The Amazing Thing That is Happening Right Now

Behold dear readers, for I have found the promised land and it is Sweden. In a feat of small proportions, a courageous group of five students from all over the U S of A adventured on a thirty minute train ride to Malmo, Sweden across a very long bridge, a feat of modern architecture and bridge-building. They weathered the evil wet weather, dodged raindrops as they fell from the sky and fought off the bitter cold nipping at their noses.

But, salvation was near. The first sign was a lovely little Italian joint called Ciao, where everything was just a little better than anywhere else. Maybe it was getting out of the cold or finally filled our empty stomaches, but all agreed the food was a little better, the tea a little better, and man, that bathroom was like a mini-palace.

And then they found the Scandinavian dollar store, where with an 8 to 1 exchange rate, somethings really were almost a dollar.

Then real trek began, as they searched for the marvelous Turning Torso they had heard so much about. The whole way, trudging through the rain they willed to become snow, they debated: Does it turn? Or is it just twisted? It was just twisted.

Then they saw it. HUGE red letters lit up in the dark night (4:00 pm) sky, as if they were somehow transported back to New Jersey. But this is the land of IKEA, and things are allowed to be a little big here unlike modest Denmark. Maxi? What could it be? Can we equate it to a Target? Is it Walmart? Is it a grocery store? Will we need a membership? What does Maxi behold for us??

It started out like a Bed Bath and Beyond, quickly changed over to the paper goods at Target, then became a grocery store of epic selections. And with the purest white light radiating from the ethnic food isle, they were drawn as if my human magnets...to the USA section.

Oh! Mountain Dew! Oh! Pepridge Farm! Oh! Peanut Butter! And Fluff! Oh! How we love you Barbecue Sauce and Beef Jerky! Oh! JELL-O Pudding! And Cookie Mix! Betty Crocker and your Frosting and Brownies!! Macaroni and Cheese...In A Box!

But...what is this, I spy? Could it really be? That is not just imports from the good old US of A, but from NEW JERSEY?? A Shoprite logo before my very eyes!!!

Then I cried a little and bought poptarts and brownies. Ohh, they are delicious.

Three Weeks

Tomorrow marks the three week countdown until I come home! Don't worry though, besides the one paper I have to write and multiple finals I have to take, I have activities planned for all of my free time.

In fact, last night we had a Danish dinner and watched a Danish movie with my Danish class. The movie was highly disturbing and I do not recommend it to anyone. It's part of the Dogma 95 movement and is called Festen. Then we ate duck, red cabbage and potatoes. And by we ate, I mean I ate potatoes because duck is potentially the grossest thing ever. I've decided that I just really don't like birds in any form at all.

Tonight we made mac and cheese (don't worry, it's on the Christmas menu) for Kristina's visiting host family. Det er hyggligt. They have a one-year-old who was very cute, but really made me excited to see my niece!

Tomorrow I am going to a museum with Kristina, Thursday I'm not exactly sure where, but some sort of Thanksgiving-ish dinner, and Friday I'm hosting a dinner at the kollegium down the road from me. Then Saturday we're going to Malmo in Sweden (finally!) And Sunday we have a craft fair in Valby and a Danish movie at school (that will hopefully be a little nicer to watch).

So right now, I am definitely a mixture of being really excited about all that's going on here and how Christmas-y it is, yet very excited to be almost home with my friends and family.

Oh, and it really doesn't snow in Copenhagen: it mini-hails. The weirdest thing I've ever seen fall from the sky! Like tiny little snowballs.

Twenty-two and two weeks party

My host family threw me a party with my friends tonight. A few of the best were able to come, so it was a really fun evening. Very hygge with lots of candles, conversation and yummy food and cake.

Unfortunately, my host family had to deal with some family problems, so they weren't able to sit down and converse with my friends as much as they would have liked. Their daughter uses helpers, a lot like what Christina and Kyle's business does. And it seems that the helper was at Sensation last night. Sensation is a huge (in the soccer stadium, 40,000 people) dance party for hours and hours. Everyone must wear all white. So you can imagine how annoyed they were. But, it just goes to show how lovely and wonderful my host family is, because despite that they still made an amazing dinner and cake for me and my friends.

My host niece (the daughter of the daughter who's helper was MIA) was with us. She really took a liking to one of my friends and sat on her lap during cake, entertaining us all. Below is a video. It's kind of hard to grasp that we can barely communicate with a three-year-old, but she's so cute and funny.

J-day and other adventures

This past weekend was J-Day or Jule day, which is when Carlsberg releases their Christmas (jule) beer to the bars. A truck with Christmas faeries goes around from bar to bar giving out about three beers a stop. It was fun, and even more so because I wore a leather jacket.












(Danes LOVE 7-11. Just imagine if they knew what Wawa was...)





On Saturday, instead of going to Sweden (long confusing thing about bus/train times and tickets), we ate at Wagamama and I shared a special piece of cake with Alex as a birthday treat. Wagamama was awesome, and I highly recommend it to anyone who comes across one.

This week begins the end of semester madness that Dad thinks will keep me out of trouble. But, I wanted to share two anecdotes of Danish life to make you smile.

