Last Minute Touristy Adventures: Part One

A few weeks ago I made a list of all the things I wanted to do in Copenhagen before I leave. It wasn't too long, but was comprised of things that all take a long time and require proper planning. That is probably why I left them until the last minute. Since I only have a week left in Copenhagen (and had two when I started working on the list) I have begun to cross things off my list! Here's where I've been so far:

First on the list was Louisiana Modern Art Museum. I went last weekend with my friend Stephanie. After our visit I posted a blog all about it - check it out!

Next up was the Little Mermaid. This required help from a friend as well. If I make plans with someone, they are harder to cancel (obviously) so I end up actually doing what I wanted to. Andrea and I go to American together and are both in sororities, so we've known each other for a while. I asked her because I wanted to take pictures at the statue of my sorority hand sign, which is something only other sorority girls understand. She had already been a few times, but knew where it was so that was a huge plus. Everyone I've talked to said it was underwhelming, and I agree. It's good to go to, and if you don't go, people in the US will ask and you will look stupid. So I went. And now I can cross it off the list!

Between the sun (!!!) and wind, I'm glad to have taken a good-ish picture. 

With the Phi Sig hand sign no less!

After the Little Mermaid was the Christmas Market in Christiania. I didn't really know what to expect, but everyone was saying it was a great place to go, so Saturday I went with Scarlett! It was very interesting and so crowded! I would not recommend going on a Saturday, Danes don't understand how to maneuver crowds very well and were shoving everyone out of their way. I bought some great presents for my family and can cross some names off my list! So in all it was a productive adventure!

Christiania mugs! The three yellow dots are their symbol. 

So far these are the places I've been. I decided to skip the Carlsberg Brewery because I've already been to a brewery in Poland and don't want to spend the money for a tour of the same process. Tivoli at Christmas might also get cut, I don't have twenty dollars to spend on Christmas lights right now... But we shall see! I'm also planning on using my canal tour tickets this week with two of my friends, as long as we can find a time to go. Squeezing tourist adventures and finals in the same week isn't exactly easy... I'll figure it out!

- Devon

Skating!

For those of you who follow my blog on the DIS website you may not know that I am and always have been a figure skater! I started when I was about three because my dad played hockey and wanted his daughters to follow suit. Well Kristi Yamaguchi changed all that when she won Olympic gold and appeared on the Wheaties box, becoming my sister's idol. We dropped hockey sticks for figure skates and never looked back. My family became immersed in the world of figure skating. My mom drove my sister and I to countless competitions where she did our hair, made last minute adjustments to the dresses she sewed for us, cheered us on and helped put smiles on our faces when things didn't go well.

My sister, Robin, and I at one of our first competitions.

My friend Laura and I skating to Moulin Rouge in the ice show - we were no older than ten.

Skating in an ice show my junior year of high school.

Practicing senior year - I was so fast even the camera couldn't catch me...

I have lived through skating my entire life. In high school I went against mandatory sports to skate on my own, sacrificing the fun of being on a team for the thing I loved most. It definitely wasn't always easy - I'd see my friends laughing on their way back from a soccer game or walking to tennis practice together - but I still had skating, and that's all that mattered. By the end of my senior year I had passed my senior moves in the field and gold compulsory dances. My freestyle years were rather sad compared to those I spent working on ice dance, I only made it to the juvenile level because of three nice judges and my desire to want a solo in the annual ice show. I loved skating and went to the rink almost every day to skate on my own in the freezing cold. That was until college, when I went to the city with no rinks and traded skating for a sorority. I was on a synchronized team for a year, but wasn't in love and decided to pursue other interests. But skating still has a special place in my heart.

White Ice, my synchro team freshman year! I'm on the very right in the front row.

Getting ready to compete - second from the right!

