“It's strange because sometimes, I read a book, and I think I am the people in the book.” ― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Today was full of ups and downs. It's like when I used to play the board game Chutes and Ladders. You feel up and then you feel down. But it's like from that Pixar short called Boundin: "Now sometimes you're up and sometimes you're down. When you find that you're down, well, just look around. You still got a body, good legs and fine feet, get your head in the right place and hey you're complete!"

• Up: I wore my horse tights. I got to the train station within 5 minutes of it coming. I ate sour gummi worms on the train. DIS wasn't crowded when I got there. I made some instant coffee for myself. 
• Down: In class, I had to go to the bathroom really badly because I drank tea and coffee before class. I always feel uncomfortable getting up in the middle of class to go use the bathroom but today I just had to. Our discussion in class wasn't very stimulating anyway because no one was participating.
• Down: I realized I missed the deadline for reserving a room on the ferry to Bornholm. I'm very nervous and not excited about the DIS biking trip to Bornholm. I don't know what to expect. I'm afraid I won't have fun, I won't know anyone, it will be cold and all the other kids will be better bikers than me. 
• Down: In International Reporting, all we talked about was the Boston Bombings. 
• Up: I went to a tourist shop on Stroget and bought a I heart Denmark iPhone cover. 
• Up: I caught my train after a minute of standing on the platform
• Down: There was a ladybug on the window of my seat and it wouldn't leave. 
• Up: I rode my bike home along the beach
• Up: I watched Perks of Being a Wallflower! I love that movie. And the book. I love it because the story is easily relatable to and well-written. It's one of those stories where I'm like Damn, I should've wrote that. I like the epistolary form of the book and the flashbacks they use in the movie. If you haven't seen or read it, I urge you to. 
• Down: I had a Skype interview. I always get so nervous and stress out. I made sure to send a thank you follow up e-mail after the interview. All I can do now is keep my fingers crossed. 
• Up: Homemade pizza and Funfetti Cupcakes for dinner! 

I'm fully aware that these ups and downs are pretty insignificant in the grand scheme of life, but in the moment they can mean a lot. I hope this doesn't sound like I'm whining or complaining about anything because I'm very thankful for everything. I just had a yo yo of a day. 

Jackalope: Pink? Pink? Well, what's wrong with pink? Seems like you got a pink kink in your think!

Videos from my trip

Not only can I write and take pictures, but I can also hold up a videocamera. So here are some videos from my recent travels:

This first video is of Jeff, our London tour guide. I really liked Jeff. I thought he was so funny. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUA73XFi64g

Big Ben chimes 9am. 

Three city week

• Saturday
• I picked my parents up at the airport in the afternoon. I showed them around Copenhagen and we climbed the Round Tower. Things that no longer phased me really interested my parents, like some of the signs or sights around DIS. In the evening, we took the train to my host family's house where we had a lovely dinner. It was great to have my two families together. 
• Sunday

• We went to Tivoli today. The rides at Tivoli were a lot scarier than I expected. My mom and I don't easily get intimidated by thrill rides but we were scared to go on Vertigo. We went on it and agreed that it was terrifying. We also visited Nyhavn, The Little Mermaid, Amielenborg, and the Marble Church. I tried my best to be a little Copenhagen tour guide. 
• Monday

• My parents went to Rosenborg Castle and in the afternoon we flew to Paris. In the evening we went over to Disney Village where we ate dinner at Earl of Sandwich. Disney Village is like a Downtown Disney with shops and places to eat. They had different shops than the one in Florida but similar things like the hot air balloon and Planet Hollywood. 

• Tuesday

• This was our Disneyland Paris day. We went to both parks, Disneyland Paris and Disneyland Studios. My favorite ride was Crush Coaster because it was a well-done roller coaster and Finding Nemo themed. Being in Disneyland Paris was a dream come true because I've always wanted to go there but never thought I'd make it. I felt like I was in Orlando and it was weird how similar but different the rides were. Like, Haunted Mansion looked like an actual mansion, didn't have narration and was more scary. But it was still a similar ride with the doom buggies and 999 happy haunts. We all enjoyed Disneyland Paris. 
• Wednesday

• We only had one day to explore the city of Paris. Our day started out frustrating because we struggled to figure out what trains to take to get to the Louvre. Once we got there, our day was better. The weather was hot and sunny! We saw the major pieces of art at the Louvre, took a double decker tourist bus to Notre Dame, I ate a Nutella crepe, and we went to the Eifel Tower. We made it to Monte Marte, the highest point in Paris. We did a lot of the same things that we did last time I was there but I was fine with that.   
• Thursday

• In the morning, we took a train through the Chunnel to London. We arrived at Kings Cross so of course we saw Platform nine and three quarters. Our hotel was right behind the London Eye (above the aquarium) so we had a great view of Westminster bridge, Parliament and Big Ben. It was neat to wake up and check Big Ben for what the time was. We did a double decker tour bus through the city. When we passed St. Paul's, the heavens opened up and started to downpour. It was so crowded that we were stuck up on the top deck for fifteen minutes. We went to a cozy cafe to get some tea and chips to warm up. 
• We did a River Cruise on the Thames, ate dinner at the Red Lion pub, and enjoyed our time in London.
  
