4 more days left!

Well, I've reached the end of the road! My finals are all finished as of Friday, and the rest of the time is going to be spent just hanging out with my friends.  Then in four days, I'll be HOME! I've been thinking about some of the things I'm really going to miss here and have compiled a list

-some of the best friends I have ever made

-the amazing nightlife

-being constantly surrounded by the most beautiful population in the world

-Sankt Peder's Bageri: the little bakery around the corner from my school...it has the most amazing pastries and coffee for a cheap price ($4.oo...haha)

-the very efficient public transportation system

-going to classes with students from universities all over the US

-the field studies that accompanied our classes

-hearing fluent Danish (the hardest language EVER)

-Kulor bar: the dance club my friends and I love that plays amazing music and gives free beer from 11-1

-walking down the busy Stroget street and seeing all the beautiful Christmas decorations

-the friendliness and safeness of the city

-the "hygge" concept in which everyone is made to feel comfortable and welcome

and much, much more.

However, there are some things I can't wait to see at home, such as:

-my car! (not very many people, and especially not teenagers, have cars here because they're so incredibly expensive)

-understanding what everyone is saying

-Chinese food, Indian food, Thai food...etc.

-Starbucks

-prices that are not exorbitantly high

-my wider array of clothing to choose from

-my own more comfortable and decorated room

-the quarter system...I've decided I absolutely despise the semester system

-my family and friends, of course!

Overall, though, I have the most amazing experience, but I can't wait to get home and fall back into familiarity.  

En Hyggelig Thanksgiving Mad

...that translates into "A 'Cozy' Thanksgiving Meal", which is exactly what I enjoyed last night!  I was feeling sad that I wasn't going to be able to indulge myself as we do in the States for the day, but I ended up having a great Thanksgiving anyway.  Some of my friends organized a big potluck party that started at about 7:30 and lasted until midnight!  Although I was too lazy to make something (I bought some cookies and brownies to bring along), some of the partygoers brought some amazing dishes, including a wonderful turkey, stuffing, lots of potatoes, garlic bread, creamed spinach, and cooked vegetables just to name a few.  Best of all were all the desserts, especially the pumpkin pie!!  I was so happy to have some homemade food.

It was especially fun because a good amount of Danish (and Polish) people came to try out the American tradition.  They even made some great desserts and brought along lots of gravy, as well as tons of beer and wine.  They told us that they had decided they love American holidays after celebrating both Halloween and Thanksgiving with us.  Plus, I got to get a little first-hand insight into the Poles' opinions on the climate package for the EU, a topic which I will be debating next Wednesday for my political science class and that they were very passionate and knowledgeable about.  

The best part of the night was definitely after dinner, though, when one of the Poles grabbed his guitar and played us a bunch of American songs to sing along to, which probably sounds very cheesy but was actually so much fun!!  During that time, I also got to meet a lot of new people since there were so many people there!  One of my friends and me even stuck around after the party to talk with some of the Danes and Poles since they were so funny and nice.  They invited us to a party called the "Almost New Year's Party" which will take place on "almost the last day of almost the last month instead of the last day of the last month" (ie this Saturday).  I am definitely considering going, but I have a very busy weekend ahead of me, as my friends and me are trying out the Absolut Ice Bar tonight (a bar completely made out of ice!), then going dancing at our favorite club; and then I am probably heading out to my friend's host family's house to celebrate her birthday with them on Sunday.  However, since I had enough food last night to fuel me for the rest of the weekend, hopefully I'll have time for it all!

A Whirlwind of Events...

These last few weeks in Denmark have gone by incredibly fast!  It's hard to believe that there's less than a month until I'm back in Washington!! However, there's lots to update on, starting with the election on November 4th.  We were all pretty excited about it here, but it was cool to see how politically aware the Danes were as well.  They seemed even more passionate about the election than some of the Americans I know!  On the night of the election, I headed over to my friend's kollegium where they were having a party all night.  The Dane who was in charge of setting everything up had posted pictures of Obama and McCain all over the walls and set up a big projector so everyone could watch every step of the election.  He had even set up a bar called the "oBARma" where you could buy refreshments and some much-needed coffee!  All in all, it was a very exciting night, and it felt great to have been able to contribute a vote!

Since then, I've just been focusing on having a great time with my wonderful friends and trying to study, especially for my more interesting subjects (Danish Language & Culture and Hans Christian Andersen).  Even though Denmark, obviously, does not celebrate Thanksgiving, it has been getting ready for Christmas for quite a while!  The other weekend, my friends and me went out for "J-Dag", which is a day when the big beer company hands out free Holiday Tuborg beers at all the bars.  All the employees are dressed like elves and dance around all night while carrying in loads of beer.  We chased the truck around the city and got free holiday hats, too, which was a lot of fun.  They had even put fake snow all over Copenhagen!