Before Thanksgiving, DIS announced the last student event of the semester: outdoor ice skating. I was so happy I immediately signed up and marked the date in my planner. Even if I don't have time to skate on a weekly basis, I will still bend over backwards to get on the ice and this was no exception. Friday night I met up with my friends and other students at the train station and we all went skating! The rink was a lot smaller than we thought and hadn't been cleaning in days. My figure skates my mom so wonderfully mailed me stayed safe in my backpack - I wouldn't dare ruin my skates, they cost more than you'd believe. Instead I traded figure skates for hockey skates. This was a very interesting adventure since I have never in my life worn hockey skates - not that I can remember anyway. There are no toe picks and no back edge, you're stuck in the middle of the blade. I met three other figure skaters also there to experience their love of skating in another country, and we all agreed this was very strange. We skated for an hour going around and around. We could have stayed all night. One plus of hockey skates - your toes never get cold because the front of the skate is square and doesn't cut off your circulation! That's always a good thing...

Me and my fabulous rental hockey skates.

The rink... it was interesting.

Overall I had an amazing time skating in Copenhagen. It was something I had hoped to get into all semester and it never worked out. To be able to skate made me so happy. In high school I would always say if I had a bad day at school, I'd have a good day at the rink, and vice versa. If I'm feeling down it always cheers me up, and if I'm in a good mood, I set the bar high and just keep pushing it higher. Sorry if this post was a little personal and confusing, but for me it was an amazing experience and I wanted to remember it well. And document the day I wore hockey skates, because that's not happening again any time soon!

- Devon

PS - the picture at the very top is me in first grade wearing my highly desired and begged for purple and green snow suit. Snow pants were so kindergarten. I'm on the pond across from my house growing up, where I learned how to skate. My front tooth was missing for about a year, I didn't loose a tooth until first grade and was desperate to loose another, so I yanked it out. Bad idea.

The Beginning of the End

For me it definitely doesn't feel like the end! I still have five finals to take and a week before I'm back in the US. But it definitely is the beginning of the end. My classes wrapped up this past week with pastries and cookies, my professors wished us good luck with whatever we may do next, and my classmates and I scrambled to make study groups for our finals.

I also know it's the beginning of the end because I went to the DIS blogger appreciation dinner. I've said this before and I'll say it again: DIS hosts the best dinners I've ever been to. Food in Copenhagen is amazing and this was no exception. It was really great to be able to talk to students who had been doing the same thing as me all semester! We mostly all agreed we'd be back at the computer blogging in one form or another after we return to the States. We talked about our writing styles, what we liked the most, if we were excited to return home - everything! I also spoke with representatives of DIS from the North American offices in Minnesota who were visiting for the week. It was great to connect with people who helped me out back in the summer, and talk about future projects back in the States. In all it was such a fun night!

Our dinner was paired with beers for each course. This was for the main course - it had orange to pair with our duck entree. 

Cherry beer went with dessert, it was very good but also really sweet!

I'm also noticing my planner is surprisingly full... which tells me it's time to go home! Between fitting in tourist attractions (still on the list: Tivoli, Christiania Christmas Market, canal tour...) and creating study guides and summaries of my courses in preparation of finals, I hardly have time to grocery shop! Or breathe - I guess that's where I'm supposed to say breathe. I am so looking forward to seeing my family again and going home, but I kind of want to take a minute and do NOTHING. According to my calendar this time should arrive a week from Sunday when all my friends have already left. Unfortunately in Denmark nothing is open on Sundays, so I have reserved that day for serious packing. In August it took me about three hours to fully pack everything and make sure I hadn't forgotten something, and I don't expect this to take much longer. Maybe I'll go for a walk...

In other news I only have 65 kroner on my grocery store card as of this morning. This is the equivalent of $12. It looks like I will be living off peanut butter and jelly for the next week, as well as buying sandwiches for lunch... Yep, it feels like the beginning of the end.

Example #1: I bought a turkey sandwich from Sandwich Pigeon 

today because I ran out of peanut butter. It was so good.

