TIIRREEDD

too tired right now...I'll fill you in on the flip side

ICE CREAM!

This was the first day that I felt like I am in a home away from home. Feeling 100% content as I was walking around the street I smiled to myself realizing that I can totally be myself. The Danish students in our class are adorable and seem so enthusiastic about showing us around the town. I am looking forward to this Friday so much where our class will be going to one of the Danish student's place and a authentic Danish meal will be waiting for us. Dancing to follow!

The morning started off great today with a stop at one of the best bakeries in town (golden pretzel) where it was Wednesday Snail special. This means that I got a huge honkin cinnamon roll for only 12 kroner. While it was bigger than me face I enjoyed every last bite of it. No regrets. And this may become a weekly ritual before class...or at least I hope.

Our group also walked around the city after class and we all explored the art museum (one of my favorite places). Annie and I took by far the longest. We were sucked into each piece. I love the art museum because each person can make their assumption on a piece of art work and can have their own opinion without anyone ever knowing. Art is simply an expression and it can change and morph into anything that you personally wish. It is the essence of self. I'm in love.

Afterwards, we spontaneously decided to indulge and get ICE CREAM and sit on the edge of the wall by the canal!!! My absolute favorite food is ice cream... in case you could not tell by my capital letters and many exclamation points. It was heavenly and I have never smelled anything so fresh in my life. The waffle cones are hand made all day and the ice cream was as light as a cloud. It simply melted in my mouth and left me with a feeling of comfort...but I was not full. This was so nice as I am so used to the fatty creamy goodness of American ice cream. I'll take either. Any day of the week.

Following the ice cream adventure I decided after waiting for a few days of contemplation that it would be ok for me to buy myself something that I loved. A tye dye scarf. I love tye dye and a scarf can change an entire outfit without even changing anything else you're wearing. Wow...I sound like Alex. But you're right Al, a scarf changes everything and the purchase is perfect for me because it will remind me of my experience here in Copenhagen, but also has a bit of me in it.

I do have to say..while I love my alone time, this city is making it harder and harder to want to be away in my room. Trying to get any work done is SO so hard and I love to hate it. I smile each day though, when people on my floor invite me to little things, such as this dinner coming up. It lets me know more and more that just as I am getting used to them...they might just be getting used to me.

Before I go (I guess I should read some more) I also have to add that Jess, Em, and I found a grocery store that has food from America! It was amazing to see and we could have walked around there for an hour. Our smiles were like little 4 year old girls. Who would have thought that three girls could have become so excited over seeing popcorn, stir fry, or Betty Crocker labels haha. Note to the future Copenhagen grocery shoppers: Bring your own bags with you or else you'll have to buy one for $3. I'm so glad that I brought my little green recycling bag from home (thanks mama Klueber) and the best is getting a compliment on it:) Go green!

Until next time... Hej Hej

Our own personal chef!

Class in Denmark is a lot like class in the States, but much more interesting...maybe it has to do with the whole me being in Europe thing:) Or maybe it's the awesome collaboration of nationalities all in one room. I love it. I was successful in getting to class today with Mark and Em. It sounds like a real accomplishment huh? But really...it is when you do not speak the language and are in an unfamiliar city. I do have to say though...the buses are SO overcrowded and it is not fun when you have smelly armpits in your face:/ I guess that's what happens when you're at armpit height. Oh, and for the bus drivers...easy on the breaks. We are flying around in the back like chickens. Again though, I completely love it. As weird as that may be:)

The weather has returned to "normal" for the Danes and I'm not sure that I'm ok with it. There were gale force winds today and it was cold and rainy. The entire row of bikes blew over today in front of Netto (the grocery). I'm thinking that maybe I should have listened to my mom and kept the long sleeved shirts in my suitcase. I guess it's true, mom knows best. shh.

Never let the weather stop you from going to the mall though. And not just any mall...the largest (maybe second largest) mall in all of Scandinavia! It was crazy big and I bought a much needed T-shirt for 59 kroner (about $11). I only have 4 clean t-shirts left and I have already worn the same two shirts at least twice each. I pack light, what can I say. Em was in her element and I have to smile at watching her speed walk across the street at the sight of the mall's entrance:) We will definitely be going again.

After the mall Mark made Emily and I an amazing dinner that smelled heavenly and tasted just the same. I can still taste it now...chicken pan seared with onions and mushrooms in vegetable oil with waffle fries cooked to perfection! As Candice Olsen says on Divine Design..."How divine." Thanks Mark! It was so nice to have a home cooked meal so very far away from home. I owe you! This simply was the perfect way to end the night...and who can forget reading nursing material on Danish health care!!!

