I GOT INTO THE CLASS WITH MY DANISH PROFESSOR!!!!!!!!!!!!
Marriage plan is right on schedule. Brilliant!
1.24.2009
1.22.2009
Successes and Failures
Success: Waking up at 6:30, leaving by 7:37, getting to the train station without Tali by 7:49, taking the train, arriving to Copenhagen by 8:07, then not getting lost on my way to DIS. ALL BY MYSELF!!!! Hooray! I'm pretty sure this was the biggest success of my life, and I'm not even kidding. I can navigate Copenhagen! And I think I'm getting to know the city really well, too.
Success: All of my homework was read and done. Sweet!
Success: My homework for Friday's been done, and I've already started on my homework for Monday!
Success: All of the classes I chose were entertaining, exciting, and definitely interesting. My professors all seem interesting and fairly engaging.
Success: I impressed my H.C. Andersen teacher - but she seems kind of out of it - she couldn't spell Oprah today. We tried to tell her, but she kept getting stuck at O-R-P-H-A. Kind of a big failure for her. We really weren't sure. So it kind of makes me doubt that my points actually WERE "great".
Success: I walked into the class and sat next to a girl and introduced myself. Her name was Caroline, and it turns out we had already met at the airport, because she'd lost her luggage, too! She seemed really nice there, and I had been hoping to run into her again.
Success: I've made basically the best friend that I'll meet on this trip. It's Sarah from Texas. We went out to lunch today and had Tiramisu and wine. This is the second day we've hung out for 3-5 hours at a time, and we have a great time. We're already planning a trip out of the country. Hopefully we won't lose our luggage when we go - she lost hers, too! Lame, Newark.
Success: Sarah and I met in our Communication and Mass Media class -- aka, we're going to LONDON, BABY!
note: Kate and Liz - I'm counting on you to catch that Friends reference.
Failure: I bought a dress.
Success: I bought a dress for 139 Kroner (around $22!!)
Failure: I tried to take out 1,000 Kroner today, which is equivalent to around $180. I had also bought the dress on the card, so my total was $200. It wouldn't let me do that, because it said I'd already taken out too much. Then I tried 500 Kroner, but that still didn't work for the same issue - I don't understand how taking out LESS than $100 is too much in a day. Anyway, I contacted Key to figure out what's going on.
Success: So far, I've spent less around $80 -- how's that for amazing???
Success: I think I'm getting used to everything really well. Things are going incredibly smoothly, and I never thought I would love it this much.
Failure: Still have yet to hear back about getting into Morten's class....Double darn.
Success: Only one class tomorrow for an hour and twenty minutes!
Failure: It's 8:30 - 9:50 - too early. Lame. Bigger failure: I have 8:30s every day. Bigger Lame.
Failure: I only got around four hours of sleep last night.
Failure: I'm only going to get 6.5 tonight.
Success: I've blogged ALMOST every day, but have blogged ABOUT every day.
Success: Many more successes than failures on this list, hooray!
Failure: I'm falling asleep.
Lots of love,
Your favorite Asian in Denmark
Success: All of my homework was read and done. Sweet!
Success: My homework for Friday's been done, and I've already started on my homework for Monday!
Success: All of the classes I chose were entertaining, exciting, and definitely interesting. My professors all seem interesting and fairly engaging.
Success: I impressed my H.C. Andersen teacher - but she seems kind of out of it - she couldn't spell Oprah today. We tried to tell her, but she kept getting stuck at O-R-P-H-A. Kind of a big failure for her. We really weren't sure. So it kind of makes me doubt that my points actually WERE "great".
Success: I walked into the class and sat next to a girl and introduced myself. Her name was Caroline, and it turns out we had already met at the airport, because she'd lost her luggage, too! She seemed really nice there, and I had been hoping to run into her again.
Success: I've made basically the best friend that I'll meet on this trip. It's Sarah from Texas. We went out to lunch today and had Tiramisu and wine. This is the second day we've hung out for 3-5 hours at a time, and we have a great time. We're already planning a trip out of the country. Hopefully we won't lose our luggage when we go - she lost hers, too! Lame, Newark.
Success: Sarah and I met in our Communication and Mass Media class -- aka, we're going to LONDON, BABY!
note: Kate and Liz - I'm counting on you to catch that Friends reference.
Failure: I bought a dress.
Success: I bought a dress for 139 Kroner (around $22!!)
Failure: I tried to take out 1,000 Kroner today, which is equivalent to around $180. I had also bought the dress on the card, so my total was $200. It wouldn't let me do that, because it said I'd already taken out too much. Then I tried 500 Kroner, but that still didn't work for the same issue - I don't understand how taking out LESS than $100 is too much in a day. Anyway, I contacted Key to figure out what's going on.
Success: So far, I've spent less around $80 -- how's that for amazing???
Success: I think I'm getting used to everything really well. Things are going incredibly smoothly, and I never thought I would love it this much.
Failure: Still have yet to hear back about getting into Morten's class....Double darn.
Success: Only one class tomorrow for an hour and twenty minutes!
