København med min Mor

As you may or may not know, last Sunday my Mom arrived in Copenhagen. I have two weeks off from school, so it was the perfect time for my Mom to come to Europe and get to know the place I have been calling home since August. My plan is to show her what I love about Copenhagen and Denmark, from castles to drinking tea with my Danish family; I want her to get a taste of my life here in Copenhagen.

Her first full day here it was nice and sunny, probably one of the warmest days we have had since the Fall. Due to this we spent our day walking around the city, showing her the football stadium Parken, where I take classes, city hall, Kongens Nytorv, Stroget, and of course the tranquility of sitting with a cup of hot chocolate at an outdoor cafe.

Though Skype is one of the best inventions for those who are far away from their family, it is definitely not the same. Thus the first full day was mainly spent just catching up on everything, followed by dinner with my host parents.

Tuesday the weather was a tad cold, windy, and rainy, so going to explore the Botanical gardens or something of that kind was out of the question. We ended up at the National Museum, learning about Danish days of old. I was very proud of my knowledge of Danish history when I was able to explain the exhibits beyond the simplified explanation that had been translated into English on the displays. After our museum adventure we decided to head back home to Allerød for soup, tea, and a movie.

Wednesday, despite it still being a little cold, we headed to Rosenborg Slot (castle). With its rooms full of royal history, the crown jewels, royal guards, the changing of the guard procession, and the extensive gardens, my Mom had an extremely “royal” experience.

Keeping to the royal theme, we headed to the royal tea house A. C. Perch’s. Knowing my Mother’s love for tea, I had made a reservation there weeks before for Ole, Birgitte, my Mom and I. This was a great experience. Stepping into the building one was engulfed in the scent of a plethora of different teas.

The four of us were so overwhelmed by the sheer number of different blends that it was a challenge to decide which to try. Ultimately we decided on Kronprinsesse Blanding (Crown Princess blend), Hvid Drømme The (white dream tea), and Gunpowder (a green tea).

Many finger sandwiches, cakes, scones, and three pots of tea later, the four of us headed home.

Today we plan to see Frederiksborg Slot (castle), and the adjoining gardens. I shall try to keep my blog up to date with pictures of our various adventures in Denmark.

Vi Ses!

Fiskerieventyr - Fishing Adventure - Helsingør

Det var en mørke og stormfuld morgen... en perfekt dag for en fisketur!

It was a dark and stormy morning...a perfect day for a fishing trip!

DIS arrangerer ture rundt omkring i Danmark som Esrum Kloster i efteråret. Disse er dejlige, fordi der er taget hånd om al planlægningen. Selvom 28 studerende havde tilmeldt sig denne tur, dukkede kun fire inklusive mig op. Jeg synes, at vi havde en bedre tid med færre mennesker, så det virkede godt for dem, der mødte op. DIS havde lejet en båd for hele dagen, og det var en vidunderlig dag på trods af skyer og regn.

DIS organizes trips around Denmark, such as Esrum Abbey in the fall. These are nice because all the planning is taken care of. Though 28 students had signed up for this trip only four, including me, showed up. I think we had a better time with fewer people, so it worked well for those who did show up. DIS had rented a boat for the day, and a wonderful day it was despite the clouds and the rain.

Dette er vores danske fiskerbåd med navnet sværd. Det var en flot båd med et venlig mandskab. Selvfølgelig var danske grundstoffer for fiskeri inkluderet... pølser og øl.

This is our danish fishing boat named swords. It was a nice boat, with a jolly crew. Of course, it was supplied with the Danish basics for fishing...sausage and beer.

 

Udsigten fra båden var ikke den bedste på grund af vejret, men man kan stadig se Kronborg Slot.

The view from the boat was not the best, due to the weather, but you could still see Kronborg castle.

Som det normalt er tilfældet med fiskeri, var det helt afslappende at være på vandet, selvom jeg savnede min bror, der er som regel den, jeg fisker med.

As is usually the case with fishing, it was quite relaxing to be on the water, though I did miss my brother who is usually the one I go fishing with.

Min første fisk i Danmark var selvfølgelig en sild. Selvom nogle mennesker på vores båd fangede torsk, fortsatte jeg med bare at fange sild, (som jeg lod andre tage med hjem).

My first fish in Denmark was, of course, a herring. Though some people on our boat caught cod, I continued to just catch herring. (which I let others bring home)

Det var mit fiskerieventyr! Og dette var mit første indlæg på både dansk og engelsk.

That was my fishing adventure! And this was my first post in both Danish and English.

Vi ses min kære venner!

'Til next time my dear friends!