  
• Friday
• In the morning we did a little more sightseeing, enjoyed live commentary from the hilarious British Jeff, and saw the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. 
• We caught our flight back to Copenhagen and ate a delicious dinner in Helsingor. 

• Saturday
• We didn't have much time but we still managed to squeeze in Kronborg and Louisiana. We also drove along the ocean to get to the airport. So pretty. It was a tearful goodbye at the airport but I know I'll see my parents soon. 

Windsday Concert

Yesterday was a busy day for me in Copenhagen.

Danish living room in the 60s- 70s

In the morning, I met Miaja and we went to the National Gallery museum. It was free! We explored upstairs where they had an exhibit called something like Denmark from 1600s-2000. It was a walk through all of Denmark's history. It was interesting and educational. They had neat artifacts and objects that were representative of the times.

We ate lunch sandwiches at Riccos (a well-respected coffee chain) and caught up about Denison things and talked about how excited we were to be living in an apartment next year. I realized we won't be eating together in the dining halls. Whoot. But that means I have to cook. Oh dear. Well PB&Js and cereal every day. haha

Botanical Gardens in CPH

Indoor rain forest

Miaja had a field study so I went off and explored on my own. I went to the Botanical Gardens because my friend Jen (DIS alumni) recommended it. I can see why she told me to go there. It was gorgeous, uncrowded and warm. Inside the greenhouse, it was so hot and humid because of the tropical plants. So I plan to go back there very often to beat the cold. It was hard leaving the greenhouse and going back out into the cold.

Going to Nyhavn because I can. 

     I made my way to Nyhavn and looked around a bit. Pretty touristy. I wanted to make sure I could find it and also go because I could. I like going to touristy parts of Copenhagen. Then I went to Rosenborg but I couldn't go inside because they were closed (it was 2pm...) It was hard enough getting to the ticket room because all these armed guards were standing around there. I finally just had to ask like, "Hey, can I walk over there?" they nodded and I joked, "Cool, just making sure I don't get shot." They laughed.

We ate dinner at a really cool Kafe by Norreport. It was actually delicious food. I was surprised and impressed. I got the fish of the day (turned out to be salmon) and loved it. I'd go back to that cafe in a heartbeat.

Sara, me and Miaja

The highlight of the day was the Ellie Goulding concert. We got there a few hours early and it was already packed. So many girls. The opening acts were pretty good. I'm listening to their songs on Spotify now actually. But Ellie was amazing. She had so much soul, energy, passion, and talent. She was mesmerizing on stage. Her voice is so light and airy and high. I ignored how crowded it was and just enjoyed the show :-)

Ellie Goulding at Vega last night 

æ ø å € ¤ ½ § æ ø å

The title of this post is inspired by the Danish keyboard I'm using at DIS.Example: The bånd Ærosmith is cøøl. :-)

Monday:

It was a pretty boring day. I went to class, did homework, participated in class, ate food, and went home. I stayed after class to help a friend who is doing a video project for DIS. She needed to interview students about our class. The highlight of my day was running down to Lagerhuset in between classes and buying an emergency pastry and peach tea. I felt much more awake after consuming that sugar. 

At home, we played a game of Hearts and guess who won? This chica. Oh yeah.

   I skyped my parents and then stayed up to hear about the housing lottery results. Every Denison person on Facebook was posting funny Hunger Games related statuses (May the odds be ever in your favor, My last year as a tribute, etc) 

It all worked out, I got an apartment in Pratt (Sunny A) with my friends. That is all that matters. We are together in an apartment. So I was relieved about that. I'm excited for next year. 

Tuesday:

My photojournalism class was cancelled because we have a movie screening this evening. So I got to sleep in and take my time getting ready. I made this weird scrambled egg, ham, cheese sandwich creation for my breakfast. I spent some time doing a little homework and then made my lunch. 

