Since my last post so much has occurred so I will do my best to update you on it all. I cannot believe that this adventure is already coming to an end. We have just over a week left here but time is flying past! I am getting SUPER excited to head home to Bemus Point, NY, but I am also sad to leave behind my new home abroad. I have met some incredible people here in Copenhagen: my host family, professors, other students etc. This experience is something I will always hold in my heart as a time in which I have grown and become increasingly independent. Before I get too reflective (I will save that for my final entry), I'll try to sum up the time since my last post.

The first Sunday of December the Danes celebrate Advent and all the Christmas lights throughout the city are illuminated. My host-mother's mother had me over to her apartment for a traditional Danish Christmas meal. We ate duck, cabbage, caramelized potatoes and Christmas cookies for dessert. We also played a gift exchange game. The point of the game is to roll a dice and if you get a 6 you choose a gift. The die is passed and when all the gifts are taken, a timer begins. A certain amount of time is allotted for stealing and trading gifts. The game continues, with the presents still wrapped, and if you roll a 6 you can take another gift from someone. It gets kind of rowdy and gifts are stolen repetitively until the timer rings. Whenever the time runs out, you keep the gifts you have. Therefore some people get nothing and some people get many gifts. At this particular game, I received a box of chocolates and a Danish wooden puzzle. It was a lot of fun! The we went to the Hvidovre (my town) Community Hall. There was a Christmas fair and a band playing all the classic tunes. At 10 o'clock they flicked the switch on the Christmas tree. The whole day was surrounded by friends, family, Christmas spirit, and lots of hygge--the Danish word for "coziness."

Then, the last week of actual classes began. Thus, I was inundated with papers and homework. I had several presentations and also had to begin preparing for exams which have now started. With all that schoolwork, I felt like I needed a break, yet this past weekend was one of the busiest since arriving in Copenhagen. Two of my good friends, Amanda and Emily, who are studying in Italy came to visit. So, we planned a crazy weekend of sightseeing and going out on the town. We saw all of the classic sights like the Round Tower, The Little Mermaid, and we went to a Christmas Market at Christiania. Lots of stuff to do in just a short amount of time. At night on Friday we went to a cool place called Kulor Bar. What is really funny is my friend Amanda went to high school with one of my good friends here at DIS, Margaret. So, we had a mini reunion party at Kulor that night. They had not seen each other in over 2 years! Another example of what a "small world" it is. There have been so many crazy coincidences like this over the past 4 months! The next night we had reservations at the Absolute Ice Bar in Copenhagen. It is a very fancy establishment at a trendy hotel downtown. Inside there is a bar made entirely of ICE! It is like nothing you have ever seen. The seats, the tables, the walls, the bar, and even the glasses are ICE! When you arrive you get a HUGE blue parka to wear during your time there so you don't freeze. Everyone looks goofy so it makes it just that much better. We spent about an hour there... you have a limited amount of time because so many people want to experience it. One of the funniest parts of the night was when I had finished the drink that I got (you get one free with entry) I smashed my ice glass on the floor, thinking that was what everyone else had done. Apparently this was NOT the case and the bartender got a little grumpy. We just laughed it off. I think he was super grumpy that night because he was yelling at everyone. He told 3 of my friends they were not allowed to touch the walls... it is just ice, come on man! But after that we departed and went to a place just down the street from school and danced the night away. We actually didn't get home until... wow... about 6 AM! Oops, we clearly lost track of time to the thumping techno beats. I ended up spending the night at my friend Liz's house because it was closer to the city. It was the perfect way to spend one of my last weekends in Denmark!

On Sunday DIS had arranged a dinner for all students living with host families. Each family brought a dish. There were hundreds of people there and LOTS of food! I indulged in many traditional Danish dishes and could not be held back from the overflowing dessert table. YUM! A Danish Santa even came and gave little host brothers and sisters small gifts and there was a balloon-animal maker too! Katie got a balloon dog (which she ended up ruining) and Liz got a bird. After that our everyone played the dice-present game again. (We had unfortunately forgotten to bring gifts so Liz's host dad ran out and got some chocolate bars so the whole table could play). Our side of the table ended up stealing all the gifts that the other family had actually brought. HA HA! SUCKERS! Just kidding, they were good natured about it and we distributed gifts so everybody at least got something. Katie was the big winner with an awesome Danish coffee mug. That eveing we spent a "hyggelig" night at Tivoli, which is decorated for the season in more lights than you can imagine.

After all that fun, Monday andTuesday was the official end of classes and then finals started. What a bummer! I took one final today in my Lost in Translation class. It went ok, not really what I was expecting, but its over now! To break up the week a little bit I went to the Carlsberg factory with some friends, Liz, Chris and Beth. None of us had exams on Wednesday...so why not a little more sightseeing? Actually, my host mom works for Carlsberg so she got us all into the Visitors Center for free. We kind of felt like VIPs when other people waited in line and we just walked in and the man at the counter just said "You are all taken care of." AWESOME! The Visitors Center is like a museum of the Carlsberg history. There is actually quite a lot of interesting things that happened there and they gave you the history of brewing, the company, mergers, the Jacobsen family etc. They also have the Guinness World Record for Largest Beer Bottle Collection. After the tour we were treated to a little sampling at the Jacobsen Bar. It was really nice and we got to taste some of the really classy beers. Chris, Beth, Liz and I decided that it was the perfect way to spend a Wednesday afternoon! (In the picture here I am actually wearing a t-shirt made by Amanda in a print making class in Italy.It is hard to see but the image is actually a photo taken during our first year at St. Lawrence. It is a picture of me sitting on a washing machine in the basement of Lee Hall waiting for my laundry to finish. It turned out to be a really cool screen print with different color washing machines. THANKS MANDY!)

So for now it is back to the studying grindstone. I have 3 tests on Monday! OH GEEZ! One of them is my Danish oral exam so I need to practice a lot! Tomorrow I have the day off so I am planning on getting a lot done! I also need to do some Christmas shopping for my family at home. I cannot believe there is only one week left. I am filled with emotions thinking about leaving. I can't wait to see my family and get home to Bemus Point. Also, I can't wait for next semester at SLU. Yet, at the same time, it is hard to believe that this amazing experience is drawing to a close. It has been such a blast and the time has escaped me. It will be hard saying bye to my host family, friends I have met here, and Denmark in general!

ADVICE FROM ABROAD: VALUE EVERY MINUTE. I PROMISE YOU THE TIME WILL GO FASTER THAN YOU THINK IT WILL!