I can't say I'm ecstatic to leave, I'm not. I have a lot of friends here I probably won't see again for a long time, and I will miss my wonderful professors and everyone at DIS who has been so helpful. But I am so excited to go home and see my mom and have my own room and bathroom, a kitchen I don't have to share with thirty people and four weeks of no classes! All I have left are exams, and then I'm home bound. So yes, it definitely the beginning (if not the middle) of the end, and that's ok.

My Visiting Family

I haven't talked about my visiting family a lot, have I? Well that's a bummer because they are some of the most amazing people I have met. To break it down there is Hanne and Jacob, the parents, and they have three children: Karen, 12, Emil, 10, and Johannes, 8. They live south of Copenhagen in a neighborhood with lots of kids and young families and there are always kids playing at the house. I share my family with Katherine, a junior at Trinity College in Connecticut, who is studying child development and wants to be a speech therapist!

What makes my family so wonderful is how close they are. Hanne and Jacob are both teachers, and they met when Hanne noticed Jacob at a party and worked up the courage to call him! I was very impressed by this because I have never done that. The kids are all really close in age, and the other families in the neighborhood also have kids that old, so everyone plays together at each others houses and in the street. But what makes the family unique is their youngest son, Johannes. Johannes makes me smile every time I see him. Although he has Downs Syndrome and is nonverbal, he says so much! My favorite day was when he played outside with paper towels to see them blow in the wind. He is very particular about textures and love to crawl in your lap.

Learning about how their family works with having a child with disabilities has been eye-opening. I learn a lot through my medical classes about the disorders and how they happen, but there is also the community aspect to health, and the ability to understand families and how they function. To be able to see this through my visiting family has given me an experience I could never even have imagined. I am so sad to be leaving them on the 19th, they have been fabulous.

My advice to someone thinking about signing up for a visiting family is to go for it! You get paired based on interests and they do a great job. Katherine and I both love kids, and this has been a wonderful experience. And beyond just having a family, you get to go places you probably wouldn't go otherwise. I went to Dyrehaven for a picnic (read about it here), Tivoli for Halloween, the DIS Christmas Lunch, as well as many dinners at their house and a trip to the ice cream shop! It was so much fun to get a break from my student life and enjoy being with other people. I will miss my family so much, but thankfully they are driving me to the airport, so I'll get to say a proper goodbye! I know my experience at DIS is unique because of them, and I am so grateful!

This is the one picture I have of my family! I took it on our trip to Dyrehaven, they were searching for geckos!

- Devon

A Package!

Parents: listen up! When your son or daughter is away at college, and especially when they are across the world studying abroad for the semester (or year!), what will make you number one on the best parents ever list is quite simple - send them a package! Honestly nothing cheers me up more than getting a package from my mom. It doesn't even have to be a huge box with tons of things. Even something as simple as a note and some snacks will do!

Today I got an email from the DIS front desk saying I had a package. My mom had told me she was mailing some things, but I thought it would take a week or two for it to arrive. It took four days! She mailed it on Thursday and today is Monday and I'm halfway around the world! Trust me, she sent it the cheapest way possible too. Inside was a stuffed animal for my visiting family, and ten of the most amazing snacks in the entire world. Chocolate Peppermint Stick Luna Bars. I'm not sure why I have such an obsession with these, but I do. I eat them every morning for breakfast at school and have really missed them this semester. My mom has made sure to mail me some and brought some with her in October, but I've had to resort to eating cereal some mornings...

They're just so good, I have to ration them!

To keep this short, this package made my Monday SO much better. It's a little sad knowing I only have four more days of school. As much as I'd love to go home right this second, I know I'll also truly miss so many things about Denmark. Thinking about this makes me sad... time for a Luna bar!

- Devon

A Trip to Louisiana

If only I was in New Orleans right now! It would be a bit warmer I think, but sadly is very far away. No today I went to Louisiana Modern Art Museum in Humlebæk, which is north of Copenhagen on the coast! They had some fabulous art pieces and amazing views of Sweden. 