Even better than fake snow, though, is REAL snow, which is currently all over the ground outside!  I'm not really a big fan of the freezing cold weather, but it was very exciting to see such huge snowflakes starting at about noon yesterday and lasting all through the night.  To really set the holiday tone, we went to Tivoli, the famous amusement park near our study center, as soon as it got dark (about 4:00 pm!) and wandered around in the snow to see all the pretty Christmas lights, Santa decorations, drink hot chocolate, and dance around in the snow.  By the time we left, the snow was starting to get pretty heavy, and when I woke up this morning, there was a lot all over the ground here at my kollegium in Albertslund!  I'm hoping that it lasts all weekend so that school will get cancelled on Monday, but somehow I don't think it will last that long.  For now, I'm just staying nice and warm inside, debating on whether or not to try my luck out at the new ice-skating rink they just set up outside in the middle of the city!  

Italia: Roma & Firenze!

Sorry that I'm so ridiculously behind on my posting!  I knew my post about Italy would take a while, though, so I've been waiting for some solid free time, which is now!  In short, Italy was so much fun!  I flew to Rome by myself because I didn't really want to fly home to Copenhagen from Spain and then back to Italy right away.  Luckily, one of my friends from abroad was going to be in Rome that same day, so we stayed in the same hostel, which was a lot of fun! Unfortunately, one of my roommates was puking all night, which wasn't very pleasant. 

The next day, I got up early to meet the group at my hotel, which was convinently located right next to the Spanish Steps.  The first day was already eventful: we walked around the city and got to see cool things like the Piazza del Popolo, Largo Argentino, The Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Piazza Navona, and much more!  After that, we got our first amazing dinner!  I

don't know how the Italians can eat so well, and still stay so thin!!

The next day, we got to see The Colosseum, as well as many other classical monuments.  The Colosseum was absolutely amazing and so crowded!  It was so weird being inside after seeing so many pictures of it!  The Forum Romanum was almost even more amazing, though, because it was so enormous!  From the outside, it looked like we could walk through it in a half hour, but it took us a couple of hours at least.

While in Rome, we also got to some places that are not-so touristy, which was very nice.  Probably two of my favorite places to visit was a cemetary where famous authors, like von Goethe, Keats and Shelley are buried, and also the Baths of Caracalla, which was an ENORMOUS bathhouse.  In contrast, another very cool place which was VERY touristy was Vatican City.  There was so much beautiful art, it was almost overwhelming.  The Sistine Chapel, in particular, was very impressive because of Michelangelo's artwork on the ceiling.

After four days in Rome, we headed off to Florence, which I liked a bit more because it wasn't so crowded everywhere.  Most of the artwork that we had been learning about class was all in Florence, such as The Birth of Venus (my personal favorite) by Botticelli and Michelangelo's David.  I have to admit, though, that probably my favorite part of Florence was the fun clubs we went to. 

We all went out as a group twice, which was fun, and we really got to know each other really well.  By the end of the trip, I had made some really cool new friends, which was the best part

 of the whole trip!!

I have to say that after visiting all of these places, I am still 100% glad that I chose to study in Denmark, though.  I have adjusted very well to life in Copenhagen and think it was a perfect pick for me!

Seville!

I'm a little bit behind on my blog, but I've been pretty busy!  Even so, I figured I couldn't skip posting about my trip to Spain!  After leaving London, I headed over to Seville, Spain to visit my friend Elizabeth who is studying abroad there for a semester.  I was very excited to go there since I have never been to Spain and don't know much about the culture.  After I met Elizabeth at the airport, we walked for 45 minutes to my hostel, which was absolutely gorgeous.  It was pretty much like a luxury hostel, with marble floors, a rooftop garden and a comfy lounge with computers and Internet.  The employees even did my laundry for me!

I discovered how wonderful the tapas were right away...We headed to a little cafe that evening where I ordered some croquetas and a dish of chicken curry, which were absolutely delicious.  I definitely had my fill of croquetas over the next few days.  Elizabeth had to translate all the menus and order for me at every meal since I don't speak any Spanish except for "si" and "uno".  English was definitely not as commonplace there as it in Copenhagen, which was a bit of a challenge for me but also really cool since I love listening to other languages.

My favorite part of the whole trip was probably going to a museum, which I know is very hard to believe.  However, this was the most fun and interactive museum I've ever encountered...so much so that I would gladly go many more times!  There were different exhibits where you could make your own music, watch your shadow play with bubbles, or mold shapes with some goopy material that looked like Play-Doh.  We weren't supposed to take pictures, but I snuck in lots because it is so hard to explain what exactly we did there!!