Failure: It's 8:30 - 9:50 - too early. Lame. Bigger failure: I have 8:30s every day. Bigger Lame.
Failure: I only got around four hours of sleep last night.
Failure: I'm only going to get 6.5 tonight.
Success: I've blogged ALMOST every day, but have blogged ABOUT every day.
Success: Many more successes than failures on this list, hooray!
Failure: I'm falling asleep.
Lots of love,
Your favorite Asian in Denmark
1.21.2009
Love, Alaska, Homework, and Horoscopes
Today was another wonderful day in Copenhagen. We had to get up pretty early for our Survival Danish Part II, but at least today we caught the train in time, and even made it to the classroom at 9:00...perfect timing! Danish today was fun, our professor bought us danishes and I've definitely learned a lot already. I think my host parents are actually impressed with how much I remember, and I definitely don't think Danish is as hard as everyone else thinks. It's really easy for me, but maybe it's just because I've taken a language before...I don't know.
On the downside, I've fallen in love. My Danish professor, Morten Eg...something...is just wonderful. I guess the downside is that I don't have him as a Danish professor ever again. I've heard the woman I'm stuck with is really, really strict. Luckily, we don't have class until Tuesday, so I'm holding onto hope that four people will drop out of Morten's class so I can have it with him. Besides, out of all of the [lucky] men I choose to marry, he's the most likely to happen - fate & the universe hate me. Lame.
After, a whole bunch of the SLU kids sat together, so Alex and I went off to make a new friend instead of clumping... her name was Alex, and she was the first person I found who was in Communication and Mass Media (Massemedier og Kommunikation). We went to class and met some really cool girls, all from ridiculous states. There's Sara from ALASKA (HA...and she doesn't like Sarah Palin...), Sarah from Texas, and Gwen from Idaho. Our class seems interesting enough, and we get to go to some awesome places. We'll be headed to Odense (!!!!!! Hans Christian Andersen's home city!!!!!), and Ahoren, which is the second largest city in Denmark. That's our shrot study tour from February 5th - 7th. Then in late March, we'll be headed to Oxford and London, and we'll even get a chance to see BBC I think - pretty cool, yeah? I'm definitely really excited. Plus, the girls are really cool, and I'm glad to have met them.
After class, Sarah from Texas (and a student at Tufts) decided to go shopping for a little while (Tali was in session until 5, I was until 3), and a little while turned into three hours. We had a really great time, and I'm definitely glad I met her...it'll be nice to have a friendly face in class tomorrow. We have a lot in common, and we clicked really fast. We went to this amazing little coffee shop and I had a "Caffe Latte Tiramisu"....it was probably the BEST thing I've ever tasted in my entire life. Ever. When we finally left after about an hour of chatting, we went out to wander around and shop a little more, and there were all these wonderful musicians around the streets. It almost reminded me of Church Street, but more classical music. It gave it this entirely European feel, and it's made me fall even more in love with the city.
We eventually met up with Tali and Sarah left to go back home and do all of our homework (LAME), and we wandered around Copenhagen a little bit more. We stopped at an Australian bar to catch up a little and relax with a glass of wine before going home and facing all of our readings for classes. Unfortunately, after not having drank for a little while, we both got a little light headed, and were probably a little too giggily at dinner when we finally got home to our host parents, but I think they think we're a little strange anyway, so it doesn't really matter.
We ate dinner with our Lene and Lars (obviously), and then started our homework...got distracted a lot by each other and chatting with our host parents. We read some gossip magazines about the royal family with Lene, and she translated our horoscopes for us...it was fun. They're really relaxed about what we do - they just want us to call before 5:00 if we plan on going out for dinner or whatever. It's a nice way to live, and things are still going really, really well. My readings were actually really fun - I think I'm really going to enjoy all of my classes.
Now that we've finally finished our homework, I'm sitting here blogging because I'm an idiot - I've got to catch a 7:49 train to get to class on time - gross. I'll be up in 7ish hours, and I might just add that setting my alarm for 6:35a.m. wasn't so much fun. Our first day of classes is tomorrow, so hopefully they'll go well - News Media and Transition, Virtual Words and the Digital Consumer, and Hans Christian Andersen: The Golden Age. Friday is Photojournalism and NO DANISH! So I'm done classes at 9:50... weird.
Anyway, I miss you all! Lots of love!
On the downside, I've fallen in love. My Danish professor, Morten Eg...something...is just wonderful. I guess the downside is that I don't have him as a Danish professor ever again. I've heard the woman I'm stuck with is really, really strict. Luckily, we don't have class until Tuesday, so I'm holding onto hope that four people will drop out of Morten's class so I can have it with him. Besides, out of all of the [lucky] men I choose to marry, he's the most likely to happen - fate & the universe hate me. Lame.
