This week's recap

I apologize for taking a bit of a break from this...it's been a busy week! Three meetings, a dinner, a field study, class, and a night out!

First off, I realized how much I lucked out in the building I was placed in. We had a kollegium meeting on Monday and many people are upset with how they haven't made many international friends since living here and Hilary and I decided that we lucked out in having a social building. For example, today we had lunch made for us by a student who's here from Bangladesh (it was rice and chicken with spinach and lentils and salad..mmmm) and ate with 3 Danes, a girl from Norway, a guy from Uganda, and another guy from Holland and it was awesome!! Barton, the one who made the meal, is the definition of hospitality. He made everything and kept encouraging us to eat more (even when I still have half a plate of food left haha) and then made a plate for someone who wasn't able to be there and then thanked us numerous times for coming and enjoying our meal.

On Tuesday night I had a DIS sponsored Hygge dinner. As part of my program I was taken to a cozy restaurant and enjoyed a $30 meal on the school (complete with ice cream!) while catching up with people from my short study tour and meeting new people and getting to see another part of town. I officially got lost on my way there...the trip planning website told me to get off at the wrong train stop and led me to a convenience store! Luckily I knew a friend who was also going, who guided me in the right direction.

On Wednesday, my class took a field study (field trip) to see The Cast Collections! It's a huge warehouse that holds replicas of all the world's most famous statues including the Venus de Milo and Michelangelo's Pieta, which is located inside St. Peter's church in Rome (which I'm going to see in less than a month with Jordan!). It was one of my favorite museums so far and was located right on the waterfront. Afterward, my professor took us out for a beer and I found one that's close to a Honeyweiss! Then Wednesday night, Hilary and I met up with some others and went to a bar called the Studenthussen, or Student House. Every Wednesday night is international student night so we met people from Germany, Spain, Poland, and a creepy older guy from Egypt haha.

Thursday I met with both of my Pop Culture class professors to discuss things in class (I'm a class representative for that one). We went to a really nice cafe and DIS bought me a Chai latte (it's been so long!) and one of the best pieces of chocolate mousse pies I've ever had! Then, after class I had my meeting for my Budapest and Vienna trips which are coming up a week from now!!

By Friday, I was exhausted and after making dinner for some friends (meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and carrots--just like home!) Hilary and I hung out watching a couple episodes of Entourage...the HBO show we're hooked on.

So, you can see that I've been busy!! Hence why today is dedicated to homework and catching up on this!

I do have some Danish encounters for you and a video for you to watch!

Sarcasm is big among Danes, but it's so hard to read when they've joking or being serious! Another student in my Danish class and I were talking about this. They say sarcasm the same way as when they're just conversing in everyday conversation. There has been more than one time when I've been left standing there not knowing if the Danes were serious or not.

Also, this was interesting. Hilary went to a museum with a Dane we met here last weekend and he got really offended when she referred to the US as her country. Danes don't take ownership over Denmark or any of their sports teams, etc. Which is quite unlike everything in America, even down to the National Anthem...and what do we hear at every Twins/Vikings/Gopher game?! Every time, the team is referred to as YOUR Minnesota Twins/Vikings/Gophers! Interesting huh? I thought so too!

Denmark was featured on a 60 Minutes video clip on February 18, which we watched in my Danish class. You can watch it too! Unfortunately I don't have a direct URL to get you there but it isn't too difficult: go to www.cbsnews.com then, just under the main story in the middle of the page is a gray tab that says "More Videos." Click on that and it'll take you to a list of recently 60 minute videos. Type Denmark in the search box at the top of the page and the clip should show up on the right side of the page. It's called "The Pursuit of Happiness" and is about 12 minutes long. So, hopefully that isn't too much of a go-around for you...it's a really good segment!

That's all for now, midterms are putting the squeeze on us this week, but then it's vacation for the next three!!