Something Old

I actually wrote this in my notebook while at campus and have yet to transfer it to my blog! Thought you might enjoy!

Travel:

Man o man have I been traveling and do I still have a long way to go! As I noted earlier, Jessica and I went to London for 5 days.... then my lovely mom came to visit me here in Scandinavia! We traveled around Copenhagen and then took a cruise over to Oslo for a few days.... and in just two weeks time I will be boarding a plane once again to head down to Italy!

European travel is simple, easy, and efficient. Ryan Air, the carrier of "choice" (and when i say choice, i really mean cheep) gets you to your destination with a less than luxurious ride in a plane thats decorated interior is comprised of bright (and i mean BRIGHT) yellow plastic. Bags are weighed over and over again to ensure they are under the carry on limit of 15 pounds, and lets not even think about checking a bag, you have no idea what country it might end up in!

anywho, Ryan Air has successfully gotten me around this beautiful part of the world. I have now had fish and chips in London thanks to its amazing prices. I wish everything else about traveling was so cheap, but Ryan Air cannot rule the world... sad.

London def broke the bank account a bit... it was part food, part hotel that did it. But I have to be honest when I say that the majority of my money went to all the touring and museums! I am a true Ellis when I say that I can spend an entire day in a museum and not dread seeing the next one! Jessica and I started our trip by riding the double decker bus (pricey but worth it) and seeing all the sights at a glance, that way we could really plan out our next 4 days to maximize our efficiency and sight seeing. We walked everywhere, from the eye of london where I faced my fear of heights, to the Tower where Anne Boyeln was beheaded on the green where we stood. We also took a wonderful tour around Parliament where we walked the path of the Queen, and then when she was not allowed to go any farther in the building (she can only enter the house of lords, not commons), we continued our journey. Across the street, Jessica and I looked at the historical artifacts and beautiful chapel at Westminster Abbey. The following day, we rode a taxi to see The Lion King, and ate sushi on the shopping street (after walking for 12 hours in heels... bad idea)... we ended our trip watching the beginning of fashion week in Trafalgar Square and walking the streets around Buckingham Palace! It was a truly amazing trip. I recommend London to anyone going to Europe, its sights and pleasant atmosphere are truly worth it.

Next comes mom! It felt like the night before x-mas, I couldn't sleep cause I was just WAY too excited to show my mom that I can survive in a foreign country. She had never been to Denmark before, so it was great telling her about the culture, both similar and different in many ways. We ate great food, saw amazing museums, and always found an excuse to make a trip through Tivoli (an amusement park/ really cheerful place with halloween decorations and lots and lots of food... yay waffles!). The cruise to Olso was wonderful, all you can eat buffets, wonderful views, and movie theater to take some time to relax. Once in Oslo, we went to see the ballet, Giselle, at the famous opera house that is located on the water... if you don't know what I am speaking of, I would recommend googling it to see, it is pretty amazing looking. We walked all around, being spontaneous, failing at finding a cafe, but ultimately finding some great food options! It was great seeing my mom over here, and absolutely amazing traveling with her and lets not forget the wine!

Now I am back in Denmark, awaiting my next adventure to Italy. In the meantime, I will be doing a lot of reading and preparing for my project. Luckily Jessica, my good friend and partner for the project, is also going to Italy. We have already put aside times to work so that we do not fall behind while enjoying the sites!

For those interested, I have finally chosen what to do my topic study/ project on... here it goes:

Project: Jessica and I are doing a comparative analysis of the effects of colonization on South Africa and DR of Congo and looking at what infrastructures were in place prior to colonization, how it changed, and how the country was left, and ultimately why South Africa has been so much more successful in development than the DR of Congo.

Topic Study: I am pulling in my rhetoric background and looking at the CNN effect in international conflicts, its role in rapid policy making and how that influences military outcomes.

Well, thats it for today (or shall I say last wednesday when I was writing this during class... don't worry, i am good at double tasking)

Cold and Rainy

The weather reminds me of California at Christmas time, very chilly and wet. It has also started to get darker and darker earlier and earlier... i have resorted to using candles a lot to keep the mood in the room cheerful:)

Now that I have been in Denmark for 2 months I feel like I should touch upon some of the things that I have learned. There are so many slight differences between Danish and American culture that I am just starting to understand (or at least attempt to understand). For instance, in danish, there is no word for "please", or "excuse me"... the second of these words became noticeable instantly when people would brush, or occasionally shove, past me in a crowded area. My friends and I have been gathering together to discuss the Danish cultures and have touched upon a few things that deal with classes.

