Hej from København

Some of you may be thinking, “I thought this blog was just for the summer, why is he still blogging?”  Well, you lucky folks get to spend another semester with me!  I will be continuing to blog for the St. Lawrence Admissions Office as an “abroad blogger.”  I realize that there has been a short hiatus in my blog, but I have been trying my best to get adjusted to the Danish way of life and get over my intense jet lag.  I cannot believe I have spent almost two weeks in Denmark already! Time is flying by! I have already seen so much, classes are underway, and I am getting pretty familiar with Copenhagen.  I live in a smaller town about 25 minutes outside Copenhagen with a host family.  The area I live in is called Hvidovre.  I feel very grown up as I can take either the bus or the train (S-tog) into the city everyday.  It is pretty cool and I have not even gotten lost. (The night bus or natbus takes some time to figure out though!)  St. Lawrence's Denmark Study Program allows us to study with a institution called DIS (Danish Institute for Study Abroad), which is connected with the University of Copenhagen.  The school is located right in the very center of the city, which is great and makes everything very easily accessible.  I am using my semester abroad to be able to branch out a little academically.  At SLU I am a Chemistry major but here I am mainly studying Journalism.  It is a lot of fun and recently I was chosen by the program to write for a publication called “DIScover CPH.”  What a great pun, I know!  It is a very cool opportunity and only four students were chosen so I feel like it is a big honor.  I will definitely keep you updated on that project throughout the semester. (Picture- The Black Diamond.) Other than school, I have kept busy with sightseeing and exploring.  I have already had the chance to see tons or great sights in and around Copenhagen.  The very first day I was able to see the Little Mermaid.  It is a national symbol of Denmark and represents the popular character from the Hans Christian Andersen fairytale.  It is much smaller that I thought and my host family told me not to get too excited because people are generally disappointed.  It was still very neat to see and interesting to hear some of its history, apparently it has been beheaded several times as a type of artistic expression. The opening ceremony for DIS was held at The Black Diamond - The Royal Library.  It was a stunning location to visit on your first day as a DIS student and a nice welcome to CPH.  During the first few days we got a grand tour of the city from DIS and there were lots of orientation activities.  It felt like I was a first-year all over again!  One really cool thing that DIS put together was an end of the week nightclub extravaganza at a really fancy club called LUUX.  It was a great way to unwind from a long and tiring week.  I have never been to a club anything like this and I had a blast!  The next night my host family even took me to a sold-out George Michael concert at Parken Stadium, the national stadium.  It was definitely an experience… 40,000 Danes rocking out to old school George Michael hits.  That was the point when I thought to myself, “I am really here, this is really happening right now.”  I could only laugh!  Everyday is a new experience here in Denmark! Last weekend, I took a trip to see Frederiksborg Castle, which was truly stunning (*Pictured here is Chuck, Chris and I with Frederiksborg in the background and the gardens in the next photo).  We got a guided tour of the castle and then had some time to wander the gardens on our own.  This week I also got the opportunity to go behind the scenes at DR TV, the national television station.  We got a special glimpse at some of the production aspects and specifically focused on the subtitling unit for my “Lost In Translation” class.  It was interesting and the building was so modern and architecturally beautiful.  Next week, we already have our short study-tour program.  I am going to a place called Århus on Jutland in western Denmark.  We will be able to see another news production studio and a new city!  Århus is actually the second largest city in all of Denmark. (Copenhagen, obviously being the largest). I could go on for days and days about all of the experiences I have had thus far and it is only the second week.  But, I don’t want to ramble!  So stay tuned for more of my adventures in Copenhagen.  For now, as the Danes say, “Hej, Hej!”