My love for art, especially beginning in the 18th center and forward, began in high school during my final trimester senior year. I was required to take five classes, and needed one more to meet the requirement (read between the lines: serious senioritis). The academic dean gave me two options: biochemistry and art history. Not wanting to work hard, even as a lover of science, I chose art history. I honestly believe this was the best decision of my high school career. I learned so much from that class and gained a huge appreciation for visual art (I have always been a fan of theater). Some of the pieces below are by artists I studied that trimester. So thank you to Mrs. Wheelden, my teacher, who taught me to love the arts! 

Pieces by Giacometti - known for his lengthy sculptures

The museum was designed, I'm assuming, in the sixties as it has a very unique shape. Most of it is underground to allow space outside for sculptures. I especially liked the special exhibit, but unfortunately that was the only one you couldn't take pictures in. It was about Cobra, an artist group established in Denmark in the 1940's that focuses on the innocence of children and how they struggle to achieve power and independence in our society. It was interesting. Most of the art looked like children's pieces, but had something else to them that made them look angry. I had never thought about the concept before nor had I seen anything like it, so it was worthwhile. 

Kandinsky - my high school art teacher's favorite expressionist painter.

Outside the museum you can see Sweden across the water! I wish I had been able to go earlier in the semester as the trees would have been gorgeous. Now they are without leaves and kind of sad, but it was still a great view! I liked that the museum wasn't all pictures and paintings, but many sculptures too. That's one thing I like about modern art museums compared to traditional art galleries, there's a 3D aspect to the visit. My favorite was a glass sculpture that looked similar to a Christmas Tree. It was so sparkly in the sun (yes, we had sun today!) and made me happy for the holidays. 

Very Danish - an entire sculpture of bicycles!

Besides checking something off my list I haven't done yet, this visit also means the start to the end. I planned a bunch of trips and activities for myself during the last two weeks I'm here to keep my busy and make sure I go out and do things and not just sit in my room studying. So far it's working. Later today I am going to visit my friend Scarlett who is playing piano at the mall here in Copenhagen. And of course I'll take pictures!

Make sure to keep checking for new posts, I will of course talk about everything I do here!

- Devon

Julehygge!

'Tis the season at DIS for group projects and papers, tests and all around academia. I can't lie and say I've been doing fabulous, exciting, and touristy things this past week, because I definitely have not. Instead I took my final test before exams, presented a group project in my medical ethics class, turned in my journal entries and planned out my last two group presentations due next week. So much work!

But I also took time this week to make a list of things I want to do before I leave Copenhagen (in 18 days!). Here's what I came up with:

• Christiania Christmas Market
• Carlsberg Factory
• Louisiana Modern Art Museum
• The Little Mermaid
• A canal tour
• Tivoli at Christmas

Before I go on, I know, it's pathetic I haven't been to the little mermaid yet, but if you knew how hard it was to get to her, you'd understand! She's all the way out by the water, not close to where I live or DIS at all. But I promise to go see her (and I guess say goodbye!). Hopefully this Saturday I will be able to go up the coast to Louisiana. I've heard it's a fantastic art museum and the featured exhibit looks fabulous. I was never into art until I had to take art history the spring trimester of my senior year of high school. We looked at the late 1700's to the early 2000's and it was the best class I ever took (until college). I now have a huge appreciation for modern and contemporary art and will be really sad if I don't make it there by the time I leave.

I have some of the others planned (around all my group projects, of course) and will hopefully be able to cross everything off the list by the time I board the plane to America on the 19th. Some of my friends are leaving earlier than me, but I'm glad I'm staying here for one final weekend after exams to make sure I do everything I want to! 

And to go with the title, here's a peak at what Christmas is like in Copenhagen. 

The streets are lined with lights, garland and hearts...

And the stores start selling Scandinavian Snuggies. 

Wish me luck with my list!

- Devon