Wed. Jan 28th & Thurs. Jan 29th

Wednesday was just another normal day. Had some orientation lectures in the morning and my last class of the week after lunch. In the evening, we all went to Danish Folk Dancing. It was another event organized by the Int'l Office. Really cheesy, but a lot of fun. The group performed a couple of dances, then they taught all of us how to do it.


Thursday was a lot of fun. We had a cultural walking tour of the city. It was freakin' freezing because we were outside for about 4 hours but we got to see a lot. Met another USC student that is in the same program as me. Saw all of the major government buildings - parliament, executive, etc. The picture is in front of the outdoor ice skating rink that is in the city center. Went to the monarchy residence and watched the daily changing of the guards. There was a military band and a small parade. Hadn't ever seen anything like that, so it was really interesting. A lot of marching around and waving swords and guns. Took some video that I'll be posting also. Had a really amazing shwarma pita for lunch and then we all went for hot chocolate. All in all, a really fun day. Going tonight to another sponsored event. This time it's Bingo!

Monday, Jan 26th, Tuesday, Jan 27th.

Had my first class on Monday - International Corporate Business Strategy. Extremely boring, although it did not help that I hardly slept Sunday night. Today was a light day. Took a walk when I got home from class, but that was about it.

Tuesday started the Orientation Program. Had an 8 AM International Marketing class. Seems like it's going to be interesting. There is group work, so now I have to find some friends. The natives aren't as desperate for friendship as the other exchange students - much harder to get to know. Took a campus tour and went to a lecture on Danish Culture. Pretty easy stuff. Met a lot of new people in my orientation group. And they are all grad students. Although in Europe you usually go straight into grad school from undergrad, so they are all still in their mid-20s. I've decided to stop being so picky. You should have seen everyone's face when I told them I was 28. Pure shock.

Having dinner with my "buddy" tonight. Having some kind of traditional Danish meal. Wish me luck!

Sunday, Jan 25th, Saturday, Jan 24th

Here's the weekend update...

Had a blast at the club on Friday night. Although the drinks were fairly expensive. A cocktail cost anywhere from $13 to $18 and beer was $10/pint. But from what I can tell, there are definitely much cheaper places to drink. It's like any city some places are more expensive than others. I'm still getting used to techno also. (Carey, I kept thinking of you!!)

Unfortunately I'm still not getting the sleeping thing down. Slept until 4 PM on Saturday afternoon. Was supposed to go shopping, but missed it. Went out with my friend, Leoni, Saturday night. Her sister had a party. Lots of fun - there were Canadians and Americans there - nice to be around native English speakers for a little bit.

Sunday was a fun day. Got up and went to a couple museums this afternoon...NY Carlsberg Glyptotek and the Nationalmuseet. Then I wandered around the downtown area for a little bit. The only thing I can compare it to is Times Square, but to a smaller degree. Everywhere else in Copenhagen there aren't a lot of chain restaurants. Pretty much everything is locally owned. Not here - lots of McDonald's, Burger King, 7 Elevens. Crazy neon signs, it was fun.



It's going to be a busy week. Not only do classes start, but we have a lot of events for orientation. I'll be in a group with graduate students this week, so I'll start meeting people a little closer to my age. Excited to get started!!

Day 5 - Friday, January 23

I woke up this morning to snow. There was only a little accumulation on some car windows and in the grass. It mostly turned to rain by the time I got to class. But it was super cold and super windy. Definitely not used to this in LA!

Had my last language class this morning. My real classes start next week. And I'll also be going through orientation week, so it's going to be a busy one.

I have my first night at the bars so that should be interesting. The exchange program has a party planned at a night club downtown. I'm just excited to get out of the house and have a couple drinks. I definitely need it.

Day 4 - Thursday, Jan 22

I actually made it to class this morning, so that was a definite improvement from yesterday. Also got my class schedule. Looks like for the first half of the semester I'll have one class each Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Then the second half of the semester I'll only have one class on Tuesday and maybe another class Wednesday. This is a huge change from working full time and trying to squeeze in two nights of class. I'm not used to having free time any more.

I got myself acquainted with my neighborhood today. Found the train station. I've only been taking the bus since I got here, but allegedly the train is much faster. Wandered around the grocery store for a while. It's really interesting to see how much different everything is. Very little is sold in bulk. I don't think Costco would do very well here. Hardly any frozen goods. You either bring your own bag or pay a small fee for one at check out. Everyone bags their own groceries. Instead of grocery carts, they only have the hand baskets. You can either carry them or they have wheels and you pull it behind you like a wagon.

