Interesting things I have noticed after being here a week now...

1) Mothers will leave their child in the stroller outside of a store while they do their own thing.

2) Their toilets have two ways you can flush, a light flush and.... well, a heavier flush.

3) They bike EVERYWHERE

4) You do not have to show a pass to get on a train it is just trusted that you have your ticket or pass. The Police will occasionally check the train cars ( it has not happened to me once and I ride atleast twice a day) it is a 600 dkk fine if you do not have a ticket though!

5) Open container law. There is none, and its great.

6) They don't have an equivalent word for "please"

7) The Danes are very quite people, but will talk to you if you initiate

8) Grocery stores are the hardest to navigate when you are unfamiliar with the language. They make me really nervous.


Through all these discoveries I am becoming more and more fond of this country and it's people and it's government as well, though, I don't think it would work in America, it works quite well here and everyone is happy!

Speaking of government. Today I went with my political rhetoric class (we don't have classes on Wednesday, they are open for field studies) went to the Parliament building to hear about the Social Democrat's party and their campaigning. It was quite interesting and extremely different from the way things are done in the US. They only have three weeks to do their campaigning....three weeks. They are not allowed to have commercials. And there are like 9 political parties. Like I said, very different but it seems to work out well.

My day starts at 8:30 am tomorrow with four classes back to back. I am jumping into my small Ikea bed and calling it a night.

live and learn

I am very sad to say that my weekend is over. This weekend was packed full of day trips and late nights out. I was lucky to go spend a few hours 45 min outside of Copenhagen in the quiet town of Elsinore. We wondered the cobblestone walking streets of the town and stopped for a little lunch and of course we had to stop at a deliscious bakery for some Danish danishes called wienerbrød

After our short visit to Elsinore we drove to the island where Kronborg Castle sits. Kronborg Castle was built in 1584 by King Fredrick the 2nd mainly to collect taxes from the boats sailing through the water between Sweden and Denmark. At the point where the castle sits, it is only about 4 miles away from Sweden by water. This castle is most famous for being the setting of Shakespeare's Hamlet which was created about a Danish oral traditon told during the 12th century about the Danish Prince Amleth (notice Shakespeare took the "h" from the end and put it in the beginning). The castle was beautiful, seeing that it was the first castle I had ever visited i was very amazed at the architecture and how I was actually walking the halls that Kings walked hundreds and hundreds of years ago. It was indeed an experience for me!

After an all day long trip my housing had a group pub crawl! About 50 American students raided some very interesting sections of town! we first went downtown Copenhagen to an Irish pub with live music that was very fun! From there we walked to the meat packing district an odd smaller bar with an interesting crowd. Finally, we walked through the red light district of Copenhagen, yes the red light district. Just the walk itself was, well, interesting to say the least. We ended at a club/ lounge-y bar with lots of dancing and music.

To see all my pictures from the tour visit http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2633497&l=62f05&id=13952602

rare sunny day.

Wednesday was full of waking and exploring. My group set off at 9:30am on a cold sunny morning to find our way around the city to specific sites and landmarks in Copenhagen. It was certainly beautiful! We saw Magasin (the citiy's largest department store), Christiansborg Slotsplads (a castle where the Danish parliament resides), we hopped on a harbor bus to take us to Amalienborg (the royal palace) where the Queen of Denmark resides and we were fortunate enough to see the guards change at noon.

^ clip from the ceremony that happens daily at Noon outside the royal palace for the changing of the guards.

Wednesday was exhausting and it was nice to go to bed early for some rest before the first day of classes on Thursday. Class are very different in Denmark, your grade is depended on a lot more than just test but participation and involvement and they are more project and paper orinted to get us immerged in the subject. I don't think it is a necessarily good or bad difference. Just different.

Tonight DIS has rented out a night club so that we can celebrated the start of our semester in Copenhagen....the Danes do love their drinks!

hej hej

Eurpoe as your classroom.

I am officially in Copenhagen safe and sound, still a little jet lagged but happy and just loving the city. But wow, it has been an interesting couple days and to say the least, very stressful.

To start off my trip I arrived here to find out that my luggage did not make my connecting flight in Newark. That’s not all though, I got a call on Friday before I left saying that the apartment that I was supposed to stay in had flooded due to a pipe burst. This was very unfortunate, but my program set me up in temporary housing. I was in a single room without much contact with other students. I was not a huge fan, but I figured I could stand it for a few nights. I come to find out that there was too much damage to my apartment for me to be able to move in. I talked to the housing coordinator and they were able to switch me in to a new housing situation that was more dorm like with lots of students. I moved again and my luggage arrived. I think that I am finally in permanent housing and I love it here! I have already met some really fun students. Moving twice and having no luggage for two days was not ideal but I managed.

I did try to make it through this mess with a smile on my face the whole time but it was definitely difficult and extremely stressful on me in a new country without a permanent home and no luggage. I am glad to say that those first days are over.

Enough about the bad things that happened, I am beginning to get a good look at Copenhagen as a city and it’s beautiful in its own cloudy, rainy way. The buildings are so unique, and the Danes are very friendly and fun people. My program is great and they are taking great care of us and making sure we know are way around and get to see a lot of the city.

Tonight was especially cool because the inauguration was on. DIS (my program) had it streamed on to a huge screen in an auditorium it was really cool to be able to be around so many Americans yet be in a foreign country to watch such an historical event. The Danish news was even there to catch some footage of the "young Americans" watching the inauguration


Here are som photos from the past few days!



Chicago for my last night in the States!










Obama inauguration in Copenhagen!













Tomorrow I am going on a scavenger hunt all around the city I will have some good Copenhagen pics soon!

ready.set.go

Because my life has recently become one adventure to the next, from school in Minnesota to summers in San Francisco and Most recently a study abroad trip to Copenhagen, Denmark, I thought it was necessary to start a blog. I want to share my stories and photos about my travels and my new experiences in the new places that I visit.

As of now, I am at home in Appleton with my family. It is nice to be home but not very interesting. Next Sunday that will change. I will be landing in Copenhagen, Denmark to begin my semester abroad. I will be living in an apartment in the middle of the city, going to school, and seeing as much of Europe as I can. Though it will be fun, new, and exciting, I will still be taking 15 credits to keep my 4 year graduation time on schedule.

I do not know, nor do I have a goal, as to how much I will be posing, but I hope that I find time to post enough to keep everyone updated!

Jenni