Sunday is not my day of rest

My Sunday:
I woke up around 8:30, ate bakery bread and Nutella for breakfast with my host family. They told me to dress very warmly today because we'd be outside a lot. My host dad let me borrow some snow pants to wear, but they were too small. :-( My host mom asked my host sister if she had any warm clothes to let me wear and she let me wear some thick leggings and a sweater. I wore a total of 3 layers of pants and I suppose 4 layers of shirts (including my coat).
We went to Signe's riding stable to watch her ride Tiger. He's a very cute dark brown pony. He's big for a pony. His coat is cut very short so he has to wear a blanket as often as possible. Like all horses, he is obsessed with finding food. And like Ginger, he likes to go fast. He loves cantering (they call it galloping so I was a little concerned at first when they asked me to gallop) and jumping (Signe jumps over 1 meter). While they set up the jumps in the arena, I walked, trotted, and cantered Tiger. It was great to be in the saddle again and ride a energetic well behaved pony. Then we watched Signe go through her jumping course. Tiger refused one or two jumps but otherwise I was in awe at how good they looked together.

If you think this is high, imagine moving the white pole on top of the yellow one and then jumping that. It's crazy.  Over one meter high. 

The other girls from the stable came to sit with us and help Signe make the jumps higher. When she was done, I walked Tiger out. We stayed at the stable for another half hour or so and by the end of it I couldn't feel my toes. And I was wearing two pairs of socks!

Signe let me ride her pony, Tiger. Note his jumping bridle, his blanket on his back and his cuteness. 

We came back to the house. I regained feeling in my feet and ate some leftover pizza for lunch. Wasting no time, we set out for Kronborg Castle, which was just five minutes away. It's in the town that my train makes it's last stop in, Helsinger. It's also known as Elsinore, Hamlet's castle, from Hamlet. The perform Hamlet every August in the castle's courtyard. How cool would that be?
We walked through the castle and I took lots of pictures. There's so much history. I liked how my host family would point out things and explain the significane of it, like the C4's above the doorways mean Christian the 4th was the King who designed that room. He loves his name.  I hope to go back to Kronborg again.

Me with my host family!!

The C4= King Christian IV

We came home, watched TV, I did a little homework, and we ordered Chinese food. I asked for Sweet and Sour chicken and when they opened up all of the boxes, they thought it was some sort of extra dish of shrimp they had accidentally given to us. I explained that it was just my chicken. My host father got duck, and I tried a little piece. It was fine, tasted like chicken.
After dinner, we spent the evening watching the handball game of Denmark vs. Tunsia. I'm learning to like handball.
Today was a good day. I'm starting to feel more comfortable around my host family and making jokes around them. They commented on how I've quickly learned the sarcastic Danish humor. Yay!

Driving in the car, I could't resist this sunset. 

First Saturday

This morning, we had Danishes from a bakery for breakfast. At 12:30 I caught the train and went into Copenhagen with Cheng. We got there early and so we walked around the shops before 2pm. We had to board a bus and go on a five minute ride to the place where we applied for our Danish Residence Permit. There was 1,000 of us and they were especially open on Saturday for all of us. We took a number, (I was 444) and sat down to wait for our number to flash up on a screen. We waited about 30-40 minutes. When it was my turn, she asked for my paperwork and it took 1 minute. Then they took my picture and my fingerprints. Then, we took a bus back to Norreport. I went to Tiger and bought a 5 subject notebook, a pocket calendar and a multi colored pen. I can't resist going to Tiger every day. Haha. I took the train home no problem and walked back home without my map. Yay.

I chilled at home, did some homework, wrote important dates in my planner, and took it easy. Around 7, my host parent's friends came over. They brought their two younger children too. They didn't know a lot of English, but when I spoke to them, they seemed to know what I mean (except when they ate a buckeye, because they had never tried peanut butter before, and I joked that I poisoned one. That had to be translated into Danish.) My host father offered me white wine. I had a small glass of dry wine that I didn't love and then a glass of California wine that was sweeter. We ate chicken wrapped in bacon, salad, potatoes, and green beans for dinner. It was a feast. For desert, my host family's friends made creme brule. At first they told me it was pudding but then when I saw the blow torches I figured out it was creme brule. I think they weren't sure how to say that in English. They called them torches and not blow torches. I helped burn the sugar on top. We had desert wine with the creme brule. It was so sweet!