Tomorrow starts my first weekend in Copenhagen. But I don't expect anything too crazy. My friend's sister is having a party on Saturday. Her roommate is Canadian, so there are supposed to be English speakers there. yay!!

Day 3 - Wed. Jan 21

Not much to report today. Missed my language class because I slept until 4 PM. Yes, that's right, PM. I thought it was a mistake until I checked my watch, my computer and the clock in the common room. The sun was starting to go down by the time I got out of bed.

I think it's a combination of needing to catch up on sleep, taking too much Tylenol PM and starting to get a little sick. Hopefully I'll be tired by 10 or 11 tonight so I can get some sleep and go to class tomorrow.

Day 2....

I got my feet under me a little more today. Slept until 5:30 AM, so that was an achievement. Had another language class this morning. Staring to meet more people. The only problem is that most of the exchange students that started this week are undergrads. Not a lot of grad students until next week. So, everyone I'm meeting is 19, 20, 21. Not really the crowd I run with any more. Should be a little better next week when they break us out by grade level.

Big news of the day is that the sun came out. Evidentally that is a rare occurance here. It was a really nice day today. Sunny and around 40 degrees - not bad!

Finally went on my first shopping excursion today. Went to the drug store for a new flat iron and soap. Then went to the grocery store. Not as scary as I thought. Most of the labels are in English also. Plus I learned some vocab words for food in my class, that helped alot. Only slip up of the day was setting off the "shoplifting" sensors at the grocery store. The girl at the drug store didn't properly swipe the flat iron and it hit the sensor. And of course I can't understand what the grocery employees are trying to tell me. Disaster!

The only other big change I'm dealing with is public restrooms. They are for both sexes. I am definitely not used to finding men in the bathroom!

Planning to watch the inauguration online this evening. I'm really excited! Seems that this is a world wide event. People in Denmark are even excited for it. Not sure if it is on TV here or not (I don't have a TV). But I'm sure it will be heavily covered.

Have a good Tuesday!

Day 1

First morning in Denmark. Woke up at 4:30 AM but went to bed at 8 PM. My friend, Leoni, who I'm staying with, has been awesome. She let me have her bed last night so I could get a good nights sleep.

Have my first language class today. I'll go every morning this week. Really nervous for the day. Meeting new people, trying to figure out the transportation. Kind of overwhelming.

I fried the adapter for my laptop and am running low on battery. Probably won't be in here for a couple days until I figure it out.

I'm here!!

Finally made it! Had a super easy flight, except for the 2 year old who decided to throw a fit at midnight. Was picked up by my "buddy" at the airport. She showed me a little of the city before we headed to my apartment building.

Leoni has been an amazing host so far. I'll be sleeping on her floor until I get into my apartment on February 1st.

Start language classes tomorrow. Hopefully I'll be rested up. Between less than 4 hour of sleep and the 9 hour time difference, I should sleep pretty well tonight.

2 more days....

Spent the entire day finalizing all my packing. Took a whole Tahoe-load of boxes to the storage unit plus a run to Goodwill. I have moved four times since college and live in tiny apartments, but the amount of crap is overwhelming. How did that happen??

Today was the first day when it really started to hit me that I'm leaving. So, ofcourse, I was grouchy all day and took it out on John. Poor John. Better now, going to the wine bar tonight to hang out with Carissa. Vino!!

Last Week - 5 days...

A lot has happened this week. Thursday was my last day at Union Pacific. A very bittersweet day. Very excited to move on to the next chapter of my life, but sad to leave all of my friends. Had a nice going-away team builder/happy hour.

Leslie came to visit this week. So Friday she helped me start the packing process and do a major purge of my closet for Goodwill. Saturday was my "official" going away party.
John and I spent most of the day running around getting ready for it. But we had perfect weather for a beach bonfire. And despite it getting a little chilly, I think everyone had fun. I'm going to post some pictures also.

Sunday was the big moving day. Eric Stones and Ryan Mac came by to pitch in. It was the easiest move I've ever done. Less than 3 hours and everything was out of my house and in the storage unit.

The plan this week is to finish packing my clothes and to decide what I'm taking with me. I haven't really hit panic mode yet, but I'm sure as Saturday gets closer it's going to sink in. Right now I'm just too busy to even think about what it's going to be like to actually leave.