Oh and pictures are courtesy of Amber Plath, an amazing photographer who happens to also be a nursing student in the DIS program with me:) You're awesome!

Hej Hej! Night:)

the "Free city"

I finally was able to sleep some last night, but am still amazed at how constantly tired I am here. I just don't get it.

Today we went into Christianshavn which is this adorable town just two stops away from where I live. It is one of the most expensive "suburbs" in Denmark. Mark wanted to visit the "Free City" which can be found inside Christianshavn. All I have to say is this had to be one of THE most interesting hippie towns I have even been in. As a child of parents from the 70's, nothing could even come close to this town. End of story.

We all ate at this cute little cafe in downtown Christianshavn and i had this AMAZING vegetarian lasagna and pesto salad. I also went into one of my new favorite bakeries in Copenhagen and bought fresh rye bread. YUM!

I'm convinced that my parents should come visit me because there is the best food, nearby harbors, and the coolest little shops. Mom, the bread is calling you:)

More and more each day I am starting to understand the Danish culture. I now feel completely comfortable going into the communal kitchen and eating and talking with my "kollegium mates". Well, for the most part anyways. Today at dinner I was eating at the table alone and two people that live down the hall from me were on the couch eating and watching the tube. Without even saying a word, the one guy got up and turned the T.V. towards me a bit so that I could see from the table too! It's these little things that make me realize I might to be fitting in...but only a little:)

I think that today was the first time since I have been here that I got a real dose of what the weather is really like in Denmark. Cold and rainy. As more time passes I am realizing that I should probably buy a sweater.

Tomorrow is my second day of class and for some odd reason I am excited about it. I love learning about the health care system here and I love the Danish girls in my class. They have the best insight into Copenhagen and its people. Obviously.

One more note before I sign off...while I can appreciate Danish culture and their complete comfort with their bodies...I do not need nor want to see a naked body every day from across Emily's window. Case in point, if you're changing...shut the blinds.

Hej Hej!

Day Two, three, four...through Sunday

The adrenaline is wearing off a bit now, but come on! I'm in Europe! I had my first day of class today at the Metropolitan Nursing school. I am so excited for this because the nursing class is the only one out of all of DIS where there are Danish students in the class with us! We are such a diverse group...just how I like it. There are 6 Danish students, 4 Chinese students from Hong Kong, 6 Case students (Emily, Mark, Annie, Jess, Kristen, and myself), 4 OSU students, 1 Purdue student, 2 Minnesota students, 1 Texas student, and 1 South Georgia student. Everyone gets along really well and I think that we are all going to put a lot into both the class and our experiences.

My two teachers seem great and really want us to go out into the City and step out of our comfort zones and truly try to understand the culture. They are challenging us as American students to find out if "our prejudices" are really true and to knock down some of the American prejudices that the Danes have about us as well. Challenge excepted!

While I cannot wait to learn more about the Danish health care system and the role of nurses in Northern Europe, I am most excited to learn about the Danish culture and its people. The six Danish students (all female) took the nursing class to this huge Copenhagen festival that has food, music, and of course øl (beer). Christine, one of the Danish students explained how much of a role that alcohol has in the Danish culture. At 16 Danish citizens are able to buy alcohol and 18-20 is the age that most bars will let you in. Often times, 10-12 years old is the first time that a Danish citizen gets drunk (generalization). Alcohol is also allowed to be open in public spaces, so it is completely legal to drink while you are on the Metro, in the square in the middle of the city, or while walking down the street to the grocery store. I have officially seen the most drunk 16 year old kids in my life. Drinking is definitely not so hush hush here. Cigarettes are also a staple here in Denmark and probably much of Europe. As explained to me, many 16 year old kids can be seen smoking and most were around 12 when they had their first puff, however a recent law was set by the government that only allows adults 18 years and over to buy cigarettes. It was funny...I have had a few Danish people ask me if I want to smoke and they are completely surprised when I say that I don't smoke because many of them figured that since you must be 21 to legally drink in the US that many more Americans smoke than Europeans. I have to say that I disagree and many more Europeans smoke, but I am only one person.

