One person's missed tour is another's adventure...

Ok, so I was supposed to go on a tour to a castle this past Sunday but unfortunately our train was late, therefore we were 3 minutes late to meet the buses and watched them drive away as we got to the meeting point. But, rather than let the beautiful day go to waste Chris, Hilary and I decided to take our own walking tour of the city...

First stop, The Round Tower. This is the oldest look-out in Europe and although it isn't the highest point in Copenhagen, the top allows for a great view of the city.


The inside of the building is basically a spiral so we walked up what seemed like a never-ending spiral to a smaller spiral staircase before we finally got to the top



And it was so worth it!!! The sun was out for the second time since I'd been here and although a little windy it was a great day for sightseeing! I think my school is straight back from the dome in the picture below, located in the oldest part of Copenhagen. By the way, the dome is the Freu Plads...where we watched our bus leave us behind, haha.


I think Sweden's in the back of the picture below...or the bridge connecting Copenhagen to Sweden anyway.



Like I said...a little windy. Below is one of the many plaza areas they have located throughout the city.


And, the ice skating rink...we'll see if I ever feel graceful enough to try this out.


And....the classic Copenhagen shot--every postcard/travel guide/poster of Copenhagen will have this port's picture in it. These ships stay here all year round and I'm not sure if they ever leave or if they're just there for people to take their own postcard pictures.




And this is where the Danish royalty live. Denmark has a Constitutional Monarchy and is actually Europe's oldest Monarchy. Margrethe II is the Queen, and we get a day of school off for her birthday in April (I'm psyched because it's one of my long class days)! When the flag is up, it means a member of the Danish royal family is home...we didn't find out which one though.


Think I could pass as one of the guards?! :) We found out you could take pictures with them as long as your stay at least 1.5 meters away!


And now, I'd like to introduce the pride of Copenhagen--the Little Mermaid! Hans Christian Andersen's fairytale turned Disney hit is based off this 4-foot-tall sculpture. And, apparently people like to vandalize the statue as her head has been cut off twice with a third attempt, she has been drenched in paint many times, and has been knocked off her stone. Also, two men returned her arm one day after amputating it after a night at the bars before! I promised my sister I'd take a picture of the little mermaid for her so enjoy Jordyn!

And our final stop for the day was Christiania, which is like Copenhagen's little Amsterdam. It is its own community with residents, a government, and school system. The government of Copenhagen calls it a "social experiment." Everyone here is very free-spirited and make a living selling their crafts. The art here was amazing! Rather than spray paint, many times murals are made or added onto with paint brushes. We weren't allowed to take pictures in here, but we sneaked a few in on the edge of the community. It is a little sketchy in there as the streets have under-cover cops and big dogs trained to attack anyone who runs as weed is often bought here and busts are made. Also, I heard it is a very selective community and not just anyone can become a member...either residents are born into it or else a new member may join only if an existing one passes away. I'm not sure if that's true or not, but interesting none the less.


Hilary, Vicki and I getting proof that we'd been to Christiania, even though it looks like we could have taken that picture anywhere, haha. Vicki's a senior who's studying abroad her last semester too!

A little more on where I live in Albertslund!

This is the main building where the exercise room and ping-pong table is, right on a (man-made?--I'm pretty sure) river! Behind this are about 20 buildings (or blocks as they're called here) along either side of the sidewalk where all of us live.


A quick 5 minute walk brings us to the main plaza of Albertslund where we can find small shops , grocery stores, and a Blockbuster (probably the only commercial chain in this area). Everything closes early, by 7 pm this area is empty except for the grocery stores which stay open until 8 or 9pm.


Also, it has been QUITE rainy here as you can see what a quick trip to the grocery store did to Hilary and me. I think I should invest in some rain boots :) Good news is that the jacket I bought for the rain (which really isn't for the rain) kept part of me dry!

And so the nightlife begins!