After, a whole bunch of the SLU kids sat together, so Alex and I went off to make a new friend instead of clumping... her name was Alex, and she was the first person I found who was in Communication and Mass Media (Massemedier og Kommunikation). We went to class and met some really cool girls, all from ridiculous states. There's Sara from ALASKA (HA...and she doesn't like Sarah Palin...), Sarah from Texas, and Gwen from Idaho. Our class seems interesting enough, and we get to go to some awesome places. We'll be headed to Odense (!!!!!! Hans Christian Andersen's home city!!!!!), and Ahoren, which is the second largest city in Denmark. That's our shrot study tour from February 5th - 7th. Then in late March, we'll be headed to Oxford and London, and we'll even get a chance to see BBC I think - pretty cool, yeah? I'm definitely really excited. Plus, the girls are really cool, and I'm glad to have met them.
After class, Sarah from Texas (and a student at Tufts) decided to go shopping for a little while (Tali was in session until 5, I was until 3), and a little while turned into three hours. We had a really great time, and I'm definitely glad I met her...it'll be nice to have a friendly face in class tomorrow. We have a lot in common, and we clicked really fast. We went to this amazing little coffee shop and I had a "Caffe Latte Tiramisu"....it was probably the BEST thing I've ever tasted in my entire life. Ever. When we finally left after about an hour of chatting, we went out to wander around and shop a little more, and there were all these wonderful musicians around the streets. It almost reminded me of Church Street, but more classical music. It gave it this entirely European feel, and it's made me fall even more in love with the city.
We eventually met up with Tali and Sarah left to go back home and do all of our homework (LAME), and we wandered around Copenhagen a little bit more. We stopped at an Australian bar to catch up a little and relax with a glass of wine before going home and facing all of our readings for classes. Unfortunately, after not having drank for a little while, we both got a little light headed, and were probably a little too giggily at dinner when we finally got home to our host parents, but I think they think we're a little strange anyway, so it doesn't really matter.
We ate dinner with our Lene and Lars (obviously), and then started our homework...got distracted a lot by each other and chatting with our host parents. We read some gossip magazines about the royal family with Lene, and she translated our horoscopes for us...it was fun. They're really relaxed about what we do - they just want us to call before 5:00 if we plan on going out for dinner or whatever. It's a nice way to live, and things are still going really, really well. My readings were actually really fun - I think I'm really going to enjoy all of my classes.
Now that we've finally finished our homework, I'm sitting here blogging because I'm an idiot - I've got to catch a 7:49 train to get to class on time - gross. I'll be up in 7ish hours, and I might just add that setting my alarm for 6:35a.m. wasn't so much fun. Our first day of classes is tomorrow, so hopefully they'll go well - News Media and Transition, Virtual Words and the Digital Consumer, and Hans Christian Andersen: The Golden Age. Friday is Photojournalism and NO DANISH! So I'm done classes at 9:50... weird.
Anyway, I miss you all! Lots of love!
1.20.2009
Luggage, Facebook Stalking, Copenhagen, and Obama
While it's been an exhausting week, I'm definitely starting to fall in love with Copenhagen. It's such a gorgeous little city, and shockingly, we've gotten a chance to see a LOT of it.
Sleeping was a little difficult for me on the first night, and since I didn't have a suitcase, I didn't have anything to help me sleep off my jetlag. I fell asleep really easily, but could only sleep for about five hours -- when I woke up again, it was 3a.m. Denmark time...and couldn't fall asleep until 5:30a.m. We got up around 9, and got ready for our first train ride, our first trip to Copenhagen, and our first day at DIS.
The train is actually really easy to follow, and while we've gotten lost all over the place in the city, we're doing just fine with the train-travel. I thought I would get completely lost (I think you're all fairly familiar with my inability to navigate...), but definitely not hard. We've got around a 13-minute walk to the train station, a 15 minute train ride, and then the walk to DIS when we get off at Copenhagen is negotiable - we haven't found our way there quite yet, because our meetings have been all over the place...but I think it's 10 - 15 minutes.
Our host mom took us the first day, though, which was really nice because we were insured to be on time (The Danes hate tardiness). The opening ceremony was nice; there were musicians for us, a few speeches, and it was all in this really lovely room of a museum that was meant to look like ancient Rome. Unfortunately, Tali and I were so jetlagged that we both fell asleep for some of it - and LUCKILY for us, we were sitting RIGHT next to all of our new professors -- hopefully we won't have any of the ones that saw us sleeping. Honestly though, I think it's a little rough for kids with 48 hours of travel behind them and six or seven hours of sleep to stay awake through a ceremony that lasts for an hour and a half. One of the DIS interns gave a speech about being attacked by a buzzard -- and waving a couple giant sticks around while running through the woods in Denmark. I'm not quite sure what the moral was, but it was funny...wish you all could have seen how awkward he was.
After this ridiculously long ceremony (and a nice nap), Tali, Alex, and I went out to lunch with Alex's roommate Eric, a couple girls from....a couple schools that I don't remember, and a kid from Watertown (which is really close to SLU) named Sven, who was actually at SLU with me all summer working with one of the soccer camps - we just didn't know it. It's been really nice getting to know all of the other students, but unfortunately I can hardly remember anyone.
