Viva Italia!

I’m excited for Italy! And nervous! It was difficult to find time to get excited because I was so busy all this week. It was one project, paper, or exam after another. Sunday I had an International Reporting article due. Tuesday I had a Human Trafficking exam and a lot of reading, Thursday I had a Strategic Communication exam, and Friday I had a Creative Travel Writing paper due and a photojournalism PowerPoint partner presentation. I just took things one day at a time. Sometimes even one hour at a time! I tried my best, given how much time I had to study and prepare.

It’s now Friday and I’m finished with all of that schoolwork. Now I can move onto stressing about packing. How much should I bring? How many bags? How many pants? A bathing suit? A rubber ducky? Toilet paper? Those last two were jokes. Of course I’m brining a rubber ducky ;)

 I’m not brining my computer to Italy so I won’t be able to blog every day probably. I also won’t have time to write in detail about my day. I will journal a lot and then use that to blog later. I’m brining my iPad and I plan on finding internet cafes to use the internet there. Some of our hostels have wi fi (or wee fee as my host parents say). My parents and my host parents said I have to contact them somehow stating I am alive and well. Fair enough. Since I can’t use my phone in Italy (do you want to pay for my crazy high roaming costs?) I will be emailing, blogging (maybe short bullet point posts?), and facetiming to communicate with both sets of my parents. It will be a challenge to go without my cellphone for a week. But it will also prove I don’t need it to survive and that it’s just a luxury, not a necessity. I am not someone who is dependent on a stupid electronic device.

I’m looking at this trip as an adventure. Emily May and my mom gave me that advice. So what if I get lost? What if my hostel isn’t a 5 star luxury hotel? Who cares if we have to walk a lot? I will survive and laugh about it later. I’m going to have fun in the moment, embrace this opportunity, and have a good time. I came to Europe to learn to be more independent and this is a great way to do that. I plan to stick to Blake like mud sticks to Ginger for safety reasons but I will still be fairly independent because we are not in a large tour group. I think I’ll have to remind myself of these things I’ve mentioned. I’ve known myself in the past to pout if things don’t go my way or fret when things aren’t ideal. I probably will get lost, I probably won’t be staying in the best hotels, and I’m sure something not ideal will happen. But I will make the best of it and go with it. Smiley face :-)

While I’m going into the trip with a positive attitude, I’m also going into with the safe attitude. I’m leaving a copy of my passport with my host family, brining a copy and the real thing with me. I plan on holding my purse at all times and guarding my nice camera with my life. No Romanian child gypsy thief will be stealing my stuff.    

            My Travel Plans:

Friday: Fly to Vienna at 8:25. Get there at 10pm. Check in at hostel.

Saturday: In Vienna

Sunday: Take an overnight train to Venice.

Monday: Venice.

Tuesday: In Venice.

Wednesday: Take a train to Florence at 9:25 and arrive at 11:30.

Thursday: In Florence

Friday: Taking a morning train to Rome.

Saturday: In Rome

Sunday: Fly home to Copenhagen and get in around 9pm.

We don’t have a lot of time in each city and I’m aware that we will not get to see everything we want to. I hope to see:

·      the Freud museum in Vienna

·      a castle or museum in Vienna

·      Grand Canal in Venice

·      Statue of David in Florence

·      Duomo in Florence

·      Pantheon in Rome

·      Sistine Chapel in Rome

·      Coloseum in Rome

·      Trevi Fountain in Rome

So wish me a safe and fun week! I hope to buy postcards and one or two small souvenirs at each place. And of course, I hope you have a great week too!

Here you can see where Venice, Florence and Rome are. 

Hamburger

I forgot to mention yesterday I got a hamburger from the hot dog stand. I needed lunch before I got on the train to go home so I went to the conveniently placed hot dog cart. I'd already eaten a hot dog from there last week so this time I tried a hamburger. It came with ketchup, mustard, a delicious unknown sauce and brown crusty bacon like flakes. It was so soft and warm and delicious!

What's it like being an American?

• Today I didn't have anything scheduled. I saw on Facebook that there was an opportunity for DIS students to go to a Danish high school and talk to them about America. So I went to DIS at 11am and met up with two other boys and our guide. We took the S Tog a few stops away to CPH West, a public technical gymnasium. It was in a lower class part of Copenhagen and there were a lot of immigrants from the middle east. We sat in front of the class and introduced ourselves and talked about what stereotypes they had about Americans and how true or untrue they were. They said Americans were fat, gun wielding, religious, and threw crazy parties. Great. The class divided into smaller groups and each American went to a group where the Danes asked us questions for their assignment they had to write. My first question was "What drugs have you done?" Great. Then, "Have you ever done anything illegal?" Awesome. Throughout the groups I was asked: 

• Who is my favorite fashion designer? 
• What is a typical American day? 
• Why did I come to Denmark? 
• What's my opinion on the war in Afganistan? 
• What's my opinion on gay marriage? 
• How are immigrants treated?
• Is there racism?
• Would I like to have free health care?
• What do I think of Danish culture?
• What are American traditions?
• Do I play sports?
• Do I like cars?
• Do I like Obama? 



The book I have to read. 

• It was a cool experience and I'm glad I went but it was hard to speak for all of America.   
• When I came home, I set to work on my mountain of homework. I read more of my book that I need to finish. I went upstairs and read on the couch. After I was halfway through my reading, I took a lovely nap. I was so tired and a power nap was perfect. When I woke up, we ate (potatoe and pepperoni) pizza that my host mom made and red wine meatballs that she made  
• After dinner we went to the riding school to watch Signe jump. There were four horses jumping around the arena. One brown horse had so much energy that he kept over jumping and bucking. Crazy Signe jumped 1.25 meters today. It was fun to watch but scary in the sense that the girls could've easily gotten hurt. I miss Ginger and Patrick. :(  

Miss you Ginge!

• I don't know why but I'm not feeling my best. I have a rough sore throat and a weird cough. I'm also tired really often. I think it's from stress and lack of sleep because I have a lot of homework. 

Random photos from my phone

I sometimes take photos on my phone and I want to also share them with you. So I do these phone picture binge posts. I'll try and describe why I took each photo and why you should care:

At the riding school, there is a cool building with a grassy roof. I love it. In the Norway pavilion at Epcot they have a building with a roof like this and I always wondered if people really had roofs like that. Yes they do. 

Guy in Copenhagen walking around with a bird on his shoulder. Totally normal right? My host sister said she saw a man with a snake around his shoulder one day and was very scared.

A really really cool and inspirational painting. ;) 

Me on Friday drinking an Appletini. We went to a fancy restaurant to celebrate Ashley's 21rst birthday. 

Appletinis are delicious but expensive. 

Tiramisu! 

These next pictures are from today (Tuesday) when we all went to Louisiana to eat dinner and see the new Pop Art exhibit. I loved it! Besides the Louvre, it was my favorite art museum exhibit ever.

My pictures:

Me in front of Andy Warhol poster at Louisiana, before the exhibit

I just had to sneak in this photo. You're not supposed to take photos but how could you expect me not to photograph one of my favorite pieces of art? Flowers!!

There was this enclosed room in the Pop Art exhibit at Louisiana that you could go into and it had hanging balls that lit up, four walls that were mirrors, and water on the ground to reflect it even more. I snuck in some cool pictures:

Super cool room with lighted balls, mirrors, and water on the floor. 

trippy 

Me and Signe in the cool room

Signe and my host dad 

Christmas art

So cool!!