Techno music here is huge (Mark loves it) and plays a large roll in Danish culture. On our 4th day here DIS arranged a scavenger hunt where we had to find different landmarks around the city. By the way...downtown Copenhagen is SO clean for a populated city and the air just seems cleaner. Along the way we ran into a huge Latino parade that was playing amazing music and we all just danced and had such a good time. We managed to only make it to 5 out of our 6 destinations on the scavenger hunt, but isn't this whole experience about living in the moment and embarrassing the culture anyways?! Copenhagen has THE best street music. We "Ohioins" were every serenaded with a classic Bob Marley song:) Walking around and seeing the harbor was just what the doctor ordered for a "water baby" as my mom likes to call the two of us. I just love the water and the harbor was amazing to see. The scavenger hunt also led us to the Palace, the opera house (which is so huge and modern), the Parliament building, the Kings old summer house in the middle of this amazing park, and many other little adventures along the way (i.e. visiting the "Free City"). After being spontaneous and just getting off of the Metro to find our way the 6 Case students found this "looking tower" and decided to climb the 400+ stairs to the top. After traveling up the most steep and narrow staircase I have ever seen we managed to reach the outside spiral. While I love extreme sports, I still always want to pee my pants with heights, but I push myself every time. I managed to climb to the very top and while I didn't want to release my grip from the side of the building I had to let go and soak in the breath taking city view. It was simply bliss (see picture for a view form the top).

That afternoon we were treated to a canal tour which was so great because we got to sit and relax (we walk SO freaking mush here!). While it was freezing, because when the sun goes down here the temperature drops about 50 million degrees, I was in heaven because I just love the sound of the waves. At about 7 pm I had my first real restaurant meal with Emily and Mark for Mark's 21st birthday!! It was so nice to sit, drink, and eat with such good friends and enjoy a real meal with one another. After going back and trying to gain some energy (we all just want to sleep..anywhere...doesn't matter) Mark, Em, and I met up with some other friends for Mark's birthday celebration. After seeing that Danish people really do love their øl, we came home at a mere 5 am (most Danish 20 somethings don't go out until about 1 am and stay out until 5-7am). This led us to sleep until about...uhh, 1:30 in the afternoon:)

Tomorrow is a holiday, so today we are lounging out and trying to recover from out fun and energy sucking weekend and preparing ourselves for out first full day of class on Tuesday.

Oh, and I must tell you in a future post about our wonderful adventures with grocery shopping (not knowing what we're buying and getting REALLY lost trying to find "Netto") and adapting to the fact that while the bars stay open until 5am, everything else (including the grocery store) closes at about 6pm.

As the Danes say "hej hej" :)

Day One

The flight to Copenhagen (or Køpenhagen as the Danes spell it) was better than expected. After nearly 24 hours of traveling, I finally found my feet in the land of the Danes. My first adventure...trying to find baggage claim and the exit using signs in another language. Luckily, I am not afraid to approach people to ask for help and therefore I was able to find my way. After meeting with my contact person with the Danish Institute for Study Abroad (DIS), our group was off to the first day of orientation and welcome ceremonies. At this point in the day I was so hungry that I could literally eat my own hand after sleeping through both dinner and the snack on the air plane. This was not a good scenario after feeling nauseous before leaving for my trip and not being able to eat anything past 4 pm. This meant no food for 10 hours or so...my body doesn't like that. However, once I was able to eat I felt much better and could soak in all of my new and beautiful surroundings. I was so happy to finally find my other classmates once I landed and knew that this experience was going to be life changing.

My first full day in CPH was filled with speeches from DIS staff as well as a performance from the CPH quartet, which is a smaller portion of the famous Copenhagen Orchestra. At 5:30 pm my time (11:30 am USA) I got to see my room for the first time. To be honest...I did cheat a bit and I google imaged my room before arriving, so I was not surprised to see the VERY European bathroom as well as the outdated architecture. Nonetheless, this is my home for the next six weeks and I must say it has become my cozy save haven. I have a huge window (the Danish residents call it the suicide building because the windows can open like a door and they go all of the way down to knee height where you could simply lean over if you weren't careful) that lets in sunlight when the skies decide to not resemble Cleveland's cloud coverage. My bed is small and came with...count them, one fitted sheet and no top sheet (better than Emily who only got a mattress pad) and a pillow case and comforter cover that sounded like Velcro when I pulled them out of the case. Sadly, they feel like Velcro too:) I have still not been give Internet access, so I am kindly being allowed to use Emily's computer to write this. We are the only two Americans on our floor, which is so great because we are completely immersed into the Danish culture. While Emily and I do live on the same floor, we are at opposite ends and therefore have different "communal kitchens." It's like living in my sorority house all over again, but much MUCH cleaner (sorry girls:).

Speaking of the kitchens...one the first day in our housing, Em and I were so scared to go into the kitchens because so many people were occupying them and we had to go into our separate spaces. Haha, but we didn't and I went in with her first and vice versa. Both trips were a success and we have met a ton of great people in our kitchens...And we now go into them without one another:)

I am so intrigued by the Danish people and their culture I cannot wait to fall completely in love with this place.

Continue reading for more of my journey in Europe in the next coming weeks!