We then had to listen to a ridicu
lously long presentation about living in host families and traveling around Europe that lasted from 1:30 - 4:30. When we got out, we hopped over to our DIS "student center" to check for my luggage - which I joyously recovered in a small shed in the courtyard. After a happy reunion with my two GIANT suitcases, Tali and I made our way to the train station - with 75+ pounds of my luggage. Luckily my roommate was nice enough to roll one of them, and I wore the other like a backpack. Unfortunately, it being our first day in Copenhagen, we made our way back to the central train station -- which is about 15 minutes farther than the train station we COULD have gotten on. Exercise for the day? Guess so.
We got home and Lene had made lasagna - Tali and my favorite. It was really good (not as good as Mom's), and a (kinda) reminder of Vermont. We were finally allowed to help with the dishes and putting everything away, which we hadn't been able to do before, because Lene said we were guests for the first day. After, we watched the American Ambassador to Denmark give an interview because he's leaving after staying with the job for 3.5 years. It was pretty interesting to hear about his thoughts and views about Americans and Danes after interacting with both for so long...
But after was a lot more fun, because Lene showed us her Facebook, where we sat around and stalked her friends for a while...then we showed Lene some of our favorite youtube videos and had a good laugh (Go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJlPEHL85Ig)...great bonding experience. Then we hung out and watched some more handball (they're SO into it here), and Denmark won... somehow, though, we managed to be kept up until 11p.m., even though we were entirely exhausted. I don't think I fell asleep until midnight, but luckily I had my nyquil again, and was able to sleep really well until this morning at 7:15.
Today was SO much fun...Tali and I left around 8:15, but were two minutes too late for the train that we were supposed to catch to make it to DIS by 9:00. We ended up arriving into Copenhagen at 8:52, at a completely different train station with a completely different route to DIS. Not only that, we were in a totally separate building, so we had to find our way to our "Survival Danish: 1" course. I wasn't in Tali's section (but Trevor, Alex, and another kid from SLU, James were), but we were in the same place, so we walked there together. She was able to find her spot, but I couldn't find mine...and we were already about 15 minutes late...oops. I asked a Dane (because they're always willing to help with our directional issues), but even he said he had no idea where I was going - so I figured if he didn't know, how was I supposed to figure it out? Luckily, Alex found me wandering around the street, and told me that we'd all be learning the same thing, so I should just go to class with him. We got there (20 minutes late now), and ended up stuck in a group together, where we had to search out items in a grocery store to learn the Danish foods. After three hours of Danish shenanigans, we were split up AGAIN into our scavenger hunt groups.
My groupmates: Tali. Alex. Trevor. James.
Five SLU kids, and one girl, Kelly, from University of Virginia. She was really nice, and
luckily wasn't annoyed that she was stuck with all of us. The scavenger hunt was SO much fun - they had arranged for people to stay at each stop to teach us some Danish history We were sent to Magasin (the biggest department store in Copenhagen, filled with designer stuff all over................................................heaven), then to Skuespillhuset (the Royal Theater), Christiansborg Slotsplads (Danish Parliament), Rosenborg Slot (palace of King Christian the fourth, as well as his royal garden), Trinitatis Kirke (The Trinity Church), and Amalienborg (the royal palace). We walked all over the city (so this was probably 5 - 6 miles), and took one ferry - which is awesome, becuase you pay for it with your bus pass. It's just public transportation to them...by boat! The sights were beautiful!
Easily haled as one of our WORST pictures!
Tali and me in front of the harbor where the Ferry came for us...
Kelly and I standing in the courtyard of the royal family...
The King's Garden....the trees are all cut to the same level, some say because they want to show control over nature -- pretty different than the Akwesasne Semester!
After all of this, which took around three hours, we went to get our books (I never have that many....11 for the semester, and five are readers for each class), tried to hop on the bus quickly to get home in time for Obama's inauguration, failed, and only made it in time for his speech. It's great to be an American right now in Europe - or I guess at least it's the best time possible. The support for Obama over here is wonderful, and the people seem happy for Americans. All the Danish stations were showing it too, so it wasn't at all difficult to catch.
I'm sorry that this entry was SO boring and SO lame, but I'm really tired and it's taken me forever to upload these pictures - you should all be grateful!
Love,
Your favorite American girl in Denmark
Sleeping was a little difficult for me on the first night, and since I didn't have a suitcase, I didn't have anything to help me sleep off my jetlag. I fell asleep really easily, but could only sleep for about five hours -- when I woke up again, it was 3a.m. Denmark time...and couldn't fall asleep until 5:30a.m. We got up around 9, and got ready for our first train ride, our first trip to Copenhagen, and our first day at DIS.
The train is actually really easy to follow, and while we've gotten lost all over the place in the city, we're doing just fine with the train-travel. I thought I would get completely lost (I think you're all fairly familiar with my inability to navigate...), but definitely not hard. We've got around a 13-minute walk to the train station, a 15 minute train ride, and then the walk to DIS when we get off at Copenhagen is negotiable - we haven't found our way there quite yet, because our meetings have been all over the place...but I think it's 10 - 15 minutes.
