So I didn’t end up doing any of the things I was planning to
do this weekend, but it was so perfect! On Thursday, I went to Norrebro with Thierry to explore and take pictures and then we went to a cafe and talked about some of the differences between Denmark and the US and a million other things. We discussed the welfare system here vs. in the states and how interesting it is that the word takes on two completely different meanings. Everyone here is for the most part on equal ground, socio-economically speaking. We've talked a lot about this in my Danish and Culture class and in my Criminology class. It's so interesting and I love learning/exploring these topics! I feel so "cultivated" as Susanne would say (she meant to say cultured hahaha:)).
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| frozen lake |
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| Differences like this, for example: In Denmark, people believe that fresh air is the cure for everything... so they leave their babies to sleep outside of restaurants, stores, cafes, etc. People are also very trusting in Denmark. |
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| cemetery/park where Hans Christian Andersen is buried |
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So anyway, I decided that there’s just no way I’m
ever going to have any desire to make the commute twice on a Friday in the winter when my day starts at 8 am and I don’t get back home until 5:30. Instead, we
had a handball party at Michael’s house. They beat Croatia and went on to the
world championship game against Spain… and lost:( After the game, Andreas and I
put on a little concert for Susanne, Michael, Sebastian, and Magnus haha… sang
some Adele and Mads Langer (the male, Danish version of Adele), among others.
Then, Michael came home with us and we had a “flannel pajama party” hahaha! I
made breakfast the next morning and then we were off to Helsingor for some touristy
activities and a luncheon for all the host families in our area.
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| the boyzzzzz (Michael, Magnus, Andreas, Sebastian) |
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| flannel partayyyy (ignore my face, I just woke up) |
In Helsingor, we went to the
oldest building in the city, walked into a few cafes/shops, and then went to
The Culture Yard (
Kulturvaerftet). Probably one of the coolest places I’ve been. It’s
basically like a giant super-library/museum built on top of and integrated into
an old ship yard; huge kid’s section, a million books and movies, video game
rooms, reading/study rooms, comfy chairs with a perfect view of Oresund and
Sweden, a concert hall, and a lot of the original brick and iron work from when
it was a ship yard. Oh, and
lots of
spinny chairs. After the museum, we met at a café with about 15 other DIS
students living with host families in the same area as us. I met a few girls I
had never met, but who are in some of my classes, so that was good. By the time
it ended, it was getting too late to even consider going home, getting ready,
and going back out again.. Christie (friend from St. Lawrence) invited me to her host mom's birthday party, but she is an hour and 20 minutes away from me, and I would never have gotten there in time. So we went home, watched a Danish singing competition, and then Susanne, Michael and I skyped with the family!:)
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| oldest building on the left |
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| walking street in Helsingor |
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| cool hippie store |
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| Kulturvaerftet |
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| old photos of the men working at the ship yard haha! |
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| original ship yard entrance |
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| we had way too much fun with these.. notice the 3 year old in the background haha |
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| especially Michael:) |
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| old building vs. new building. SO cool |
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| ship port |
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| view of Kronborg from the top floor |
On Sunday, Sebastian, Michael, Susanne, and I walked to Humblebaek, where we met up with Karen (Susanne’s friend) and went to Louisiana (
Louisiana Museum).
Such a cool place! (Like the MoMA of Denmark, check the link!). We spent a
couple of hours there, had some cake and coffee, and then walked the rest of the
way to Michael’s house in Espergaerde for the handball final. As I mentioned, they lost... bad. But it was still fun, I got to meet Andreas's girlfriend and Michael's stepfather.
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| Susanne and me (at the spot where she and Michael had their first date.. too cute!!) |
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| Michael and me |
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| Louisiana |
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| hahahaha! |
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| :) |
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| cool painting, and Karen |
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| family<3 |
Last night (Monday night) was the
Dispatch concert!! It was probably one of the most epic nights EVER! I've been following the band for years, but because they had been broken up for so long, I could never go see them live. How perfect that they came to such an intimate venue so close to me in Copenhagen?! I went with 3 friends from school and we got there right when the doors opened, so we got right up in front of the stage. I could reach out and touch their feet! Oh my God, everything was incredible. Anddddddddddddddd, PETE FRANCIS GAVE ME HIS GUITAR PICK, BRAD CORRIGAN GAVE ME HIS DRUM STICK AND I GOT CHAD URMSTON'S SET LIST!!!!!!!!!!!! This probably means nothing to most of you haha, but I was on Cloud 9. I love this band so much, and to be so close to them, in such a small, intimate venue?? It was so..... hyggelig! The concert was perfect and after, I met up with Susanne and Michael (they really liked it too!!) and we made the trip home. Waking up wasn't so fun for anyone this morning I don't think, but it was so worth it! Anyway, I'm going to do homework.. no classes tomorrow!! Woo!
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| Emily, Ngozi and I |
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| Setlist |
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| group huddle. soooooo adorable. |
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| Chad Urmston (in love) |
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| Brad Corrigan (left) and Pete Francis |
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| Chad and Brad gettin after it |
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LOVE
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| Susanne and Michael after the concert! :) |
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| then Michael got sleepy haha:) |
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| ALL MY THINGSSSSSSS WOOOOOOOO |
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| show from the balcony where Susanne and Michael were standing! |
