How I keep from starving

If you know me, you know that I don't cook. So this whole cooking for myself thing has been interesting. You may be wondering, I know my mom is, how I keep from starving. Well, for those of us without host families, we're on our own. DIS gives us a card that can be used at a number of grocery stores that is supposed to help us with a good portion of our food costs. The Netto (the cheapest and closest grocery store) has, after the fifth trip, become a bit less overwhelming. There's still a level a mystery involved but I guess trial and error is the best way to do it (major language barriers). The combination between a complete lack of cooking abilities and the inherent mystery in picking out foods where you can't even begin to read any labels, provides for some interesting food choices. 

My roommates have already started making fun of my tendency to eat raw vegetables 90% of the time. Eggs, vegetables and a whole lot of apples are my diet. Oh, and of course my snack food of choice: pickles. I can't stop eating pickles. Here's a picture of everyone cooking a nice dinner...while I eat some pickles. I've started some stir-fry action which keeps things a bit more interesting but I don't see myself getting a whole lot more adventurous from there. We shall see. 



At the rate I'm going, it seems inevitable that pickles will start to get a bit old but at this point, I don't see an end in sight. 

Why Denmark?

So I realized there may be some people reading this who know nothing about my program so I thought I should give a quick explanation. First of all, why Copenhagen? Well, to put it bluntly, I wanted to be in Europe and I don't speak any other languages but I wanted something a bit more different. (So why not pick one of the hardest languages to learn, that makes sense right?) In truth, I had never considered Denmark but as soon as I saw the pamphlet I couldn't imagine myself anywhere else. My program is called DIS which stands for the Danish Institute for Study Abroad. Each student picks a "core" program that includes a class that meets twice a week and a short and long-term study tour (so in my case Sweden and Turkey). DIS is big, nearly1000 American students (something that I definitely wasn't prepared for). But it's well organized and I had great classes to choose from. (I should also mention that I dropped the Plant class and am now taking a course entitled "The History of Copenhagen" which sounds a lot more interesting!) I was also really excited to actually live in a city, especially a beautiful historic city like Copenhagen.

Now, where am I living? I live in a really great location, I can see the "Round Tower" - a Copenhagen landmark right from my window and am one of the few people who can actually walk to class. Why such a good gig? Because I live in a residential community called the "Green House." Basically we do fun, environment-related activities. Once a week, we get a box from a CSA and one person is in charge of cooking dinner for the rest of the house. Our first family dinner is tonight. I'm definitely grateful that I have a home base to come back to each night and I really like everyone I'm living with. Here's a picture of my floor! I really feel like I lucked out in terms of my housing.


A lot of people come abroad to hang out with other Americans and travel across Europe which, don't get me wrong, sounds great. But by the time I leave, I want to make sure that I really get to know Denmark and Copenhagen. Even in the short time I've been here, I'm finding out it's a whole lot more complicated than I thought. Such a little country, so much to do!

One a side note, we were told by real Danes that the best chocolate croissant is found at the 7/11. I wish I were kidding. So of course we had to try it. It was good, but nothing to brag about. Denmark should stick to the Vienna Bread I guess (that's what they call Danishes). 

Best discovery of the day!

We found a really cool upscale farmers market. Basically a foodie heaven (I'm sure the Endicotts have frequented this stop in their travels). Lots of fresh food and lots of delicious stands. From cheeses to breads, to sushi and pizza, this place has it all and it looks and smells delicious. Plus, free samples (my favorite two words pushed together).i should mention that I've been here the past two days in a row...

The Danes are all about their open-faced sandwiches, Smørbrød

                    $5.50 for a mini cupcake anyone? This country is killing my bank account. 

Yup, we'll definitely be coming back. 

The "wow I live in Europe" realization

Orientation is FINALLY over. Thank god. The activities were fun and it was definitely important in getting to know the city and other DIS kids but it's exhausting. The last day we did a food scavenger hunt where different groups went to different destinations to find out prices/student discounts and stuff.