Our host mom took us the first day, though, which was really nice because we were insured to be on time (The Danes hate tardiness). The opening ceremony was nice; there were musicians for us, a few speeches, and it was all in this really lovely room of a museum that was meant to look like ancient Rome. Unfortunately, Tali and I were so jetlagged that we both fell asleep for some of it - and LUCKILY for us, we were sitting RIGHT next to all of our new professors -- hopefully we won't have any of the ones that saw us sleeping. Honestly though, I think it's a little rough for kids with 48 hours of travel behind them and six or seven hours of sleep to stay awake through a ceremony that lasts for an hour and a half. One of the DIS interns gave a speech about being attacked by a buzzard -- and waving a couple giant sticks around while running through the woods in Denmark. I'm not quite sure what the moral was, but it was funny...wish you all could have seen how awkward he was.
After this ridiculously long ceremony (and a nice nap), Tali, Alex, and I went out to lunch with Alex's roommate Eric, a couple girls from....a couple schools that I don't remember, and a kid from Watertown (which is really close to SLU) named Sven, who was actually at SLU with me all summer working with one of the soccer camps - we just didn't know it. It's been really nice getting to know all of the other students, but unfortunately I can hardly remember anyone.
We then had to listen to a ridicu
lously long presentation about living in host families and traveling around Europe that lasted from 1:30 - 4:30. When we got out, we hopped over to our DIS "student center" to check for my luggage - which I joyously recovered in a small shed in the courtyard. After a happy reunion with my two GIANT suitcases, Tali and I made our way to the train station - with 75+ pounds of my luggage. Luckily my roommate was nice enough to roll one of them, and I wore the other like a backpack. Unfortunately, it being our first day in Copenhagen, we made our way back to the central train station -- which is about 15 minutes farther than the train station we COULD have gotten on. Exercise for the day? Guess so.We got home and Lene had made lasagna - Tali and my favorite. It was really good (not as good as Mom's), and a (kinda) reminder of Vermont. We were finally allowed to help with the dishes and putting everything away, which we hadn't been able to do before, because Lene said we were guests for the first day. After, we watched the American Ambassador to Denmark give an interview because he's leaving after staying with the job for 3.5 years. It was pretty interesting to hear about his thoughts and views about Americans and Danes after interacting with both for so long...
But after was a lot more fun, because Lene showed us her Facebook, where we sat around and stalked her friends for a while...then we showed Lene some of our favorite youtube videos and had a good laugh (Go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJlPEHL85Ig)...great bonding experience. Then we hung out and watched some more handball (they're SO into it here), and Denmark won... somehow, though, we managed to be kept up until 11p.m., even though we were entirely exhausted. I don't think I fell asleep until midnight, but luckily I had my nyquil again, and was able to sleep really well until this morning at 7:15.
Today was SO much fun...Tali and I left around 8:15, but were two minutes too late for the train that we were supposed to catch to make it to DIS by 9:00. We ended up arriving into Copenhagen at 8:52, at a completely different train station with a completely different route to DIS. Not only that, we were in a totally separate building, so we had to find our way to our "Survival Danish: 1" course. I wasn't in Tali's section (but Trevor, Alex, and another kid from SLU, James were), but we were in the same place, so we walked there together. She was able to find her spot, but I couldn't find mine...and we were already about 15 minutes late...oops. I asked a Dane (because they're always willing to help with our directional issues), but even he said he had no idea where I was going - so I figured if he didn't know, how was I supposed to figure it out? Luckily, Alex found me wandering around the street, and told me that we'd all be learning the same thing, so I should just go to class with him. We got there (20 minutes late now), and ended up stuck in a group together, where we had to search out items in a grocery store to learn the Danish foods. After three hours of Danish shenanigans, we were split up AGAIN into our scavenger hunt groups.
My groupmates: Tali. Alex. Trevor. James.
Five SLU kids, and one girl, Kelly, from University of Virginia. She was really nice, and
luckily wasn't annoyed that she was stuck with all of us. The scavenger hunt was SO much fun - they had arranged for people to stay at each stop to teach us some Danish history We were sent to Magasin (the biggest department store in Copenhagen, filled with designer stuff all over................................................heaven), then to Skuespillhuset (the Royal Theater), Christiansborg Slotsplads (Danish Parliament), Rosenborg Slot (palace of King Christian the fourth, as well as his royal garden), Trinitatis Kirke (The Trinity Church), and Amalienborg (the royal palace). We walked all over the city (so this was probably 5 - 6 miles), and took one ferry - which is awesome, becuase you pay for it with your bus pass. It's just public transportation to them...by boat! The sights were beautiful!
Easily haled as one of our WORST pictures!
Tali and me in front of the harbor where the Ferry came for us...
Kelly and I standing in the courtyard of the royal family...
The King's Garden....the trees are all cut to the same level, some say because they want to show control over nature -- pretty different than the Akwesasne Semester!
After all of this, which took around three hours, we went to get our books (I never have that many....11 for the semester, and five are readers for each class), tried to hop on the bus quickly to get home in time for Obama's inauguration, failed, and only made it in time for his speech. It's great to be an American right now in Europe - or I guess at least it's the best time possible. The support for Obama over here is wonderful, and the people seem happy for Americans. All the Danish stations were showing it too, so it wasn't at all difficult to catch.
