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!