It's not writers block ...

One of the biggest things I have come to realize about this trip is how fast it changes you. I knew that coming was a big change, but I didn't realize that I would actually notice changes in myself...it's kind of exciting :)

Things learned so far:
1. I like to cook
1 1/2. The US should switch to the metric system...everyone else is doing it
2. Light beer should be banned from the US
3. It turns out I like eggs after all
4. The gym is my friend
5. Sunshine should not be taken for granted...EVER
6. "Ice winter" is as bad as it sounds
*to be continued upon realization*


Enough of the sentimental stuff! I haven't had much to tell lately, hence the extended absence of new posts. BUT, next week I am off to London and Dublin for 8 days! I'll have plenty of stories to tell after that! Abbey Road here I come!

Much love

My two cents

I called the doctor today to make an appointment to have prescriptions filled (technicality, they don't take American prescriptions here) expecting to have to wait a week or so to see the doc, because that's how it is at home. I have an appointment for tomorrow. I just wanted to let people know how "hard" it is to see a doctor under a social health care system.

I felt the need to share this thought.

Back to school

Last week went by so fast it made me realize how quickly the rest of my time here will pass as well, especially if I sleep until noon everyday. My first day of class was a real eye opener. My social psychology course has 8 other people in it with a teacher that, instead of lecturing us for 3 hours, discusses the topics with us and asks us for our opinion. It is more like a 3 hour discussion session than a lecture and I think I am going to take a lot away from that. The amazing thing is the informal manner of teaching. He is very catered to our needs instead of the other way around. My one day of class has also been a real eye opener into the social welfare outlook on life. It makes me wonder why anyone would choose anything different.

Politics aside, last week was the welcome week for international students. A university organization set up what was called the insomnia tour, where every night (from last Monday to last night) a different club in the city hosted an event. I didn't make it to all of the nights but it was a great time getting to see different clubs in different parts of the city, even though I lost my voice somewhere along the way. One of the nights there was a party at one of the student apartment buildings and they set up a flip cup tournament. Now this normally wouldn't be a big deal except Europeans don't play drinking games, and most of the teams were made up of people who had never played before. Needless to say my team of two Americans, a Canadian, Spaniard, and a German took the tournament by storm, winning the flip cup super bowl and a bottle of the worst liquor you have ever imagined (called Fiske Fjæs, which apparently translates to fish face).

After many hours spent planning, I have my next trip planned. I will be meeting up with my friend Paula in London for a 5 night stay, and hopefully seeing my friend Grace while I'm there, and then continuing on to Dublin, to meet up with some of her friends for three nights. I still can't get over how cheap it is to get around here! My flight from Copenhagen to London was $24 with my most expensive flight being $60 form Dublin to Copenhagen. While we are in London we are looking into trying couch surfing (Google it). It's going to be a great trip!

That's all for now.

Much love

And I thought I was leaving winter behind,,,

It seems that winter has followed me to Copenhagen...and I am not very happy about that. When I arrived here there was barely any snow on the ground and green grass everywhere, I didn't think such a thing existed this far north. I've been told Denmark is having what is called an ice winter. Since last Wednesday there has been three snow storms, factor in the strong winds of the sea shore and you almost have blizzards that are worse than the ones in Wisconsin. The amazing thing is that there are still people biking everywhere! These Danes don't mess around when it comes to their biking. I'm too much of a chicken to even attempt biking in this mess so hopefully the snow will start melting soon...at least before the 15th because that is when my metro pass expires and I really don't want to buy a new one.

Tomorrow my friend from California is having her 21st birthday party so we have a big night planned. In Denmark, I have heard it is traditional to have a lot of Danish flags present on your birthday, and since she's actually half Danish maybe she'll teach us a thing or two. She tried teaching me the happy birthday song in Danish the other day but of course that was a lost cause. I am going to attempt to make her a gluten free cake for her birthday, which will prove to be challenging seeing as how I still struggle buying normal food (the other day I bought what I believed to be a fruit smoothie (it came in a milk carton) and it turned out to be yogurt...I got a few strange looks from my Danish roommates when I started pouring my "smoothie" into a glass).

I have my first university related meeting today and then my first day of class starts tomorrow! I am extremely anxious (in a good way) to get into the swing of things again. As much as I know that I will never have this kind of free time again in my life, I almost miss my busy Madison schedule. I wouldn't have to find things to do to occupy my time because it was decided for me. This is definitely going to be a challenge.

Much love