I'm sorry that this entry was SO boring and SO lame, but I'm really tired and it's taken me forever to upload these pictures - you should all be grateful!
Love,
Your favorite American girl in Denmark
1.18.2009
"Welcome to Wonderful Copenhagen!"
So here I am in Denmark, finally, after an exhausting 28 hours of being awake. I don't have any intention of ever flying again, so don't expect me back in the country anytime soon - I flat out refuse.
Going through security at Burlington Airport went quite smoothly - I didn't expect it to be that easy. I found Gate 13 (it was pretty crowded already) and had to sit near people (I think I'd rather have been a loner on my first flight alone), but I wasn't unhappy with the circumstances - I figured I might get to know some people on the flight and attempt some friendly conversation. When I walked in, one of the workers handed me a blue tag -- saying that apparently my backpack was going to be too big to fit in the overhead compartments, so I would have to planeside check it -- meaning I would give it to them, it would fly in cargo, free of charge. Annoying, especially because my computer was in it. It wouldn't have fit in my other bag, either, so I was kind of screwed. As soon as I sat down, I realized I'd walked in between a conversation that a woman was having with some people sitting across from her. She talked, and talked, and talked, but unfortunately, was literally one of the top 10 obnoxious people I've ever met in my life. Some conversation snippits for fun:
Woman: How old are you?
Girl: ...17?
Woman: What???? You look like you're twelve.
Flight attendant: While I know some of you have connecting flights with little time to spare, if you miss them, we've scheduled you other connecting flights.
Woman: OH, well aren't YOU just comedians?!?!
(What??)
Among some others. So eventually I just started reading a book, and avoided all eye contact with her. I'm pretty sure she wanted to talk to me, because every time I looked up, she was staring at me...awkward. Well, whatever, I realized I wouldn't have to sit with her, and I only had to wait around an hour at the gate. Not so bad, right?
So, so, so wrong. Lucky me, I got to sit NEXT to this woman for the hour long flight to Newark. When the plane landed, she said to me, "Get out of my way, I have to get onto another flight in 15 minutes!" Sweet. Well, the guy in the seats next to us had to catch a flight in 20 minutes, so he got up, blocking my way. The woman proceeded to push her bag into MY seat, pushing me OVER the armrest and into the guy standing in the aisle. Overhead, our pilot told us that we were a little bit early -- She responded, "Yeah, well SOME of us have another PLANE to catch to FLORIDA."
It was a lovely ride.
So then I'm standing around in Newark Airport completely lost and looking for my Copenhagen flight in Terminal C. After two guys working there decide that I look so lost that they need to assist me, they give me completely wrong directions, and I end up asking someone else. This man (who was about 6 inches shorter than me) looks at me and says, "Yeah, well if you were looking at the right AIRLINE, you might have gotten it right." I had talked to Tali earlier, and she had told me about Air Trains that would take me to the different terminals. He told me that I needed to get to Terminal B, and I asked, "Oh, do I have to take the Air Bus?"
Response: "Um, I haven't heard of an Air BUS...but you DO have to take the Air TRAIN." He used the hand quotations around "bus" and "train". Ouch, Newark. Harsh.
So I finally get to the right place, meet up with Tali, Trevor, eventually Alex, and some more of the SLU kids. Somehow in all of this, the zipper on my bag broke, and I lost my hat. Definitely devastating, as it was the most perfect hat in the world, $19, and brand new. Great.
Anyway, we get on our flight, which, despite the seven long hours it took, was pretty nice. Alex and I got to sit next to each other (though we were the LAST row in the middle of the plane, so no window viewing at all), and we met a new friend, Lizzie from DIS. SAS was a great flight, decent food, lots to keep us entertained... so it wasn't bad at all. It was huge, though. There were at least 150-200 (but I'm bad at estimates, so it may have been more - definitely NOT less) students from DIS headed over, so it was fun. Our pilot even wished us good luck at University.
So we arrive early, at 6:40a.m. Denmark time (and 12:40a.m. our time) and go over to our baggage claim. "Welcome to Wonderful Denmark" signs were all over, and I was really excited to be there. After a frustrating day, I knew the signs would be right. Right? Since Trevor and Tali were getting in around 9:00a.m., we figured we'd just wait around a little while for them (because baggage would end up taking so long anyway). So Alex gets his bags, and then they stop coming on the conveyor belt. A woman working for SAS Airlines comes into the throng of students and says, "Check with me to see if your baggage got lost."
Yeah. OBVIOUSLY I'm on that list. Why wouldn't I be?
Obviously.
So I'm here with no luggage. Welcome to Wonderful Denmark, huh?
After going to the baggage check, I was physically drained, and eventually just started crying - lucky Alex. I got over it eventually, because they said my baggage would arrive the next day, and we could pick it up at DIS. It just sucks because so much of my stuff is in it, all of my electronics (exception: Computer.), clothes, toiletries, shoes, etc.
So Alex and I finally decide to check in with DIS because Trevor and Tali are taking so long, but their flight said they would be in at 8:55...WRONG.