Forår i København (Spring in Copenhagen)

Spring has arrived in Copenhagen! With the sun shining, and the ability to shed a few layers I am ecstatic for the change. This Saturday, the 2nd, the weather was particularly amazing, and thus the winter rational to stay inside was abandoned. A couple hours with my bike and the sunshine was a relaxing way to spend the afternoon. Since I am still less talented on a bike than most 3 or 4 year old danes, I did not join Ole this time on the forest paths, but I will, without incident, be able to go on such bike rides before I leave! (hopefully)

Despite my record, both in the U.S. and in Denmark, there were no torn pants or incidents with station wagons on this particular day. (though I did wear my already torn pants just in case)

Above is a little park hidden in the residential part of Allerød; a wonderful place to park my bike and rejoice in Spring coming to Denmark.

Hopefully Spring is really here to stay, and you will be seeing more bicycle adventures to come!

Vi Ses!

En Weekend Med Adriana!

My good friend Adriana flew in to Copenhagen from Lille, France (where she is studying abroad) for a long weekend from the 25th to the 28th of March. Believe it or not, it has been almost a year since we had seen each other. Of course we have talked in between but it still is not the same. We had an amazing, jam packed weekend and unfortunately it was over too fast!

From having Adriana and my host parents get to know each other, meeting up with friends in Copenhagen, strolling Stroget together, having coffee in amazing book cafes, going to Frederiksborg slot, and enjoying the beautiful weather by the canals; twas a great weekend. Here are some favorite pictures of ours.

It was so wonderful to have Adriana in Copenhagen!!

Vi Ses!

Lucky in Life

Too many of us take life for granted. Really and truly we do. I have grown up in a very loving, very supportive family, where I have never really wanted for anything (though I am sure at some stage I thought I wanted a pony). I never experienced any great tragedy in my life (and hopefully will not), and my chief concerns in life have been schooling related.

In school we read about great tragedies; the holocaust, Rwanda, the Yugoslavian conflict, Darfur, and many other instances which were marked as tragedies on the world scale. Yet these were distant, they almost seemed too extreme to be real, I knew no one who had experienced such things, and my life continued on in its pleasant way despite my emotional condemnation of the actions about which I had read.

Fast forward to my life from March 6-12, 2011. After having spent a couple days in Kosovo I was already seeing the effects of the conflict, from destroyed houses & businesses, to signs advertising for those missing from the conflict, my extra long flight due to the avoidance of Serbia and other indicators of tensions. Monday night I almost started to cry when two girls my age were telling me over dinner about walking for days, not knowing if one would be killed, in order to reach the relative safe haven that Albania was at the time. They told of horrific things they had seen along their way, as well as experiences of their friends (also our age) who saw and suffered unimaginable tragedies. I felt a sense of guilt, guilt that my life was seemingly perfect while others had to suffer through events that no one should ever have to.

By Tuesday I had started to internalize these feelings, turning these stories into further motivation for why I wish to go into world politics and diplomacy. At lunch I got the opportunity to talk to a wonderful Albanian lady named Arta. She talked to me about her experiences during the conflict, what she had been forced to witness, along with the fear that one has for the safety of one’s family and friends. She kept mentioning how lucky we were to be able to get a good education and have the opportunity to experience the world. Lucky to have, by chance, been born in a society in which nothing stands in our way from accomplishing our dreams. Moving on to other topics, our conversation eventually drifted to the traditional arts of weaving in Albanian culture. I told her that I would love to be able to see, and purchase some of these traditional weavings. My friend Beth was also interested in the possibility of taking home as a souvenir a traditionally woven article, such as those we had seen in the national museum.

When we finished lunch our new friend Arta grabbed Beth and I, hurrying us down the street to a place where we could acquire some of these pieces of art. Suddenly we stopped outside a little , slightly dilapidated place. She had explained on the walk that it was a local NGO for women maimed in the war, where they wove things in traditional Albanian fashion in order to raise money for things such as basic care, housing and things of that nature. Walking into the place on International Women’s day was quite special, for they were having a tea party with all the women of this organization. They were so excited to have us visit them, taking a fair amount of time out of their party to talk to us and show us their works of art. Speaking through Arta, who acted as our translator they told us of lost limbs, mutilations, and other forms of maiming which occurred during the war. Through Arta, we expressed our thanks for telling us their stories, and we selected a few items each to purchase. Before we left they told us that it means so much for other people, like Americans, to show interest in these women’s stories and what they are doing.

This visit really affected me, and I have been thinking about it ever since. Though I still feel a sort of guilt, I feel more of what Arta referred to as Luck. That I was lucky in life to be spared of such experiences and as such I have a responsibility to attempt to improve conditions for others in this world. We live in a small world. That is undeniable. Many of us are blessed to have been born into fortunate circumstances, but with that comes a responsibility not to be ignorant of others’ circumstances, and to strive to improve the situation of our fellow beings around the world. While we debate about what to wear for a night out, or worry about if we will get into the best graduation programs, we forget. But we should strive to never forget no matter what we do in life, for to forget entirely would be to lose purpose. These brave ladies of Kosovo taught me that, and for that life lesson I shall always be Thankful!