The day before I left, we went to some Arab baths with Elizabeth's friends, which was just what I needed!  It was absolutely amazing: there were different floors which each contained different types of baths to relax in, including a peppermint bath, a saltwater bath, a steaming hot bath, a freezing cold bath, and more!  My favorite thing was actually probably the steam room, which also smelled like peppermint.  It was almost hard to breathe because the steam was so thick, but it felt so good that I had to make myself leave after twenty minutes of lying in there.

After checking out a huge festival where we shopped amongst hundreds of vendors and bought delicious Greek food and crepes for dessert, I decided I better call it an early night since Elizabeth had to get up in the morning for her trip to Granada and I had to wake up at 4:00 AM to catch the bus to the airport!  Besides that ridiculously early morning, though, I would have to say that my first visit to Spain definitely lived up to my high expectations!

London!

After visiting London from the 17th-21st of October, I've decided that I absolutely want to live there someday!  I got into the airport at about 9:45 and after being hassled for about ten minutes by the customs department, met up with my friend Courtney in the airport!  Since she hasn't found a permanent place yet, we booked a hostel that night, which was really gross.  It ended up being 80 dollars though, despite being the grossest accomodations I've ever experienced in my life! However, since we were just sleeping there (I was sooo tired from traveling) it was perfectly fine.  

The next morning, we booked a much nicer hostel and started all of the sightseeing!  The first thing we did was go to the London Dungeon, which is basically a huge haunted house that takes about an hour and a half to walk through.  A bunch of actors were dressed up and walked around scaring people as you looked at the exhibits, which kept maki

ng me really nervous, so they definitely did their job well.  The best part about the whole thing was probably the ride at the end, where you are buckled in and you do a little free fall.  The picture of us on the ride is pretty funny.

My favorite visit of the trip, though, was probably Madame Toussaud's, which is the wax museum!  Each of the respective rooms were set up to accommodate the different wax characters.  For example, in the first room there were tons of celebrities that you could take pictures with while walking around on a red carpet.  There were other rooms that contained different sports figures or political leaders.  We took so many pictures with all of the wax people because they were so realistic.

Besides these two museums, we also did lots of other fun things everyday, such as meet up with some of Courtney's friends from culinary school for a big Chinese brunch; visit places such as Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square and the London Bridge; and even rode the London Eye!  The various meals we had, though expensive, were absolutely amazing and totally worth the price.  I would like to personally discredit the stereotype that all food in England is bad!  I was especially excited to try out the Indian food, which was very impressive.

I was sad to leave London on the 21st since I was getting used to where everything was in London and taking the metro all over the place.  However, I know I'll be back someday soon since I loved everything about the city, especially the British accents!!

Brussels/The Hague/Amsterdam

Last week I went on my study tour to Brussels, The Hague and Amsterdam, which was so much fun!  The majority of our time was spent in Brussels since the EU has most of its dealings there.  It was very cool getting to meet with representative from te Common Foreign and Security Policy, the Danish ambassador to the EU, the European Commission, NATO and the European Parliament just to name a few.  We really got a first-hand look of the meetings and got to hear the perspectives of the people working there.  After intently listening and taking notes about what they had to say, we were always happy to have some delicious dinners and snacks: Belgian waffles, fries and beer...all the famous foods of Belgium!

At nighttime, Brussels has a lot of fun things to do.  There are so many restaurants to try, but whenever we walked down certain alleys, some of the men who tried to pull us into their respective restaurants were very sleazy.  One of them, who was about 35 years old, even bought my friend Becca a rose and made her kiss him.  Besides eating though, there are tons of bars and clubs open all night, and two of the nights in Brussels we went dancing at the Irish Pub, and I met lots of other Americans from a study abroad group that my friend from school (Shanthi) is studying at!  Unfortunately, she wasn't there but I talked to lots of people who knew her, which was exciting.

After Brussels, we headed to The Hague, where we had the most delicious dinner ever.  Our group leaders bought us tons of pitchers of wine, too, so we were all pretty happy by the time we left.  After dinner, we all went out to the bars together and had a good bonding experience with the whole group.  The next morning we went to the ICTY (International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia) and learned about some of the terrible crimes that had been committed in the former Yugoslavia and what they were doing to bring justice to the victims.  We were supposed to attend a case hearing, but unfortunately, it was cancelled for the day so we were all a little disappointed about that.

However, we got to head to Amsterdam a little bit early because of the cancellation.  There were definitely a lot of cool sights to see there, but I didn't have much time to do anything but eat dinner and go on the canal tour with my group because I had to catch my plane to London.  I had been planning to hang out with my friends for a while longer, but I'm extremely glad I played it on the safe side, since I ended up getting pretty confused in the Amsterdam airport.

Overall, though, my experience in Brussels and The Hague was so much fun and academic at the same time.  The only bad thing about it was how fast it all went by: we were shocked to wake up on the 17th and realize it was our last day!