So we waited and waited for them, and eventually realized that their plane had been totally delayed, and they weren't getting in until 10:01. We had already missed the bus that went to DIS at 10:30 (because it said they had gotten off the plane, they just hadn't gotten their luggage yet), but they said another one was coming by 11:00, so we figured that they would definitely have their luggage by then. WRONG.
The 11:00 bus came with the 10:30 bus and everyone boarded, so the next bus wouldn't be coming around until noon. So Alex and I sat in the damn Copenhagen Airport from 6:40a.m. to noon. What an exciting entrance to Copenhagen! Not. When Tali and Trevor finally got to us, Tal and I grabbed some Starbucks, while the boys got their first meal in Denmark - BURGER KING. For all four of us, Epic Fail.
Totally cranky, we finally get out of the airport and head over to DIS, where we're expecting tons and tons of orientation stuff. Almost immediately after we get off of the bus, a sweet-looking, blonde woman comes up and asks if I'm Kristin Howard. Lene, Tali and my host mother, had found us. We were able to go through all of registration really easily, got our cell phone, etc, and got on the road.
We stopped at a bakery, which smelled absolutely delicious, got some stuff and drove home - not a very long drive at all. When we got to our house, they told us that Tali and I would be living downstairs, and we have the entire basement to ourselves. I've got a smaller room with a bigger bed, totally cosy, wireless, and wonderful. Tali's got a gorgeous room, and we both have a bathroom to share. The laundry room is also down here, so it's really nice. When we got to our rooms, we found a nice little keychain with a house key on it - because we have our own entrance to our little home downstairs, and they decided to make one for us for the next four months. So sweet of them. It's absolutely lovely. Lene and Lars are wonderful host parents so far - they took us on a 2-3 mile walk around the town, up their "mountain", which is just 17K. We walked by the sea, which was gorgeous - swans and ducks swimming all over. We saw so much, and it was a lot of fun, and we got to spend a lot of time talking to them. We're finally home and it's almost noon your time -- almost 6:00p.m. ours. I'm totally exhausted, but we're trying not to go to bed until around 8 at the earliest to minimize jet lag. Lene makes sure that we're not sleeping every quarter of an hour - very sweet.
Last downfall of my life: Remember when I said I had to check my backpack at Burlington? They must have thrown my bag hard enough that it broke the corner off of my computer. AWESOME.
That's why I never intend on flying again. Sorry guys. Luckily, once I got away from the airports, Denmark has been great. I've met some really awesome people, love my host family so far, and am very happy that Alex and Tali have been with me for the entire day, because without them, I think I would have lost my mind.
So that's been my last 48 hours - mostly terrible, but made up for with Denmark, Lars, and Lene.
Hope you enjoyed listening to my epic failures - will post pictures of the house and scenery soon!
Going through security at Burlington Airport went quite smoothly - I didn't expect it to be that easy. I found Gate 13 (it was pretty crowded already) and had to sit near people (I think I'd rather have been a loner on my first flight alone), but I wasn't unhappy with the circumstances - I figured I might get to know some people on the flight and attempt some friendly conversation. When I walked in, one of the workers handed me a blue tag -- saying that apparently my backpack was going to be too big to fit in the overhead compartments, so I would have to planeside check it -- meaning I would give it to them, it would fly in cargo, free of charge. Annoying, especially because my computer was in it. It wouldn't have fit in my other bag, either, so I was kind of screwed. As soon as I sat down, I realized I'd walked in between a conversation that a woman was having with some people sitting across from her. She talked, and talked, and talked, but unfortunately, was literally one of the top 10 obnoxious people I've ever met in my life. Some conversation snippits for fun:
Woman: How old are you?
Girl: ...17?
Woman: What???? You look like you're twelve.
Flight attendant: While I know some of you have connecting flights with little time to spare, if you miss them, we've scheduled you other connecting flights.
Woman: OH, well aren't YOU just comedians?!?!
(What??)
Among some others. So eventually I just started reading a book, and avoided all eye contact with her. I'm pretty sure she wanted to talk to me, because every time I looked up, she was staring at me...awkward. Well, whatever, I realized I wouldn't have to sit with her, and I only had to wait around an hour at the gate. Not so bad, right?
So, so, so wrong. Lucky me, I got to sit NEXT to this woman for the hour long flight to Newark. When the plane landed, she said to me, "Get out of my way, I have to get onto another flight in 15 minutes!" Sweet. Well, the guy in the seats next to us had to catch a flight in 20 minutes, so he got up, blocking my way. The woman proceeded to push her bag into MY seat, pushing me OVER the armrest and into the guy standing in the aisle. Overhead, our pilot told us that we were a little bit early -- She responded, "Yeah, well SOME of us have another PLANE to catch to FLORIDA."
It was a lovely ride.
So then I'm standing around in Newark Airport completely lost and looking for my Copenhagen flight in Terminal C. After two guys working there decide that I look so lost that they need to assist me, they give me completely wrong directions, and I end up asking someone else. This man (who was about 6 inches shorter than me) looks at me and says, "Yeah, well if you were looking at the right AIRLINE, you might have gotten it right." I had talked to Tali earlier, and she had told me about Air Trains that would take me to the different terminals. He told me that I needed to get to Terminal B, and I asked, "Oh, do I have to take the Air Bus?"
