8 Days?

Hey everyone! Sorry my posts haven't been as frequent. I have been really busy with writing finals. Thankfully it is almost over! This week has been really stressful. I counted and over the past couple of weeks I have had to write over 8 papers. Ah! I am just so glad the bulk of it is over. On Monday, I have one final on Monday for my Virtual Worlds and Social Media class, and then I am done!

This is insane. I leave Copenhagen in 8 days. I know I keep saying this, but I cannot believe how fast my time abroad has been. I have had a wonderful experience, but I also am ready to be home and to see my own family and to go back to what I am used to and what I know.

Next week after my final on the 12th, I have about five or six days to do some last minute touristy things in Copenhagen. I still have not gone up the Round Tower, or seen the crown jewels in Rosenborg castle. I also need to go back to Nyhavn and check out the Christmas markets for longer. I also have some Christmas presents I still need to get for my friends.

Last Saturday was Jane's birthday (Dec 3rd). She turned 10. I also went to Tivoli with my buddy network. The buddy network is where they take 10 Danes and 20 DIS Students and we plan different events to do around Copenhagen. We got to walk around, drink some Gløgg, see all the pretty lights and decorations (Russian themed this year), and I even got to ride a roller coaster called the Demon. This was all on DIS. So awesome! Check out some of the awesome decorations-

After walking around in the cold, we went to eat at Grøften, a traditional Danish restaurant where many famous Danish celebrities eat. I eat a meal called the "Shooting Star" (I forget what it  is called in Danish, sorry) which has fried fish, shrimp, bread, caviar, and thousand Island dressing all on top. I am not the biggest fan of TI dressing (ha, TI dressing), but it was still really yummy!

Yummy!

The next day, my host sister, Jane was in a Santa Lucia ceremony. Technically, this ceremony is supposed to happen on the 13th of December, but for some reason, Jane's scout troop did it last weekend. The girls dressed up in white, usually wear a wreath on their head (they just had a star head piece instead) and walk down the aisle singing "Santa Lucia... Santa Lucia" and carry candles. One girl, usually the tallest gets to wear candles on her head. Unfortunately, the girl they chose to have wear the candles had wax running down her face toward the end. I think she is ok now. Technically this is a Swedish tradition, but I suppose the Danes have taken on this tradition, too.

Jane is the on the right, furthest from me.

Sorry it's kind of blurry. So many blonde little girls!

On Wednesday, in between all the craziness of my paper writing, I went on a field study with my Livability class to Malmo, Sweden. It may seem crazy to many of you readers, but think of it like this, Malmo is only a 30-40 minute ride from Copenhagen. It's kind of just like going to another state, believe it or not. Souther Sweden looked very similar to how Denmark looks. Supposedly if you go up towards Stockholm that's a little more different.

Jakriborg, a cute little residential community built to look like it was from the 1800s. There is are currently 1,000 on a waiting list to get into this community!

The turning torso tower. When you looked at it, it looked like it was moving and was going to fall down on you.

It was really cloudy, but that is the Øresund bridge which takes you between Denmark and Sweden

 I have to return my monitor back to DIS sometime this week, so my access to a computer will be limited (see last post about my water spilling on computer drama). I will try to update one more time before I leave, but can't promise anything. If not, thank you all so much for reading my blog and sticking with me through this incredible journey! I can't believe I am leaving so soon. I will miss Denmark very much and I feel that I have grown and changed greatly in the four months that I have been here. Vi ses, Danmark! 

Hello! It is time for another blog post. By now I am starting to have a routine on what I do during the week.

This past Thursday (September 15) , I went with my Livability in the Modern City class to the Lousiana Museum. It was really cool. Right now, until Oct 2nd, they have an exhibit about "Living". There were some interesting collections of art that had to do with how people from other cultures live and how where they live is structured.  It was unlike any museum I'd ever been to. You could actually walk outside of the building and there were some pieces of art and could even see the water/ Sweden! Very cool. Here are some pictures you can check out. The second one was a shadow screen where the board would light up according to shadows. The last picture is the view from outside the museum.

That night I got back and went to an election party at my host family's friend's house. They sat around and watched the progress of the election. My host family was hoping the conservative parties would win, because the liberal parties would raise taxes even more, which in Denmark is already at 50%. There are 7 political parties in Denmark and I cannot even begin to explain how they all work because I do not fully understand it myself, but all I know is that the liberal parties won. Now keep in mind, the "conservative" parties in Denmark= liberal parties in the US and the "liberal" parties in Denmark= even MORE left- wing than Democrats. I don't really think that there are our Republicans have counter-parts in other countries, but perhaps someone could prove me wrong.

This weekend I didn't have anything planned or do anything, which was very nice. I went to Tivoli Garden on Saturday with my host mom, Anne Marie, my host sisters, Eva and Jane and their friend Sinne. I had a lot of fun, even though I was really tired. For those who don't know, Tivoli Gardens is an amusement park that is located in Copenhagen. It is apparently the 2nd oldest amusement park, the 1st being Dyrehavsbakken, which is also located in Denmark. We also had ice cream, which was nice. I love ice cream! Wish the weather was better, but oh well.

This week I have a lot of assignments due, so hopefully I will be able to get them all done. Still no luck with moving the internet so I can be on later than 9PM my time. My host mom has to order a special cord online, so hopefully they can move it in a couple of weeks.

Until next time...

~Jenna