Classes have officially begun. I'm taking 5 classes: Migration and Social Capital (my core course, we're going to Turkey in late October!), The Impact of Plants on World History (I can't even type that without laughing), Danish Language and Culture (this might be impossible), Criminology in Scandinavia (I'm excited about this!), and Russia Past and Present (This was an optional class and I get to go to Russia for a week in November, woo!)

So we're finally real people living in a city and it's been pretty overwhelming. I think the biggest transition for me is just getting used to living in a city (Weston and Wooster haven't really prepared me). But, I went on a "run" (in quotes because I was pretty much walking and taking pictures with my iphone the entire time) and explored the city on my own. THIS was the "holy crap, I'm living in Copenhagen" realization and it was great. The combination between the beautiful scenery and the endorphins made for a great hour or so.

Here are some pictures from that run/walk/epiphany

Copenhagen has five man-made "lakes" that  separate the medieval part of the city of the outer neighborhoods

 Even the post offices are awesome.              

Rosenborg Castle. Every run should end with a jaunt by a 400 year old castle. 

Something leaked and there was mist that made it impossible to see 2 feet in front of you.  I joined the crowd in whipping out the iphone and snapping some pics. 

And of course, a hard days work is rewarded by a great salad and a classy glass of wine. Good day. Cheers!

The stereotypes are true!

Okay, so before I came, I was told a few things that I took to be rough generalizations. False. The people are tall and beautiful. So. many. beautiful. people. If you're looking for an ego boost, this is not the country for you. Second, I was told they were very intense about the biking...also true. I signed up for a bike because that's pretty much the easiest way to get around but I'm also terrified to bike on these streets! There are more bikers than cars and I've almost gotten hit several times, it's scary! Next, no J-walking (my Boston blood cringes every time I wait for the walk signal). And lastly, we are definitely the loud Americans no matter where we go! Hardly anyone talks in the grocery store or on the bus. It's silent. I'm not even a loud person and I feel loud...that's definitely saying something.

Copenhagen!

Well it's crazy that I'm actually living in Europe. The jetlag has finally passed and I can actually enjoy being in Europe. It's beautiful here and we've really lucked out with the weather. Apparently they've been wearing coats all summer but it's actually been hot. We did a scavenger hunt today which sounds really fun but we didn't have time to get to all of the destinations and more importantly, we didn't have time to eat lunch. So we were all a bit grumpy. But...before the grumpiness set in, it was great. I learned a lot about the city.

 This is a picture of the Queen's residence. The DIS teacher who was stationed here explained that the Parliament literally and figuratively replaced the monarchy in the 20th century and that the queen doesn't have the "right" to pay taxes which I thought was really interesting and very Danish concept.

 My group! The girls on the left live in my house and the girls on the right live next door in the Culinary House. (I already told them that they'll be cooking for me). 

 This is inside the super modern library called "The Black Diamond"

This RIGHT by where all of my classes will be and a short walk from where I live.

Christine and I (one of my friends from Wooster) climbed the Church of Our Saviour spire. Not gonna lie, there were moments when I thought I was going to die. But the view was definitely worth it.

I made it!

Well. I'm in Copenhagen. It was a long day of travel and not a lot of sleep. After a five hour plane ride, a 1 hour delay, a 3 hour plane ride, we finally arrived in Copenhagen at 6am only to have to wait until 10 to finally leave the airport. But we finally made it! I'll be living in a great location (right in downtown Copenhagen, only a 5 minute walk from DIS and right near one of the largest pedestrian street in Europe). So here's where I'll be living for the next several months!

My bed! (Of course I got a pink Duvet cover)

Our courtyard

 I wish I knew how to rotate this. But look how cool it is! It looks very modern but really it's a 400 year old building. Home sweet home.

Welcome to my Molly takes Copenhagen blog. I leave in about one day so I figured I should find a way to communicate my adventures to the peeps back home. If you are not my parents, you get at least 10 friend points for reading this because, let's be honest, blogs can be boring (sorry parents, no points for you, it's part of the parental job description.) So I promise to post a lot of pictures and I'll do my best to make my descriptions short and hopefully entertaining. My goal is a blog light on the boring, heavy on the pictures with what will likely end up being a large helping of sarcasm. Well, now that the disclaimer is over, see you in Copenhagen!