Response: "Um, I haven't heard of an Air BUS...but you DO have to take the Air TRAIN." He used the hand quotations around "bus" and "train". Ouch, Newark. Harsh.
So I finally get to the right place, meet up with Tali, Trevor, eventually Alex, and some more of the SLU kids. Somehow in all of this, the zipper on my bag broke, and I lost my hat. Definitely devastating, as it was the most perfect hat in the world, $19, and brand new. Great.
Anyway, we get on our flight, which, despite the seven long hours it took, was pretty nice. Alex and I got to sit next to each other (though we were the LAST row in the middle of the plane, so no window viewing at all), and we met a new friend, Lizzie from DIS. SAS was a great flight, decent food, lots to keep us entertained... so it wasn't bad at all. It was huge, though. There were at least 150-200 (but I'm bad at estimates, so it may have been more - definitely NOT less) students from DIS headed over, so it was fun. Our pilot even wished us good luck at University.
So we arrive early, at 6:40a.m. Denmark time (and 12:40a.m. our time) and go over to our baggage claim. "Welcome to Wonderful Denmark" signs were all over, and I was really excited to be there. After a frustrating day, I knew the signs would be right. Right? Since Trevor and Tali were getting in around 9:00a.m., we figured we'd just wait around a little while for them (because baggage would end up taking so long anyway). So Alex gets his bags, and then they stop coming on the conveyor belt. A woman working for SAS Airlines comes into the throng of students and says, "Check with me to see if your baggage got lost."
Yeah. OBVIOUSLY I'm on that list. Why wouldn't I be?
Obviously.
So I'm here with no luggage. Welcome to Wonderful Denmark, huh?
After going to the baggage check, I was physically drained, and eventually just started crying - lucky Alex. I got over it eventually, because they said my baggage would arrive the next day, and we could pick it up at DIS. It just sucks because so much of my stuff is in it, all of my electronics (exception: Computer.), clothes, toiletries, shoes, etc.
So Alex and I finally decide to check in with DIS because Trevor and Tali are taking so long, but their flight said they would be in at 8:55...WRONG.
So we waited and waited for them, and eventually realized that their plane had been totally delayed, and they weren't getting in until 10:01. We had already missed the bus that went to DIS at 10:30 (because it said they had gotten off the plane, they just hadn't gotten their luggage yet), but they said another one was coming by 11:00, so we figured that they would definitely have their luggage by then. WRONG.
The 11:00 bus came with the 10:30 bus and everyone boarded, so the next bus wouldn't be coming around until noon. So Alex and I sat in the damn Copenhagen Airport from 6:40a.m. to noon. What an exciting entrance to Copenhagen! Not. When Tali and Trevor finally got to us, Tal and I grabbed some Starbucks, while the boys got their first meal in Denmark - BURGER KING. For all four of us, Epic Fail.
Totally cranky, we finally get out of the airport and head over to DIS, where we're expecting tons and tons of orientation stuff. Almost immediately after we get off of the bus, a sweet-looking, blonde woman comes up and asks if I'm Kristin Howard. Lene, Tali and my host mother, had found us. We were able to go through all of registration really easily, got our cell phone, etc, and got on the road.
We stopped at a bakery, which smelled absolutely delicious, got some stuff and drove home - not a very long drive at all. When we got to our house, they told us that Tali and I would be living downstairs, and we have the entire basement to ourselves. I've got a smaller room with a bigger bed, totally cosy, wireless, and wonderful. Tali's got a gorgeous room, and we both have a bathroom to share. The laundry room is also down here, so it's really nice. When we got to our rooms, we found a nice little keychain with a house key on it - because we have our own entrance to our little home downstairs, and they decided to make one for us for the next four months. So sweet of them. It's absolutely lovely. Lene and Lars are wonderful host parents so far - they took us on a 2-3 mile walk around the town, up their "mountain", which is just 17K. We walked by the sea, which was gorgeous - swans and ducks swimming all over. We saw so much, and it was a lot of fun, and we got to spend a lot of time talking to them. We're finally home and it's almost noon your time -- almost 6:00p.m. ours. I'm totally exhausted, but we're trying not to go to bed until around 8 at the earliest to minimize jet lag. Lene makes sure that we're not sleeping every quarter of an hour - very sweet.
Last downfall of my life: Remember when I said I had to check my backpack at Burlington? They must have thrown my bag hard enough that it broke the corner off of my computer. AWESOME.
That's why I never intend on flying again. Sorry guys. Luckily, once I got away from the airports, Denmark has been great. I've met some really awesome people, love my host family so far, and am very happy that Alex and Tali have been with me for the entire day, because without them, I think I would have lost my mind.
So that's been my last 48 hours - mostly terrible, but made up for with Denmark, Lars, and Lene.
Hope you enjoyed listening to my epic failures - will post pictures of the house and scenery soon!
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