidding, they are facts.

It rains a lot here. In case you didn't know, the weather in more northern parts of Europe kind of sucks. It actually rains an obscene amount here. Plus, subfact of this fact, biking in the rain is one of the most terrible experiences of my life. Ok that's an exaggeration, there are much worse things in life, but this is my blog so I get to exaggerate all I want. Also, the rain does not stop the children from frolicking on the playgrounds. It could be pouring and windy and dark and the kids at the preschool across from my dorm are still swinging away. You go kids, swing on.

Peanut butter is hard to come by. I wish this wasn't true, since I actually eat an unreal amount of peanut butter on a daily basis. But when you do get lucky enough to find it, the Danish peanut butter is kind of weird and grainy. But there is a candy store that sells American goods like poptarts, swiss miss, peter pan peanut butter, and kernel season's popcorn seasonings lol. I can't escape the GC, I just can't. You have to sell your organs to get the beautifully smooth and creamy American peanut heaven, but who needs two kidneys anyways? Not me hopefully, since I traded one for a box of Aunt Jemima pancake mix. Was that a mistake? Should I not have done that?

Studying while studying abroad is difficult. The pressure may be off in terms of getting A's goes, but it seems as though I still have to actually attend school and do some work. This is not pleasing to me. It's way easier to go on a Copenhagen dessert crawl or watch another horrible Disney Channel Original Movie. DCOMS 4 lYF3. So if we could take the studying out of this whole equation, that would be ideal.

Copenhagen bikers are nuts. I'm not going to pretend like Danes have never rung their stupid little bike bells at me. Excuse me for walking on a pedestrian street, I did not realize I was getting in the way of your bike race to no where. I'm not bitter. I also forgot to hand signal one day. ONE TIME! It was one time. I'm also scared to go to the left side of the lane because people book it on their bikes. My legs are still struggling to maneuver this level turf, and all the people passing me have circled the city five times already without breaking a sweat.

Europeans don't enjoy color. Or well, maybe they do, I don't really know, but based off their outfits, I'm going to say black is this continent's favorite shade. I mean why would you want to wear bright colors in such a dismal weather and darkness?? That would just be wrong. If the sky is dark EVERYTHING MUST BE DARK. Just kidding, I guess they are just really sophisticated and chic? If I was in Gardner it would be more than acceptable to wear my tie dye tee with my tweety bird fleece pajama bottoms on the regs, but here I only get kroners thrown in my tea because apparently I give off the impression that I'm homeless. rude.

Dessert is always delicious. It seems to me that no matter where you are in the world, and no matter what kind of crazy dish is being served for dinner, dessert is always amazing. Denmark is no exception. There is literally a bakery on every other street corner with huge glass windows just tempting you to forget that you said you weren't going to spend money today. It's all so wonderfully magical, and it takes every ounce of self control I have to not stop for a cupcake to put on top of my pastry to then stick in my ice cream that is on top of belgian waffle that I stuck inside a crepe. My life is one big strugglefest.

Studying abroad is the greatest. 


Monday, September 24, 2012

Oh this is Copenhagen? I'm sorry, I thought I was in Antarctica.

I wish I was joking. I mean it's really not that cold out yet, I guess. But I'm not quite sure why past self thought it would be a good idea to go to Denmark in Fall/Winter, you know, when it's cold, windy, and rainy and I hate the cold, wind, and rain. Good call me from February. Good call. Now don't get me wrong, I do really love the city and this whole study abroad business is boss, but the weather is kind of miserable. To top it all off, the heat in my building is down, so I'm currently sitting huddled under my duvet with two pairs of pants on, a long sleeve shirt, sweatshirt, and fleece. My nose still feels like it is going to fall off though. I got a vague, "they're working on it" when I inquired about it, well um can they work on it a little faster because it gets colder by the day and I only have so many sweatshirts that I can put on. I only brought two, and like three sweaters. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME? I honestly don't know what I was thinking when I packed. Don't let the fifty pound suitcase fool you, I have very limited clothing. Also, I only brought shoes made out of canvas. SMART MOVE. Good thing that fabric offers absolutely no protection from cold. I'm pretty sure my past self is the biggest idiot I know.

On another note, I got a package all the way from America today. YAY! I was way too excited to pick that up. It looked like it really went through some hardcore personal trauma on it's trip over the Atlantic, but nothing seems to have fallen out...that I know of. Poor little box. It also rode home in my bike basket in the rain, so on top of being fall aparty, it was damp. It's been a good day. ha. BUT I did purchase a chocolate muffin from the bakery across from my class. I'm not proud of that purchase. Except that it was the greatest chocolate muffin of my life. No regrets. I've been really bad about documenting the food I eat here. I apologize. Next time, because there will certainly be a next time. Not even worried. AND for dinner tonight Kat and I got really fancy and made spinach and artichoke dip. We understand that this is not actually a meal, but there are only so many days a week you can eat tofu and veggies on top of some sort of carbohydrate. So we made dip and put it on top of pita. I'm pretty sure everyone from my kitchen somehow ended up in there while we were eating and were really impressed with our skills. We rule. AHAHAHA. But actually, I'm kind of impressed that we actually really made something and it was delicious. I'm especially impressed since we didn't measure anything, and just kind of threw it in the bowl. Turned out fine. I'll take a picture of the leftovers since I was too hungry to go back to my room and get my camera. It's also really cold in here so I don't like to move.