On the train and throughout Copenhagen, there are so many young teenagers around. I suspect that it's because they are affected by the Lockout and don't have class. 

One of these days I'm going to take my bike on the train (The 7/11 guy said it costs 12kr) and ride my bike all over Copenhagen. Maybe Thursday. 

Who døesn't love å silly meme about Denmark?

How many of you have been kayaking before?

• Thursday

• The highlight of this day was wine tasting. We did a blind tasting and I enjoyed the challenge of trying to figure out what grape the wine was from. Can I just say Riesling and Chardonnay can be easily mixed up? In my International Reporting class, we got to explore Copenhagen and describe the place we went to. This was in preparation for writing a feature piece. For Strategic Communication, we listened to a presentation by the Danish Forest Gump. His name is Jesper and he works with World Run . He explained to us about his corporate sponsors and how they helped him run across the world in 4 years. Very cool. 
• Friday

• In photojournalism, my professor said he liked my pictures. I still don't like that class but I'm trying to kill it with kindness by working hard in the class, doing all the assignments, and following all the directions to a tee. In human trafficking, we watched a depressing film called "selling the girl next door" and it was a CNN special about American girls falling victim to trafficking. We finished writing papers about human trafficking in the state we're from so this was icing on top of the USA cake. I had no idea there was trafficking in Ohio, but boy is there. 
• I was walking to the Copenhagen Central Station after class, because I like going there vs Norreport, when I passed a protest in front of city hall. Me, being a little journalist, I asked a woman what her sign said and she launched into telling me how she and all the other teachers were protesting the government for locking them out. It was neat to hear her side of the story and see a real political protest (even though DIS specifically told us to avoid political protests. Whoops) I don't personally agree with the side of the teachers and so I asked her questions like "Well, some say teachers already get paid too much, how do you feel about that?" and she responded, "Sounds like you've done your homework. Good for you." This was a cool moment for me to casually talk to a protester and hear her personal side of the story. 
• In the evening, Cheng came over and we baked delicious brownies and watched Bridesmaids. It was fantastic to catch up and have a girls night in.

• 

  Parental units: This is a picture of our hotel. I found it. 

• Saturday
• I made crepes in the morning. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to start baking when I was still half asleep because I accidentally added red food coloring, thinking it was vanilla. So the crepes came out pink. They tasted fine they just looked very feminine. 
• I went to a flea market at Studenterhuset. It was so crowded! I ended up getting a blue button down for 40kr and a black infinity scarf for 10kr. With my new scarf, I feel so Danish. Haha but no seriously, everyone has one of these. I wish I had more time and it was less crowded so I could've browed there more. 



Shoutout to Emily May: Happy Birthday!! I made this smiley face for you.

• At 1pm, I met a group of DIS kids to go kayaking in Copenhagen. It was a tour that we signed up and paid for ahead of time. Our guide took us on the metro but he took us on the wrong train. Thank goodness a woman on the train heard what stop we were going to and told us we needed to switch trains. When we get to the kayaking place, it was a lot of hurry up and wait. They made us wear wet suits, life jackets, and special jackets. I didn't understand why we needed these until I was in the kayak. Before we got in the water, we did paddling exercises, warm up stretches, and played a few games. By this point I was like can we please just friggin kayak? We finally hop into the water and I'm shocked at how low to the water we are in these sea kayaks. One wrong move and I'm capsizing. Thankfully no one did go in the water. It was a lot harder than I thought. I had trouble steering. Our kayak guide took us out into the open water where there were big waves and he had to clip onto my kayak and lead me back into the canal where we practiced. It was scary to be in a tiny little kayak out in the big blue ocean. Then we kayaked to another part of the water where we had to chop our way through a thin layer of ice on the water. What a workout. At the end, we played dodgeball in our kayaks and a game where we had to steal a clothespin from each other's kayaks. It was sometimes sunny but mostly cold and cloudy. I'm glad I went because I met some nice friendly girls and it was a unique experience but it was very cold and a bit embarrassing that I had trouble paddling. It was for sure unlike kayaking at Trapper Johns. 

  

  Me in my wet suit out kayaking

Pink crepes...hmmm. I probably should look before pour food coloring in the batter

Where we kayaked

Sooo coold. Brrr

Debbie trying to be Danish walking home in her new black scarf and blue shirt. 

Videos!

This video is from Hoot a Nanny's pub. They had traditional Scottish music. Note the people dancing in the front. 

This is during our tour through the Highlands. How cute are those sheep?

On the Island Skye in Scotland where the scenery was so magnificent. 

A video I took on the London Eye. I was talking to my professor at the beginning of the video.