Friday, May 24, 2013

Back "home"

Well, I've been back in America for almost a full week now. Weird.

Coming home was a mix of emotions. Relief, sadness, happiness, confusion, denial, and a bit of gloominess. I'm still not over the hump. I knew coming back would be hard and was right. It's a big adjustment.

 I compare everything to Copenhagen ("The people looked so much prettier." "They don't use coupons in Denmark").

I always think of my host family and Espergaerde. They really are a second family to me.

It's really difficult to explain to people where I was the last four months. They just ask, "So, what language do they speak over there?" or "What was your favorite part?" I wish they could understand, or that I could somehow let them understand what an experience it was for me. It wasn't just some sort of a travel trip or a vacation. It was more.


Some life updates:

  • Got my horizontal Ohio driver's license. 21!
  • Turned 21 on Monday May 20. Finally :-)
    • Had a nice dinner at The Melting Pot with my parents, grandparents, and Emily May's family.
  • Dad took me to New Jersey and Philadelphia
  • Finished unpacking from Denmark. Started packing for Cedar Point.  

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

"See you later"


 Every time I think of Friday I start to cry a little. Here are some pictures from today and yesterday.

I think that may have been my last time on the train. That's my "sad, confused, and upset" face.  

I went into the ocean today. It was quite cold. I finally did it though. I touched the water. 

Signe's jumping lesson today. Tiger finally made it over. :) They look great together. 

Me and my new best friend Muffin. She is a Jutland horse and is new at the riding school. This has always been my favorite type of horse: big and palomino colored.  

I braided her mane for a solid twenty minutes. She was so sweet and let me do it. 

 My going away party :( But this picture is fantastic :)

Eating desert and chatting at the party

Me, Liz and Jen. Yay! 

Gitte made a delicious dinner. Note the meat on the salad is llama meat. It was yummy. 

Gitte with the dinner she prepared and the personalized oven mitt from Italy. This is a nice picture.  

In Copenhagen today, I saw the Queen's guards marching. I had to take a picture of the clarinets and how they haven't memorized their music. The Hilliard Darby Marching Band looks better. Just saying. 



Monday, May 13, 2013

Busy Busy Bee

Long time no write.
My friend Gretchen came over for several days. We went to Amsterdam together for two days and one night and then I showed her Copenhagen with Miaja and Liesje. (It's hard to show a city that you know so well because you don't know what is considered cool or exciting to someone else). Amsterdam was a lot of fun. I hope to go back there sometime soon because it was such an energetic and neat place to be.
When I get more time, I will write more about it. I need to do other things first.
For now, here are a few pictures.

Elephant at the Copenhagen zoo

FaMa, Julie and FaFa at the zoo

Gretchen with a stuffed animal

Family picture. Ten points if you find me. 

Feeding the Highland Cattle 

Me and my new friends

Grethcen feeding the Highland Cattle

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Can't Top That.

Yesterday was great. I really mean that.
  • Caught the train just in time
  • Did a little shopping in Copenhagen
  • Got a 10kr coffee and chocolate croissant from Studenterhuset
  • Got out of class early 
I was enjoying the sunshine by sitting by the fountain in Gammeltorv, reading a book on my iPad. I look up and I see Ulrik, Julie, Pernille and her mom. It was a dream come true. I was so shocked and extremely happy to see them. I was expecting them to call me and we would meet up somewhere. They came into Copenhagen to see my photojournalism exhibition.  Everyone really liked it. I was so happy for that, because I was afraid maybe Pernille wouldn't like the photographs. When she read the synopsis that I wrote, she almost began to cry. Me too actually. I was so happy. 

Signe and Gitte arrived and they also liked my photos. We went out to eat at a place down the road. We sat outside, next to a restaurant called Nova but I'm pretty sure we technically ate at an Italian restaurant because the menus did not say Nova.  

We had a wonderful family dinner. It was another moment when I was extremely happy. I ordered the tortellini and a Sex on the Beach. 

P, me and Julie went out to Dalle Valle for drinks afterwards. It was conveniently happy hour so we were able to get 2 drinks for 100kr. I loved my Mai Tais. 

As we were leaving Copenhagen, it was funny how I knew more about navigating us home than P or Julie. Like, I knew the train doesn't come to Norreport after 8pm and how the Helsingor train comes at Platform 1. 

I loved taking the train home with them, because it was so nice to sit and chat more. I feel like I've known them my whole life. 

Tuesday was an unforgettable day. 

Here are a few of my photographs from photojournalism:



Photos from last night ;)

Flip through my scrapbook

I made this scrapbook today and I shot a short 1 minute video flipping through the scrapbook. You can see pictures, receipts, maps, notes, cards, and flowers from my study abroad experience so far. ;) 

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Thursday through Tuesday. Fasten your Seat belt.