Fat Bellies and Minihorses

Once upon a time, a young girl name Kate ate her way across Europe for three weeks. During that time, she didn't not wash her pants and they expanded as she did. When she returned to Denmark and cleaned her clothes, she discovered they were very tight. Fortunately, it was her birthday and so she decided that new years had come early and it was time to make a resolution. So, the day after walking 50 miles in one week, she went for a run. And then another and another. Seems all that walking had somehow kept her in running form despite all those gelatos. But, running up and down roads with names she cannot pronounce let alone try to spell with a common US keyboard got boring. One day, she ventured down a path and stumbled upon three minihorses.

The End

The Snuggie Blanket

Once upon a time, a young girl named Kate (a different one) sat in class. They were discussing a Danish story translated into US English. The story described the thing that keeps you warm at night. When the Danish professor came to the word, he stumbled and turned to the class for help, "COMFORTER," they yelled out! "A comforter?" the teacher asked, a little confused. "Yeah! It's big and fluffy and keeps you warm." The teacher did not understand, could it be possible that Americans use more than blankets? Is it even feasible that people all the way over there get cold enough to use a heavier bed coverings such as what we Danes need every night of the year?? Impossible! But, alas, comforter is the word for a big fluffy blanket, just like the Danes have.

The End.

PS This is my new friend, until I smushed him:

Picture...officially...uploaded!

After many painstaking hours, my pictures are finally completely uploaded. Enjoy looking through them and expect full commentary when I get back and show you the other thousand I didn't upload.

Right now, I don't feel so far from home because Denmark is a flurry of election madness. Seriously, you'd think the next King of the World were being elected in a matter of hours. There are events at every bar in Copenhagen and Danes aren't talking about much else. My host dad seems to think that if Obama wins its not a matter of if but when he get assassinated and the next civil war starts. Maybe I'm out of touch, but I think that's a little drastic. I am completely election-ed out and feel like right before you take a test and you know that studying for a minute more won't do any good. I just can't listen or watch anymore until the results are in.

Back to other important events in November. My host family woke me up on Sunday singing and waving Danish flags. We had a little breakfast of soft boiled eggs, Danish breads and tea. They gave me two pens as a gift and hung a string of 25 presents in my room for me to open starting on December 1. I relaxed in my room and unpacked for a while and then went for a run. I found a cute park area that will be nice to run through when I can run during the few hours of sunlight. When I got back and showered, we had a late lunch. I got to talk to Dave for a long time on skype, which was nice and sort of a special treat for my birthday. At about 7:30 my host brothers and mormor came over.

My host brothers bought me a sampler pack of beer and said it was either that or a party pack featuring condoms, pregnancy tests and porn, but they couldn't decide between gay or straight. Oh, that Danish sense of humor.




Mormor gave me beautiful salt and pepper shakers from Royal Copenhagen, a really nice store that makes dishes etc. We had chocolade kage and a real birthday cake with candles. Then I went into a food coma and fell asleep. Now I am on a diet.

Seen and Done in the Last Three Weeks

Shopped at Petticoat Lane Market and Brick Lane in London
Looked at art in the Tate Modern
Visited the Globe Theatre
Rode the London Eye
Ate fish and chips in London
Toured the BBC
Won a BCC mug on a mock game show
Saw the Rosetta Stone at the British Museum
Learned about marketing for newspapers at the Telegraph
Saw Spamalot!
Visited Oxford and the Oxford Union
Went to the stop of the Eiffel Tower
Went to the top of the Champs Elysees
Took a boat tour of the Seine
Visited Montamarte and Sacre Coure
Also the cemetery where Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde are buried
Notre Dame
Shakespeare and Co in the Latin Quarter
The Musee d'Orsay
Place de la Concorde
Musee de l'Orangerie
Rue Mouffetard
Jardin du Luxembourg
the Louvre pyramids
Walked around and shopped in the town of Luzern, Switzerland and saw the Lion and bridge that are famous there
Took a train through the Swiss country to Jungfraujoch and the Top of Europe!
Picniced by the jet water fountain in Geneva and windowed shopped there
Looked at the Trevi Fountain like the pope used to
Walked past the Spanish Steps, Piazza del Popolo, Largo Argentino, Piazza Navona and the Panthenon
Walked the step to the Marcus Aruelius Statue at Capitol Hill
Took a million pictures at the Forum Romanum, Palatine Hill and of course, the Colosseum as well as Imperial Foras
Went to Vatican City and saw the pope! Well almost...
Sistine Chapel, the Belvedere Torso, the Scraper, Apollo...and more and more and more
St. Peter's Basilica, where the pope was giving a mass later in the day, and the Pieta
The Bath of Caracalla and Pyramid of Sestius as well as John Keats grave
DAVID! the statue by Michaelangelo, not my other favorite David
Piazza Signoria
Santa Maria Nouvella
San Lorenza and the Medici Chapel
Santa Croce
Ospitale del Innocente
Ponte Vecchio
and the DOUMO
finally the Uffizi Museum and the Birth of Venus and the Spring and many other pieces of fine art
and then I had the pleasure of seeing the alps from the plane on my way back to Copenhagen.

Needless to say I had an amazing three weeks with no hitches at all. I think my feet are on the verge of breaking in half from walking about a hundred and fifty miles on cobblestones, but I have about a thousand pictures of some of the most beautiful things I've ever seen and that many memories of Europe. I think I'll try to think of some good short anecdotes to write up for the blog and otherwise, hopefully you'll hear all about this trip one way or another.

Until then, I will be celebrating my birthday the best way I know how: sleeping and relaxing. I'll be on skype and aim all day, so send a message!