In the attempt to meet as many people as I can I've gone out all but 2 of the nights I've been here! On Tuesday, to celebrate a friend's birthday we went to The Scottish Bar and had a pipe of beer, which was basically a 4 Liter graduated cylinder with a spout on it that you share. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera that night so pictures will be coming soon! We met two guys from Louisiana in there who were happy to see some other Americans, or maybe it was because they wanted a picture of our tower of beer.

After that, we walked around downtown Copenhagen for awhile and these friends (Chris, Hilary, Emilio, Andrew, Miki) and I came back and hung out til the wee hours in the morning...needless to say, I overslept the next morning haha! I'm actually one of the oldest people here, not too many people study abroad their last semester of college so most of the people I've met are either juniors or sophomores. These are the people I've been hanging out with the most so far.

This is the main plaza when you get off the train stop in downtown Copenhagen...you're surrounded by tall buildings with neon signs on all sides.


Carlsberg and Tuborg are the main beers brewed here, aka--the cheap beer haha.

Tivoli is one of the world's oldest amusement parks and also the main inspiration for Disneyland! A trip here will be a must once the weather warms up!

Thursday night we found a Blues bar where the music the band played was in English (not like the Scottish Bar where a man played Eric Clapton's 'Tears in Heaven' in Danish).

My Address

If you feel so inclined...

Lindsey Kaczmarski
c/o DIS, Denmark's International Study Program
Vestergade 7
DK-1456 Copenhagen K
Denmark

Copenhagen, DIS is it!

So, I'm in Copenhagen, Denmark for my last semester with a program called DIS-Denmark's International Studies program and I've already learned some Danish:

Jeg Hedder Lindsey (pronounced Yai Hille with no "H" sound) and means "my name is Lindsey" Whoo hoo! I'm almost a native haha

I'm staying in a town called Alburtsland in a kollegium (equivalent of an American dorm) called Denmark's International Kollegium or DIK. I'm about a 5 minute walk to the train station and about a 20-25 minute train ride from downtown Copenhagen. I have my own room! First time in college! There's a bed, desk, lights, chair and my own bathroom and shower too...pics below!



As far as how things have gone, I've met quite a few people already and continue to drift around from person to person until I find that core group of friends...much like everyone else is doing right now. There's about 10 people from the U of M here and quite a few others from Minnesota and Wisconsin. It's funny how easily you become friends with people...like last night, I went grocery shopping with some people and ended up getting invited to dinner with two other Americans and two Danes, and it was a great dinner! Steak, potatoes, and rolls! In fact, I'm having leftovers right now :)

Some things I've learned about the Danes...everyone rides bike! Literally, there are tons of bikes everywhere and you can even rent them from certain bike racks. Many do keep to themselves (especially on train rides) but are very friendly once conversation is started and usually willing to help give directions. Copenhagen was NOT designed on the grid system for streets, that's for sure! All of the streets curve and eventually meet up with each other. Many places have english menus and the Danes enjoy speaking english (or so I'm told). Places close incredibly early (like 7-8pm early) except for on weekends...so we'll see what this weekend holds! One down side is that the Danes do not have a particular liking to peanut butter, and the two brands I found in the grocery store looked quite organic (which I'm sorry to say but I like my peanut butter full of preservatives!--bring on the JIF haha) . And, I was bummed to see no toaster in my kitchen, but I have met people that have told me they have them in their kitchens so--crisis averted! whew :) For those of you who don't know I'm a big fan of toast!

We have one more day of orientation and then classes start on Thursday, January 24. So far we've had a bus tour of the city (which I don't get to go on for another 2 weeks because the program screwed up and didn't have enough tour buses for everyone...so the picture of the Little Mermaid is going to have to wait), learned a little Danish and found out that Danish pastries are called wienerbrod (or Vienna Bread) here...kinda funny, and received our books. Most people received a lot more books than what they thought...everyone, including me had to lug an entire IKEA blue bag full back to their residences.

Well, tomorrow I'm going to do the tourist things and take lots of pictures on a longer break I'll have so more pictures coming soon!