Some random things I've picked up, observed, noticed, while I've been here:

• Danes don't eat peanut butter regularly
• Danes love Nuttella
• Danes are ranked as the happiest people in the world but if you ask them, they will disagree and complain about the government and taxes.
• Handball is the most popular sport
• Danes love the X factor
• Rihanna is very popular here
• Fighting with your boyfriend or girlfriend happens in any country or culture
• Everyone says they will lose weight in the new year (this surprised me because Danes have no weight to lose)
• The stoplight will turn yellow before it turns red or green. It transitions.
• Pancakes are thought of as crepes
• I was asked if I was upset over the Lance Armstrong confession (sort of, right now I just empathize with him during this chaotic and personal time for him, but I also think he should've have lied or cheated)
• everyone knows at least 2 languages, sometimes 5. 
• their school system is very different

My blog wasn't chosen to be an official DIS blog, so I guess that means I can stop trying to make this the best blog I can. Haha just kidding.

2nd day of class

Today was my 2nd day of class, which feels weird because today is Friday. I had my Tuesday and Friday classes which are Photojournalism 11:40-1pm and Human Trafikking in a Global Context from 1:14 to 2:45.
Today I'm trying organizing my blog post by sections. 

My morning
I woke up at 7 to eat breakfast with my family. It was rough to wake up that early knowing I didn't need to. I was pretty groggy through breakfast where I ate the same thing as yesterday.
I went back to bed and slept til 9:40. I got ready and as I was about to walk to the train station, my host dad's father drove up and offered me a ride to the station. Yes! He walks Berta every day and I think I just timed it right so I could get a ride to the station. I treated myself to a cappucinno from the 7/11 for 24kk. When I was in there, a mob of teenage kids came in and started buying pastries left and right. They all seemed to be taking the train together as a class of some kind. It was interesting how similar and different they are from American teens. Like Americans, they buy expensive treats just for fun like pastries and they tease each other loudly and stand in groups. Unlike Americans, they are all beautiful, skinny, fashionable, and bundled up in the same way. On the train to the city, these loud American teens were bragging about how drunk they got last night.

Photojournalism
I met Miaja and Liesje outside my classroom, by chance, and we talked for a while. Like my other classes, this one was pretty crowded. The professor is a skinny man with long brown hair. He told us his life story for most of class, which was very boring. He seemed kind of pretentious which got on my nerves. He listed all the reasons why we should drop the class and how it would be the hardest class ever and some of us might not be able to handle it. That just made me want to stay in the class even more. He showed us last years student's work and I know I can do better than they did. I have experience with photography and know what I'm doing. He told us the class isn't a photography class, and rather it's about forming a relationship with someone, observing them, and photographing them. A girl from last year, met a Danish girl who went dumpster diving for all of her food and clothes so she photographed that. I'm thinking I could use one of my host family members to help me. I'm ready for the challenge.

Human Trafficking 
I thought this would be my least favorite class, but nothing could have been worse than Photojournalism was today. This is my only class that has a female professor. I normally don't get along or like female professors because we often clash but I actually like this woman. She seemed really cool. She had a thick English accent, wore all black except for a green sparkly dragonfly broach. Her black blazer fit her really nicely and I was impressed by her sense of style. Anyway, she was also very fun and lively. Like, she would wink at us when she made a joke and courtesied when she took attendance and the first girl said her name. The class looks like it'll be very informative and emotional. The name gives it away as being a sort of depressing and heart breaking class but I want to learn more about the truth of human trafficking, whether it's sex trade or forced labor. I can't ignore these horrors forever. She had us write down why we took the class, what we expected from the class, and whether we thought prostitution should be legal. We then went over the syllabus and she told us we'd be watching movies, and having various speakers. We won't be having a victim or survivor come talk to us, and so that was a little nice to know.

After class
I got home around 4:30. My family wasn't there. This is the first time I've been home alone here. I heated myself up some leftover pizza and watched a little TV. Then I cleaned my room and did stuff on my laptop. I found a fun top40s pop station from London that I listened on their house radio. They showed me how to use it this morning.
Check out the pics I took today.

Learning my way around photos

I brought my camera today and remembered to take pictures. I felt like such a tourist with my camera. Maybe next time I'll bring my nicer SLR camera so I'll seem like more of a photographer than a tourist.

The square by DIS. Idk the name. 

V5, The main DIS building. 

I love this name. It's how I know I'm going the right way because I have to pass it on my way to class. 

The DIS square again. 

What a great shop name

I haven't been here, but heard it's good. 

