A lot to do

I don't know that the beginning of a semester has ever been packed with so much stuff to do. Not only do I have a lot of readings and already at least one group presentation to prepare for, I'm still adjusting and settling in, and wanting to explore (which, I really haven't done, just right around the DIS area).

Anyway, Friday night there was a welcome party at a night club near DIS. I really regretted my decision to go when I walked outside and the wind was whipping around. But, I went for a little while, hung out -- it was a cool club and was fun for a while, I just wasn't really in the mood for it, so I came home and (might have) watched "House" or something. I stayed in this weekend too, doing reading, chilling with the host family. On Saturday night there was some big thing on TV -- some fundraiser with all the money going to African children I believe -- that I watched some of. But I was nodding off in my chair at only 9 o'clock, so I went and got ready for bed. Also, it should be noted that "Mamma Mia!" is apparently well liked here -- at least by my 12 year-old host sister Caroline. Abba is going to be stuck in my head. As well as various pop songs that I hear on the radio on the bus everyday -- those unfortunately being things like Britney Spears and Katy Perry.

Yesterday I also sacked out early. Tonight, our "survival Danish" class had a cafe night scheduled -- so everyone went and we had a choice of hamburger or a vegetarian dish, of which I got the former and it was gigantic, and we were encouraged to order our drinks in Danish. I had "en øl" (otherwise known as a beer) and didn't really enjoy it, but the dinner and conversation were good. A lot of the people are in my actual Danish class, so it was good to get to know some people better.

I might stay up till 2am here tonight, because the Jeopardy! online test is at 8pm Eastern. Which I didn't know about until today, but I signed up to take it, and if I don't do it tonight I'll just have to stay up for a later timezone tomorrow or the next day. So tonight it is.

Classes have started!

I've had four of the five classes I'll be taking (I won't have the fifth until Feb. 2), so let's break it down!

News Media in Transition -- this is my core course for the communications and mass media program. Seems like it will be interesting, and challenging. Along with this, we are doing a short study tour from Feb. 5-7 to Ødense and Århus, as well as a week-long trip to London and Oxford for the first week of our three-week long travel break from roughly Mar. 21 to Apr. 13.

Women, Art, Identity -- not sure if I'm cut out for the feminist interpretations of art and art history, but I'll give it my all. See some cool art along the way!

Danish Language and Culture -- Danish is hard. Our instructor phrased it that Danish is easy once you get the pronunciations down, but that's easier said than done. Each vowel has like four different pronunciations, plus there are three extra (æ, ø, å). And other consonants have special rules. For example, when "d" is used between two vowels it is the English "th" sound (though is actually sounds a lot like and "l") as in "Vestergade" -- sort of like "Vestergathe."

Danish Politics and Society -- my instructor for this seems really cool, but Danish politics are a lot more complicated than I think I ever imagined.

For every class, we do field studies as well. So I'll be visiting art museums, the headquarters of the Liberal party and the Copenhagen police department, as well as the offices of the major newspaper Politiken, and I think one for Danish class is to go to a soccer game at the national stadium.

There's going to be a lot to do.

I AM living in Denmark!

I made it! It's been hectic here, with orientation meetings all day on Monday, Tuesday, and tomorrow. Anyway, the flight arrived on time on Sunday (7:15am local), but then we waited for the DIS charter buses to come and pick us up, with all our luggage. A short drive and tons of paperwork picked up later, I was picked up by my host mother. She took me to get my public transportation pass, and then to my home here. It's a large apartment in Brønshøj (which I think in pronounced roughly "Bronze-hoi"). I unpacked, had something to eat, and then took a nap. I probably could have kept sleeping, but I didn't. Anyway... everything is kind of blurring together.


On Monday morning my host mother took the bus with me so I would know where to go and where the stop is for the ride back. After some speakers, we headed to the main DIS buildings, which are right in the center of old Copenhagen. After a short break there were more orientation sessions in the afternoon. I somehow managed to get a phone this day as well.

Tuesday: oh wait, that's today. I had a three hour "survival Danish" class, wherein we also went to a supermarket and had to find the Danish words for fruits and veggies. Had lunch again, then met up with the four others who were in my "scavenger hunt" group. We had to travel around to various locations and answer a couple of questions about each.

We stopped at the largest department store, Magasin, and then headed to Amalienborg Palace, which is set up like an octagon, with four large mansions and two cross streets. It's the winter residence of the Queen and the royal family when they are in Copenhagen (flags fly to indicate it, like at Buckingham Palace). The Queen's residence as well as another that is used by I believe the Crown Prince both had flags flying. It was odd to be standing in basically the courtyard of a royal residence -- there was only one guard outside of each, it seemed very odd.




We also passed by Nyhavn, where I took the stereotypical "This is Copenhagen!" picture. We waited nearby here for the "harbor bus" which is a ferry. We ended up getting on one that forced us to make the loop of the harbor, but we eventually got to the Royal Library, also known as the Black Diamond, for obvious reasons. Then it was over to Christianborg castle, which house all the branches of government. A lot of the building in the area are government affiliated.


Then a quick stop at some square of which I forget the name, and the Church which is the offical state church, where royal weddings and state funerals would take place.

Afterwards I picked up my books and lugged them all home. Right now I'm really paranoid about missing my stop, or losing my bus pass, or just getting lost.

My host mother wasn't home for dinner but her mother cooked (who speaks little English) and the kids were home. Caroline, the daughter, helped us all communicate. Watched the inauguration, had dinner and some conversation, put my schedule into iCal, and wrote all this up. Might check some news sites and go to bed, as tomorrow is going to be another long day...

I will be living...

With a mother and two children, aged 10 and 12. According to my host mother, it's about a 15-20 minute bus ride from DIS, which is awesome. If you want to get an idea of where I'm living and traveling to, Google map to route from Brønshøj, Denmark to Copenhagen. On the map to the left, the green arrow is Brønshøj, and you can see Kobenhavn (as the Danes would call it). It's about 3 miles distance.

Packing yet? Nope. I'm pretty well secure in that I don't really think I missed anything major that's going to keep me out of the country.