Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Busy Busy Bee

That would basically explain why I have been neglecting the blog! Classes have finally started up for real, and it's proven to take up a lot of time. They like to have about 2.5 hour long classes with one or two breaks in between. I just started one GLOBE course called Strategic Management. It's taught by a guy who got his degree from MIT. I think he's really laid back at times, but he likes to talk...A LOT. He also likes to talk about himself. I know he is sharing his experiences with us, but sometimes they don't seem as relevant as others. But enough complaining! I'm just glad I finally have a purpose here in Copenhagen! For awhile I felt pretty useless. I thrive on being busy and on the go.

I've been here for a tiny bit over a month now, and I am feeling quite at home. I've taken 4 different classes at the gym, and they're all taught in Danish. Somehow, I managed to make a fool out of myself! I'm pretty proud, haha! As I will mention time and time again, I am learning how to cook. So far I've made couscous..which didn't turn out as I planned, beef picadillo, stir fry, pasta with meat sauce...yep. Today I went to the "China Town", I'd like to call it China...corner with my neighbor Solbi. It's just a few stores, but it's enough for me to get my Chinese food fix. Although my mom taught me how to make dumplings and steamed buns from scratch this summer, it is way too complicated to make here! So I found some frozen ones!! I made some vegetable steamed buns tonight, by using the microwave. It actually turned out decent!

Another exciting update: I've booked my flights to Italy and Vienna!!! (Downside, we haven't booked hostels...so I could be homeless? lol) I'm going with four others to Italy for our midterm break in October, we'll be there for about a week, and then fly to Paris for 2 days, and return to Copenhagen! I am also flying to Vienna at the beginning of November with Jenny for a weekend trip. We also have our first study trip coming up on the last week week of September to Berlin. There's just been so much excitement!!

This weekend we are having another common dinner, and I'm part of the group going to Sabrina's house. We are going to have some delicious Polish food! And apparently I am helping Phoebe make fried rice. She doesn't want to take all of the blame if it turns out bad! Hopefully we'll do alright. Maybe this will be the weekend I finally go to Louisiana Museum of Art. It's supposed to be one of the top places to see while we're here!

A month has gone by so fast, and I can see how time will fly by this semester. Next thing I know, I'll be on a plane back to the States! But I won't think about that until the time comes. I hope everyone back home is doing amazing!

New Pics

Hej Hej!

Monday, September 1, 2008

New Information!

Well, my whole building just had a meeting with the inspector and housing department and I found out some new information! Don't use the address I put on my little info. cards I handed out at the party. I have 2 separate addresses to use for packages and letters.

For postcards/letters:
Jamie Yang
Peder Skrams Gade 23, rm 403
1054 København
Denmark

For packages, or as they like to say, parcels I'll have to get back to ya'll. They can be sent to the tie shop downstairs...so I'll ask the inspector tomorrow.

EDIT:
For packages:
Jamie Yang
c/o Søren Skifter A/S
Peder Skrams Gade 23
1054 København
Denmark

While I'm at it, I'll give a little insight as to what's been going on. Most classes started this week, unfortunately, the system here is a little...frustrating. Many of the classes that are actually still open conflict with my GLOBE classes, like the one I was originally signed up for. So I dropped that one, added another one that doesn't even have a schedule posted, and I've been to the International Office 3 times now. Each time I've been there for over an hour because there is only one person helping all of the undergrad exchange students with their courses and everyone is having issues. I decided to just show up to a class at 8am this morning that I'm on the waitlist for to see if the professor could add me. I think he will, but I'm not sure if that really works here in Denmark. I really enjoyed the class and the professor because it's about International Management, which is exactly what I need!

Like the business classes back home, CBS focuses on group work, so in both of my classes today I already have groups. It was cool finally meeting some other exchange students. My group in International Management had 2 students from Germany, 1 from England, and 1 from Spain. It was easy to get along with them right off the bat. The classes here are about 2.5 hours long, but we get 10 minute breaks...usually 2 I think, but I got dismissed early from both classes. This may sound weird, but I really enjoyed finally going to class! Even though there is so much to explore in Denmark, I have an entire semester, but it's nice to get back into the school mode. I feel like I'm finally doing something productive!!

In other news, I've been trying to plan trips, and so far we have the obligatory GLOBE study trips to Berlin and Brussels. Berlin is the last week of September, and Brussels is in November. I plan on meeting my big sis from KKG in England, as well as a friend from Taiwan last summer who lives in London! I'm also planning to go to Italy during our midterm break in October. Nothing's been set in stone, but hopefully it will be soon so I can still book cheap flights!

Hej Hej for now! (Pronounced Hi hi, that's bye in Danish! lol)

More pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/jsueyang/BuddiesAndMuseums#

Saturday, August 30, 2008

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!

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Pics

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

Saturday, August 23, 2008

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!

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

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.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

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.