Tivoli

I've had a lot of extra time to just take care of some housekeeping and updating the blog as well as my personal journal. Unfortunately the vacuum is missing from our floor, so I haven't been able to vacuum yet! But I've done some other chores.

Last night I tried to make couscous. That turned out horribly wrong. I don't know where I went wrong, but it's just not as moist as it's supposed to be. I also got so flustered I forgot about spices, etc. so it's also really bland. I made the whole box, so I'll be living off of couscous for the next few days! I'll find a way to make it better. My stir fry has always turned out tasty though! It's included as part of the pics I posted on Picasa.

Other than cooking, I had a blast this week. We had a sports day, which included bocce ball, volleyball, soccer, and ultimate frisbee. My team lost 2, tied 1, and won at ultimate frisbee. We hustled for that win because it was our last event. At the end everyone just joined in one large game of volleyball.

On Wednesday we attended a reception for the release of our professor's book. Sabrina also played two piano pieces, which were absolutely beautiful! Afterwards they served finger foods and drinks. The reception actually took place at a brewery called Carlsberg. It had beautiful gardens, and the inside was really cool too. It was raining so I didn't go outside at all. The GLOBErs also made a trip to Tivoli on Thursday! Tivoli is an old, charming amusement park. It doesn't have huge roller coasters, but the atmosphere is nice, and it's fun to just walk around. We arrived around 7pm, and at that point there were free rides for an hour! I ran from ride to ride with a few people so we could make the most of the hour. We managed 5 rides! Later on I got some amazing hot cocoa because it was getting really cold. They basically melted a chocolate bar in milk, so it was really rich, and kept me cozy! I took some pictures at nighttime. I'm excited about my sister visiting because they decorate Tivoli for Christmas time.

Last night we had a casino themed party, but I am really bad at all of the casino games. The only game I know how to play is blackjack. We had a blast dancing, etc. One girl dressed up as a die! That was probably the fanciest costume, most people just wore dress clothes. Weck used gel in his hair and wore glasses to look like one of those greasy casino guys, and Stephen dressed up as a college kid going to Vegas. None of us were super creative because of time and money constraints, but we all had fun anyway!

On another note, I signed up for the gym here, and have managed to take the classes even though they speak in Danish. Maybe I can pick up some Danish from the exercise classes! They use the same system of classes I attended at home this summer, so I can basically follow along fairly easily. I'm sad I don't have a workout buddy here, but I've managed to motivate myself a little since I'm going to participate in the CBS (Copenhagen Business School) relay. Four people on each team, and each person runs 3K, so I need to make sure I dont' let anyone down!

I've posted a few pics from Tivoli and the casino night! Just use the link from the last post. That's all for now!

Pics

I finally uploaded some pictures! I'll put descriptions up later...I'm lazy.
http://picasaweb.google.com/jsueyang/SoFarInCopenhagen

I love the Danes

I have become fond of my small room. It's basically the same amount of room I had back at Granville, if the room was split in half. Our hall will have 9 people sharing 1.5 baths. But apparently we are in the penthouse of the building. I am right by the laundry room, so that's really convenient. Also, our shower is not in the kitchen like the other floors. It also has a ledge to keep water from getting all over the entire bathroom. I'm trying to come up with ways to decorate my room so it doesn't look like a prison. Let me know if you have any ideas! I just need to fill up one wall. I'll take a pic of my room and post it once I clean a little more.

This last week has been our first week of introduction. We had a scavenger hunt all around Copenhagen. Even though I haven't been a work-out-aholic, I am getting enough walking done here. My feet have been hurting at the end of each day! Then we were introduced with a 48 hour case competition. We were split into intercultural groups. I was with Weck, Victor, Sean, and Rachel. So, one other UNCer, 2 Danes, and one Hong Kong student. I really enjoyed working with them because they were the right mix of work and chill. The case competition wrapped up with the GLOBE welcome dinner and the announcement of the winners. The dinner was pretty nice for being held in the school. (Their campus has really cool design) It's interesting getting used to the culture because it is normal to have wine with professors and administrators. They served champagne, red wine, and white wine, as well as food! My team didn't win, but the team that did really deserved it. They won mp4 players. So maybe iTouch's?

I feel like I've already been here forever though. I've gotten used to using the Metro system and attempting to make food for myself. I'm pretty sure I've failed in the cooking department so far. I heated up frozen chicken breast put some carrots on top, and had a piece of bread for dinner one night. Yea. It's just difficult to find time to do some real cooking. I also don't have a lot of basic food items. But I'll work on it!

Until next time...skul!

Adjusting

Well, I finally made it to Copenhagen around 11am local time. I almost missed my flight from Munich to Copenhagen, it was complicated, but I'm just glad I made it. Munich is a confusing airport because they make you go through security again, even though I was in the same terminal, and hadn't left the airport at all!

I didn't have internet when I first got here, but we finally got it around 8 am this morning because the landlord had to come unlock each of our computers for us. It's been a little hectic since I've gotten here. I've made several trips to the grocery store, and the first time I went by myself I got lost for almost 2 hours. At least I got a lot of walking in!

This is our first week of orientation. Today we have a scavenger hunt around the city, and yesterday we had a Danish style barbecue in a park. The burgers and sausages were so delicious! But maybe that was because I was starving.

I'm finally settling in to my new place. It's quite small, but not as small as Peter's room. He lives in a closet. He basically lives in a smaller place than Harry Potter did...under the stairs. I haven't decorated at all since we're not supposed to use tape, and I don't want to poke holes in my pictures! I'll have to come up with something. As for now, I need to run some more errands before the scavenger hunt. And...the guy down the hall is playing some interesting rap/techno music..so I need to leave.

This Isn't the End...

It's just the beginning of another chapter in my life. I can't express how happy I was when my friends gathered together in a last hoorah before I leave. One of the highlights of my going away party was seeing my friends come together and talk like they've been friends for forever! I was nervous about my different groups of friends getting together, but it turned out to be seamless.

The weekend was absolutely wonderful, because it began before I even expected it too. Cameron told me we were going out for dinner and then going to spend the night at her house. Well, it started out like I expected, we went to Dockside, and went out to Rita's for ice cream. While we were sitting outside, Anna came to meet us. Cameron was distracting me by making me play games on her iTouch. All of the sudden I look up and April and Amanda were walking towards me! I couldn't quite process that fact, even when they were standing right beside me. It turns out they have been planning this before Cameron went to Malawi! They got a hotel room so we could hang out for the night and go to the indoor pool. I have never been surprised like that in my life, and I am eternally grateful for all of the planning put into the event. Apparently I made it really difficult to surprise because I plan too much.