Lots of bikes

Greyfriar Square

What colorful buildings

A very old tree

No one was eating outside today

A mix of nature and urban life

A good place to chill

It's like the University of Copenhagen's coffee shop

Oh what a nice statue

Haha, they are drinking and smoking.

Neat detail on the building

Shopping street

Cool looking building

Two levels of bikes

I make sure to pass this on my way to class so I don't get lost.

Thought this was cool. I think that's beer...

I pass a McDonalds on my way home. 

My train station

A double decker train, that I dont ride

My station

Staying warm while walking home

A cool house I saw

I reached my destination

Berta being cute

Haha

Day Activities

I simply can't say no to signing up for things. It's a habit I have. Today I signed up for multiple of the Day Trips and Activities that DIS offers:

• Cool in Copenhagen- a guided walk, A walk through CPH's trendies neighborhood: Vesterbro (Feb 3)
• Louisiana Museum of Modern Art (March 16)
• Kayaking in Copenhagen: An afternoon of exploring the canals of Copenhagen (April 6)
• A Day at Bakken: a Danish Amusement Park. (May 4)
• Wine Tasting (February 14, February 28, March 14, March 21, April 4 and April 11.)

I'm debating whether to do the Roskilde Viking Musuem and Cathedral, Visit Denmark's Vikings and Kings of old trip. 

I wanted to do more, but sometimes the dates conflicted. Let me know if you are doing one of these too!

Tour of my Hjem

Bertta sleeping under the stairs in her bed.

Awww. She is so sweet. 

Berta up close.  She is a pointer.

The kitchen. Very sleek. To open the cabinets you press the corner. 

The dining room. 

Laundry room and mud room. 

Living room. Where we watch TV.

The dining room is connected to the kitchen. 

Outside, you can see the garage. 

I didn't know they had a trampoline until today. 

First Day of Class

Edit: this post was originally called Who Cut the Ost? But I wanted to make it a more general title.

Today was a good day. My favorite part was when I didn't get lost on my walk back home.
My host sister knocked on my door and woke me up at 8:55. I had set my alarm for 9. She told me she was leaving and reminded me that the water was shut off between 9-12 (they got a letter in the mail, giving them advanced notice of the construction. It's not like a daily thing.) I quickly got water to brush my teeth and make my coffee. I took a shower yesterday thankfully. It was nice to get ready with the house to myself because I turned on MTV and left it on while I got ready. I like to listen to music in the mornings. I ate Frosted Flakes and a nutella bread piece. I made sure to turn off all the lights and lock the door and I left around 10:15. The train left at 10:30 so I power walked my way to the station. By the time I got there at 10:25, I was sweating and out of breath. I met Cheng there (I didn't know she'd be there) and so we took the train together. We met up in the evening and took the train back together too. I walked to DIS and went to my first class.
My embarrassing moment of the day was when I found my classroom, saw the door was shut and proceeeded to open it. 20 wide eyed students and one startled professor stared back at me. I asked what class it was and they said Danish. Really embarrassed, I quickly shut the door.
I waited and the class let out and then I went inside for Creative Travel Writing at 11:40-1:15.
I like that professor because he has a thick English accent and wore a man cardigan today. He had us talk to our neighbors and then introduce that person to the class. Later, he had us close our eyes and answer what color our neighbor's shirt was. Most people got it right surprisingly. His point was how important it is to notice small details. I think I will like that class.
I had an hour to kill after that. I walked to Tiger and bought a few knick knacks and wandered around a little. I found Tivoli and the Square Hotel.

This is Tivoli, through the construction. 

I spy Tivoli with my little eye.

A very construction heavy street.

At 2:45 I had International Reporting. That class looks cool too. The professor is also a guy with an English accent. Can't ask for a better professor than that. He's the one who told us about his "cake policy" where he will bring us cake and we will take turns brining in cake. Sweet!
At 4:15 I had Strategic Communication. That class was very full. It looks pretty interesting and very practical, unlike some of my other comm classes. Today we talked about the Lance Armstrong Oprah interview. We talked about the communication strategy of it and like why he chose Oprah to talk to and what his PR team was keeping in mind. This is the class that I will go to London with.
After class, I went home with Cheng and made my way successfully home.
For dinner, we ate pizza! It was delicious, especially the cheese on it and the ham. I had three pieces, I was so hungry.
I sat with my host sister and talked about One Direction with her and watched Master Chef. Then I skyped with Emily. Now I'm watching the news with my host parents.

Today I suppose I learned that things do in fact get better and that Ost means cheese in Danish.