This is my catch up blog post. I had an extended break and now I need to catch you up to speed. I won't be able to tell you the color of my underwear for each day of the week but I can give you the CliffNotes version of my week. 
  • Thursday: Social Butterfly
    • Met Blake in the morning. We got breakfast at Cafe Pauldan. I got the Morning Special and loved it. That is the kind of bookstore/ coffee shop / cafe I want to someday open in America. 
    • Met Miaja in afternoon. I ran into her while sitting at DIS. We had a lovely chat. I also chatted with my friend Liz. 
    • Dinner with Cheng. We ate dinner at a sandwich place on Norregade and caught up. We had so much new news to inform each other on. 
  • Friday: Debates and Explosions
    • Human Trafficking Debate: My group argued yes victims of trafficking should be granted asylum in countries. The debate went fine but it was a bit stressful preparing and organizing what each member in our group would say. Supposedly our professor wasn't pleased with the debate the class before us did, so maybe that lowered her expectations for our group. It was fine in the end.  
    • Lunch at Sandwich Pigen. I had a 60kr coupon because I filled out a DIS survey. What what!
    • Iron Man 3: I could write a lot about this. Here is the SparkNotes version: I met a woman from Bornholm waiting for the bus, we talked and I really liked how enthusiastic and out there she was. When we said goodbye, she said "Goodbye future journalist" in her airy sweet voice. Best way to say goodbye ever. I get off the bus, and realize I'm fifteen minutes walking from the theater  I get to the there at 4 instead of 3:45 like I was supposed to. The DIS group is inside, with my ticket I was supposed to pick up. I walk outside, defeated and call my mom to complain to her about how my life sucks (exaggeration). A girl runs up to me and asks if I'm with DIS. She says I have your ticket. Hallelujah  So I do end up seeing Iron Man 3. So many explosions in that movie. It reminded me of Terminator, with the demon fire people roaming around. If you like action movies, then go see Iron Man 3. I won't go see it again with you. 
    • I came home, and ate dinner and drank wine with my host family and Pernille's family. Story of my life: drinking wine. (exaggeration) 
  • Saturday: Roller coasters and Light up floors
    • Flea market: I went to the Studenterhuset Flea Market with my friend Jen. I bought a pair of earrings, a ring and 2 bracelets. We got coffee and walked around Copenahgen and talked. 
    • Bakken: I went to Bakken (the oldest amusement park in the world) with Jen. I had so much fun at Bakken. I wish we could've stayed longer / go back again. You'll have to tear my ride wrist band off me because I'm not cutting it off. 
    • Went out to Night Fever: Jen invited me to go out in Copenhagen so I did. We went to this 90s / 80s club called Night Fever. Besides the older crowd that was there, it was a really fun time. They had the classic light up dance floor, like from Saturday Night Fever.
  • Sunday: Spring Picnic and Ice Cream
    • We went to the DIS picnic: Gitte and I packed up the picnic basket, picked up Cheng and Susan and headed out to the DIS sponsored picnic. It was cool to see so many Danes mixed in with the American students so seamlessly. I spent the majority of the picnic catching up with Miaja. We just had so much to talk about. After the picnic, the four of us stopped for ice cream by the ocean. I really enjoyed that moment. Not only because of the delicious ice cream, but because of the company I was with, our philosophical conversation and just watching the black Labrador jump in and out of the ocean playing fetch with his owner
  • Monday: Final Monday and Concert
    • Last creative travel writing class. At the end of class, he gave us a disposable camera and told us to take whatever pictures we wanted and then he would develop the film and send us prints.
    • Lunch with Liesje at Cafe Paludan
    • Last international reporting class. 
    • Two Door Cinema Club Concert: I really enjoyed the atmosphere. It was a bunch of young hipster guys who knew how to have a good time. The music was so energetic and so everyone was jumping up and down and dancing. A fun time was had by all.  
  • Today (Tuesday): Final Tuesday and Sunlight
    • Last photojournalism class- I'm pretty sure real photojournalists don't print their photos on normal paper and then use spray paint glue to stick them onto a piece of cardboard. 
    • Last human trafficking class- today was the other half of the class debating whether prostitution should be illegal or legal. It got pretty heated and both sides brought up valid points. 
    • Most importantly, it's sunny in Copenhagen. (Shout out to a special little yellow dog who would love this weather- Yeah you Sunny Bear! Wuv you.)

Monday, May 6, 2013

Do you "heart" CPH?

You're invited!
I created a Facebook event and am excited about it.

If you want any souvenirs from either Amsterdam or Copenhagen, please communicate that to me soon. I'd be happy to get you something. Just tell me. :-)





I will someday write about my weekend and past week. I did do exciting things. I made a draft post with bullet points of things I want to talk about. That's a start. Just got to add pictures and more words. 

 I wrote in my journal today, "Yeah I really should blog about what I'm up to. But y'know it's just easier to write in here. I don't have to worry about posting pictures or censoring myself in my journal"
 :-)