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...