In the courses that I take, I am enrolled in an "area" of interest in which I take 5 classes, write one smaller 15 page topic study of my choice, a larger 40 page project with a partner, and an oral defense at the end of the semester... thats it, that is all I have to turn in. While these papers/projects are extremely intense, it is strange to not have basic hw or other such assignments. Classes do not hold such value as they do in the US, people tend to only attend the lectures that fit into their paper or topic study rather than attend them all for the sake of learning. While this can be frustrating for us americans, it is how things are done over here.

Don't get me wrong, I am loving my experience, the food, the travel, the friends... however everyone knows that I am a social butterfly, and another aspect that differs in Denmark is that of friendships. To the Danes, friendships start at birth and last a lifetime. People tend to stay where they were born, not deviating or moving from their original town. Therefore, friendships are never challenged and no one is forced to make new friends. As an international student, I have been forced to make friends (which I love!) and have found that all of my friends are other international students, not Danes. While the Danes that I have had the pleasure of interacting with are friendly, polite and all together wonderful, they are not willing or wanting a full fledged friendship due to that fact that international students come and go, making long-term friendships near impossible.

I think my study abroad experience, thus far, has been more about understanding cultural differences and learning about myself and those around me than it has been about the actual courses that I am taking. This, I say, is a good thing. Willamette tuition is paying for a wonderful experience and challenge that could not be had anywhere else. In any other country, I could take these courses, get hw, take normal tests, and receive a letter grade. But only in denmark (slash scandinavia in general) am I challenged with cultural differences that defy everything I thought to be normal.

new refrigerator, some sunshine and a lot of chocolate

This week in denmark has been beautiful, the sun has been out all day, everyday. We are all trying to soak as much vitamin D up as possible before the sunshine leaves us. Since the weather is so nice, we decided to throw a BBQ at my apartment, we had around 20 people show up, bringing all sorts of foods. My friend Rebecca and I made the potato salad, it was yummy. I also proceeded to consume about 4 servings of guacamole (it was just so so so good). 

So i leave for London in a few days, that is guaranteed to be an epic trip. Traveling seems to be the only thing people do in this country. In one day, I booked tickets to both London and Italy for my short time in Denmark. A trip to amsterdam is also in the works, as well as one to spain. 

Other than that, life here is pretty calm. I love walking around the city, grabbing a coffee and people watching. I have been practicing my danish, we had an intensive one day course yesterday in which they locked us in this huge auditorium at the university and basically tried to cram as much information into our sleepy little heads as possible... for 6 hours. Most of the basic phrases are easy to pick up, but telling the time is a completely different story. Take the time 8:45 for instance, instead of just saying the numbers, this would be said as 15 before 9, over noon at 8... or something like that. 

Hope everything is just dandy back in the states!

an interesting day in aalborg

ORL-BOR (the correct pronunciation of aalborg)

Today in the city of aalborg i witnessed a lingerie fashion show set up on the side of a busy road that goes directly through the shopping district. Now that is not something you would see in california, thus i felt that it was blog worthy. I also managed to find peanut butter and roll-on deodorant, equally difficult to find. 

Yesterday was our first day of orientation, and today i had my first class! i am actually working in the "masters" program here at aalborg university. I am having to switch around my original class list due to the complicated nature of their programs. So now i am enrolled in 5 politics/communications based courses (i am in heaven!!!). 

All of my flat mates have arrived by now, we joke that we are the young United Nations because we are representing the United States, Spain, India, Finland and Germany. The best part is the food, so much good food. We had indian two nights ago, and tomorrow we are having german food. we are also going to have a sushi making party this coming weekend! Well I am off to go to a international student evening at the  student house (cheap beer).  hope everyone is doing well! 

epic times in denmark

HEY EVERYONE! so i have been in denmark for a few days now (internet was down in the beginning so i could not post)... anyways, i successfully made thai red curry with tofu last night (and nothing burned down!). it was edible. Afterwards, we went out with some french exchange students. We headed down to this street that is full of bars and dance clubs, this is when i reenacted grease lightning at this "american" club. They played 2 hours of american oldies and i am proud to say that i new all the words, and sang them loud and proud! I will have to get some pictures up soon (once i figure out how). So denmark is amazing and people here are so nice. I was in Netto, our favorite grocery store, and i was analyzing the salad dressing since it was all in danish and i had no idea what it said when a woman approached me and helped translate! All my experiences have been positive, i am absolutely loving this country! So now i must go organize my planner and get ready for tomorrows first day of orientation! 

I am leaving.

Man o man i am blogging. weird.
Tomorrow I leave for Denmark, but first i have to finish packing all my cloths into those itty bitty suitcases (they are actually quite large, and quite heavy.... say 48 pounds, each). Basically this is going to be my way of keeping in touch with everyone while i am off in a country where the roads look fake and the houses appear to be from a disney set. Hopefully the cooking goes well and you all don't have to hear about any minor (or major) disasters...

Cait