AMERICA

MY MOM IS THE BEST

Friday, September 21, 2012

Hey There


So it's kind of been a while. I apologize to all my adoring fans. I know there's a lot of you. LOL. I can't seem to remember what I've done between last blog post and now. My life isn't too thrilling, I mean other than the fact that I'm living in Europe, but that is besides the point. I've actually been doing a decent amount of schoolwork lately, which is annoying. WHO DO THESE TEACHERS THINK THEY ARE? When am I supposed to watch endless amounts of TV now? Just kidding, but not really. I forget how to be a real student. But it's cool because one week from Monday I'll be heading to Switzerland, so I guess everything is ok. I guess. 


In some pretty exciting news, I went to see Of Monsters and Men on Wednesday which superawesomelywonderfullymagical. I love them. I mean I already loved the band before I saw them, but they were amaziinnggg live so I'm now officially obsessed. It was in a pretty small venue over in Vesterbro, and we got there about a half an hour before the show started and were able to get two rows of people away from the stage. It was great, especially since the place really filled up once they came onstage. But seriously, for all my Boston based friends, go look them up if you don't already know their Icelandic musical genius, and then go buy tickets to see them in November. You will not regret it. They have a lot of hipster swag. 

MOUNTAIN SOUND- my own video is way better but it doesn't seem to want to load.

LITTLE TALKS- the one song the whole world knows






Thursday, September 13, 2012

Miscellaneous thoughts

I have super random stuff to talk about, so just putting a warning out that this post has no order or organization. First of all I FINALLY made it to Ikea after all this time. And let me tell you, it lived up to the hype. Why have I never been to an American IKEA!? WHY!!?? Kat and I spent way too much time trying out chairs and futons and generally being awkward, but that store is magical. Also, the food there is SO CHEAP! If I lived closer I'd probably stop by there everyday for a 10 Kroner hot dog. For those who don't know the conversion, that's not even 2 dollars. I did get an ice cream cone though. Only 8 Kroner? How could I pass that up? An ice cream from another place can be up to 35 Krones. Definitely worth it.

Second thought of the day time. I just finished a memoir, The Road of Lost Innocence, by Somaly Mam, for my Human Trafficking class here at DIS and I'm now putting out a general recommendation for everyone to read it. Sure, it's not the most uplifting book of all time...actually you'll be kind of depressed by the end, but it is just such an important topic, and such a moving and eye opening book, I just can't help but pass it on. This woman is absolutely incredible and her story is unbelievable so I seriously recommend you take a read. You won't regret it. Plus you'll learn a little about a subject most people only kind of know about...including myself. I'm not going to lie, most of my facts about human trafficking came from Taken, which was a good movie, don't get me wrong, but not altogether accurate.  So here you go, I mean what else do you have to do in your spare time but read about other people's hellish lives? Yeah, that's right, I'd thought you'd say nothing.




Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Copen-hanging

See what I did there? Actually, Viki came up with that one, I can't even pretend to take credit for that masterpiece. But now I'm actually back in mah city and getting back into a schedule...for a little while anyways. I actually ended up coming down with a cold as soon as I got back to the city, so I've had a kind of pathetic week. I spent the majority of Sunday in the same position on my bed, which I probably would have done even if I was healthy, who am I kidding. But I'm slowly recovering, and kinda sorta don't look like death anymore, so yay.

Last Saturday I took a weekend jaunt to the Frederiksborg Castle right outside of Copenhagen. I must say it was extremely fairytaleesque, and I plan on living there some day. The day started out with ice cream and pastries by the mote, which is always a good time. We then meandered through the castle grounds and gardens for a ridiculous amount of time. I honestly couldn't tell you what we did there for five hours, but we did find ourselves bench sitting a lot and just staring at the castle. It's kind of nice. We did attempt to stay for the sunset, but by about 7 the chill started to set in and somebody forgot a jacket. I'm not going to name any names, but let me just say, it wasn't me. Just kidding, I was really cold too, and hungry, so we peaced. Unfortunately, as we were on the train home we noticed that the sky was pink and gold and beautiful, sooo a return trip with warmer jackets has been planned.






Yesterday I attended an event for my buddy network (I actually hate the name, it makes us sound 2), which is basically a way to get to know young Danes. I was required to sign up for two immersion activities since my housing is with all Americans, and this was the only options really left. It was interesting to meet Danes my own age, although my Danish family is probably less than 10 years older than me...but that's besides the point. Since it was raining, the coordinator of our group suggested just going to talk in a bar down the street, but the other Danes wanted to go to some other bar that unfortunately allowed smoking. None of the Americans in the group smoked, but I don't think anyone really wanted to say anything so we just kinda went. I had to wash my hair twice to get the stink out ha.  But on a positive note, I had some interesting conversations with some people that I never would have met otherwise. It was really loud where we were so my English was a little lost on some at times, but they tried. I also experienced first hand the bluntness of the culture. One girl asked me outright how much I paid for school, and how I paid for it. Welllll, you know, financial aid, parents, and I only have one kidney now and part of my liver, but it's fine. But really, it did kind of catch me off guard, since I would never ask someone what or how they pay for school. But the Danish government pays for everything here, so I guess it's understandable to be curious about the crazy American education system. She also asked me if I was a democrat or republican. LOL. Good thing I don't actually know. I did find it interesting that apparently if Obama was thrown into the Danish political system, he'd be considered extremely conservative. I'M SO INFORMED NOW. Except I never got an absentee ballot. I suck as an American.