This week was the first full week of classes, but I don't even feel like I'm really in classes yet. There are no classes on Wednesdays (instead, you attend class sessions outside of the classroom -for instance, going to a museum or a film viewing). In addition, the DIS program does a really great job of fulfilling their "Copenhagen as your home, Europe as your classroom" slogan, as many of the classes have academic and cultural trips integrated into them. However, the classes are much longer than I am used to at Gettysburg. For anyone who has had class with me before, I'm sure you can guess how a two-hour class has been going for me. I am proud to report though, that I have not fallen asleep yet!
The classes that I am taking this semester are Human Health and Disease (my "core" course), Neuroscience of Fear, Holocaust and Genocide, and Human Trafficking from a Global Perspective. I know what you're thinking: depressing much? My goal for the semester though was to try to take courses outside of the science realm, and just learn about world issues that I really know nothing about -you know, "expand my horizons." So far I've enjoyed most of my classes (although Neuroscience of Fear is actually turning out to be a lot harder, and a lot less interesting than I had anticipated...we'll see how that turns out!). I had to go to a movie for Human Trafficking (no, it was not Taken) though (on a no-class Wednesday), which did leave me a tad unnerved and a bit scared to walk through a foreign city in the dark. But other than that, all is well in the academic arena!
On the subject of Wednesdays, I should probably elaborate on how we decided to spend our free day (before I had nightmares about being smuggled across the border). If you haven't noticed, my friends and I have a slight obsession with all things bakery related in this country, so we decided to find the elusive "St. Peter's Bakery" that our friends who had traveled to Copenhagen in past semesters raved about. They have a special deal on Wednesdays -cinnamon buns for the same price, but twice the size! After a brief debate as to whether or not we should split the pastries, we quickly realized how ridiculous of an idea that was and each delighted in our very own, delectable St. Peter's cinnamon bun. I will most certainly be venturing back to this wonderful place to sample more (including what appeared to be a home-made Pop-Tart and danishes of all sorts). It's a good thing we do so much walking in this city!
Following our cinnamon bun adventure, my friends and I attempted to start planning some trips, including spring break. We realized almost immediately how dependent we have been on our parents and that we really knew nothing about making travel arrangements. Frustrated with our incompetency, we gave up and since then have been wishing that somehow we will magically have a flight to Spain arranged for April that fits our budget. More on that soon.
The longer I am in Denmark, the more I am enjoying myself here. At first, I was very hesitant that Gettysburg required us to live with a host family, because the idea of that was very nerve-wracking. I distinctly remember the first few days, my friends and I were sitting on a bench in Central Station at the end of the day. My one friend said, "Can we just sit here for awhile so we don't have to go home and feel awkward longer?" So, we all happened to "miss" about 5 trains headed towards our home stays. Just yesterday though, we all admitted that it really was great to go back to a host family. Not only does it truly help you get immersed in the Danish culture, but it is so nice to come home after a long day in the city, and have a dinner prepared, a family to hang out with, and in my case, an unlimited number of Friends episodes to watch, courtesy of my host families 1000+ movie and tv show collection.
This past week in Copenhagen has been frigid, to say the least. While Langhorne and Gettysburg have been experiencing a sultry 60 degrees in February, it has been below freezing (or in the negatives, now that I am fluent in the Celsius scale) every day, and has snowed twice! (Denmark usually does not get a lot of snow). I have started to wear cardigans over sweaters and multiple shirts at once. Tomorrow, I will most likely be doubling up on socks, and I'm planning on investing in a European-esque scarf and sweater. By the way, if you haven't figured it out already, I stick out like a sore thumb in Europe. Everyone wears black. I, on the other hand, walk around in a beige parka and a white hat that gives me the nickname, "snow bunny."
This weekend, I decided to stay in Copenhagen because pretty soon, I will be traveling most weekends of the semester. On Friday night, a handful of Gettysburg students met up in the city, which as usual was an eventful experience. Seeing as it was probably 10 degrees F, we were all wearing our winter jackets, scarves, gloves, the whole deal. Thankfully, most places have coat-checks here at the entrance. It is a pretty simple idea: check your coat, get a number, turn in the number, get your coat back. Mikaela though, decided to throw a twist in this efficient system and lost her number. Apparently, you cannot get your coat back without your number, even if you have ID in your pocket to prove it. The coat-check girl (who needless to say, did not like us very much) told us we would have to wait until closing at five to pick it up. This did not go over very well with us, and thankfully, after speaking to the manager, we were able to retrieve her coat held captive. In celebration of being able to take the 3:18 train home (trains only come once an hour) instead of the 5:18 train, we decided to indulge in a late night snack- a famous Danish hotdog. These are seriously the coolest hotdogs you will ever see and we had been dying to try them for quite some time now. They are very long and thin, and the bun is only in the center part. Whatever toppings you want in it, are squirted inside the bun. It was delicious! (Cross country team- I promise I have been running and will not come back 50 pounds heavier).
On Saturday, I took a tour of the Carlsberg brewery/visitors center with a couple of friends. Carlsberg is the beer that Denmark is known for. We saw the largest collection of beer in the world, with hundreds of different unopened bottles from different countries, how they make it, and learned about the history of this European tradition. The best part of the trip though was definitely the horse stables, where we saw the biggest horses I have ever seen in my life. I'm still not exactly sure why they had stables there. I kind of "skimmed" through the informational portion of the tour. It was here that we met Marcon. While petting Marcon, he decided that my jacket looked like a nice snack. At first I thought he was just giving me a kiss, but then I noticed that he was actually eating me! We asked some young Danish children to take our picture, and they found it hilarious that I was Marcon's number one choice for lunch. The tour ended with two "free" (aka included in the price) beers at their classy bar that made us feel way too young and underdressed to be there. And I'll be honest, being college students used to drinking beer that bears more of a resemblance to water, this beer was actually quite good.
I know that this post is getting unbearably long, but I promise I am almost finished (Mom, you wanted to hear about everything!). Today, I went with my host family to their nephew's birthday party, where I got to experience how a birthday is traditionally celebrated in Denmark. Unfortunately, I woke up this morning feeling very under the weather and had a terrible headache and sore throat (I'll be fine, Mom). My family gave me the option to stay home, but I decided it would be a worthwhile cultural experience, popped a few Advil, and I was off. Now, there was very little English spoken at this event. My host family would try to talk in English a little bit, or translate occasionally, but being with their family, it was probably natural for everyone to be speaking in Danish. The birthday festivities go something like this: rolls are served, with some choices of different spreads to put on them. There was also a small plate of cookies/crackers (I'm not exactly sure which one they actually were). The whole time I just sat there wondering if that was the only thing that would be served. I didn't have lunch before we left, because when I think of a family gathering, I associate it with a huge bowl of Grandma's cavatelli and every possible carbohydrate you could imagine on the table. Not wanting to sound rude and ask, I debated back and forth as to how many rolls I should eat to hold me over until dinner. Then though, a birthday cake was served, followed by a plate of some candies (chocolates, gummies, etc.) and chips. One of the family members was explaining to me how this was very traditional. "We eat a lot of food on birthdays! We don't normally eat like this!" I immediately thought of our two-hour long Servo sits at school, all-you-can-eat cereal and dumplings, and every birthday party I've ever been to, and just laughed to myself. It really was an interesting experience! When we got home, I played in the snow with my host-sisters, who were beyond thrilled with the couple of inches they received. And that basically sums up my week! And, it's only 11:00!
Next week, short study tour to western Denmark!
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